Austad Siblings Weekend

Once or twice a year Ryan's siblings try and get together for a siblings weekend. Since we all live in different places now, its a little harder to get together and see each other as often as we'd like. So in the middle of July, Ryan planned an Austad Siblings Weekend for him and his sisters. Thankfully, I was able to tag along too. :) Next year, Mike will definitely have to be there!

We had such a great time! The siblings arrived on a Friday night, and we grilled and played games. It was so fun to have another puppy in the house for Lola to play with, and they got along great! And as any siblings will do, they reverted to having fun, telling jokes and stories, and overall just getting back into the sibling groove. I love seeing Ryan with all of his sisters- that's one of my favorite things about him. I'm so glad he grew up with girls :)

Melissa, Abbie, Ryan and Sara

sibling love

The next day, we had plans to go to ValleyFair Amusement and Water Park. Since its only a short drive from our house now (opposed to the 6+ hour drive from Omaha) we took full advantage of the whole day. We rode all of the roller coasters, did some interesting swing rides, and then rounded out the day with water slides, wave pool, and some sunbathing. Abbie and I were the amusement park ride queens- I absolutely love the feeling and thrill of the rides, sometimes I just hate the build up of actually getting on them. But once its over, we were the ones saying- "let's do it again!" And thanks to getting there early, we were able to go on almost every ride without too long of a wait!

Melissa, Abbie, Sara and Ryan- waiting for the park and rides to open. It was a bit overcast that morning, so we had to wait until it passed for the rides to start up.

The Giant Swing. I loved this one :)

In motion- thanks for taking pics Sara!

A Water Ride!

Saturday night, we were all pretty tired, so we decided to go and see a movie at a nice air-conditioned theater (p.s. it was July and super warm that day). The last Harry Potter movie had come out, so it was perfect timing for this muggle. Yes- I just said that- now wipe that awesome grin off your face- expelliarmus!

We knew that the weekend would go fast, and as soon as Sunday came the girls were getting packed up and ready to go. We decided to all go for a walk around the lake and see if the dogs would take a swim. Lola was game, but Manny was a bit hesitant- it was pretty cute watching him confused and worried about Lola and this whole swimming thing.





It was great having the girls here! This weekend, we're hosting Ryan's Mom, Abbie and Melissa for the Chanhassen Dinner Theater performance of Hairspray! I'm sure we'll have lots to share from this coming weekend as well! Have a great Wednesday everyone!