Vikingland Band Festival

The last Sunday of June is always the Vikingland Band Festival held in Alexandria, MN. Chris and I have talked about going for the last 5 years, but we always seem to be too busy getting ready for the 4th of July to go. Well yesterday we went and joined my parents and their friend Jami to watch her daughter march with the Waconia band in the parade. There were 21 bands present and it was great to see the work they put into their performances. We set up camp by one of the performance areas and you wouldn't believe the shows these bands put on. We heard all types of music from Guns n Roses to Phantom of the Opera. We saw a band that traveled all the way from Norway as well as a moving drumset floating down the street. It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed a picnic with my parents and Jami and the boys thought it was great fun. Aaron clapped for everything, till he passed out around 4:30. It was too hot for the girls and they whithered in the sun, but I think they had a little fun at least. We all got lots of sun and I loved picking on Chris who has a white spot on his forehead because he sprayed his forehead with sunscreen but only rubbed it on in the center. So he is red around the edges. And his knees are burned even though I told him he should spray those pasty white things. I shouldn't talk though cause my new sunhat sat in the van while my scalp burned. It's going to make getting my hair done today lots of fun.

Anyway it was a great fun day and here are some pictures for you to see.

Me and my boys - oh wait Ryan is blocking poor Aaron!



Looking good Meghan!



Chris and Ryan - cool shades. Ryan forgot his at home. Poor Dad!


Waconia band - Jami's daughter is the second one in playing piccolo.



Waconia band - won 1st in everything for their class plus the People's Choice award!



Oh Katie!



These are the girls Ryan thought were really pretty.



Trying to keep cool.



No she will never get a date!



Peek a boo!



Pa, Ma and Jami



Ma, Me and Ryan



Meghan picking on Ryan as usual.



Katie plays with Aaron all the time. He usually gets her in a head lock.



Chris - I love how the umbrella is reflected in his sunglasses, which it looks like he got back from Ryan.



Out like a light. Clapping is hard work. Especially with so many bands.



Park Rapids, MN band - took Grand Champion



Moving drumset. Way cool!



The band from Norway. They are the ones that played Guns n Roses.



I liked the flag corp for this band. Their outfits were way cool. Groovy too. :)



OH look a smile. I think that was when we told her all the bands were done. HA!




Chris covering up the spot he did get sunscreen on!

Carlos Creek Winery

On Saturday I met my good friend Andrea at the Carlos Creek Winery in Alexandria, MN. It was a gorgeous day and nice to get away from the kids for an adult day. Even though I don't drink wine, it was fun to see how things were done there and to enjoy the company.

We met at about 11:30 and rented a 2 person surrey bike to check out the grounds. It didn't take us long to get around, so I think we went around 3-4 times. The hills were tough of course and I know I realized that maybe I need a little more working out time. HA!

Afterwards, we sat and visited some more, Andrea sampled some wines and we took the 2 PM production tour. It was run by the general manager that we think may have been more drunk than sober. According to him it is a requirement of the job. I know many people who would love that job requirement.

Once the tour was finished we went to a local hotspot, Bug a Boo Bay for lunch. We had a great server which is always a plus, that and the fact that he carded us when we ordered margaritas. He got a fat tip from me for that one. It was a great day!





Andrea and I enjoying the weather



The wine cave - can house up to 300 barrels of wine. Each barrel contine 300 gallons of wine, 1 gallon can make about 5 bottles of wine



Employee break area



This is the bottler. It can bottle up to 1800 bottles in an hour. The tour guide says they only do 600-800 bottles of wine. This gives the employees more drinking time.



Andrea



Me



Apple orchard. The winery makes wine from both apples and grapes.



The back side of the wine cave.

Never ceases to amaze me

My family goes to the Mn State Fair every year. We try to sample some new food, usually on a stick, but this year I think I will pass on the new foods that are offered. They are featuring the Pig Licker - chocolate covered bacon on a stick accented with sea salt. You can just get 1/3 lb of bacon on a stick, and Sabrina, you could have made big money with your idea, they are selling frozen pickle juice on a stick! Yikes! I think I will stick to my usual fair food fare. Although I know the deep fried pickles are good!

Major kudos to my husband!

Congratulations to my husband for passing his professional engineers licencing test! I am so proud of him. He was kind of uneasy about the test. Said it was really hard! Yeah!!!!!

Storms, storms, storms

All over the US, especially in the Midwest, we have been hit with severe storms and tornados. So far those of us in Fargo have been pretty lucky, but we did get our taste last night. About 8:15 the sirens went off and we scrambled to grab the radio, blankets and get downstairs to the closet under the stairs. Katie cried, Meghan was on the verge and Ryan slept 1/2 the time we were down there. We listened to the radio - there were funnel clouds spotted and high winds. About a half an hour later the storm passed and we all went back up stairs. Ryan by this time figured things out and he was scared too. We were treated with some beautiful rainbows though.
The kids had a late night. We had to get Ryan back to sleep and Katie came to our room in the middle of the night scared. It rained this afternoon and Ryan freaked out that the tornado was coming back. Summer has arrived though. We are getting the basement closet prepared better in case there is a next time. Let's hope not!

Here are the pictures of the rainbow.

Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to all those dads out there. At the Andreachi household we have the #1 Dad residing here. Here he is!

#1 Dad hat and shirt with his new 4th of July boxers!



Ryan showing off his big boy boxers!



The 1st corn on the cob of the season.



Oh Dad!



Dad is SOOOOO funny!



Huh?



What? I like corn too!




I spent the day in my new workroom a.k.a. the sunroom sewing costumes for the 4th of July. I would probably would be done by now if I were resizing patterns to fit the boys. Ryan's costume had to go from a size 6 to a size 3/4. Aaron's from a size 2 to a size 1 1/2. I love working in the sunroom though. Lots of light and I can shut the door so the kids can't get in there. Well the boys can't and the girls don't care.

Aaron's new expression!

OOOOOHHHHH!!! That is Aaron's reaction to everything. Like it is the greatess thing in the world. It is so cute and so dang funny. We turn on Baby Einstein and it's OOOOOOHHHHHHHH!

The most beautiful wedding ever!

Last night I worked the most beautiful wedding we have ever had at the country club. It was for the daughter of a member. She is an optometrist and has her own clinic in town. They rented table cloths, chaircovers, black sashes, charger plates etc for the big event. The doors were tied off and the blinds were closed so that NO ONE could see the room before they were seated for dinner. Limos were hired to take people home at the end of the evening. We butler passed sweet bacon, shrimp, pesto torte and spanokapitas as well as champagne with raspberries in it. White wine too. Every table had red and white wine on it and it was open bar all night. Their tab for the food and wine alone was over $20,000!!!!!!!!!! It was unreal! The bride was gorgeous and wow is all I can say!!!












Head Table sat 22!