New Auntie

This weekend Uncle Sean got married and the kids got a new Auntie named Hilary! Hilary has been a part of our family since Punky was a baby, so we were all very excited they made it official!

We headed to SD on Thursday morning and made it in time to take Buddy out to eat at the restaurant of his choosing. For his birthday, he wanted to go to the "Buffalo restaurant" (Buffalo Wild Wings). He's only been a few times before but he loved the corn dogs. This time he ordered mac and cheese.

After lunch, Daddy picked up his tuxedo and we headed to Grandma and Grandpa's house for the night. We tried to play outside, but it rained just as we were heading out. We did get to see an amazing rainbow stretching the whole length of the horizon though. It was still pretty hazy, so I didn't get a great photo. But it was the first real rainbow Punky has seen, and she loved it!



On Friday morning, Grandma and I visited my Grandma in the nursing home before we headed to the hotel to get ready for the wedding. That day was Buddy's actual birthday, and Uncle Sean and Hilary surprised Buddy by singing "Happy Birthday" to him at the rehearsal dinner. He was trying to hide the smile on his face, but he didn't get shy and I think secretly loved the attention. They also gave him a present which definitely helped pass the time that weekend!

Daddy was the best man in the wedding and was pretty busy throughout the day. The ceremony was short and sweet, but was still so hard for Buddy to sit through. I guess always attending the nursery at church has it's down side. After Sean and Hilary exchanged rings, Buddy shouted out "All done!". Luckily, only a few people around us were snickering.

No More Photos, Mom!

Grandma Debbie and Grandpa Max were able to help us out quite a bit that day. They drove the kids to the reception, so that I was able to join the wedding party in the limo. After the reception, Grandma and Grandpa drove the kids back to their house and delivered them back to us the next morning. Therefore, we had a lot of fun and a lot of drinks!

Cousins

Great Grandma, Great Grandpa and all 4 of their Great Grandchildren

Of course, Punky and Buddy were most excited that day for the wedding reception and the dance. The chicken dance was high on their list, but they really both had so much fun running around and dancing with all the kids. One of the bridesmaids told me that she heard Punky go right up to a boy and ask him to dance. The little guy said NO and ran away. Well, I guess that didn't stop Punky, because we saw her hand in hand with another little boy. Buddy was not sure what to think of it. He came up to me with a concerned look on his face and said, "A boy is dancing wif my sister." He followed them around and made sure they were behaving! Oh what a good brother Buddy is going to be!

Chicken Dance

I love Buddy's smile- he is so glad that other boy is away from his sister!

It was a beautiful day and we all had so much fun. Welcome to the family Auntie Hilary!

Three

Our baby boy is now three years old. Birthday posts are always so hard for me to write because I get so sentimental and sad looking back at the past year, wondering where time has gone. But at the same time, I remind myself to soak in the moment because I know that one day, sooner than I wish, Buddy will be turning 13 or 23 and I will long for the day when he was 3.

So, instead of getting all sappy, I will just write about what Buddy is up to at this age.

Animals. Seriously this little boy loves animals more than anything else in life. For his birthday, he asked for a warthog, meerkat, hyena, wildebeest and baboon. What 3 year old knows and loves those animals? But really, he had to ask for the exotic ones, because he already has all of the regular animals like horses, dinosaurs and giraffes. His love of animals has really made parenting a little easier. We just have to relate everything to an animal and it is suddenly the best thing in the world! Don't want to go upstairs for pjs and bed? Let's climb the stairs like mountain goats! Don't want to eat your veggies? Let's pretend we are rabbits and eat these carrots!

Buddy is an energetic little boy. He doesn't sit still for too long. He loves to climb on the back of the couch, and jump from one corner of the couch to the other.

He doesn't eat much for breakfast or dinner. But that 4 to 5 o'clock hour? All the kid wants to do is eat, eat, eat. I try my best to keep him out of the kitchen, but when I fail at that, he does do a good job of eating healthy snacks.

Despite that, Buddy weighs as much as Punky. I randomly weighed the kids a few weeks ago and both weighed 36.6 pounds. They are also both wearing the same size shoes. A few times this summer, Punky has been wearing a 3T dress and Buddy's been wearing 4T shirts. Punky's still got a few inches on him, but I suppose that probably won't last for long either.

