Minneapolis and Twins Game

So the Monday after we moved in, we took off for Minneapolis for our annual Twins game trip.  We joked that Grace would be so confused because in four nights she slept in three different places. :)  We obviously didn't plan that this would be the weekend right after we moved when we bought the tickets, but it just turned out that way. :)  Monday afternoon we packed up and headed out after lunch.  We arrived in the Cities just in time to check into our hotel and then go get something for dinner.  After dinner we headed back to the hotel and just hung out.  Tuesday we got up and ate breakfast, then headed to the Mall of America.  The kids were really excited to go to Lego Land and we thought they would have fun seeing the mall.  We went to a few stores and then headed out around lunch time.  After we got some lunch, we headed back to our hotel so the kids could nap.  While the kids were napping, my parents arrived and so my mom and I quick snuck out to do a little shopping of our own. :)  After the kids got up, we got ready to go meet one of my high school friends for dinner.  My parents and our family enjoyed a nice dinner with my friend, Lindsay, whom I have known since kindergarten. Her and her husband live in Minneapolis and it's become a tradition to meet up with and enjoy dinner with them while we are there.  After dinner, we said good-bye and then headed back to our hotel to head to bed.  On Wednesday we got up, ate breakfast, checked out of the hotel, and then headed to the Target Field for the game.  It was a warm day, but we had great seats down close.  We had a fun time at the game, but were ready to cool off when it was over. :)  After the game, we dropped my parents back at the hotel, and then headed south.  We have really enjoyed making this an annual trip!

Lego Land!

The home plate of the old stadium

Big Boot outside LLBean

Grace being goofy at the hotel :)

Norah at the hotel

Kyler with TC

Stadium

Norah and Grandma Nadene

Kyler and Grandpa Gary

Getting ready to go!

By the big ball after the game

Move In Weekend

The 25th of July, which was a Saturday, we had designated as "move in" day.  For the past two to three weeks (since we got back from the cabin) Erik has been spending almost every night over at our new house painting.  His parents have also been quite wonderful and stopped over many nights to help paint too, along with my aunt and Erik's sister.  This was a tough weekend to get people together, as lots of people were out of town on vacation, etc., but we got the job done!  Our first priority was to get all of our beds set up, as we didn't want to be doing that at 9:00 that night.  The beds we weren't using at my parent's (Norah's was the only one we were using) had mostly been delivered Friday evening so it was just a matter of assembling things.  We also really needed to get the kitchen unpacked as eating was somewhat of a priority. :)  And, after a full day, we can happily say that we stayed at our new house that night in a somewhat organized fashion!  I don't really have any pictures from moving day, but I do have a few shots of some of the work Erik did painting.  I will have to update with more "finished" shots here in another post.

Craig began ripping out the bushes so we could actually move in, they were so overgrown they covered half of the walkway.

Erik painting the fireplace.

So much better!

On a last minute decision, we decided to paint our garage floor.  It was quite the process, but I'm so glad we did, it looks awesome!

Grace is 21 Months

Grace turned 21 months old on July 17th.  Since I'm slightly behind on this, I don't really remember any "major" milestones this past month. :)  She loves being outside and loves to take a ride in her "weee" (aka: swing) on a daily basis.  Her hair is getting so long and is almost able to stay in a pony tail without too much falling out.  Since we have been back from the lake, she now really understands what it means when I ask if she wants to put her swimsuit on. :)  Her vocabulary also continues to increase all the time.  Here are some pictures from the past month.
 

21 Months Old

Enjoying the cozy coupe at Grandma's

All ready to trim the yard!

Enjoying the water table

I don't remember why she was naked here, but thought it was funny :)

Kyler's Tball

Kyler had, what I would say, is his first experience with organized sports this summer.  He wanted to try tball through the rec center.  The first day was a little rough because some other kid accidentally took his glove and then Kyler couldn't find it and being the first day it threw him for a loop. :)  But once we got passed that, Kyler had fun.  They worked on a little bit of hitting, some throwing, and then played games.  We missed a couple of times while we were gone at the cabin, but then were there for the last couple days when we got back.

Up to bat

Hitting the ball

Playing catch

Practicing hitting

Playing first base :)