A Day With the Dorwins...

Today, we were able to spend some time with the Dorwin family in Menomonie at Wakanda Water Park to celebrate Carter's BIRTHDAY! It was a nice, hot day for the pool, and the kids had fun playing in the water, as well as the sand area.

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Of course, I had to snap a few photos, and here a few of the 107 pictures I came home with! (Yes, I did say 107 pictures!)

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The birthday crew--

Back row: Andrew, Austin, Paige, Dylan

Middle row: Bradley, Abby, Evan

First Row: Olivia, Carter, Madison, and Cruz

I hope I didn't get Carter's two friend's names mixed up--they are twins, and even though they don't look alike, I kept getting them mixed up! :-(~~~

Carter splashing down at the end of the big slide!

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Carter negotiating the logs...

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Even Grandpa Ken took his turn crossing the log bridge! He wasn't real graceful, but he made it across! Way to go, Gramps!

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Abby made the log bridge look like a walk in the park--too easy for her!~~~

Austin evaded the camera most of the afternoon...

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Unfortunately, Andrew did NOT evade the camera! Here he is, striking a pose!~~~
Evan's pipes were getting bigger by the minute! Dylan is checking out Evan's "hardware"!~~~

Paige is SO cute!!!

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Cruz assured me that the cupcakes were yummy!

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Bradley and Cruz were on a serious bug hunt in the culvert. Bradley received a bug-catching kit (and so did Carter) from Grandma Deb and Grandpa Ken--You will see his favorite piece of the kit in a picture further down...~~~
I had a ton of fun following Bradley around today and taking pictures of him. I guess that he was the only one who moved slow enough for me to keep up with! Or maybe it was because he didn't go far into the water that I was able to capture him on film--or rather on "memory card"!

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A half-smile for Auntie!~~~
A scowl!~~~

Climbing the walls!!!

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Bug huntin'

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I just LOVE my new magnifying glass!

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Lovin' the water...

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Swimming like the big guys!

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The sand "pit" was a big hit with Bradley today!~~~

Jumpin' off the slide

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"I love getting dirty!" ~~~
Grandpa Ken was reliving his "younger" years when he was the "Speedy Gonzales" of Independence, so, in the spirit of the memory, he challenged Andrew to a footrace! I tried to warn Grandpa that Andrew was the fastest guy on the team, but I think Grandpa forgot...

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Grandpa and Andrew racing. I told Grandpa he won by a belly, but that was just to make him feel good! :-)

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Of course, Auntie Nicky can never back away from a challenge, so she also ran against Andrew. I think the picture speaks for itself as to who won this race!~~~

These two cousins seem to have more in common than just the same last name!

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We had a fun afternoon with Chad and Nicole's family celebrating Carter's birthday. LaNita and Bill and Deb and Ken were there, as well as Jamie and I, Evan, and 2 of Carter's friends from school. We had to leave a bit early to get the boys to basketball camp, and Abby stayed with Grandma and Grandpa to spend a few days with them. It will be a lonley week for me!!! :-(

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Happy Birthday, Carter!

Happy Birthday, Heather!!!!

Happy Birthday to my niece, Heather Nicole (Borowski) Lewis on

July 25!

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To a smart, sassy, and sweet girl--the apple doesn't fall far from the auntie!

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The bride at the wedding--June 2007 ~~~

Practicing at being a mommy--all that practice came in handy!

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I had to censor this one! I couldn't resist posting it, though!~~~

Coloring with my favorite (okay, and only, at the time) niece at Christmas at the Holiday Inn, A.K.A., Ramada, A.K.A, the Plaza!

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Sweetie braids and red shoes--you just can't get any more fancy!

Happy Birthday, Heather! Hope you had a great day!

love you, the Klimie Cousins

Baseball has come to an end for our family for the season. It was a fun season with many nights at the field for our family. Andrew played every Monday and Wednesday night, and Austin played on Tuesday and Thursday nights--we never sat around and wondered what to do at night! :-)

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Here are a few shots of the kids from last week's final games...

(somehow, I uploaded them backwards!)

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Austin is stealing third to home--Jamie, the third base coach, sent him on a passed ball!

(yes, he was safe!)

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Here is Austin and Jamie watching the pitch and waiting for the opportunity to steal home...

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Austin up to bat...

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Both boys finished off their seasons with a tournament this past weekend. Austin's team won their first game (which was played on Tuesday in Barron). They also won their second game, but ended up losing their third game in Clayton. They had a really good season, and Austin played really well--especially defensively at second base!

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Andrew's team played their first tournament game Saturday morning in Rice Lake. They won that game, and were down by 2 runs in the second game in the top of the 5th inning (the games were 5 inning games), when the rain storm we were having produced thunder and lightening as well. The game was postponed until Sunday afternoon where we started where we left off--top of the fifth inning with the other team up to bat. We ended up playing one more inning, and we WON the game! Andrew's team went on to win one more game to win the whole tournament! It was an exciting Sunday afternoon of baseball!

