Holiday Road

So the Griswolds go on vacation......., alright, the Laurienzo's, same difference. Mickey and Tina gave us some free passes to the Edgewater Waterpark/Hotel so we took a couple days and headed up to Duluth. The waterpark was great..... perfect for Vinny and Talia. We had so much fun and we were sooo tired at the end of each night after all that swimming! There was a wading pool with spraying water and slides, there was a main pool that had a vortex swirl in it..... a big huge water slide Brian loved , a lazy river.....which, by the way, was really lazy...hardly any current! ha ha...but it was all good. Our camera however, not so good. Maybe it was user error, but that dang camera took more blurry pictures than good ones. (*&^%$#@! HORRIBLE! So, unfortunately we do not have that many good shots to share. Maybe next time.

Vinny's 1st Vikings Game

Last Sunday we took Vinny to his first Vikings game. We left Talia with Grandma and Grandpa, then we headed to the light rail station to take the train! We had a great time getting there... but once the game started, Vinny lost interest. We can't blame him really. We think the last picture sums it up.

Talia made it into this picture taken at Grandmas. She didn't miss much by not going!

Vinny waiting for the train to come.

Booo! Vikings blow it again!

State Fair 2008 in the Books!

The 2008 Minnesota State Fair is in the books. The kids had a great time when they came to visit and below are just a few snapshots of all the fun.

Vinny is getting bigger and now likes to play all the fun games down in the Midway. He won two stuffed animals and a ball. Not bad!

Vinny's first trip down the Giant Slide was not as fun as we had hoped. He didn't care for it. He thought it was too high. Go figure, since in the next picture he couldn't get enough of the Space Tower!

Talia spent most of her time dancing to whoever was singing in the bandshell. Slow, fast, it didn't matter, as long as there was music, she was going to dance!

Leinie Lodge - Minnesota State Fair 2008

It is Leinie Lodge time at the Minnesota State Fair. Stop by and buy a beer and see what Brian is eating. This year Brian plans to try:

1. Big Fat Bacon - bacon on a stick

2. Pig Lickers - chocolate covered bacon

3. Leprachaun Legs- lightly battered deep fried green beans

4. Deep Fried Smores on a stick - at Oodles of Noodles

5. Jerk on a Stick - Carribean Jerk Sausage on stick

5. Walking Taco- taco meat, cheese salsa & sour cream served in a dorito bag full of chips

In addition, he will also continue to eat his favorites:

1. Bull Bites

2. Turkey Tendorloin on stick

3. Corn Roast

4. Sweet Martha's

5. Cheese Curds

6. Chocolate Cupcakes

7. Chocolate Brownie

8. Pork Chop on stick

9. Onion Rings

10. Butcher Boys London Broil

11. Gizmo Sandwich

12. Salted Nut Rolls

13. Jumbo Beef Burrito

and many others I have probably missed. Anyhow, stop by, Brian is always eating. Literally.


See you at the fair!

Maria McDonald - Irish Festival Dancer

For those of you who have not had the opportunity to see Maria do her Irish dancing, I filmed this short clip at the Irish Festival last weekend. I am very proud of her. It's really a lot of fun to watch them perform. Good job Maria ! To start, Maria is found in the green dress with the dark hair (she is the tallest one...go figure).

And the bride wore....... Spandex?

Saturday afternoon the Laurienzo's attended the wedding party for Brian's cousin Denise and her new husband, Troy. They were married last March in Jamaica. To celebrate the occasion Denise and Troy hosted a pig roast for family and friends. There was a band, a big jumper, a duck pond, and a DUNK TANK! Instead of a dollar dance, Troy and Denise had the $1 DUNK!

As you can see by Vinny's face, this was quite a fun event! We didn't see Vinny the rest of the night. When I finally tracked him down, he was soaking wet from head to toe. Big squirt gun fight with the other kids. Thankfully I had a spare pair of underwear for him to change into, but no extra clothes for the ride home!

If you look really close, you can see Talia covered in dirt. A sign that she is having a very good time!

More dirt!

In the Jumper with Daddy....

Talia decided to dunk herself in the Duck Pond. One of the highlights of her evening.

Time for a short pretzel break for my soggy kid.

Superstar

Brian sent in Talia's picture to the online edition of the Star Tribune. It was posted Saturday and Sunday, July 12th & 13th.... Who would have thought that Talia would make the sports page before her brother?