Cupcakes and noses

Mama bear spent most of Sunday engaged in wedding shower festivities for Uncle Will and soon-to-be-Auntie Anne. It was a lot of fun and, selfishly, I loved the "quiet" time with them and Grandpa Dave and Grandma Doreen in the car (although Gpa D and Will would probably argue against my definition of quiet... Anything sans children is quiet to me. Gma D and the Annes easily kept the conversations rolling without any assistance from a certain 4 year old. Or 1 year old.). The baby bears spent the day with their Papa bear and I'm pretty sure they had a great time ruling the den! They washed the car, went to Lowes, goofed around at the golf course, and probably ate way more animal crackers and Cheez-Its than I care to know.

In addition to the usual benefits that come from a little time away from mommy (absence makes the heart grow fonder!), the boys also scored leftover cupcakes from the shower. They were made with extra love (and frosting) by Tanner's cousin Asha. She's a fabulous cake baker and specializes in the mini variety - perfect for the boys.

We're heading to Worthington this weekend to celebrate Great Grandma Helen's 90th birthday (where does she hide all those years? She's got more pep in her step than we do!). Fortunately Asha will be supplying cupcakes for that big event, too. We're already drooling.

(he'll eat crumbs off of anything)

On a totally unrelated note, we went for a bike ride tonight. Actually, it's sort of related because the purpose of our bike ride was to go to Walgreens to pick up some pictures that we printed for GGma Helen. Anyway, we cut through the Steele County fairgrounds on the way home and came across a bunch of dogs taking turns running through an obstacle course. Their owners were there (with treats of course) and they all seemed to appreciate the small crowd that had gathered to watch. Next to us were two women in electric wheelchair scooter thing-a-ma-jigs. One had two tiny (yet obese) dogs tucked by her feet. It was actually a very strange situation. So awkward that Miles didn't even comment. She had all sorts of other stuff on the scooter too - maybe a radio, some grocery bags, her smokes, a beverage, and I think her kitchen sink. The woman in the other scooter might have been her mother. She was using oxygen and had her tank tucked under her feet. No dogs. Miles was not as fascinated by the ladies as I expected - he must have been too distracted by the dogs on the obstacle course. We enjoyed the show for a while and then headed home. About 10 minutes later Miles asked, "Mama, why was that lady in the chair with wheels -- the one who had the wires holding her nose up -- watching the dogs play?"

Note that he didn't seem phased by her scooter. Or her nose being held up by wires. He simply wanted to know why she was watching the dogs. I told him she probably likes puppies just as much as he does, and was watching for the same reason we were - because it was fun. Then I couldn't help myself...I clarified that the wires were not actually holding up her nose, but rather helping her breathe. Sigh. I love that kid.