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Here is Andrew's team with their prize trophies (Coach Bruce had just had water dumped on him!)! ~ Yes, this was the best picture out of three that I had of Andrew--he was such a dork for the pictures! You think this looks bad, you should see the one in the Barron News Sheild!!!!

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Andrew's reaction upon getting his trophy!

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Gettin' the Gold!

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Abby has been keeping busy going to brother's games and golfing on Tuesday mornings. She is now done with golf for the year. Of course, she is also quite busy playing with her dogs!
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Here is Abby trying to re-create the scene from Lady and the Tramp when the two dogs are eating spaghetti and they slurp up one noodle and their lips come together for a quick smooch. Well, she has the noodle in her mouth, and the dogs are coming after the noodle and giving Abz a "smooch"! GROSS!!!

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Jack and Sophie BOTH go for the noodle at once!~~~

Jack's turn for the noodle kiss!

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Sophie gives big, sloppy noodle kisses!~~~
Abby with her fangs, I mean noodles!

That is a bit of what we have been up to lately--a quick blog to try to make up for my serious lack of bloggin recently!

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Happy Weekend!

A Belated Anniversary Wish

As I have been a very bad blogger lately, I did not post my anniversary wishes for my sister and brother (in-law) on their anniversary. :-(

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So, here it is--a bit late!

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Happy 25th Anniversary,

Wes and Sheila

on July 16, 2008!!!Hope you had a good one!

Love, the Klimies

ABFN RELEASES FIRST CD!!!

The hot up-and-coming band that everyone is talking about,

A Bridge From Normal,

has just released their first CD, entitled,

Convictions Make Melodies!!!

Be one of the first on your street to own a copy! Click on the link to the right of this page or at the bottom of this blog entry to visit the official ABFN website to order your copy today!

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ROCK ON, ABFN!!!

http://www.myspace.com/abridgefromnormal

Boys, Baseball, and Basketball

The boys have been keeping us busy with baseball games--a game every night on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday! We never have to ask ourselves, "What should we do tonight?"!!!! :-)

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Austin's team, Barron Gold, is doing well this year. I believe we have only lost 3 games, and have won 4 this season. Austin is having a good season--he plays second base, and is the lead-off batter. Last night, his coach told me he is batting over .400 this year!

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Here is Austin connecting with the ball--look closely, and you can see the ball sailing up and off of his bat!~~~

Austin waiting for the play at second base...
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Austin scoops up the ball, makes the out at second, and fires the ball to first for the double play!!!

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When he is not playing baseball, Austin is playing basketball every Wednesday in the Clayton Basketball League this summer--Jamie coached the boys this last Wednesday, and they won both games!!!!

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Andrew's games are opposite nights of Austin's. Andrew plays Monday's and Wednesday's, while Austin plays on Tuesday's and Thursday's.

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Andrew's team is doing spectacular this season. They are undefeated, and have beaten every team they have played by the "10 run rule". This is when our team has outscored their opponents by ten or more runs at the bottom of the fifth inning.
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Here is Andrew, our lefty batter, at the plate.

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Andrew is rounding third and heading for home plate!

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A great batter always lets the outside ball pass him by...
This pitch was outside the strike zone!

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Andrew always gets the "steal" sign from his coaches--he is the fastest baserunner on the team!

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Jamie also keeps busy during baseball season. He is helping out with Austin's team this year, and his specialty is coaching third base and stealing the runners home!

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Only one more week of summer baseball for the boys, and a tournament for Andrew--then baseball will be over for another year! It is so much fun to watch the boys and their friends play ball each week, but I think my behind will look forward to a break from the bleachers!

:-)

Happy Birthday, America!

Happy 4th of July!!!

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Tonight, Abby invited some friends to go to Rice Lake with us to watch fireworks to celebrate America's birthday. Austin went with his friends to a party at a friend's house, and Andrew went with Isaiah to another friend's house for a Fourth of July party. We all had fun nights!

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Sara, Max, and Abby waiting for the fireworks to begin.Once again, the City of Rice Lake had an awesome fireworks show. Here are a few of the sights we saw tonight on the shores of Rice Lake...

Abby and Sara watching the show...

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Abby, Sara, and Max

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Unfortunately, not everyone likes fireworks. Poor Jack ran for the basement early this afternoon when the first of the firecrackers could be heard in the neighborhood. When we got home, Jamie had to search for him, as he was hiding from the noise. He made a brief pit-stop outside with a lot of encouragement, and then made a B-line for the basement again. When I went down to check on him, this is what I found...

This is Jack's favorite hiding place when there are storms, or like today, fireworks! He hides between the toilet and the wall and sticks his head behind the toilet! I had just walked in and turned on the light, and he peeked up at me over the rim of the toilet--that's our Jack!!!

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Hoping you all had a GREAT Fourth of July!

Happy Birthday, America!