Thurs. Sept. 6, 2012 - outdoor labor on Labor Day

 Micaela is 40 weeks old!

 Exploring the garden

 Closely examining the bush

 The Cozzi's, friends we met in CA, moved to MN over a year ago and spent a night with us as they were traveling around WI. Aiden and Riley enjoyed getting reacquainted.

 Aiden and Riley when they first met almost 3 years ago...they sure have changed!

 Aiden built a tall tower while Riley looked on

 Madeline, Sarah, Riley, Aiden, Eric and Benjamin (the twins are just 8 weeks old)

 So happy to spend some time with Sarah!

 Our BOB running stroller reclines nicely and Micaela enjoys a nap while I jog

 Daddy, what are you doing out there? 

 Our Labor Day weekend involved stripping then painting the pergola

 Good thing we limited Riley to her water-soluble paints

It looked fantastic when we (ok, mostly Chad) finished

 What is this new food? 

 Spaghetti?

 I like it!

This weekend we had more visitors. We met the Cozzi family in California; Riley and I were placed in Aiden and Sarah's playgroup when Riley was 9 months old and they have both been wonderful playmates ever since. About a year ago they moved to MN and 8 weeks ago welcomed twins Benjamin and Madeline into the world. They were visiting family in WI and we were lucky enough to host them for a night so we could catch up and meet their new additions. It was great to catch up with them all and compare moving-from-CA notes, I'm glad we have stayed in touch.

The rest of our Labor Day weekend was spent laboring. We have a fantastic pergola over our back patio that unfortunately needed to be stripped and repainted. Chad was stuck with most of the work because keeping the kids out of the paint is a full time job. Its a really nice pergola and we want to take good care of it so it will last, so it was definitely worth all the pain (the opinion of the one NOT up on that ladder). The fresh paint has given it a whole new look.

We did take a break on Monday evening for a back to school icecream party hosted by one of the neighbors. They provided icecream and we all brought toppings. The kids played, we socialized, it was really nice evening. I love our neighborhood!