Picture This!

A Day At The Cabin

noreply@blogger.com (Jamie Seeman) — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 20:26:00 +0000

These pictures were taken on June 29th at one of Elijah's friend's cabin. They invited some of their son's friends and family to enjoy a day on the lake. The boys had a great time playing in the water, boating and just being boys.

This was at Pipe Lake in Comstock, Wisconsin. We were worried that the day was going to be rained out, but it ended up being a pretty nice day. It was nice to take a break from everyday life and to smell the fresh air.

We all need to do more of that!

A Day At The Zoo

noreply@blogger.com (Jamie Seeman) — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 14:46:00 +0000

These pictures were taken at the 'Tiger Cub Day at the Zoo', which was held at Como Zoo located in St. Paul, MN. Elijah joined Cub Scouts this year, and since he is in first grade he is a Tiger Cub. He is really enjoying it, plus it's a great way for me to spend one on one time with him. It's a win win situation.

I'm not sure you can tell or not, but the day started out cloudy and then slowly moved into rain. Of course the rain started getting worse when we were supposed to sit and watch the seal show. The rain didn't bother us too much, at least not enough to ruin the day for us. Como has a wide range of animals, and seem to be well taken care of.

Eli was assigned to research one animal while he was there, and he was to fill out a fact sheet on that animal. Being his father's son, he picked the Tortoise! How cool is that. Como Zoo has two huge tortoises. It was neat learning about them and watching the zoo trainers working with them. Elijah was pretty excited.

A Trip Up North

noreply@blogger.com (Jamie Seeman) — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 02:52:00 +0000

These pictures were taken up on the North Shore of Lake Superior when went up there to stay at the cabin for the weekend. We stayed at a nice cabin at the Temperance Traders in Schroeder, MN.

We arrived at the cabins on Friday night and had a pleasant surprise; we had been upgraded to a two bedroom cabin up from the one room cabin. There wasn't a cloud in the sky that night. With no city light to impair our site, you could literally see every star. It is just an awesome sight to see.

The next day the forecasters had called for rain, but luckily we had sunny skies for most of the day. We had a great day of hiking and seeing the beautiful scenery all along the North Shore. We started out at the Temperance River to see the waterfalls and gorge that the water has carved out over thousands of years.

From there we went to Palisade Head which is near Tettegouche State Park. The boys had a blast climbing the rocks and throwing rocks. The scary part was keeping a close eye on Joshua, because the cliff walls are about 300 feet high above the lake in some places.

Our last stop for the day was at Gooseberry State Park which is probably the most visited and one of the best places on the North Shore. There are beautiful waterfalls and so many rocks and cliffs to climb. It totally makes you feel like a kid again. The only real issues we had while we were there was Joshua's addiction to water (read previous post). I didn't mind him getting his shoes wet, but of course he didn't want to stop there. There were so many times I stopped him right before he sat in the puddles or little running streams. I'm totally glad we brought a kid carrier to keep him safely on one of our backs.

As soon as we got back to the cabin it wanted to rain. I'm sorry but camping is not camping without a camp fire. Yeah I know, we weren't really camping if we were in a cabin. A little sprinkling wasn't going to stop me from having a fire, so I put on a poncho and had my fire. It only rained a tiny bit, so we had a fun night by the fire.

We did a little more hiking the next day and then headed back home. We had a great weekend that helped cap off a great summer we had just had. I can't wait to go up next year.

Helping Big Brother

noreply@blogger.com (Jamie Seeman) — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 01:26:00 +0000

These pictures were taken in the backyard while Elijah was watering the bushes. Of course, where there is water, there is Joshua. That boy loves water!

Elijah is such a good brother and understanding when it comes to his little brother. Like in these pictures he was showing Joshua the ropes when it comes to watering plants and bushes. As you can see it didn't take long until Joshua decided to get himself 'watered'.

There are so many days that Leah and I have to change Joshua's clothes two, maybe three times a day because of his obsession with water. The cat's water bowl, any random mud puddle, or even the simple water glass; it doesn't matter one bit to Joshua because he wants to be wearing it.

Oh the joys of parenthood!

Happy 29th (+1) Birthday Leah!

noreply@blogger.com (Jamie Seeman) — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 03:36:00 +0000

These pictures were taken the weekend of Leah's BIG 30th Birthday. As most of you know, Leah is a huge Reba McEntire fan. I had found out that Reba was going to be at a near by casino Jackpot Junction, and I knew I needed to get tickets for the concert. It just happened to workout that Leah's birthday landed the week of the concert, so I decided to make a weekend out of it.

Leah's cousin Tommy (and family) agreed to take the kids off of our hands for the night, so I looked around for a nice place for the two of us to stay. Looking for a place between where the concert was and to where our kids would be was important, and I wanted something different than a hotel. I lucked out and found a great bed & breakfast in the little town of New Ulm, MN. The name of the B & B was Deutsche Strasse Bed & Breakfast. That place was beautiful.

I reserved the Black Forest Suite, which was their top of the line room that included a hot tub. The place was great and the hosts were so nice. We literally had a whole wing of the house to our selves, because our room used to be the servants quarters back in the early 1900's. It was great getting into the hot tub after the concert.

Oh yeah, the concert! How could I forget that. We made it to the casino early enough to get a bite to eat at their buffet. It was okay for buffet food and it filled our stomachs, so you can say mission accomplshed. We headed over to the outdoor concert arena. It just so happened to be the perfect night out, and to top that off, we were only 11 rows from the stage and almost dead center of the stage. Reba did a great job (as always), and Leah and I had an awesome time.

