Four Legged Friends

I have been working as a consultant for Woody's Pet Watch for quite some time (because having 3 dogs and a fish at home just isnt enough!) I am still enjoying it. Its very flexible and for the most part, the dogs are great. I have one doggie (Lily) that I walk every Tuesday/Thursday over the lunch hour - shes a real sweetie. I have others that I watch when their owners leave town. One of my favorite clients so far is Snickers - a German Shepard mix. He loves to chase tennis balls and cuddle up with me on the couch in the evenings (have I mentioned that I get paid for cuddling with dogs?!).

Here are some of my puppy clients:

Reina

Snickers

Remington

Beauregard

Lily

Anna

Koko

Duke

Last Gasp of Summer - Trip to Minnesota!

Last weekend we went on a quick weekend trip to Minnesota to visit the Dantzlers. They have a lovely condo on Lake Pepin at Lake City, which isn't too far from Rochester. The view from their living room window is stunning. We were able to catch up, introduce Alex, take the boat out for a spin, do some fishing, and eat some great food. My favorite was the Walleye Sandwich I had at Slippery's Tavern in Wabasha (from which the movie Grumpy Old Men was based). YUM YUM YUM. We had a table right on the Mississippi and sipped a beer while watching the boats go by. Doesn't get much better.

Its so fun to see friends and enjoy some time away from home. We wish we could have stayed longer, but had to get back to reality on Monday.

Welcome to Lake City - Birthplace of WATER SKIING. I am told there are numerous other cities that have also made this claim, but Lake City takes this very seriously!

Tim and Alex on Matt's boat - the Orange Crush. A nice "retro" vessel with comfy orange seats for napping. Alex seemed to enjoy the ride, but he also didn't like the idea that he had to either sit down or be held the whole time. So, when he wasnt sleeping, he was screaming!

Adam on the Mississippi.

The boys fishing off the dock on Sunday morning. This is the view from the Dantzlers balcony, where I took the photo from.

On Saturday, we took Danny and Cheryl Dantzler's boat out for a few miles on the lake and stopped at a restaurant on the other side (in Wisconsin) called the Pickle Factory. Where I, of course, had to eat some cheese curds (we were in Wisconsin, after all). When we got back to the boat to go, it wouldn't start so here we are chatting away waiting for the Lake City Marina guys to tow us back to Lake City! (Next photo).

Tim's monster catch. We will call in the record books for this one (smallest fish ever caught). :o)

We think this is Adam's first fish ever. He wouldn't touch it, so Matt is helping him with his line. Adam was quite the fisherman and he stood there for about 2 hours casting and waiting. He caught quite a few!

Feeding the ducks.

First Day of First Grade 2010

Adam's first day was August 18th. No tears this year from either one of us (whew!). We were all ready for school to start. Adam was tired of hanging out with me all day and I was tired of hearing the same two words all the time .... "I'm Bored!". We had a fun summer, but its time for first grade!

Colorado Vacation!

First off, an apology to all you loyal readers (all 5 of you) who come here regularly expecting to see wonderful and exciting news from the Brown Family. Its not that we haven't had plenty to say, I've just been neglecting to say it. It was summer, school was out, we were busy, blah blah blah. I know, you don't want to hear it... and I don't really want to go backwards to fill you in. Suffice it to say that we had a GREAT summer. We are, however, very happy to get into the new routine of school and work. I am going to attempt to begin blogging more regularly and also to share more thoughts about stuff and things.... not just kids and babies. Please comment often so I know you are here, otherwise I might just get a little lazy again (I mean, busy) and stop blogging!

The highlight of our summer was our Colorado vacation. We drove to a little Mountain Lodge in Lyons, CO (20 miles outside of Estes) for a few days and then continued on to Dillon for a night. We swam, hiked in the Rocky Mountain National Park, got caught in the rain, rode a tram up the mountain, fed chipmunks, had picnics, sang happy birthday in the pool, met a wonderful family, saw wildlife, drove Fall River and Trailridge Road. So you can imagine how much fun we had. I also learned a few things.

