Lumberjack Days 09

This past weekend was Lumberjack Days in Stillwater. (You know, the town we wished we lived in...) :) Anyway, it was a perfect weekend for it with great weather. We got up and ready and got there early, even before all the fun stuff was open. We walked around for awhile and watched some of the races. Does anyone else get choked up watching these or is it just me? I don't know why but I seriously can't watch a race without shedding a tear. I think it steams from watching the Ironman and how they tell all these sad stories or the participants or who they are running for or why they are running. It's just so heart wrenching. And there was this one year when there was like a 80 something year old man who was out doing the swimming part ALL day long and refused to give up but when he got back to shore the time limit to finish that section of the race was over hours ago so they had to tell him he couldn't go onto the biking part. Cried. No wait. BAWLED.

That's so not where I was going with this.

Anyway, we had time to kill and finally 10:00am rolled around and we got Alexa a wristband for all the bouncy things. That's right. Unlimited amounts of sliding, bouncing and climbing. It's like we were guaranteed a good night sleep. (For the record, there was no sleeping in...not even a day of complete exhaustion can get our little girl to stay in bed past 6am.) However she did have a complete blast. It took a couple times down the (3 story tall) bouncy slide to get into it and even Daddy had to go a few times but after that she was in heaven! We were literally running from one to another. After awhile we decided to get home for lunch and a nap. When everyone was up and rejuvenated we headed back for more fun.

Braden didn't get to go on any rides, but he had fun just watching everyone and crawling all over the place. I can't wait until next year for him, he will be able to all the cool stuff. Here's Matt and Braden chillin...I know I'm kind of biased, but I think they are the two cutest guys I have ever seen! :)

After a LONG day on Saturday we relaxed for most of Sunday morning at home. We went for a walk and played outside and then decided to do something really silly like skip nap time to go to the parade. Just kidding, we already knew that was going to happen and it actually went well. We try to get Alexa a nap most days but it's nice that's she's old enough to skip it here and there if need be and not be a complete mess.

Matt, Alexa and Auntie Shari collecting candy. I should have took a picture of the sickening amount of candy that Alexa got...and she doesn't even try that hard to get it. I think it helped that we were not directly by any other little kids so she got a little spoiled by the candy throwers. The people at Matt's work should be pretty excited! :)

Alexa's favorite parts: dancing to the music from the floats and waving to the princesses (besides eating candy of course.)

Braden had his very first sucker and loved it! It was kind of funny...he was getting a little fussy as we were going on hour number 3 of the parade so we decided to give him one. I unwrapped it and put it in his hand and he was just playing with it so I tried putting it in his mouth and he acted like I was trying to poison him or something...until he got a taste, then he realized all was well in the world! :)

Alexa too...although there was no forcing her! :)

Wordless Wednesday

Sleeping Babies

Are sleeping babies not one of the sweetest things ever?

I think I could watch them for hours.

Actually....I know I can! :)

Flashback Friday

This was last year at Lumberjack Days in Stillwater, MN. We don't live there, we only wish we did! :) However, it is our second home and they have the best "days" around. This was the first parade we ever took Alexa to...we weren't sure how she would like it and we were even prepared to leave if she got bored or impatient, considering she was only one and a half.

Oh.my.goodness. She LOVED it! The parade lasted about 2 1/2 hours and she was into every second of it. After about the third float she totally got the idea and there was no turning back. The girl collected about a gallon of candy and toys. No kidding.

Bonus: I was 9 months pregnant so every float that had bottled water or freezes personally walked me over one. It was great! :)

Why, Yes....

....he is a little monkey.

Thanks for asking.

(Note: That wet spot on his butt is just water from him sitting in a puddle in our kitchen from when it rained and I accidentally left the patio door wide open, blah blah blah. I would never let my child sit in a pee soaked shirt. Okay there was that one time, but that was it!)

Wordless Wednesday

All Things Girly

Don't forget to go HERE and share all your wisdom on digital cameras with me...please! :)

Last week we spent almost every minute we could handle, away from home. We were quite busy visiting the Giggle Factory, MN Zoo, a couple new parks (which were totally awesome!) and even spent most of one whole day running errands and grocery shopping. I honestly love it like that, the busier the better...I'm not one to really sit around our house, and really the kids aren't either. So after trying to rack my sleepy head last night for something to do today I came up with nothing, but I figured we would figure something out. So this morning when Braden was down for his nap Alexa and I decided we were not going to get in the car at all for the entire day.

