the great minnesota get together

this year we headed up to the MN state fair on labor day weekend. we thought that a friday afternoon would be less crowded than saturday or sunday. wrong. it was fun nonetheless and the food was a symphony! who doesn't enjoy food on a stick? kyle, but that's beside the point. he was a pretty good sport and entertained my need for fair food for a good four hours. miles was an angel and seemed to enjoy all of the greasy food as well. he's such a mama's boy! the weather was to die for and it was great that beth, seth, & josiah and brian & blair could all join us. in fact, beth & seth stayed with us for the entire weekend. we crashed at marc & jen's while they were out of town. they are so nice to let us take over their entire house for a weekend! here are some pictures from the fair:

the fam

whose kid is this?

uncle bri-nan!

we spent ample time (and money) at the john deere display. miles was in tractor HEAVEN.

this one is for matt...read carefully

after kyle had reached his threshold for time spent at the fair, we went to eat a "real dinner" at the groveland tap. this tiny, yet mighty, restaurant is just a couple of blocks from my uncle and aunt's house in st paul...so we were able to stop there to say hello to the kiddos, nick & ellie. miles thought they were great and couldn't get enough of watching nick ride his skateboard.

showing ellie his "tractor book"

perched atop the half-pipe

watch out tony hawke

saturday (the 5th) was my 30th birthday...again. kidding, I'm not ashamed to say that I turned 31 this year. 30 was fun and I'm looking forward to another exciting and family-filled year. for this year's celebration, kyle took me to see mary poppins at the historic orpheum theater in minneapolis. it was phenomenal! our seats were perfect. just 10 rows back and right on the aisle, giving me a completely unobstructed view of the stage. poor kyle had to deal with a frizzy bob dylan wannabe haircut in front of him, but it didn't seem to hinder his enjoyment all that much. beth and seth watched miles for us and even let us go out for a quiet dinner. thanks guys!

josiah lounging on sunday morning

loaded with bedtime paraphernalia - monkey, duckie, blankie, & paci