TEDDY BEAR PARK

We have finally been getting some nice weather here in the frozen tundra - aka Minnesota, and this is seriously heaven sent. I swear, the winters in this lovely state have been slowly getting worse and worse over the past 4 years. They are getting so bad that I have actually contemplated packing everyone up, convincing the Mr. to sell the Marinas, and moving someplace - anyplace - where it is warm year round.

Anyway, now that the weather is warm, one of our most favorite parks has opened. The ever popular Teddy Bear Park. Needless to say, the kids were thrilled when I told them we were going to head there for the very first time this summer.

We played on all the fun play sets,

tried out the "zip line",

played in the tunnel,

Climbed the ever popular rock walls,

hung out some more in the tunnel,

zipped down the log slides,

played a little peek-a-boo at the bottom of the tree,

took a time out to drool a little,

rounded everyone up for a little eeny, meeny, miney, mo for a game of hide and seek,

Took turns jumping off of the rock walls - WEeEeeeeEEE!!

Ready, set......

GO!!

Took some time out to have a chat with the Teddy Bear on site,

And didn't forget to snuggle up nice a close to him for a bit too.

Of course, everyone had a great time, and no one wanted to leave. Especially Anthony.

We love Teddy Bear Park.

MEMORIAL WEEKEND

Memorial weekend was a very memorable one. Memorable in both a good and bad way - good in that the kids and adults all seemed to have a wonderful time. We tubed, played in the sand, stayed up late making smores and running around twirling glow sticks around. We watched movies, snuggled up for afternoon naps, ate, and ate, and ate some more. You get the idea, we had some fun.

But we also were cursed with the stomach flu. Oh the stomach flu - the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad stomach flu. It started with my Anthony puking all over the bunk beds at the nice and early hour of 3:30am Saturday morning. He puked in to the early morning hours, then took a 3 hour nap and lounged the rest of the day, only to feel 100% by early Sunday morning. BUT, just as he was skipping out of bed ready for a fun day of sun, swimming and friends, Papa Scotty walked out of his bedroom to inform us that Nanu [Grandma had it.] Poor Grandma had been up since 3:30am puking - she stayed in bed all day long feeling like death. Then, Sunday night my Liv Grace out of the blue puked by the campfire in the middle of making smores. After she was finished she looked up at me and said, "Mama, my tummy hurts. I puked." My poor girl.

The next morning we got up, packed the car and headed home in the hopes of having no other pukers. And we lucked out. My sister; not so much. Gaby ended up waking up Monday night to puke.

Needless to say, there was lots and lots of puking going on this Memorial weekend. But there was also lots and lots of fun to make up for all that terrible, horrible, no good, very bad, tummy flu that passed through the family. Lots.

7

Happy Birthday to my sweet, sensitive, loving little boy....

Never, ever change my Lucas Alexander - you are truly one of a kind.

Mommy loves.

ALL SHE WANTS TO DO IS DANCE, DANCE...

Today was a big day - Ava had her first dance rehearsal, gearing up for the ever entertaining and amazing Larkin dance recital this coming Friday and Saturday.

My girl was so very excited, all dressed up, curled hair, make up and all, ready to dance her pants off in a sassy little lime green costume.

She surely didn't disappoint tonight while practicing. I am so proud of my little dancer, she really is amazing.

SNEAKY LITTLE DEVIL

I was busy today [which doesn't really distinguish it from any other day] so I decided to leave Olivia in the playroom in the midst of a nice make believe session with her dolly's, while I got some chores done.

I wasn't sure how long she would manage to busy herself before noticing I had left the room, so I ran around in fast forward mode folding laundy, throwing another load in, cleaning a toilet, loading the dishwasher, etc.

After about a half hour, I stopped to realize she was still playing happily with her dolly's [amazing], so I decided to keep on going, and ran up the stairs to put some laundry away. After finishing that, and realizing she still hadn't come in search of me, I started to become suspicious.

I made my way to the playroom only to find her MIA. "Olivia!" No response. "Olivia, where are you honey?" Still, no response. "Olivia, Momma needs to know where you are! Talk to me." Still, no response - all that was heard was a the crinkle-crinkle sound of wrappers from someplace nearby. I immediately knew she had gotten into something, but I was not sure as to what that something was, though I knew it couldn't be good. I rounded the corner into the dining room and found this.

She had apparently learned how to work the handle on the freezer, snuck a box of my thin mints, and headed to the corner of the dining room to go to town. And go to town she did. She managed to eat half the box - can we say massive stomach ache?
When asked what in the heck she thought she was doing, she said matter of fact "I am eating your cookies Mommy, I love them."

This girl seriously keeps me on my toes.

Oh, and just so you know, she didn't get sick. Unbelievable. No lesson learned this time around....

GIRLS DAY OUT

Grandma, Liv, Ava and I made a trip out to the American Girl Doll Store in order to do some shopping and have lunch at the Bistro. We try and do this a few times each year, and this little outing never seems to disappoint.

There is so much to see, so much to do, so much good food to eat... I just love it all. Mostly because it makes the girls so very happy. I love seeing how they light up when we walk in the door, how Olivia gasps when she sees all the dolly's, clothes, and other accessories, how they carefully pick out what they want to eat and drink. I love all of it.