Berne pizza

Grandpa's band was playing, the weather was gorgeous, the pizza was yummy1 it was a perfect night!

Pizza in a corn field it Minnesota leg, day3

Where else would you drive to a corn field, park and eat pizza?

Minnesota probably isn't the only place, but that is where I did it.


Grandpa Kevin's band was playing at a fundraiser in Berne, Minnesota. We don't usually get to hear his band play, so we jumped at the chance when we were in town. We went to this same event last ear and it was a lot of fun- we were glad to get to do it again!

All the kids.

Between us, my best friend from high school and I now have 6 kids. Aren't they cute?

(L-r) Gemma, William, Cal, Amelia, Cana, Hank

Meeting baby Gaedke #3

My best friend from high school recently had her third baby. we could not wait to meet him! Don't worry, I got to hold him for an extended chunk of time and get my baby fill. I love newborn babies, especially when they sleep at someone else's house at night!

Anyway, baby Cal is already a chunky little guy and our kids were DELIGHTED to be able to hold him and coo over his cuteness. He is very, very cute!

Jessica and I were able to chat and catch up while our kids played in the water in the backyard. Based on their appearance, they had a lot of fun- mud was everywhere!

Why yes

That is a rat tailed maggot. The only person more excited about this than William was his group leader who enthusiastically detailed some of the rat tailed maggot's best attributes- it doesn't need oxygen in the water! It can breathe through its tail!

Minnesota trip, day 2

The next day, I dropped the kids off at camp and Gemma, Grandma and Mama shopped for grandma's new house. Grandma and grandpa have lived in their new house for about 2 months now and it looks so nice! But, they still need a few things to organize their new spaces. Grandma and I worked at this and got some things done. Gemma was most impressed to find a bed that was just her size. And on clearance too!

We picked up the kids and got to hear all about their day. William, in particular, was impressed with the bugs his group found on the pond that morning.

Day 1 - grandpa Heidt+ cousins

After a full day of camp, we got to spend some time with Grandpa Heidt and our cousins! We just love being able to spend time with these cousins! The kids played and played until we dragged them away to eat dinner.


One minute we were eating pizza and the next minute I turned to see Gemma fast asleep on the table. She was passed out and done. I tried to gently wake her without any success.

Funny story now that wasn't funny at the time:

We were leaving and I packed up all of our belongings before scooping Gemma up. She woke up a little and then I thought she went back to sleep. Just as we walked through the doors out of the restaurant, Gemma's entire body stiffened and she began to scream. It startled me and I had to work to not drop what I was carrying (pizza box, purse, sleep heavy 3 year old).

I set Gemma down on the cement outside the restaurant and she refused to put weight on one of her feet. She kept screaming. My guess is that she fell asleep with one foot tucked under her backside and the foot fell asleep. When she straightened her leg, it hurt a lot, which was a surprising and somewhat frightening way to wake up.

I heard sirens and I looked up to see 2 police cars turn into the parking lot. I scooped Gemma up and hurried to get William and Amelia out of the way, as I could hear more sirens approaching. Emergency workers should worry about quickly getting to an emergency, not about little kids in the middle of a parking lot.

Gemma was still screaming. The first two police officers ran into the restaurant (I have no idea what happened inside that required emergency response, it isn't that big of a place). The second set of officers parked and got out of the car. They walked toward the building, and quickly detoured to my car in response to Gemma's screams. One of the officers asked me a question I could hear due to the crying. He repeated himself. He was inquiring if we were okay. Gemma was still crying huge crocodile tears and sobbing loud enough to...well, loudly. I reassured the officer everything was ok and I had everything under control. As he walked away, I could tell my the look on his face that he didn't believe me completely about having this under control. This is the piece that now makes me giggle.

I got everyone loaded into the van just as the fire engine pulled into the lot and parked right behind me. Which meant we were blocked in with a wailing preschooler in the backseat. It wasn't long before William and Amelia were begging to get out of the car.

Lucky, the emergency inside didn't require the fire truck and they left quickly, which allowed us to leave after only a few minutes.