The next day Leah and I were able to do a little exploring into the shops in downtown New Ulm. Leah was able to talk me into yet another 6 figurines, because we all know how much of a shortage she is in need for those... NOT! No, they were really nice ones and they will (hopefully) finish off the collection she already has.

When Leah returned to work on Monday she had flowers, balloons and cards waiting for her from her co-workers. Later on that day I helped with adding three more dozen roses, because a lady can never get too many flowers. Looking at her cube you would have thought it was a flower shop.

Here's to wishing you a Happy Birthday babe! I can't wait to spend many more with ya. I love you!

Our Big First Grader

noreply@blogger.com (Jamie Seeman) — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 20:26:00 +0000

This morning we took a picture of Elijah of his first day in first grade. He was so excited to finally wear some of his new clothes and being able to ride the big yellow bus to school. He is so big; it is amazing how quickly he is growing up.

This weekend there was a little competition between Eli and Momma as to who had a more important day today (September 4th); it was his first day in public school/first grade, while Leah was celebrating her 29th + 1 birthday. That's quite the toss up if you ask me, but fearing for my life, I had to side with Leah (to Eli's disappointment). No sane husband would ever say his wife's birthday is not more important than anything else going on in the world (especially when she is turning 30!).

We are really looking forward to hearing all about Eli's day and are hoping everything went well for him today. We know there are a lot of changes and new rules to learn in such a short amount of time, but we know he is up to the task.

Good job, Big Guy, Mom and Dad are so proud of you!

Grandpa's Helper

noreply@blogger.com (Jamie Seeman) — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 14:25:00 +0000

These pictures were taken while at my parents' house in July. Joshua wanted to help Grandpa and his cousin Brandon cut the grass. We could not get him off of that tractor. Every time we tried, he just kicked and screamed! He is such a handful.

Joshua has mastered the 'toddler tantrum' that he picked up at preschool. If he doesn't get his way, he lets you know it - kicking his legs, saddest cries you have ever heard, crocodile tears streaming down his cheeks. It could just break your heart, but you must resist it! It will only become worse (if that is possible).

Leah and I are so grateful that Joshua has a good big brother. Eli really helps keep Joshua occupied a good portion of the time. Eli is patient and thoughtful when he needs to be - even when Joshua is not behaving nicely. It is so awesome just to watch the two interact on a daily basis. They genuinely love one another. How can two parents be so lucky?

Big Kids Night Out

noreply@blogger.com (Jamie Seeman) — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 14:53:00 +0000

This picture was taken the night Leah and I went to the Nickelback concert. The kids were with grandparents for the week, so we were able be just a married couple (more like a couple of big kids) for a while.

The concert was great. Chris Daughtry and Staind were the opening acts and all three bands did an awesome job. We had an excellent time, except we bought floor seats. I don't think I will do that again on the account that we are both 5'6" and everyone else on the floor seemed to be 7 foot tall. Not a huge deal though, since we stood behind the sound equipment by the VIP section and had a clear view of the stage.

We got to see a couple people get escorted out of the building for being too drunk (and stupid), got to smell enough weed to almost get high, and I got told to "f*ck off" by one of the street guys selling t-shirts for trying to low ball him. Pretty successful night if you ask me.

We need to do it more often.

A Day to Play

noreply@blogger.com (Jamie Seeman) — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 15:51:00 +0000

These images were taken at an I-35 rest stop playground on a trip coming back from Iowa. The kids get pretty cranky about 3 hours into the ride, so Leah and I figured we would let them stretch their legs a little.

It is pretty amazing how quickly these two rug rats are growing. I can remember when Elijah was Joshua's age. Crazy!

Some updated news: Wednesday, August 1st, Joshua's hand slipped on the bed sheets in our room and his head slammed into the corner of the dresser next to the bed. This ended up cutting his forehead right above the right eye; blood went everywhere! Four and a half hours waiting in the emergency room, a little purple glue (Durabond) on the cut, and he is okay. He slept right through the procedure. Of course all of this had to happen the night the 35W bridge collapsed and every emergency room in the Twin Cities area was booked up.

Good thing we love the stinker!

Momma's Baby

noreply@blogger.com (Jamie Seeman) — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 14:44:00 +0000

This awesome picture of Elijah and Leah was taken at a wedding reception we attended a few weeks back. It was such a beautiful day that we took the boys outside for some fresh air.

Okay... who am I kidding? We actually went outside since Joshua was driving us, and everyone else at the reception, crazy because of his roaming hands getting into anything and everything. It is a good thing we love the kid because he is such a little devil.

For whatever his reason, Joshua decided it was a good idea to run up and put his hands into the wedding cake...every two or three minutes! If he wasn't doing that, he wanted to play the piano in the corner of the room...LOUDLY! And just for kicks, he wanted to climb up onto tables and play with the center pieces...while people were sitting at the table! Man, he wears me out.

No matter how upset he can make you, all he has to do is look up at you and give you the brightest smile and all is well with the world. How does he do it?! He plays us like a fiddle, but we wouldn't want it any other way.

I'm Back

noreply@blogger.com (Jamie Seeman) — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 14:50:00 +0000

I have decided to get this 'blog' back up and going. Leah and I have been taking more pictures lately, and I'm hoping that if I start posting pictures on here it will motivate me to organize our pictures and in turn take more pictures. Only time will tell.

This picture was taken while I was in San Fransico, CA on a business trip. The fog had rolled in that morning so I couldn't see the top of the bridge. But even though I couldn't see all of it, the Golden Gate Bridge was still a sight to be seen.

After seeing the bridge, I did the normal touristy thing and went down to the fisherman's warf. I actually had a fun time looking around in the shops and seeing the giant seals laying around Pier 39.