Pyrotechnic Show 2011

Every four years, the Pyrotechnics Guild International Show (http://www.pgi.org/convention/2011/) comes to Fargo. It is the BIGGEST 4 day Firework show we've ever seen! This is the 2nd time it's been here since we've in Fargo but this time we made it a priority to see every night of it. (Besides, they are so close to us and SOOO LOUD that we weren't gonna sleep through them anyhow. LOL!) In 2007, we just went and parked at the Fairgrounds and watched them with the Babcocks but this year the PGI decided to charge for any parking lot on the Fairgrounds. Guess it's all about the mula! Whatever, right? At first, we thought we might not go (ya know-- in protest of them charging-- but for $5 for the whole family vs the $65/night to sit in the Stadium-- we decided we couldn't complain too much)
DAY ONE: Since Sunday was the first night (and they are charging this year)- we decided to just watch them from our backyard. We all climbed up on our playground fort and ended up with a decent view. Nothing like being close but worth checking them out!

DAY TWO: At Piano today, we got talking about the fireworks and Phil invited us to come sit by them right outside the Stadium. We agreed. After we parked, we took our camp chairs and met the Ericksons and the Christiansens for an awesome view of the show. We could hear the announcer and the music as well. Perfect seats for the kids to play around and enjoy the show. Glory and Landon had a blast playing by the cars. Thanks guys for sharing your Sunflower seeds and your company with us!

Here's what we got to see:

DAY THREE: We were going to meet them again but due to a sick baby and a "scary side of the highway" incident, none of the Christiansen clan could join us tonight. So we just went as a family. We missed our friends but we were not disappointed! Because we had to wait until Brett and Justice got back from Church meetings, we were cutting it close to make it there and so we got directed to park somewhere else than we had before. At first, we (what I mean is... me) was irritated about it but afterwards it only took us 2 minutes to get out so it turned out to be awesome and I had to repent of my bad attitude. LOL!

Another amazing show:

DAY FOUR-- FINALE: We can't believe the week is already over. I mean, believe me... we are ready for it to be quieter around here but have totally enjoyed the Fireworks! We talked the Dishers into joining us tonight. We had Josie over for a late over anyways. We also once again met the Christiansen Plus+ Group. (They had a mini-fam reunion with Phil's family) We had a very large group. So much fun! Unfortunately, it had downpoured rain this afternoon so the show was delayed a bit. I don't think it even started until 10: 45 or so. (We got there at 8:30 so needless to say, the kids were a little bit crazy by the time it started) It was a bit wet but not horrible. It definitely made it a bit more chilly but a few blankets and long PJs made it bareable.

It was worth the wait:

What an awesome experience! We LOVED the whole thing! Can't wait until them come back! Yeah for the PGI Fireworks!

Playground Carnival

Every year, Rhealt Farm holds a Playground Carnival. It's lots of fun! I took the kids for an afternoon of cheap entertainment! We even ate lunch and got free Child ID cards offered by NYLife. Pretty awesome!

VM Water Carnival

West Fargo

Veterans Memorial

Water Carnival 2011

One HOT day!...

Free Swimming...

Rubber Duckies...

A Diving Board...

Friends...

Free Sno Cones...

Blue Lips...

Count us in!!!
Yeah!

Family Fun Night @ Elmwood

I LOVE the Summer in Fargo! They have the FUNest things for family! And better yet, they are usually FREE! Who can beat FREE?
Tonight, West Fargo Park District threw a Family Fun Night @ Elmwood Park. There wasn't tons of people there. It must have been a bit of a hidden or forgotten treasure. Yeah for us-- bummer for others. We had a blast!! Here was some of the fun:
Free Popsicles:

A fun, young couple from 104.7 Popster FM roamed around the park with a cooler full of Popsicles. The kids had as many as they wanted. What a sticky, yummy mess!

Free Balloon Creations & Face Painting:

There were 2 people free making balloon creations. These people were amazing!! They could make anything! By the end the kids had several awesome things including swords, teddy bears, puppies on bicycles, flower bracelets, owls, and all kinds of hats!

Also, there were a couple of girls doing face painting as well. The kids got peace signs, puppy faces, flowers and a Superman sign on their faces. Not to mention Bob 95 Tattoos and stickers! Wowie! These kids were spoiled rotten!

Dinner for a Buck$:

They sold dinner for $1. Can you believe that? We got a hot dog, a bag of chips and a choice of beverage ALL for a dollar. Score! Can't beat that in feeding a family of 6 OR... 10 if you count our adopted fam, the McPhersons. Thanks for meeting us guys for dinner and some fun!

Jungle Bounce House:

The kids had a total blast bouncing in the bounce house. The line was short enough that they only had to wait a turn or two and then they could go again. So much fun!!

Last but not least...
Bubbles & Hula Hoops:
The whole party was DJed by the Bubble Man. He had bubbles, bubbles, limbo, bubbles, hula hoops, and bubbles all put to music. The kids had so much fun! And I even tried my hand hips at the hula hoops. Well... at least I tried. Kinda embarrassing if I must say! Dylan is awesome at them! Maybe he'll give me lessons. LOL There was also a Mini-golf course that we never tried out. But it looked fun! Just ran out of time!

Yeah for a 

FAMILY FUN NIGHT!!!

While Dad's Away... the Girls will play!

