Go Bears!

We spent the weekend in Bourbonnais, IL for the Chicago Bears training camp. It was a lot of fun!! And (I can't believe I'm about to say this but...) I truly like football now! I started liking the Bears this past season (and no not because they went to the Superbowl, I actually became interested during a game where they ended up losing). Scott's always been a Bears fan since he's from Illinois.











We got to Bourbonnais on Friday afternoon and practically every business in this little town welcomed the Bears and fans on their signs. We even saw a greeting on a church sign! The first practice was Friday late afternoon. We got a feel for what the camps are like. This particular one is completely free...free parking free admission. Plus it's no smoking no drinking because it's on a Christian campus so it's VERY family friendly. Our desire to have kids grew even more. The food they were selling wasn't outrageous either which was surprising.

Both nights we stayed at a KOA a few miles away. Well, we ended up staying up until about 3am because our neighbors were not very respectful of other people sleeping. We were not very happy about this. Plus the bathrooms were pretty disgusting especially for a KOA! I guess we've had wonderful experiences at campsites so far we're bound to have a few here and there that aren't perfect.

Saturday we went to a morning practice while enjoying our Dunkin Donuts...something we don't get in Minnesota. There was a big break in the afternoon and it was pretty hot so we decided to go see a movie. We saw The Simpsons and it was really funny. If you like The Simpsons even just a little you'll really like this movie. There are several laugh out loud parts. After that we headed back to the school for the night practice. Luckily we thought it started earlier because there was a line to get in an hour before it opened! So we waited in line and talked with local fans and took some pics. Once we finally got in we had GREAT seats! This night practice was the best part. They split up and did different drills like they had before but at the end they were doing drills that looked more like an actual game. I tried to learn as many players as I could. I'm so ready for the new season now! We (mostly Scott) got some really great pics.

Mark Bradley




Me as Robbie Gould


Harris


Charles Tillman is probably the hardest worker there


Love this pic...all wearing the same jersey with all three colors




Making a Bears sign


Urlacher


Lovie...seems like the nicest guy


Rex and "Moose"




And we thought we were professionals...


Hester






One of the cutest videos...Ryan during the 2007 Superbowl


Go Bears!

Happy Birthday Honey!

It's my husband's birthday today. 31 years ago this wonderful man was born. I could go on and on about what an amazing person and husband he is but I don't want to brag. We're celebrating his birthday in Illinois (his home state) at the Chicago Bears training camp. We're at the KOA right now and will be heading to the camp again tomorrow. More on that with pics later.

July 27th, 1976


July 27th, 1977






Happy Birthday honey...love you so much!

SOF - Raspberries and Wine Festival

SOF stands for Summer of Festivals, otherwise the title is too long. Well this summer I guess we haven't been to as many festivals as we've wanted to but we've still gone to a couple none the less and it's been fun. We went to the Raspberries and Wine Festival at Winehaven in Chisago City, MN. What a great festival! This vineyard is family owned - family run and is gorgeous! We enjoyed some raspberry barbecue ribs, a free wine tasting, live music and tours of the vineyards and winery. We especially loved the Deer Garden Red wine, the grape was actually bred in their vineyard so it's exclusive to this winery! Winehaven has many events going on throughout the year and I think we'll be heading back up there...maybe we'll make it a tradition :) After the festival we headed to Laura and Darren's since they were only about 15 minutes away and plus we wanted to share our new wine find with someone. Laura is a merlot fan and this was a little sweet for her taste but she still liked it. We then made a stop at the Mall of America and IKEA before heading home.





Scott smelling the wine before tasting it


Not quite ripe yet




Sunday after church we decided to FINALLY use our picnic backpack we got last Christmas from Scott's mom. I love this backpack!!! It has everything you'd need in it; plates, utensils, salt and pepper shakers, a blanket, wine holder....I could go on and on. Anyway, so we decided to use our county parks pass and we went to Chester Woods where we hiked until we found a suitable spot to picnic. We actually found a pretty nice spot overlooking the lake! It was a very nice, breezy summer afternoon and we enjoyed our new wine, cheese and crackers.



Our view


I realize this is a weird pic of me


Our lunch (not an ad for Triscuits, although we do like them a lot)


Cheers!

Happy Birthday Sue and Tuck!

I picked a bad (or good) week to start birthday blogs! July is a busy month! Maybe I bit off more than I can chew. Well just so everyone knows, I will only be doing close friends and immediate family member's birthdays otherwise I'd have a different one every other day. Scott's parents have very close birthdays. Sue's was yesterday and Tuck's is today! I am so blessed to have in-laws that I get along with and actually really love! Sue is seriously like a second mom to me (not to mention she's very similar to my own mom) and Tuck, well he's not much like my dad but I love having him in my life. Scott is a great son too...he's always great about getting presents for his parents and making them feel appreciated. I pray that we have a child as thoughtful as he is!

Happy Birthday! Enjoy your Whirley Pop and popcorn!

I know a bear that you all know...

Yogi! This past weekend my side of the family went to Jellystone Park in the Dells. Thanks to Scott we've been planning this for several months. The Lazans (my sister's family) and my mom got there on Thursday night and the rest of us got there Friday early evening (had to work). Friday we just spent the evening setting up the tent and hanging out. We went mini-golfing at the park and also went on a hayride (where we sang the Yogi bear song). For dinner my mom made Greek chicken kabobs...yummy! One of my favorite parts of this day was hanging around the campfire before going to bed. I didn't even realize it until now but my mom and I polished off an entire bottle of wine...guess that's only about 2 1/2 glasses each technically. Nothing like wine and smores :) Daniel slept with us in our tent and the other two families had cabins. It stormed that night and we all woke up in the middle of it...always an adventure while camping.

Saturday morning started early thanks to tent-sleeping. We started off the morning like we normally do camping lately, with a fire where we boil some water and then enjoy oatmeal and coffee for breakfast. We then headed down to the other cabins and then we were off to Noah's Ark for the day. Noah's Ark is one of America's largest waterparks if not the largest. We've all been there before but it's always a fun time! Laura and my mom spent the day with Ryan and Abby since they're too young to go on rides while the rest of us enjoyed all the waterslides. The best one by far (I think we all agree) was Black Anaconda. It's a water coaster, not like your regular water slide...it actually launches you with this conveyer belt-looking thing. After Noah's Ark we went back to the campsite and got cleaned up and put dry clothes on (one of the best feelings in the world) and then started dinner and played games. I prepared 12 hobos for the family and they turned out great! After dinner my sister brought out a birthday cake for Daniel and we gave him his presents. Then we went to play mini-golf at Pirate's Cove. That was a lot of fun and some of us were reminded of the time several years ago when my brother got a hole in one and fell back into a river because he was so excited. I'm laughing now thinking of it. I was on a team with Scott and my Dad. Our score ended up being VERY close. Scott and I had 61 and my Dad had 62! We pretty much went to bed right after golf and then woke up and packed up. It was a really fun weekend of hanging out...everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves. Hopefully we'll make this a tradition to go to a different place every year.

We got some great shots of the kids this weekend too...






This game was played a lot...Matt and Mom especially ruled at this game.


Sitting around the campfire


Typical meal outside


Ryan's still obsessed with baseball...look at him concentrating


Lounging around the campfire


Busted!




Not really following the rules of mini-golf


That's better




On our way to Pirate's Cove (and a little sunburned)




Almost, Darren!