What a beautiful day it’s starting out to be, as I turn 43 years young today.  The girls and I are going to the zoo to see the new Black Bears that have arrived form Russia and have a picnic lunch amongst the wildlife.  Then for dinner tonight, we’re heading downtown to Minneapolis to enjoy some spaghetti at The Old Spaghetti Factory.  The weather couldn’t be better.  Today the forecast is for a sunny, 83 degree day and no wind to mess up my hair!  As my husband said to me today, “The Gods are smiling on me today.”  I love birthdays!

Last night we enjoyed a fabulous dinner at Stewie’s pad.  He made these wonderful, juicy stuffed pork chops and hasselback potatoes.  He even made appetizers, which were sun-dried tomato crostini’s.  Oh so yummy!  But the good eats and thoughtfulness didn’t stop there.  For dessert, I got a birthday cake, complete with Happy Birthday candles.  Very drippy, but they looked cool.  Megan was able to scrape off the wax and we all enjoyed Carrot Cake…my favorite.  A delicious way to spend a Saturday and I’m still not hungry this morning.  Thanks again Stewie!   You rock!

Today we had this baby bird on our swing-set.  Somehow it managed to get onto the ladder and seemed to be stuck there.  We didn’t see anything until we noticed that Jazz was going crazy near the ladder and trying very hard to climb it.  We then walked over and found the baby sitting there, very scared and shivering.  I’m sure we didn’t help her situation at all because we were all screaming at Jazz to let her be.   We solved this problem by taking Jazz into the house, where she sat very unhappy for the remainder of the day.

What a yucky day in the Solberg house.  I’m referring to all the bugs and critters that we found.  Megan was playing Jenga downstairs on the carpet and yells “Ants Mom!  I just killed five of them.”  Okay, I guess it’s time for the Terro.  Then later I was outside looking at the flowers and found this creepy long bug attached to the wall by the front door (and by the way, he’s still out there!”)  ewwww… Now tonight, the girls & I were sitting out on our deck and Kelly noticed a hornets nest up in a corner near the kitchen window.  We also had one of these in the neighbors’ mailbox, which is next to ours so you had to be careful getting your mail out, up until yesterday when he finally sprayed it.  Summer can be such an experience around here.  Too much nature for me.   By the way, as I write this, Jazz is on point staring down the fly which is on the window sill! 

After this week, I can say that summer has arrived.  It’s been sunny, warm and absolutely perfect day after day.  Yesterday I took the girls to the local pool and they had a great time swimming while I sat on a lounge chair working on my tan and visiting with a friend.  Then later that evening, my friend came over and we scrap booked until 11:00.  I love days like that.

Today we have a graduation party at our neighbors.  They asked us if their six month puppy could stay out in our backyard during the party.  We said yes, but now we’re afraid that we won’t have any flowers left in our gardens after today.  She’s a wild one who will eat anything in her path.  Good thing it’s not raining out, I won’t let her in the house, after hearing the stories from the neighbor.  I’ll let you know how it goes.

Today I did something that I haven’t done in quite a few years.  I went on a bike ride.  Kelly & I took our bikes out for a spin around the pond.  We enjoyed the wind whipping through our hair, the sun shining down on our skin and the fresh air all around us.  It was a beautiful day for a ride and it felt so good to get some exercise in my life….all 20 minutes of it.

What a gorgeous day this is turning out to be.  The sun is shining, birds are chirping and we’re off to the golf course to play nine holes.   After that, Plankton will watch the rest of the U.S. Open and then we’ll do some grilling for dinner.  I hope everyone has a nice day!

Today we were planning on heading over to the local outdoor swimming pool to kick off our summer.  I was going to be a lounge-lizard in my chair, chatting for hours with my girlfriend while our kids splash around in the pool.  Then came the winds!  I’m talking 20-30 mile an hour winds that gave us a windchill that feels like 50 degrees…not swimming weather.  So I ended up taking the girls to a local park.  Instead of my pool-side chair, I found a hard bench to sit at and read.   I had to grasp my Oprah magazine so hard so as not to rip the pages everytime I turned one or worse, end up letting it go and me running across the park to catch it as it blows across into the next field.  After an hour of this stressful reading, we went home and made warm hotdogs for lunch.  I’ll try again for the pool next week.

Today the girls & I did our first installment of Meals on Wheels  This is a volunteer program in which we deliver a hot meal to the elderly.  All of these people are so excited when we show up and thank us kindly for our efforts.   There are a few who just want to talk.  Today at our first stop, we had the “talker.”  She wanted to tell us everything that was happening in her life and her sons life.  Way too much information was given during these stories of hers.  At one point, the girls & I looked at each other and we were thinking the same thing….”the other meals are getting cold!”  After the third time of saying,  “Okay then, have a great day and enjoy your meal” she finally let us go!  It gave us a great reason to smile on this gloomy, rainy day.  She was a fun, spunky, 97 year old gal. (Yes, she told us her age & birthday)

We are back from our trip to Wisconsin.  The weather didn’t cooperate as well as we would have liked, but we still had a nice time.  We managed to get out to Lake Michigan, see a movie, play bocce ball, the girls got into a hot-tub at their cousins and Brett tried to fly kites during tornado-type winds (and wasn’t very successful).  So we did our best to not let the weather dampen our spirits.  When we got back to Minnesota, the sun was shining down on us.  Aaaah, back home.