Our vacation to Bloomington was just what the doctor ordered for our family!  It was a vacation for us and a staycation for Greg, Erin, and the boys.  Anne and Grandma/Grandpa Morgan came down, as well.  Last year we went to the Dells, which was fun, but it was so nice to be at someone's home! 

We flew down there because 50 mins in the air beats 8 hours in the wagon any day.  Plus, the Bloomington airport is incredibly easy to fly in/out of.  Of course both flights were scheduled during Finley's sleeping hours and she didn't want to fall asleep with so much to look at.  After much fuss, pulling mom's fresh cup of water over on her pants, and two tense parents, the seat belt sign was turned off and I stood up to bounce this little girl to sleep (with my wet pants and underwear).  Here she is snoozing in Dad's arms. 

It was amazing to have Annie and Erin volunteer to feed Finley, put her down for a nap, give her some sweet potatoes, etc.  I actually got to finish a magazine cover to cover!  Finley loved it too!

It is so sweet to see Finley with her cousins.  The feelings are surely mutual - they love her and she loves them.  See the evidence in the next few photos:

this is my favorite...she's just hanging out and chatting with the boys!

are they related or what?

It was HOT and real humid down there.  Finley experienced her first baby pool to cool off.  She loved it so much she spit up sweet potatoes into it.

trampoline skills were on display all weekend

We had such an awesome, stress-free vacation filled with family and good food and tons of laughs.  Thanks E&G for letting us vacation at your house. 

While in Bloomington (Illinois) I decided to soak up the rural sights and got some festive pictures of Finley at the same time.  Enjoy...

4 H Building

Big John Deere wheel and vintage tractor grill

Horse Trailer

Who puts their baby in a big ol' tire?  me.

I think its adorable

Erin led us to this corn field.  It was about 97 degrees and humid out in the afternoon sun.  Finley looks humored, at least.

I could eat her up - my little angel babe!

Big props go to Annie for laying in the field behind Finley in this last shot to make sure she didn't topple off of the chair and to Erin for dangling a set of keys above Finley while standing in her walking boot! 

Originally, I had planned to have professional 6 month pictures taken of Fin, but I am a procrastinator so this is my amateur attempt.  I'm pretty happy with the results!

Nisswa

We ventured north to lake country at the end of last month to stay on Gull Lake.  Grandpa and Grandma Zenz and Aunt Michelle went up early on Friday and took Finley along!  Pat and I came up after work and thought it was eerily quiet in the car without our babe.   

Finley thought it was a pants off good time!

We bought Fin an inflatable boat and she thought it was...okay.

A rare family picture

There were lots of iphone tutorials on the patio.  God Bless Pat ;)

Hanging at brunch

Finley sat like a big girl at the table (the bumbo came with us to eat a few times) and kept herself entertained with spoons and napkins.  She even managed to smuggle a few back home by hiding them under her chubby thighs!

Nothing better than drinking on the pontoon boat (for Pat and Fin)

Titanic, anyone?

At dinner, Grandma entertained her with a finger puppet sock monkey... 

All Finley wanted to do was chomp on it.

She took a turn in the hot tub time machine - well actually it was just a warm tub.

Then, tried out the big kids pool with dad and her PFD

The weather was beautiful all weekend, which only happens every 10th Zenz vacation so we felt very blessed.  Finley didn't cramp our style too much...dinner at 5:30 is fun, right?  Seriously, she did so well and loved playing in the saucer on the patio everyday.  Pat and I enjoyed golfing, the spa, running, and scouring antique stores.  Thanks mom and dad for another great vacation!

Konichiwa

Every 3 years, for at least the last 9 years, my parents have home-stayed players from a girls soccer team from Japan.  Tokiwagi highschool sent 3 teams to the USA Cup soccer tournament held at the soccer complex here in Blaine.  It's a tournament my sister and I played in many times and have great memories from.  The japanese girls are so fun to watch.  Most of the players don't speak english, but it's fun to try to communicate in other ways.  Pat and I were able to bring Finley to a few games and we had a blast cheering them on! 

Finley slept through some of the games :)

The coaches wife brought their son, Toshi, who was a few months older than Finley.  I can't believe they took him on that long of a plane ride!!  Toshi and Finley were both a little confused by the other :)

The girls loved Finley.  Although not as much as shopping!

Depending on how crazy our life is with our own family in 3 years, we may be joining in the home-stay fun for Tokiwagi's return trip!

Happiness is

Flowers from my garden. 

check it off the list

Cousins

Finley loved meeting her cousins the weekend of her baptism.  They got along so well together.  It was the cutest thing!

The boys took turns holding her.

Finley was crying at one point and Ethan came up to me and said "I think she needs her thing" pointing to her pacifier...such a great cousin

The boys brought their scooters and had fun racing around the park.

And of course we had to have smores!

It is only a few weeks until Finley gets to see these dudes again.  We can't wait!

Our House, the Bed and Breakfast

The past month we have been hosts to visitors more than we have been home alone. Seeing as I would love to be a B&B proprietor in my next life, it has been pretty entertaining. Trust me though, we are surely enjoying lounging on the couch and letting the laundry pile up now that our guests are gone.

Greg (brother-in-law) came up to run the Minnapolis Half Marathon with Pat and teach Pat how to turn our jungle of a garage into something more organized. :)

Then, Katie and Lauren came to visit and meet Finley.  It was a rainy weekend and we spent plenty of time in hoodies, eating cookie dough, and discussing way too much about PT.  The only thing missing was a lot of wine and warm brownies reminiscent of grad school.  I love these girls and how we can just pick up where we left off last time we were all together.  I don't think Finley gave parenthood too bad of a name, either!  My favorite part of the weekend was going to the mall for 4 hours and just browsing - I haven't done that in months!

We got to cross off 3 items on the Sweet Summer List which is pretty, well um, sweet.

Grandma and Nini Visit

Grandma Morgan and Aunt Nini came to visit back in May.  It was a relaxing, beautiful weekend. 

Good thing they don't look anything alike...

Visiting the Big Dipper - a family owned handmade ice cream shop.  Check one item off of the Sweet Summer List.  This is real ice cream in a cone :)

Finley and Nini hanging out on the front porch.

Grandma helped me plant some flowers!

Can't wait to see you guys in a few weeks.