28 feels pretty great

James' birthday was July 24th.  I had been thinking about what I would do for his birthday months ago.  The first year we were together, James and I took a road trip to Chicago for a birthday weekend.  I probably shouldn't have started out with a weekend getaway to an awesome city because it is really hard to beat. 

So instead I decided I would give him a little stay-cation for his birthday.  We went to Captain America sat. afternoon and then drove dt Minneapolis to check into a hotel!  For dinner we went to the Melting Pot....my parents gave James a gift certificate there so it worked out rather well.  It was absolutely delicious and just something different.  Not to mention James and I have been talking about going there since we first started dating. 

We were able to sleep in the next morning and take our time getting ready.  I made reservations at Hell's Kitchen which has their famous lemon ricotta pancakes.  James and I tried something different and it was all so good. Our Waiter had on one piece sock monkey pj's....James said "now Marla would appreciate this:)"   I don't think Hell's is ever not crowded.  After lunch we made our way to the beautiful Target Field for the Twins game.  They played Detroit.....I was hoping they could pull off a win in honor of James' birthday but no such luck.  We had awesome weather and wait for it.........we got on the big TV!  Yep, we are famous now:)

He's my daddy and I'll cry if I want to

James went to CUB one evening to get a few things that I needed to have right away......so he left Otis in the bedroom with me and quickly shut the door so he wouldn't follow him.

IMMEDIATELY he started to whine and cry. It was the most obnoxious thing in the world! James was gone for approximately 10 min. and I was trying to calm Otis to pipe the heck down.....nothing worked....nothing! It was seriously the first time he has ever done it to this extreme.


I guess you could say he is a daddy's boy.

Lookin' good Jimmy

Softball season has arrived!  For the past two years, James has participated in playing softball with his co-workers. All of the law firms in the minneapolis area participate and compete against one another.  He really enjoys being able to play.  They make jerseys for the season and everything!  Last year James' nickname on the back of his shirt was Wally.  Our friend Logan gave him that one obviously playing off his last name.  My dad actually still calls him that:) 

This year we had to think of something different.  The team captain gave me a list of nicknames of what she thought would be good.....needless to say James was not fond of any of them.  I rattled off a bunch of nicknames for him, each one being rejected by James...and then it happened, I made the most perfect nickname for James.  TDOW.  That's right.  TALL DRINK OF WATER.  He is isn't he?

On James and I very first date we were talking about being tall and having a hard time to find other tall people to date.  James then went on to tell me about how this old lady came up to him when he was working as a manager at CUB Foods in St. Cloud.  She couldn't reach an item so she asked for his help.....and then told him what a tall drink of water he was. It was a great story.

The Justin Bieber Experience

OK, I admit it.  Ask me a year ago and I could care less about Justin Bieber.  But then something happened.....Glee performed Justin Bieber on the show and I fell in love.  I think I have watched the Glee Justin Bieber episode half a dozen times and it cheers me right up.

My sister Reva also happens to be a fan...but it happened after renting the Justin Beiber movie (which I have not seen).  She bought the CD and her kids pretty much know the words to the entire album.  It is hilarious.  There are many clips of them dancing to his music....this just happens to be one of my favorite:)

A Berry great day of strawberry pickin'

Ryan and Katie LOVE to hang out with James and I.  They had a great idea to go to the strawberry farm and pick strawberries.  I loved that idea.....James wasn't as excited as I was though:)  The field smelled so good and the berries were beautiful.

It was pretty easy to spend a few bucks.  Ryan and Katie filled TWO big bins and James and I filled one.  We bought over 30 pounds of strawberries all together.  The whole time I was picking I thought of my dear sweet Clover who is obsessed with strawberries.  She would have loved coming with us...although I don't know if she would have been much help actually "picking" the berries instead of her eating them.

We enjoyed a strawberry shake...and it was a good shake at that.  It felt good after sweating in the fields.

Strawberry jam here we come!

Lutsen Getaway

James and I were lucky enough to get away for a few days and go up north.  We spent 3 days and 2 nights at the lovely Lutsen lodge.  We couldn't have asked for better weather.  It was great to be right next to the water.  We did a variety of things we we love to do each time we head north.  We of course love to stop and shop at Dewitt-Seitz Building in Duluth where my most favorite restaurant happens to be....The taste of Saigon!  Their Vietnamese egg rolls are to die for!  They are family owned business and I just love them.  In the building they have a candy shop and some art galleries and then some other gift shops I like to look at.

We headed on our way to Lutsen and checked in.  The rooms reminded me a lot of Lambs Resort, a place my family and I used to stay at when we were younger.  Very old fashioned and well, yeah, lets just stick with old-fashioned.  It was a typical log room cabin feel.  But the lodge is RIGHT on the shore and it is gorgeous.  They have chairs lying there so you can just sit and listen to the waves come in and they also have three huge fire pits with plenty of wood to burn 24 hours a day.  I think that is pretty neat.  James and I walked the shoreline and we skipped rocks which I have to admit I haven't tried to do that in years.  It brought me back:)

We had dinner at their pub and took a dip in their pool and hot tub and called it a night.  It is crazy that driving can take so much out of you. 

We did some hiking.  We choose the cascade river.  It was flowing boys and girls.  Flowing good.  Later we headed even more north to Grand Marais for, wait for it.....FUDGE.  Heck yeah, why would we even drive all this way not to get fudge.  It is only the best fudge in the world.  So we bought fudge and some homemade dog treats, which by the way were 8 dollars....James even got the lady's card just in case Otis "liked" the treats.  I'm pretty sure I won't be ordering anymore of those treats whether he "liked" them or not.  Not for that price.  I'll learn how to make my own treats thank you very much.   Oh, and we also walked to the lighthouse, I don't think I have done that since I was a little kid with my family.  There were all these cool rock sculptures people had made out there.

 I would show a picture of that but our camera battery had died the moment I turned on the camera from the very beginning of the trip, that is why you see pictures of only scenery....I got these pictures off the internet.  But really, what you see is what we saw so there you have it, our Lutsen trip in a nutshell.  What a great trip, eh?

3rd Annual Memorial Weekend Campout

It wasn't the greatest weather, but we all survived.  The rain, lightning, hail, tornado warnings and all!  James and I got to whip out the tent we got for Christmas and it was a sweet tent.  Reva couldn't stop talking about how there was a door that swung open and close and it also had velcro to enforce the door to stay shut.  It was kind of comical how much she talked about it.  I especially liked the color.  We roasted marshmallows, played badminton, I brought silly string (which apparently wasn't a great idea) we had glow sticks, cooked hot dogs and brats over the fire, we explored around Red Wing, went to the park, used the porta-potties....we did it all no matter what the weather may have brought.  I call that true campers camping.