A Day at the Beach

Last week, we spent the day at Lake Elmo Park with our good friends Joan, Bobbi, and Carter. The girls enjoyed the sun, sand, and water! It was a BEAUTIFUL day and we spent it just relaxing in the sun and building sand castles. The water felt wonderful too!



Kaylie enjoying the water


Madelyn digging in the sand.



Madelyn and Kaylie having fun at the beach.

Carter, Kaylie, and Maddie building and knocking down sand castles.

More Summer Pictures

Madelyn riding her bike


Kaylie FINALLY learned how to ride a bike without training wheels!!! YEAH KAYLIE! Here she is practicing on her little bike, not yet brave enough to take on her big bike.



Here are the girls at the Fun Fest parade. They love to go to parades!! However, we were a little disappointed this year when there were only 3 bands in the parade. That is our favorite part!

My girls are defintely amusement park riders! They love to go on any ride and would if I would let them. We stuck to the little kid rides this year! Here they are on the train.

Kaylie and Madelyn on the Dizzy Dragons! Kaylie really can get that thing spinning.

They also went on the Tilt-a-whirl with my mom and dad. I couldn't believe how fast they were spinning around! Madelyn wasn't too sure about that ride!
We are enjoying our summer but it is going way too fast!!!

Madden's Trip

Every year for the past 20+ years, my family and my Dad's whole side has gone up to Brainerd, MN and stayed at Madden's golf resort. It is so fun and a great week to spend catching up with family. I have so many memories from here from when I was little, it is now fun to bring my own children up there to create those memories for our family. Kaylie still finds it hard to believe that I came here when I was a little girl.
This year, Ryan and I and the girls didn't stay at Madden's. We thought it would be fun to stay at a hotel that had a waterpark for the girls. The girls had blast there! We still hung out at Madden's everyday with my mom and dad and all of our other relatives. It was a very fun and relaxing trip. Here are a few pictures from our vacation.


Madelyn and Kaylie at Bar Harbor.


Kaylie coming down the waterslide.


Maddie and Daddy coming down the waterslide.



Ryan getting dumped on by a huge bucket of water.


Madelyn getting her face painted.


The girls in "the chair" at Madden's.




Family picture up at Madden's.



Gafner family picture at Maddens.


At the beach looking for shells and rocks to throw in the lake.

Fourth of July!

Hanging out and having fun on the fourth!


Waiting patiently for the fireworks to start.


Watching the great fireworks show!

We had a great July 4th! We spent the day at my aunt and uncle's house in Woodbury. My relatives were all there to celebrate with as well! It was a great day! The girls had lots of fun swimming and playing with cousins. We ended the night by watching the fireworks in Woodbury! My girls LOVE to watch fireworks and Woodbury puts on an awesome show!

Strawberries!

On Tuesday, Madelyn and I, along with our good friends Bobbi and Carter went to pick strawberries! We did this last year and my girls LOVED it! Too bad I forgot about the strawberries in the back of my car for two days and when I went to get them tonight, they were all moldy! :(
Oh well, we had lots of fun picking them! It was all about the experience!




Maddie and her bucket of strawberries.



Looking for the yummy strawberries!



Carter and Madelyn showing off their hard work!