Buddy is still a sweet little boy. He gives the best kisses and has developed a little pet name for his mama (buh buh). He loves his sister and plays so well with her. Everyone comments on how he looks just like his daddy.

Even though we'll always think of you as our little 18 month old toddler, we can't wait to share many more birthdays with you and see who'll you become. We love you, Buddy!

Celebrate

Buddy's 3rd birthday is coming up.  (Let's not even talk about how my little baby boy can already be 3.)  We decided to celebrate his birthday a little early this year because Uncle Sean and Hilary are going to be married the day after Buddy's birthday.  So, this past weekend we had all of our family in town to celebrate at our house.  The party was very casual and low-key, just lunch and hanging out.

Once again, Auntie Shannon decorated a cake to fit with the birthday theme (animals, obviously!)

Buddy had the biggest smile on his face when everyone sang him Happy Birthday.





He got some great presents. He was pretty excited about opening presents this year.  He asked Grandma Debbie if he could open the present when she came and she said he had to ask his mom. Without skipping a beat, he said confidently "She said it's okay." What a stinker!

The huge T-rex was definitely his favorite. He had been peeking at the gift pile as guests were arriving and saw the T-rex's tale sneaking out of the gift bag. He came up to me and whispered, "It's a T-rex!"

On Sunday, we went to the State Fair with my parents, sister and nieces. The weather all week long had been in the high 90s and very humid. Finally, on Sunday, the weather cooled and it was a gorgeous day for the fair. Unfortunately, all of Minnesota thought so too because it was so packed. 236,197 people were there- breaking the all time attendance record for one day. It was so busy, we had a hard time walking around as a group. I didn't really get a lot of photos that day either.

The bus ride to the fair is always a highlight of the day:





Buddy was much more adventurous when it came to the food. He had a pronto pup, cheese curds, and a bite or two of a malt. Punky had a slice of pizza.


We let both kids pick one ride at the Kidway (and they got to go together, so they did two). Punky chose the trucks and Buddy chose the bumper boats. Punky would not lay off the truck horn throughout the entire ride. The poor kid in front of her covered her ears the whole time. Buddy was splashing in the water, and a worker told him to keep his hands inside. He got pretty scared after that and didn't smile again.





We did manage to have a fun time at the Kidway, Midway, Animal Barns, Lil Farm Hands Exhibit, and the Giant Slide. We didn't get to see everything we hoped, like the Miracle of Life barn and the DNR fish pond. Luckily, Derek and I had been by ourselves earlier in the week, so we had already eaten all of our favorite fried foods and seen some extra things. Oh well, something to look forward to for next year!



This afternoon we had a few friends over for a lunch playdate. Again, it was very casual, but also very important to celebrate our little Buddy's turning 3! We'll be out of town for Buddy's actual birthday, but we saved a gift for him to open (the 5 animals he asked for- warthog, meerkat, hyena, baboon and wildebeest) and we hope to treat him to ice cream or do something special that day. Stay tuned!

I love my big boy bed!

Summer is winding down and we have been taking it easy the last few weeks. Last weekend, we took down Buddy's crib. (Don't get me started, on how sad that was...) He had been jumping out of it again (since we lowered the mattress to the floor about a year ago). So,we set up Punky's toddler bed for him. So far, Buddy has done great! He hasn't fallen out and he isn't getting out at bedtime. The mornings are another story. The last two weeks, I have been woken up anywhere from 5:30-7 by the sound of his little feet scurrying down the hallway. He is usually clutching 3 or 4 of his buddies and climbs into bed with us. He can lay still and watch TV for about 20 minutes, so we are pretty much up at that point. This new routine is much different than our usual 8 or 8:30 wake-up times. On top of dropping his naps, it is no wonder Buddy falls asleep quickly at night.

Taken with a flash in the dark because I couldn't figure out how else to do it.

After we had put the new room together, I found Buddy alone in his room jumping on the bed and chanting, "I love my big boy bed, I love my big boy bed, I love my big boy bed..." I am shooting myself for not getting it on video.

Here is a shot of the whole room, taken from inside the closet.

Thomas

We spent last weekend on a mini-vacation with some of our best friends.  Punky's godparents and Buddy's godparents joined us for a weekend in "Duloof".  We planned the trip way back in February or March when we saw an advertisement for a Day Out with Thomas the Train.  We decided to make a weekend out of it and were able to spend some time enjoying Duluth and Lake Superior.

