Out With a Bang

Summer is officially over. Last week I went back to work and this week the students will come. It was a huge bummer to bring Dax back to daycare, but, thankfully, he has great friends there and is almost as loved as he is when he's home with me. Even so, I will deeply miss spending most of my time with my best little dude. Thus, we did some extra special things the past couple weekends to send summer out in style.

First, we spent some time at the MN State Fair. It was a different experience with a toddler for sure, but we had just as much fun as we have in the past!

Miracle of Birth Center was a great place to start!

Mini donuts...

and cheese curds made a well-rounded breakfast.

Chocolate malt for a mid-morning snack.

Checking out the fishies

Dax tried the giant slide with Daddy

And loved it!

He couldn't get enough of all the machines...

Dax was SO excited to see the Okee Dokee Brothers again!

Corn dog for lunch

And we couldn't leave without getting a bucket of Sweet Martha's Cookies to enjoy with milk!

That same day we celebrated GG's (Great-Grandma Mert's) birthday! Dax was a fabulous DJ and was very serious about his keyboard skills.

We also got Dax his own rake. He LOVES helping in the yard and, though his "help" extended the raking time, it also made the job way more fun.

Testing it out

Like this, mom?

It works better when you use your hands!

And of course he loved putting leaves in the garbage

Eventually he got Daddy to trade so he could use the rake he really loves, haha!

Finally, we took advantage of the break in the heat and visited a nearby playground that we don't go to often. It is pure joy to see Dax's excitement, sense of adventure, and laughter as he explores unfamiliar playground equipment.

While my preference would be to never lose my time with Dax, we are going to take advantage of all the time we do have together during the school year and I am already looking forward to next summer!