22 Months Old!

Grace turned 22 months old on August 17, I can't believe she will be two in just two quick months!  She adjusted so well to the move, probably because she still sleeps in a pack n play, so her bed just moves around with her and looks the same. :)  We were waiting until we moved to put her into a "big girl" bed.  I can't believe how old she looks in her pictures, she is definitely starting to look more like a little girl than a baby!  Her vocabulary continues to grow all the time and she always surprises me with what she says. :)  She loves to be outside and likes to dig in the sand under the swing set.  Here are a few pictures from the past month!  

  

All smiles for 22 months old!

"Cheese!"

Her curly pony tail :)

She decided to lay in the middle of the kitchen after church one day

Enjoying coloring on the back porch

All ready for the sand!

All "cozy" in Kyler's blanket

Hi Mom!

Swimming Lessons

Kyler and Norah took swimming lessons through the rec center again this summer.  We did the last session at The Falls, hoping the weather would be nice a warm for their morning lessons. :)  Both of the kids had the same teachers this year even though they were in different classes and their teachers did a great job.  Kyler is still a bit apprehensive about putting his face under the water and doing things by himself, so we need to keep pushing him to get better.  When he was pushed in his lesson he was good about trying things, just needs to get more comfortable about doing them on his own.  Norah grew a lot in her class.  There were a lot of kids in her group, who didn't always listen the best, but she did so good with putting her head under the water and jumping in all by herself.  She is definitely ready to move on to the next group and I hope she continues to grow just as much.  

Going off the diving board with a life jacket

A little help...

In he goes!  He was so great with wearing his life jacket, I'm sure it's from being at the cabin with one

Norah about to jump in

Hanging out with her friend Molly

Going to go off the board

Needed a little convincing….

He made it!

Norah going to jump in

No problem :)

Poor Grace had to sit and watch everyone….next year!

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 :)

4th of July in Minnesota

We were able to head up to my parent's cabin in Minnesota again for the week of the 4th of July.  The kids had been looking forward to it for months and could NOT WAIT to go! :)  We left the Sunday before as soon as Erik was done with the chairs at church, and were able to hit the road around 1:00.  I was hoping the kids would nap well in the car, but I'm pretty sure Kyler and Norah didn't nap at all, and Grace slept a half hour…..but amazingly enough, everyone did pretty well!  We stopped twice (if I remember right, once for dinner and one more time for a bathroom break and rolled in about 9:00.  We quickly made everyone's bed, said hello to my mom's friends who were staying there and who I hadn't seen in years and then headed to bed.

Monday, was a pretty nice day, a bit chilly in the morning but still warm enough for the kids to put their suits on and head to the beach.  They of course wanted to do that right away after breakfast. :)  It then started to warm up a bit after the sun came over the trees.  It was also really calm on the lake, so after dinner Norah and I took our first tube ride of the season. :)  After tubing, Kyler and Norah also decided they needed to go fishing, so Grandpa agreed to take them out for a few minutes before bedtime.

Grace checking out the beach.  It took her a couple days to feel comfortable walking up and down the slope of the beach with the sand.

Miss Norah

Checking out the water, with a few waves, she wasn't quite sure about it at first, but that changed throughout the week.

Checking it out...

Norah "pretend fishing"

Taking a paddle boat ride...

Exploring the beach

Tube ride!

Grace thought she needed a tube ride after Norah went

Evening fishing trip :)

Tuesday was a beautiful day, and the wind was a lot calmer right away, so we enjoyed some morning tube rides after breakfast.  Kyler wanted to tube today, and of course after watching two older siblings go, Grace wanted to go too, so I agreed and we went very, very slowly on a very short trip out in front of our dock. :)  After tubing, we enjoyed more beach time and more fishing.  (we accomplished a lot before lunchtime!) :)  The kids were very successful with their fishing today and were so excited to show off what they caught!

Grace's crazy morning hair :)

Grace needed in the boat today

Kyler's tube ride

Grace ready to ride

Beach babe :)

Off to fish!

Loving the water

Their catch!

This view never gets old….

Wednesday, July 1st, was actually Erik and I's anniversary!  The day was pretty nice and the water was calm enough for Ben to take Kyler on a paddle board ride.  Since everyone was now at the cabin, Ben had arrived that morning, Erik and I were able to go out to eat by ourselves for our anniversary!  I don't remember the last time we ate dinner out just the two of us, so that was fun!

Paddle board ride!

Thursday, July 2nd, was a beautiful day and was full of lots of fun things.  The girls had several July 4th matching outfits, so we had to start wearing them today. :)  After breakfast, it was time for some more beach action.  The kids enjoyed digging in the sand and playing in the water.  I also took the paddle board for a ride since the lake was calm.  Also, the neighbors had given us a "rocket" tube, so we blew that up and the kids enjoyed riding in it because they could just sit down in it.  Another fun day at the lake!

Day one of matching outfits :)

Lego time!

More beach fun

Mr. Kyler

Miss Norah

Miss Grace

All three kids in the rocket….don't worry they didn't ride like this :)

Ashley on the paddle board

Grace looks a little mad here :)

Fun in the sand :)

Friday the kids really wanted to go fishing again, so Grandpa and Ben took them out before lunch.  And they came back with a couple keepers!  We enjoyed some more beach time and then Kyler and Norah wanted to go fishing again after dinner.  This time they came back with a huge walleye!  And Kyler was the one who caught it.  It was so funny because they were just right out in front of the cabin and all of a sudden we hear, "I caught a walleye!!" (and the whole rest of the lake could hear too!) :).  He was so excited. :)  Then, to finish the evening, we had a nice fire down by the lake and roasted s'mores, yum! :)

Another day of matching outfits :)

Fishing time

Their catch

Hi Mom!

More fishing

S'mores time!

The BIG one!!

Saturday was July 4th.  We started the day with our annual breakfast at the pot.  We enjoyed lots of wonderful food and great company.  After breakfast, it was time for the boat parade, we didn't partake in the parade, but we enjoyed watching from the dock!  When the boat parade was finished, I think we did just about everything possible. :)  The kids took rides in the rocket with Ben, they went fishing, kayaked with Grandma and Grandpa, and enjoyed time on the beach.  We then headed in for lunch and naps.  After naps, we hung out some more and then enjoyed a yummy dinner.  However, at dinner, Norah didn't feel very good. :(  She'd been kind of tired all day, but it came to head at dinner.  We think she was a bit dehydrated from being out on the beach so much.  So, after dinner Erik hung out with her, while I skied quick and then we got everyone ready for bed.  We didn't even see any fireworks because it's stays light up there for so long, fireworks don't usually go off until well after 10:00.

3 Kiddos :)

Ready for the boat parade!

All decked out

Rocket time!

There they go!

Norah's turn

Kayak time

Fun with Grandpa :)

Sunday the 5th, we enjoyed another fun day at the cabin, it was supposed to rain but turned out better than we expected and didn't rain until evening.  We went out to eat for dinner as a family as Ben was leaving the next day.  Before we went to dinner we took our obligatory family photos. :)  Apparently these are the only photos I took this day. :)  

Our family

With Grandma, Grandpa and Ben

Monday the 6th, my dad took Ben to the airport, and it was a bit cooler, so we hung out and did some things in the cabin in the morning, and then were able to head out to the beach for one last time later in the afternoon.  Then Tuesday, we loaded up and headed out right after breakfast!  It's always bittersweet to leave because we have such a good time, but are glad to come home to our own beds. :)  See you later this summer cabin!!