There was an unexpected (sorta) trip to Utah made this week by part of our family. Our nephew, Zach is leaving on his mission soon and went through the Temple for his Endowment Friday. We are so proud of him!! Zach is such a good example to our family. We wish him the best of luck in his new adventure as he serves the Lord for the next 2 years in Mexico.
We've tried really hard whenever possible to support our family members as they make these important Eternal decisions. The "sorta" part of the trip is because normally we would just fly one of us out but cost-wise this time, it was more economical for Brett to drive out. The 3 oldest kids decided to go as well. I'll tell you about their trip soon but with that said... this post is about Glory & Mom's Week Long Date!!! We had so much fun!

Some of the fun we've been up to has included:
*Overnighting Mom's ring to UT cuz the diamond fell out
*Finishing the 4th Volume of the Blog Book- it's being printed as we speak type!
*A Pretend Birthday Party with Dora cupcakes and a new Tutu
*Easy Shopping Trips (oh my! One kid is a piece of cake!)
*Swimming at the Larsen Pool with the Adalaide and Garret
*Dinner & Dinos with Jen Neuteboom
*Playing at Gooseberry Park with our friends (Some are back from vacations- yeah!!)
*Making Strawberry Freezer Jam & eating lots of strawberries. Glory Loves strawberries!!!
*Playdate with Brotherson girls while Mom went Fabric Shopping
and joining Brotherson's for Gnomeo & Juliet Movie night
*Playing with Baby Alisa while her Mommy sewed beanie hats
and Mom mending the HUGE pile of clothes that has been long neglected.
*Playing with Carson Tucker & Copper while Mom had a Girl Date Night
*Vietnamese Dinner @ the Lessers and watching Toy Story 3 with Jessica
*Swimming at the Larsen Pool with the Adalaide and Garret AGAIN
*Singing and recording songs like the Harry Potter Puppet Show Song- Too funny!
*Cleaning out Closets- Forget about a clean house... I LOVE, LOVE a clean closet!
*Surviving a 4am Tropical Storm
*Lost & lots of Painting- Glory's outdoor art and Mom's Unfinished Projects--
finishing up the downstairs bathroom wall and refinishing the curb-side desk!
*Late Night Movies- Wowzers! Can anyone one say 2am everynight? Ooops!
*Trip to McDees for Ice Cream (oh and dinner!)

Thanks little Glory girl for spending the week with me!

You are an awesome date!

IIIIIIIIIIIIII LOOOOOOOOOOOOVE YYYYYYYYYYYYOU!

Midwest Kidfest

Remember how it rains every time we're scheduled for some outside fun? Yeah- well today was right with that plan! We were going to go to Buffalo River but it was cold and rainy- not swimming weather, for sure! Well, we tried to make the best of it! We decided to have Dad meet us at the annual Midwest KidFest for some lunch and fun! It had rained all morning so EVERYTHING was muddy! But kids and mud and games and balloons and art and food... what a perfect combination for FUN!

Here's a look at our day:

Lunch with Dad, Ditzy the Clown and tons of things to take home:

 All the fun kid games to participate in:

 Glory's favorite was the Horsey ride:

A chance to be a Hero:

 Fun ARTsy Kid Stuff:

 Animals to touch:

And of course- muddy bouncers! How fun!

Yeah for KidFest!!!!

F.O.E.

Last minute change of plans made for a fun FOE (Family OUT Evening instead of Family Home Evening). The school age kids have free passes to a local bowling alley. They get a free game every day for all of June & July. FREE games at Stars & Stripes? Here we come! Our entire family got to play a game with shoes for $8. Score!!!! Because of the lanes we played on- we played the whole game without bumpers so it was a bit low scoring (and maybe a bit frustrating for those who cared about their score). But hey- maybe we'll all be forced to get really good by the end of the Summer. Way to keep trying guys!!!

Then we went to enjoyed a treat at DQ. Thanks Daddy!

Yeah for Family Night!!!

Snow Much Fun in April!

We decided to make the most of the Spring Snow! It actually was perfect packing snow so a whole family of snowmen quickly took residence in our yard. They turned out really neat. And of course, we were the ONLY house on the block with snowmen. Way fun!

After completing the snowmen and Brett being the fun Dad that he is, the wet slushy snow soon turned into an all-out snowball fight! They were all getting into it. They were all a bit wet but what fun times!

April Showers brings....

SNOW much fun!

Puzzle Mania

Not sure what started it but our family has been on a Puzzle kick this week. Dora puzzles, Pooh puzzles, Animal Race puzzles, Dora puzzles, Care Bear Puzzles, United States puzzles, Dora puzzles, Power Ranger puzzles, Yu-Gi-Oh puzzles, Dora puzzles. It's been fun to see the kids patience and cooperation. Well, at least until it's all put together. Then the teasing of taking pieces off or touching each other's puzzles ensues. Gotta love Sibling Rivalry!!

Monster Jam 2011

Every February, the Monster Jam comes to the Fargodome. And every year, Brett takes the kids old enough to handle the noise to enjoy in the fun! Our die-hard MonsterJam friends moved this year (We miss you Webers!) so Brett, Liberty, Justice, and Victoria almost went alone. Not a bad thing- just different! But the Potter boys braved the price and the deafness for a Monster of a good time! They went to a daytime show this year. Definitely not as crowded & a little more child-friendly audience. Which can be a nice thing! ;)

This was Victoria's 1st time! She loved it! Her favorite part was the remote control trucks at the end. ;) The older kids were way excited because their all-time Fav returned this year- the famous Grave Digger!

Thanks Honey for making the time to create memories with the kids. You're an awesome Dad!