Happy Birthday John!

On June 8th, John celebrated his 35th birthday!  We had such a wonderful day at the zoo and then in the evening we grilled out at my parents and had some friends over for cake and a campfire.  It was a nice relaxing evening and I hope John enjoyed the day as much as I did.

Couldn't resist this photo opportunity :)

I am so happy to be spending another birthday with this guy! He is an amazing husband and a wonderful daddy!  

Elsie is so lucky to have a daddy like John.  No one can make her laugh like he can!  

He even shares his birthday cake with her :)

I absolutely love watching him with her.  I sure snagged a wonderful husband and partner. 

I hope your 35th year is as good as the last!  I Love you John and Happy Birthday! 

Como Park

A few weeks ago we met my cousin Jen and her family (who were visiting from North Carolina) as well as my sister and her family at Como Park in St. Paul.  All of our parents came for the trip as well.  It was a special day also because it was John's Birthday!  I had been to the Como Zoo a few times when I was younger but it had been a few years.  It was fun to go back.  It was also a lot of fun because Elsie just loves animals right now.  

Flamingos at the Entrance-It was at this time I tried to take a picture and realized that I forgot to put my card back into my camera.  Luckily my dad had one that fit.  

Elsie with the map, leading us in the right direction

Looking at the Bison

We made our way to the "Sparky Show" and the kids seems to enjoy it! 

Grandpa with his girls

After the show we grabbed some snacks and took off to see more animals like the cats, monkeys, giraffes, zebras and gorillas!  

The Four Girls:  Piper, Allie, Callie Ann, and Elsie

After checking out the animals we headed back to the car which was parked right next to the picnic area.  We found an open table and pulled out our sandwhiches, pasta salad, fruit, and chips and enjoyed a nice lunch with lots of green space for the kids to play.  After lunch, my cousin's family, Aunt and Uncle took off and we headed back to the park-this time to the amusement park.  It was nearing Elsie's nap time and I was a bit nervous how things would go.  She didn't end up napping while there but did really well and had a great time.  

The first stop was the famous Carousel.  

Then we headed into Como Town.  As we walked in we came across this sign-of course John had to take a picture-it was his birthday after all.  

We tried to shield Elsie from the sun with hopes she would doze but she wasn't into it.  So to the train we went.  

My mom's favorite ride is the Tilt-a-Whirl.  The last time they went on it was at the MN State Fair back in 2011 and I didn't go because I was pregnant.  So this time I decided to give it a "whirl".  It was a lot of fun and boy did we twirl around and around.  

The rest of the time while at the park we strolled along, snapping pictures and watching Tami and Allie enjoy the rides.  Derick enjoy all the different food the park had to offer, and Piper enjoyed a little snooze in the stroller.  

Enjoying a cool treat!

After the rides, we went back into the zoo and checked out a few missed animals and then called it a day around 5:30!  It was a WONDERFUL day spent with family! 

Week in Review - 6.21.13

1.  The Weekend:
We had such a wonderful weekend!  Our original plan was to go down to Lake Rathbun for the whole weekend with Marc, Amber and their family but of course the weather was predicted to be bad so we hung back until Sunday.  

So Saturday we had a great family day.  In the morning we got up and made the decision to wait until Sunday to go south despite the fact the camper was ready and loaded.  So we headed to the local Farmer's Market, picked up a few things and went out to breakfast.  

Elsie stealing a strawberry from our little stash we got at the market

In the afternoon we laid low and grilled out for dinner.  

And biked to Dairy Queen for some yummy ice cream after dinner.

On Sunday we got up bright and early and headed down to Lake Rathbun to go out on the lake with some friends.  It was a beautiful day!  It was also Father's Day! 

So while the guys spent time with thier kids on the boat, Amber and I enjoyed a nice beverage while floating around the lake.  :)

Elsie absolutely LOVED the boat, especially when Marc would go fast across the lake.  

We left early in the afternoon to go out to dinner with John's family.  

Grandpa Dale and his girls...

Although not how we planned it turned out to be a great weekend!!

2.  During the week we had Elsie's first swim lessons.  They weren't much, the instructors pretty much just let us play in the water but it was fun to get Elsie in the water.  Also, the water was pretty cold.  Since it was so early in the season the water hadn't had too much time to warm up.   I doubt we will do them again next summer until there is actual instruction.  It was still fun though. 

3.  Elsie found a new play to relax and read a book :)

4.  We had Elsie's 18 month Doctor Appointment.  All went well.  Check it out here.

5.  The rest of the week was spend packing and getting ready for the weekend/following week. Lots of grocery shopping, laundry, and house cleaning.  We were taking off for a mini vacation for five days. 

6.  We were still using some disposable diapers and I was tired of all of Elsie's shorts falling off because they aren't quite as bulky as our cloth diapers so I dug out some shorts from last summer.  We found lots of shorts that still fit from last summer (size 6-9 months) but the shirts were a little short as you can see from the pic below.  haha  I just had to try it on.