M. Sullivan Photography » Animals

The Great Minnesota Get-Together

msullivanphotography — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 17:36:31 +0000

We made a trip down to the Twin Cities on Sunday night in anticipation of going to the State Fair Monday. We didn’t go last year and Sophia claimed she couldn’t remember going two years ago…not even the Giant Slide. I guess she was only four at the time. Sebastian remembered the fair very clearly. He wanted to check out the Kidway, Midway and Giant Slide again. Mike was mainly interested in the pronto pups and turkey drumsticks. We got up early and made it to the fairgrounds at 8:30am. Tom and Karen also came with us. The weather was overcast, but warm and humid in the morning. The afternoon ended up being sunny and in the 90′s. It was definitely hot, but we had a great time.

Our first stop was “Little Farm Hands”. Sebastian was hesitant to participate this year now that he is almost ten, but he was a good sport and trudged through with Sophia knowing that there was a reward for his labor at the end. He opted out of the apron (too lame) and the tractor (too small). The kids made their way through the various areas of the farm gathering eggs, picking vegetables, milking a cow and then turned in their farm goods for money to use in the store. Instead of picking out Lucky Charms cereal like two years ago, Sebastian bought an apple and Sophia picked out a small stuffed lamb.

Sebastian brought his camera with so that we could take pictures of our day at the fair.

Tractor Driver

Corn for the Chickens

Farmer Family

Planting Seed

Strong Farmer Boy

Strong Farmer Girl

Milking the Cow

After working the farm, we ventured off to see some other displays and to find a pronto pup for Mike (and Sophia).

Pronto Pups

Pronto Pup and Lambie

Off to the Kidway next…

Ferris Wheel Ride

Across the Bridge and Down the Slide

Whale Ride

Whale Ride with Bubbles

Merry-Go-Round

Time for a Sno-Cone break.

Rainbow Sno-Cone

Off to the Giant Slide.

Giant Slide

If you look closely you can see Sebastian in a white shirt, Tom in all black and Mike and Sophia sitting on their burlap sack in black and pink, respectively.

A few stops along the way included various fried foods, restroom breaks and Tom and Karen took the kids to the butterfly house while Mike and I looked at the Home Improvement area and Merchandise Mart.

Despite the heat and crowds, we decided to check out the Miracle of Birth building. It actually wasn’t too bad and the kids were able to see lambs, ducklings, chicks, calves, baby pigs and goats.

Lambs

Ducklings

Petting the Piglet

Calf

Baby Goat

We made it over to the Midway for Sebastian to enjoy games for big kids. We went through a lot of tickets (i.e. $’s), but Sebastian did win a large, stuffed gorilla and a purple stuffed cow. Mike won a small penguin for Sophia. After the games and rides we viewed more exhibits and ended up at the all-you-can-drink milk booth. Karen treated Sophia to an ice-cold glass of milk.

Milk Mustache

And don’t forget Heritage Square for a turkey drumstick.

Turkey Drumstick

We made a quick stop to see a few Vikings players.

Seb and A. P.

Seb and Farve

Mike and Jared Allen

The boys also stopped at the Fox Sports North booth and did a “live” broadcast. It was recorded and can be viewed online. I need to track down the link and will add it here.

We left the fair via the Sky Ride per the kids request.

Mike and Sebastian

Sophia Riding the Sky Ride

THE END!

Filed under: Animals, Family, Photos, Vacation Tagged: MN State Fair

R.I.P. Ty

msullivanphotography — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 19:13:59 +0000

It was a sad day at our house yesterday. Mike had to tell Sebastian and Sophia that our next door neighbor’s dog, Ty, passed away (I had chickened out and couldn’t do it). Ty had lived next door to us for Sebastian and Sophia’s whole lifetime. Sebastian used to take Ty for walks with our neighbor Greg. It was an exciting time when Greg and Pam would go out-of-town for a few days and we would be in charge of feeding and walking Ty. Sebastian did the math and Ty would have been between 91 and 98 years old in dog years. We never knew how old he really was because Greg found him as a stray. The kids made cards for Greg and Pam last night. Sophia drew a picture of Ty and wrote on the front “I’m sorry Ty died”. Sophia likes to get to the point. Sebastian thought she should say “passed away” instead of “died”. She went with her original wording in the end. I’m sure Greg and Pam understood – she’s only five. Sebastian wrote out a letter with all the thing he loved about Ty and how much he will miss him. The kids brought the cards next door with a batch of home-made cookies. They said they didn’t need me to come with. I was very proud of them for their thoughtfulness and true sympathy.

Ty, Sophia & Sebastian - March 2009

Filed under: Animals, Family Tagged: Family, Pets

Thirty-Nine

msullivanphotography — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 17:51:16 +0000

Tuesday was my birthday. It wasn’t a big milestone birthday, but in some ways it seems like maybe it was. As my Mom said in my birthday card, “…your last year of your thirties”. Wow, when did I get so old? Despite the number, I had a fabulous day. Mike and I took the day off from work. He got the kids off to school in the morning and brought back flowers, a fancy coffee and bagels with cream cheese. We enjoyed our breakfast while watching the Today Show. After getting our fill of the news and bagels, we decided to take Daphne for a long walk around the neighborhood. The weather was in the 70′s and it was sunny – no rain, tornado warnings or 39 degree temperatures like I’ve had some years on my birthday.

We checked out our yard and gardens when we got back. I also looked in on our nesting birds. Three babies had hatched!

Bald Baby Birds

Backyard blooms…

Azalea

Iris

Purple Columbine

Sophia's Marigolds

Bush Cherry

After our stroll around the yard, we headed to Valentini’s restaurant for lunch. We had a great table outside overlooking the lake. We were planning to go to a movie in the afternoon, but the weather was too nice. We opted for a walk along the Lakewalk instead. We ended up having ice cream at the Bridgeman’s at Fitger’s and walked down to the lake to dip our toes in to cool off a bit.

Lake View

American Mariner

We picked up the kids from school and opened presents before Sebastian’s baseball game.

Birthday Card

Presents

Sebastian had two hits in his game - a single and a double – and also pitched an inning.

Hit

Pitcher

We finished off the evening with a quick dinner and some birthday cake.

Cake

I can’t think of a better way to spend my last birthday in my thirties.

Filed under: Animals, Family, Flowers, Photos, Weather Tagged: Birds, Family, Flowers, Nest