Uncle Dale Rulz!

Uncle Dale made Max's day today. He took him for a ride in the racecar. They went up and down the driveway a couple of times and it took awhile for the ear to ear grin to come off of Max's face.

The first time they went by us, Max was smiling and giving us the thumbs up sign. Both Max and Uncle Dale were enjoying their ride. The smiles on their faces provided evidence of that.


Uncle Dale got brave and let Max take the wheel for their second trip. Max didn't do such a great job of steering, but he had a fantastic time. Max gave his uncle a big hug to thank him for the ride.

Here's Alyssa's attempt to top the racecar ride.

Teenage Apartment/Mini Jonas Brothers Shrine

While the Gangl boys are enjoying their annual camping/fishing week, Alyssa and her friend Sarah are staying with me to take care of Max while I'm at work. The girls have made their home away from home in the basement.

I took the girls to make jewelry the other night and when we got home, I ventured downstairs to see what the girls had done with their corner of the basement. They've really made the place "home"...including pictures of the Jonas Brothers strategically located throughout their living space.

Check out some pics of their digs on our Webshots page in the July 2008 album.

I had to include this picture. It's the typical pile of clothes you'll find in a teenager's room, especially a female teenager's room.

Wiped Out!

After a morning and afternoon of playing outside with Alyssa and Sarah, Max was wiped out. Alyssa took this picture and texted it to me yesterday.

Max fell asleep on the couch, a pillow and the coffee table. He took a three hour nap! I think the girls were appreciative of that as they didn't heed my warning to not stay up too late. :)

Slide on over

Papa Bob helped install the second and final slide on the play set. Below are some photos of Max enjoying the slides.

Outwitted by an almost 2 year-old

The other night Darrin was preparing a nighty-night bottle for Max while I got Max into his PJ's and washed my face. Once the PJ's were on, Max no longer wanted to hang out with mom, he wanted his "ba-ba" and made a beeline for the kitchen. Dad wisely put the bottle on the counter out of a certain toddler's reach.

I see a flash of Max run past the bathroom into his bedroom, see another flash of Max running out of his bedroom with something. A short pause... And then I hear Darrin say, "What are you doing?" to Max. I hear my darling son answer back, "ba-ba."

Max ran into his room to get the little stool he uses to get into and out of his bed. He brought it out to the kitchen, set it down next to the counter and hopped up to get his bottle.

I can only imagine what adventures we are in for in the future.

Run away backhoe & a Turbo Tube Slide

Nannie Linda and Great Grumpy came up Saturday afternoon and Max got to show them his energy. And due to his lack of willingness to take a nap, he also got to let them see his less than happy, somewhat unpleasant mood.

Sunday morning we woke up to no power...but that doesn't mean we didn't have energy around here. While Nannie Linda watched Max, Darrin and I worked on the play set. For some reason, my husband thought the best time to put the roof on the play set was one of the windiest days of the summer.

In true Gangl fashion, we used the backhoe bucket as a ladder. It was my first time operating the backhoe, so Darrin already had it pulled up to the first side and all I had to do was lift him and the bucket. I only had to dodge one large piece of flying tin that the wind took from Darrin's grip. Ok, so the first side of the roof is up. Now I have to move the backhoe to the other side of the play set. Darrin shows me how to start it and how to move it forward and backward, since I already knew how to move the bucket.

Off I go with the slow moving backhoe. Darrin keeps motioning me to stay away from the pipe thingy that sticks up out of the ground above the well. I do a good job of maneuvering the backhoe around the well pipe; however, there is the slightest of hills on my way to the play set. All of a sudden the backhoe decides to start speeding (for a backhoe) down the hill. Son of a witch, Darrin didn't tell me where the brake was! So, I make a quick turn to the left to miss the play set while yelling at Darrin. He says, "The pedal!" There are only, like, five pedals on this thing! I start stomping on pedals and picked the right one the first time.