We started with manicures and pedicures. I did my toes this weekend and Alexa was simply dying to have hers painted too. So I gave her a little pampering! Here she is with her newly painted finger and toenails. She was very excited, can you tell? :) She always has her toes painted but we don't do her fingers all that often so when we do she loves it. Everything she did throughout the day she did with her hands kind of tilted towards her so she could she her pretty pink nails. :)

Can I tell you how much fun it is to have a girly girl who loves doing girly things with me!? She is only TWO and I already have a blast doing "girl stuff" with her. She is always up for some hair and wardrobe makeovers. If she's this fun now I can't wait until she's a teenager! Matt might need a second job to keep up with our shopping and pampering! :)

After Braden woke up we decided to pack up the stroller and head into town. First stop: the local library. Which to be completely honest is nothing to brag about, but we like it anyway...it has (some) books! Alexa had fun picking out her books for the week and wanted to read them all before we left...maybe to make sure they were worthy of coming home with us? I don't know! :)

Braden immediately found the toy area and dug right in. It didn't take too long though for him to realize how fun it would be to walk along the book shelves and pull books out and throw them on the floor. Time to leave kids!

On the way back home we found a new park we had never been to, which was pretty cool. Alexa was in heaven...it was fun! Only downfall...no swings, which is Braden's favorite. Besides it keeps him entertained and away from eating rocks. Oh well.

Even without leaving our little town it must have been a successful day because Alexa totally passed out on the couch while I was nursing Braden. This NEVER happens, that girl is like the Energizer Bunny so I was shocked!

Lovin the Farm Animals

UPDATE: I remember what we did Saturday. :) We went to my Grandpa and Grandma's (Papa & Nana) house and hung out while Matt and my Grandpa change the brakes in our car. What a huge money saver for us to have the help to do it ourselves! Thank you Papa! :) (See, sometimes I just need a few hours to think about things then I will remember...most times.) :)

Don't you just love when you have a weekend that isn't packed full? Most of our summer weekends are really busy around here so when we get a weekend that we don't need to be running around, it's nice! Although it also feels weird and like we didn't get much done, but whatever...I can get over that! :)

Friday the kids and I met a friend and her boys at the MN Zoo. It was COLD! I can't believe that in the middle of summer the high was like 62 degrees, that's just crazy. We thought about switching up plans and heading to the Mall Of America instead but then we thought - maybe since it's cold and cloudy that there won't be that many people there. Yeah right. Wrong! I think everyone else must have thought the same thing. It wasn't too bad but still pretty busy. We ended up spending the entire day there. We left about 8:30 and didn't get home until 4:00. It was great! Alexa just loves that place and Braden could sit and watch kids run around forever, so it works out pretty well! :)

We had to of course walk out to the farm area of the zoo because Alexa loves to feed the goats and see the cows and pigs. Who's child is she? She definitely doesn't get that from ME! :) This time Braden was also pretty fascinated. He kept putting his finger out for the goats to lick. Of course he didn't have any food so I was a little worried he might get bit but they are pretty gentle.

He was also lovin the cows. And those cows they have there are HUGE. However I think he would have climbed right over the wall and jumped on them if he could. No fear I tell you, no fear!

Every time we go Alexa has to put her head in this thing, isn't she just cute!?

Saturday, I honestly can't even remember what we did and I totally blame this on pregnancy. Before I ever had kids I could remember things, not so much anymore. I do remember we cleaned out our garage and packed up everything that was left over from our garage sale, like almost a month ago! About time, huh? :) We also spent lots of time playing outside since it was halfway decent out after a couple days of cold, icky weather.

Sunday we ran some errands and hung out at home. Then we went to my brother and SIL's house for a little going away get together for my stepsister who is going away to boot camp on Tuesday. How horrible is this but I can't even remember what branch she enlisted in but she will be gone until Christmas. She is a little nervous about going and thinks she's going to be the oldest person there. (She's not even 35) We know she will be great though and we will be writing her lots.

Can you believe that's all the pictures I had from the weekend? Not much. Which is SO unlike me! :) Speaking pictures and cameras...if you are reading this and have a SLR digital camera would you please tell me about it? What kind? Do you like it? Any recommendations of camera to get? Matt and I have been looking around for a few months now and it's a lot harder than we thought. There are so many options and cameras out there, it's crazy. And when you're going to spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars it would be nice to know you're going to get something you like. The money part is actually what has been kind of holding up back from running out and just buying one but we really do hope to soon. I just love pictures and photography but there is just not much you can do with a point and shoot. So anyways ANY input on the subject would be greatly appreciated! Thank you! :)

Flashback Friday

This time last year, just a few weeks from delivering Braden.

I loved that belly.

I miss that belly.

I can't believe a year ago I was still pregnant with Braden...now I can't even remember life before him! Being a mommy is the best! :)

PedalPub

Saturday night Grampa and Gramma came and got both kids and took them home with them. It was kind of a last minute thing but everything worked out. And what did we parents do?

Went out separate ways.

Matt took off to our friends cabin also known as "The Shack" with some of the guys and from what I hear they just hung out and played poker...there could also have been some drinking and smoking cigars going on too. They haven't had a boys night in awhile so it was much needed.

While Matt was up in the middle of nowhere I went down town Minneapolis for a going away party. There was 16 of us and we went on a Pedal Pub. Has anyone in the area ever heard of this? It was one of the funnest things ever.

