Great Grandma Jean: September 29, 1921 - October 17, 2007

Last Wednesday the dude's great grandmother passed away a few weeks after turning 86 years old. She was an remarkable person who never let obstacles (like lifelong battles with polio) stop her from leading an amazing life. She will be missed greatly by all who knew her.

My favorite season of the year...

We are loving the Fall weather!!

"CHEESE"

I got the camera out today to take a few pics of The Dude. Up until today, when the camera came out, the dude went running in the opposite direction. I have to thank some unknown influence out there, because when I pointed the camera at the dude today, he looked right at me and SAID "Cheese"!! As if that's not cute enough, when I was satisfied with the picture the dude insisted I continue the photo shots.

Life's been pretty crazy lately and this moment put a huge smile on my face!! Enjoy...

Thought you might also enjoy a cute shot from behind...

Labor Day Weekend!

Labor Day Weekend is always a big event up at the cabin. The dude got to hang out with his cousins along with a new little buddy that came to visit. The new face in the crowd brought his parents along (who happen to be good friends with the dude's parents) to get a little fishing and wake boarding in.


I'd like to say that the person flying in the air here is me, but I am fairly sure nobody would believe me.

At the Minnesota State Fair...

The dude's New Mexico Grandma and Grandpa are in town to visit, so we all piled in a bus and relatively painlessly made our way to the Minnesota State Fair. At the Minnesota State Fair the dude got to pet baby cows only hours old, watch a cow show and moo at them, eat his first fried cheese curd (after he washed his hands of course), and play on real farm equipment. There were also many rides (just like the ones that always break down and hurt people because the carnival industry is so unregulated) and games to play, so everybody had a blast. Here's a game you can play at home: Where's the dude's Grandpa's hat? (hint: you can see the underside of it in one of the pictures below)

Fun at the Zoo!

The dude's three favorite pastimes are dancing, swimming and playing with animals. I took him to the MN Zoo recently with some friends and the dude could not contain his excitement. Here's a picture of him on a tractor heading to the farm petting zoo.

Triathlon Season

A couple weeks ago the whole family participated in the Lifetime Triathlon. This is one of the largest triathlons in the country. We all did fabulously and more importantly we had a lot of fun.


It's also cabin season, so here is a picture of the dude's first encounter with a farm animal up close and personal. He was a little scared of the horses and seemed to like the barn cat better.

A sign of things to come...

I don't know if I'm happy or sad that the dude loves swimming so much. Just kidding, of course I'm happy. Water is in his blood. Doesn't he look cute in goggles.

Weekend Warrior

Maybe you're wondering what the Roddys did for the Fourth of July. We've spent the past week relaxing at the family cabin. Here are a couple of highlights from the week and it's not even over yet. The dude loves swimming in the lake and watching his 3 yr old cousin water ski for the first time. Dad got a little water skiing in also. The dude's uncle sure seemed to be impressed. Who knew camo and speedos go so well together? We also had a moderately good time trying out the "big ball of death".

Happy Father's Day

Happy Dad's Day! The past week the dude and I got to spend some quality time with my dad. Although it wasn't actually on father's day, it was close enough. We went down to Kansas for the wedding of one of my youngest cousins and had a fantastic time. The plaza in Kansas City is always fun and the Kansas/Missouri crowd really seemed excited to finally meet the dude.



For father's day the dude and I got to spend some time at the local city pool and catch some rays. Don't worry grandma, we both had on 50 SPF!

Weekend at the Cabin

The dude is learning that summer weekends at the cabin are awesome. Not only did mommy and daddy get to go on long bike rides and runs with a plethora of fun babysitters available, but there were also enough people for kayak escorts while we went swimming.

Grandpa even let him drive the boat.

Our city had it's annual "big truck" show recently. They put all of the city trucks on display for kids and parents to see. The dude always runs to the windows to see the school buses and garbage trucks when they pass our house, so we thought he would enjoy this event. The kids were allowed to climb all over the huge equipment, even after passing out free ice cream and popcorn. The dude had a fantastic time, but less than fun each time mom and dad had to pull him off the trucks to give other kids a turn. He doesn't quite understand the concept of turn-taking yet!

Lets hope this is the last time the dude sees the back seat of a police car.

Playing at the park

Nolan's favorite pastime is climbing playground equipment that is way too big for him. He also still loves eating rocks. Can you believe we haven't found one in his diaper yet?!

How to play the game

The dude is getting older, so we thought it would be a good idea to start in on involving him in sports. Thanks to a recent outfit given to him, he really looked the part when kicking around the old soccer ball.


Since we were all at the dude's cousin's birthday party, he also got to participate in his very first game of "pin the tail on the donkey", although it did start out as "pin the tail on daddy's camera".

And here is just a taste of the dude's obsession of sticking random crap into his mouth. At least it's too big to be a choking hazard. At least it's not crap.

Hide and Seek

The dude loves to play hide and seek. He's a little better at hiding when the closet actually has a door to conceal his body.


Also, here is the typical reaction to the dude getting cheese with his dinner. Everybody loves cheese!

Dirt Angel

The dude is certainly growing up. At a play group earlier this week, he was climbing up a big-kid sized rock climbing wall attached to a swing set, and today he took it upon himself to do a little gardening with his mom and dad. He still doesn't have any hair though.

Spring in the Midwest

We're very happy to announce spring has arrived in Minnesota. The weather the last couple weeks has been fabulous. (In Minnesotan terms, this means we’re finally in the 60s) The Dude is having a great time exploring the world outdoors. His conquest has begun with sampling nature's exotic tastes, including a wide variety of rocks, dirt, an old cigarette butt and a piece of goose poop. Fortunately, we haven’t seen him put much more in his mouth after experiencing the taste of poop.

Here are a couple pics of him enjoying spring and singing in the rain…