1. Unplugging is good. We didn't have phone or internet at our lodge and we actually had conversations with one another. This may only happen once a year, but I am determined to keep this idea going.

2. Keep it simple. Pack less. Plan less. Go with the flow. The kids want to feed chipmunks, climb rocks and swim. They do not want to eat expensive meals, go on tours, view scenery, wait in lines and be entertained all the time.

3. Drive when the kids are sleeping. Enough said.

4. Pack lunches. I am proud to say that we didn't partake in anything that starts with "Mc" the entire time we were there. We saved money and fat cells.

5. If you are hiking in the mountains at 2pm you'd better have a rain poncho, even if its sunny with no clouds at 1:59pm.

6. Hotels are fun. The kids LOVE hotels. We should get one in Omaha sometime. The enjoyment the kids have would be the equivalent of me and Tim going to the Bahamas or someplace. They love jumping on the beds, screwing around with the TV, swimming, staying up late, leaving their trash for "someone else to clean" (although this also happens at home?).

Here is a link to some photos of the trip. There are so many, I thought it would be easier to post a link. They start out in Denver, where we stayed for a night on the way, then to Estes, Hiking, Going up Trailridge, Views of the incredible scenery and a tour of an old Gold Mine in Georgetown.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/timothydbrown/sets/72157624422774223/show/

Where does the time go?

Its been a month since I've posted and so much has happened! April was a fun and exciting month for us. Here are a few of the highlights

• On April 2nd, Adam took his 2nd trip to the urgent care for another head injury... our little daredevil decided to jump from up high and a chair fell on his head. He had 5 staples put in. No fun for anyone involved.
• On April 3rd, we joined our friends Jed and Lori and their kids (in total, we had 5 kids in tow) and drove to Kansas City for the afternoon. We participated in the "Tweed Ride" at Loose Park, near the Plaza. It was a 10 mile bike ride through beautiful neighborhoods while all dressed in turn of the century clothing... Tim donned his tweed knickers and Adam wore his bowtie. Very handsome indeed. We ate at a fantastic mexican restaurant after the ride and then headed home. It was quite a sight to see the car with 4 bikes on top barreling down the interstate!
• On April 4th, we celebrated Easter with the Browns and McMahons at the lake house. The weather cleared in the afternoon so that we could have a lengthy egg hunt in the front yard. Alexander was a bit confused, but Adam was very diligent about finding them.
• On April 15th, we celebrated Alexander Day!! Our adoption of Alex became final after a trip to the Douglas County Courthouse. We had a BBQ lunch after the event complete with burgers and a special cake.
• On April 19th, Adam started T-Ball. His first practice went very well and he has since had a couple of games. To his disappointment, there are no "winners"... all teams get on base and each player gets a turn to hit a grand slam. I hasn't stopped him from wearing his fancy baseball pants and taunting his friends on the opposing team by saying "You're goin' down!" (oh what a difficult lesson sportsmanship is).
• On April 19th, I started working part-time for Metropolitan Community College. I am assisting the Director of Event Services in planning, organizing, promoting, facilitating (or whatever else she needs) for events they hold on campus. Right now I am helping with the Great Plains Theatre Conference that will be held the end of May.
• On April 25th, we celebrated our 5th Adam Day. Five years ago that day, Adam became legally a Brown. Its our tradition to celebrate becoming a family by allowing Adam to choose a family activity to do together... we swayed him away from Chuck E. Cheese (Whew) and he decided to do a bike ride.
• On April 30th, Adam ran 1.5 miles at school in a Race for Education to help raise funds for his school. We are so proud of him! In preparation for the event, they did lots of fun things at school like crazy sock day, crazy hair day and hat day. He was very stylish with a mohawk on crazy hair day.