After all of that, the roof was successfully added to the play set. We then visited with Nannie, Great Grumpy and Auntie Tricia for awhile before we headed in for a nap. After the nap, we headed back outside to tackle the Turbo Tube Slide.

Assembly and installation of the Turbo Tube Slide was much less eventful than the roof. We got the slide installed enough for Max to take SEVERAL test runs. I don't know who enjoyed it more; him or his mom and dad enjoying his squeals of joy and smiles. We didn't get back into the house until almost 10 p.m.


Here's a picture of him after his test runs on the Turbo Tube Slide.

Here's a picture of Max and I after spending the day outside. I just love my windblown hair without makeup look. LOL! But at least I have a cute kid, so hopefully people will look at him instead.

What is Dumpy?

Dumpy is Max-ian for Grumpy. Great Grumpy will be so happy to hear that he has another name. He may be called papa or dumpy. It sounds so cute when he says it!

Since we do video calls with my mom and grandpa over the computer, Max points to the computer and asks for nannie and dumpy.

So, dumpy, this one's for you. :)

A fantastic 4th of July weekend...

On Thursday night (July 3) we took Max to his first Nashwauk fireworks display. He, of course, was not scared and enjoyed it. I, on the other hand, jumped at a few of the loud booms. It was a beautiful display. One of the best, if not the best, Nashwauk displays.

Then on Friday, the 4th of July, we got up and headed to the parade to make sure we had a good spot for us and the rest of the Gangl crew that was coming. Max enjoyed the parade and as you would expect, the motorcycles and muscle cars were his favorites! The Shriner's cars were good too, but the motorcycles and muscle cars got the thumbs up. Following the parade, we stopped by the petting zoo to feed the animals and Max also took a pony ride.

Saturday (the 5th) was a lot of fun. Cousin Zach and Aunt Lynne came over for a visit. The boys played nice and went wild. A lamp got knocked over scaring the crap out of everyone in the house.

Later that day we went outside. Misty and Keith joined us and we all had a blast on the playset and later trying to get Alyssa's dog Ollie to swim. The dogs chased each other and Max chased them. The dogs went into the lake...and Max decided to go sit in it a couple of times as well.

There is too much to talk about his weekend of fun, so check out our pictures on Webshots. A picture is worth a thousand words, you know. :)

He continues to amaze!

Yesterday, Darrin picked Max up from his folks and was coming into Rapids so Max and I could head off to swimming lessons and he could go to Home Depot. As they were driving down the road, Max pointed to the right and yelled "Aww-nee" (that's Max-ian for auntie). He was pointing at Uncle Matt and Auntie Tricia's house!

Construction on the playsystem continues. It now has two platforms, a ladder and a nearly completed ramp. Max can climb up and down the ladder quite well. Once the ramp is completed, Tina will be able to join Max. We're quite sure Tina will enjoy watching over her bunnies, squirrels, chipmunks and other assorted animals high atop a perch on the playsystem.

I'm looking forward to the 4th and taking Max to the fireworks display for the first time. We're also looking forward to the parade and petting zoo on Friday! I'll take many pictures and share them on Webshots and MySpace.

Have a safe and happy 4th!

An hour (or so) at the Beach

Yesterday, Darrin took Max to the beach for a bit. And, as you would expect, Max had a blast. Darrin thought Max had more fun at the beach than in the pool for swimming lessons. Max enjoyed running into the lake and then diving/jumping. I came home to a couple of soggy, but happy guys.

We've got swimming lessons tonight, so hopefully our boy will use up some of that apparently endless energy supply of his.

That smell!

Oh my goodness, I opened the mudroom door this morning to go out into the garage and was nearly knocked out by the smell. Yes, the raunchy smell of skunk laced the garage.

It appears that a skunk tried to or has taken up residence in our garage. Thankfully, Tina was not sprayed. Well, at least when I left this morning she hadn't been sprayed.

I'll report more updates as they become available.

Update:

The source of the smell is in fact our darling Tina. She was not sprayed; however, she ran through an area that was sprayed and then brought the smell into the garage. Lovely!