Summer Weekend Warriors 8/9: Okoboji

Another great time in Okoboji! The weather was wonderful and the cabin was full. We ate, we laughed, we held babies, we rode roller coasters. We bounced, we played, we biked, and after all that, we slept (finally). I love watching this family grow!

Big Birthday Weekend

Wow, are we exhausted! We now have an appropriately celebrated five-year-old. Parties and house guests and sweets, oh my!

FRIDAY - Our gift to Lucy was a redecorate of her room. She was surprised!

By Birthday Girl request, dinner at Red Lobster. With cake as big as her head!

Then Grandma and Grandpa arrived, and we stayed up too late.
Couldn't even make it to the bed...

SATURDAY morning - Show Week at Little Gym! Videos here.

Showing off in the gym.

Cousins arrived! Playtime ensued.

Then, party time! Lego cake as requested.
(Target cake with addition of candy Lego bricks and figures made from a mold purchase on Amazon - way cool!)

All four cousins!

Uncle Jason is a jungle gym.

Another late bedtime. Guess which one is sleeping?

SUNDAY - church, then saying goodbye to our cousins.

Then off to a "friends" party at the nature center.

Lucy surprised us by choosing a snake to take out,
and absolutely zero reservations about holding it!

The whole gang. 

And then...home at around 5:00pm, where we all took naps.

The End.

Happy Birthday, Lucy!

Making the Most of It

Yes, there's still snow on the ground (it's still March after all), but today we had a brief respite before the snow flies again. We spent some time with a friend of mine this afternoon, then extended our outdoor play with a bike ride and some driveway art. Lucy was quite into it, as you can see.

A Visit From the Grandparents

This visit brought to you by the movie "Frozen," which Grandma and Grandpa hadn't seen yet. We made sure we got the DVD the day it was released, so we'd be ready for their visit a few days later.

Lucy even made movie tickets.

Two of the six viewing party attendees.

An impromptu visit to Como Zoo (at least the inside portions, it's still cold!)

This photo taken by Lucy!

Morning puzzles and PJs.

Making monster cookies with Grandma.

Three generations of cookie bakers.

The finished product, served with a smile.

What a great weekend!

Holiday Hangover

After all the Christmas excitement and then working the past two days, this is kind of how I feel too...

I'm looking forward to catching up on sleep this weekend, and trying to find a place for all this stuff!

A Visit From Grandma

This weekend my mom came up for a visit. It's not often we get Grandma or Grandpa without the other, but it's kind of fun to get some one-on-one time. Mom and I got to go shopping by ourselves on Friday afternoon, but from 5PM on out it was all about Grandma and Lucy. A tour of her school, Daddy's yummy eggrolls, carving pumpkins, and watching The Sound of Music on Friday night; basketball, shopping, dance class, lunch, crafts, games, and baking on Saturday; church on Sunday and then we had to say goodbye to Grandma. It was the kind of weekend that memories are made of.

They worked on a pumpkin together.

Cheese!

Grandma taught Lucy how to use two spoons
to scoop the batter in the muffin pan.

Fall Visit

This weekend Lucy and I went to visit Mom and Dad in Storm Lake. We had seen them a fair amount over the summer, but hadn't been to SL since Easter, so it was about time for a trip.

We got in around 7PM Friday night, and Lucy promptly claimed Grandpa for playtime downstairs. I caught up with Mom, and then later stayed up too late catching up with Dad...some much needed conversation with my parents!

Saturday was a busy day once we got going. Later in the morning, we headed over to Justin's because he has kittens! He recently rescued a stray cat and a couple days later, realized she was pregnant. Now he's got two cute, stripey kitties he's going to have to give away (he swears he'll be able to do it...he already has 3 cats and a dog). We all enjoyed seeing them, and Lucy got to hold one with Grandma's help.

After Justin's house, we headed to my aunt and uncle's apple orchard near Akron, SD (three states in three days, WHEW!) I had never been there before, and it was high time for a visit. It was a little chilly, but we had a good time picking and tasting apples, having a hayride, and seeing the whole operation. They've got a great little spot!

After the orchard, we made a slight detour to my brother Jason's house to visit. We got to eat supper with them and the kids played in the backyard. Lucy really enjoyed the 4-wheeler ride from her cousin D. He was feeling pretty studly himself, I think!

Sunday we went to church and got to have Mom's lasagna for Justin's birthday lunch (or is it dinner? - inside joke). Lucy was convinced she did not like the "bazagna," but after explaining it is pasta, sauce, meat, and cheese, she discovered it was OK after all. She's eaten it before, but is just going through a picky phase, I guess. Anything that isn't a peanut butter sandwich is subject to suspicion these days.

Lucy fell asleep within 15 minutes of getting in the car to head home, and I had a nice quiet couple of hours driving before she woke up and we sang our hearts out to "Popular" from the Wicked soundtrack over and over again. The whole weekend was a much-needed break from everyday rigors, and Lucy got some great one-on-one time with her grandparents (and me with my parents). Quality time with two of my brothers was the cherry on top. Always a treat to go "home."

Summer Weekend Warriors 6/1: Birthday Party and Nature Center Fun

 

Since we’ve cleared Memorial Day, I figured I’d declare an unofficial start to summer and bring back the “Summer Weekend Warriors.” I’m sure we’ll try to pack in as much as we can (if it ever stops raining), and if the first weekend is any indication, we’re off to a good start!

 

Saturday was Birthday Party Day! But before that could happen, we had to take a pesky little detour for Dance Show Day! Lucy has been learning  tap and ballet routines the past several weeks in her Little Gym class, and she got to show it off Saturday morning, as well has her gym skills. Grandma and Grandpa were in town and got to join in on the fun, too! The dances were cute and at the end of the class each kid got to stand on the podium and receive a medal while the teacher said some words about their personality and how they were in class. It was pretty cute, and Lucy was very proud to show off to her grandparents.

 After all that excitement, we came home to find Uncle Jason, Auntie Chrissy and Dylan and Evan at our house, followed soon by Uncle Justin! A couple of hours later we were joined by Husband’s family and Lucy’s best buddy Nathan for the big party. Lucy got to open gifts right away, followed by an early dinner and a sad-looking Hello Kitty cupcake concoction made by yours truly (it always looks so much better in my head…and I now know a few things about using whipped cream). Anyway, Lucy didn’t care and a fun time was had by all. As usual, she got a lot of great gifts. 

My family spent the night at our house, and on Sunday it took us a little time to get going, but we finally decided to head over to nearby Westwood Nature Center, which is a favorite place of ours. While the kids played at the playground I ran out to get some pizzas for an easy picnic lunch. After eating we spent some time on the trails and inside the nature center, where the kids crashed a birthday party in progress and got to see a tarantula! It was a beautiful day and it was just the perfect thing to wear the kids out a bit more before the boys had to get in the car for the long ride home.

 After we said goodbye to everyone, we went home and took some much-needed naps. Lucy slept for three hours – she was exhausted from all of the fun. Many thanks to our families for making it a great weekend. Lucy is still talking about it!