I was a little nervous to take a trip with 11 people (including 5 kids with different nap schedules), but it all went so well!  We ALL had a great time!  All the kids were well behaved and the adults got a little bit of time to sneak away and enjoy each others company too.

We didn't have a set plan for Friday, but all the families ended up making it to Duluth within 15 minutes of each other.  We couldn't have planned it better!  We spent the afternoon walking around Canal Park and around the shoreline of Lake Superior.











We finished off Friday with an early dinner at Grandma's and swimming at the hotel.  The moms all went out that night and had drinks and dessert.  We had good conversations that wouldn't have happened with kids around! I somehow booked a handicapped accessible room (must've been cheaper).  So while I thought we had a king with pull-out sofa, we only got a king bed.  Luckily, we could all squeeze in after we shifted the kids around.  



On Saturday, we headed to the train station for our Day Out with Thomas.  In preparation, I sewed each of the three girls coordinating Thomas skirts.  They were so cute and we all got lots of compliments!  Of course, we were all excited to see Thomas and take a ride on the train.  There were lots of other fun events too like bounce houses, tattoos, crafts, coloring, etc.

Sir Topham Hatt

After a quick lunch, we decided to head up the North Shore.  We stopped at Gooseberry Falls to have a look around.







After another dinner out and more swimming, the guys went out and the rest of us headed to bed.  The next morning, we took the kids to a playground that we had seen while riding on Thomas.  We thought about heading home early, but the weather was gorgeous and we ended up back at Canal Park.  We had lunch and then ice cream.  We looked at a few shops and found out that a huge ship would be coming through.  I left my camera in the car, but it was really cool to see!  Punky and Buddy were more interested in playing though.

It was a great weekend spent with some really great friends.  Punky agreed that the weekend was much more fun because our friends were there with us.  Hopefully this will be the first of many trips taken together!

Catch-Up

I am a little behind on blogging, so this post is kind of a mish-mash of photos.  :)

After our trip to the lake, we drove to Itasca State Park on our way home.  Itasca is most notable for the Headwaters of the Mississippi River.  We crossed the tiny river a few times (without getting wet!).  And I was humming the Okee Dokee Brothers in my head the whole time!

Last week was Punky's last day of her Lil Sports Sampler class we signed up for through our local Parks and Rec.  The first three weeks were soccer and the second half was t-ball.  Originally, Punky was more excited about soccer, but in the end I think she like t-ball the best.  We signed up with Punky's BFFs too, so that always makes everything a lot more fun!  Especially since they could all go to the playground together after practice.  Buddy kept himself busy playing with with the other siblings, tossing toys off the bleachers, and running around.     

Go Astronauts!

Lastly, we took the kids to the zoo as a surprise a few weeks ago.  It was a really nice day, not too hot, not cold or rainy.  But, the kids were kind of crabby.  I am not sure what was up, but we decided that we'll need to bring at least one stroller when we go to the State Fair.  They just got so tired walking around the zoo.  Tired kids = crabby kids = crabby parents.  I didn't get many photos that day, but I did manage to bribe them with ice cream for some.

Up North

Every year Grandma and Grandpa rent a lake cabin at a resort "up north" and we join them towards the end of the week. We are so happy that Grandma and Grandpa don't mind that we tag along with them! It is really nice to get away from home and work schedules and we all have so much fun.



The first thing Punky and Buddy wanted to at the lake was to go fishing. We tried fishing from the dock and had a ton of success! They were both catching fish every few minutes. There were definitely not any big ones, but they didn't mind!

The weather was sunny and nice our first two days, so we got to swim in the lake. The resort had a new water slide this year that was a lot of fun! We had to catch the kids at the bottom of the slide, but they loved it! Buddy HATED the seaweed at the lake. He hardly wanted to touch the bottom of the lake with his feet. He is pretty spoiled with our chlorinated and filtered swimming pond at home. But, he did learn to float pretty good!







We took a few boat rides and Punky tried fishing on the boat. It was pretty windy that day though, so we gave up pretty quickly.





The rest of our time was spent playing games, eating, relaxing, and watching the kids play at the playground.

I also got to play around with my camera and got a couple of neat photos.

This year at the lake was especially fun because we could really see that Punky and Buddy were making memories that will stay with them forever.