Basically it is this big cart looking thing with bike seats around the outside and you seriously pedal it. There is a driver in the front who steers and everyone else pedals the thing to make it go. At first I thought it was some kind of joke and the driver would eventually turn it on and we could stop pedaling. Nope. No joke. It was a blast though! It was nice because you can bring coolers with your own drinks and food and pretty much whatever you want and then you "bike" around town. They have different routes but you basically get to pick where you want to go as long as your back within the time period you paid for. There were routes through some of the downtown parks and routes past popular bars where you can get off and on as you please. It was such a good time! If your in the area I would absolutely recommend it. They said they get a lot of birthday parties, bachelor/bachelorette parties, work events, tailgaters and just people who want to do something different. Way cool!

Wordless Wednesday

Climbing, Swinging, Rolling

Saturday Matt's family came over for some grillin and playin. We don't get to see them that much so it was nice to catch up and Alexa always loves seeing her cousin Olivia. Alexa is a year older and although she is extremely loud and outgoing and Olivia is quieter and a little more shy...they get along pretty well. We had wanted to break out the pool and sprinkler but it was windy and just not warm enough. The girls had fun playing on the swing set though.

Alexa teaching Olivia how to climb the rocks.

Braden stayed safely in his swing. He absolutely loves that thing, he could probably sit in there for hours. If you try to grab his toes or tickle hie legs or pretend like he's kicking you, he laughs like crazy.

Isn't she a doll?
(She's also our Goddaughter which makes her a little extra special!) :)

Braden climbing on the table.

And Alexa rolling down the hill.

Grandma Terry with Braden and Olivia.

Olivia was very interested in "the baby" - maybe it's time for her to have a little baby brudder too?

Braden - 11 Months

Braden~
You are growing up so fast. The past few weeks we have noticed such a change in you, you're becoming a big boy. You are getting more and more fun each day! Your personality is really starting to shine and we love it.

At 11 months old you:
Crawl all over the place - on your hands and knees.
Pull up on everything.
Walk around holding on to the furniture.
Stand by yourself for a few seconds.
Shake your head if you hear the word 'no'
Do "so big"
Love playing peek-a-boo.
Just started putting you finger in your nose...on purpose.
Wave and clap.
You have 4 teeth.
Talk all the time.
Love to yell because you can.
Very ticklish.
You laugh a lot...
Especially at Alexa.
Love books and balls.
You complain when you don't get what you want.
You are still a huge Mama's boy.
Love taking baths.
You put everything in your mouth.
Go to sleep about 8pm.
Wake up between 6-7am.
Take 2 naps a day - about 1 1/2-2 hours each.
You still nurse - 3 times a day.
Love to feed yourself.
Can very quickly crawl up the stairs.
Also starting to go down them.
You are almost 27 pounds.
Your hair is turning very blond, and long.

Words:
Mama
Mom
Dada
Bawhhh (ball)
bah-bah (bye-bye)

One more month until you turn one year old. Amazing. I can't believe how fast it has gone. As much as I would love to wrap you up and keep you at this age forever, I can't wait to watch you grow up and keep learning new things. We are loving every minute of it!
Love you forever,
Mommy

Flashback Friday

Alexa and Braden with Grandpa Dave.

Alexa - almost 2

Braden - 2 months

Don't they kind of look alike?

Maybe it's the hair. :)

Wordless Wednesday

Soaking Wet

Since the nice three day weekend wasn't quite enough for Matt, he decided to take today off as well so we could hang out, just the four of us. We decided to visit the MN Zoo. We were lucky enough to sleep in until 6:30am, ate breakfast and got ready to go. We were on the road before 8:30...we thought it would be best to get there right away and avoid some of the people and heat.

We figured we would travel around the outside trails first since it was suppose to get hot later in the day. We also made it out to the barns to see the farm animals. Alexa knew immediately once she saw the goats that she just had to feed them. So we did...

We also saw lots of cows which Alexa was excited about. Last time she was scared to death of the cows so it was nice she got over that. I'm pretty sure last year was the first time she had seen a cow up close and I think she was not expecting them to be so big. Anyway, fear of cows is gone! Can you tell from this picture? :)

I think the best part of the whole day was feeding the giraffes. I'm not sure who liked it more, Matt or Alexa. Matt definitely talked about it longer! :) It was pretty cool and it was weird seeing them and their really long tongues up so close, it was crazy!

A little later in the day we were starting to get hot and sticky from walking around so much so it was perfect timing when we made it to the little splash water area. We quick ate some lunch and changed Alexa and she was off playing in the water. Even Matt and I went in and got a little wet...it was a blast!

And I'm pretty sure she succeeded in getting cooled off! I think we were there for over an hour before we finally talked her into getting changed and going to finish seeing the other animals!

It was a perfect ending to an extra long weekend. Both kids were completely passed out before we even left the parking lot. We will for sure being going back lots now that we got our new zoo membership.