Random July pics

Here are some pictures from the last few weeks (since Hayward, but before vacation). We've been having fun, and enjoying the warm weather with some days at the beach.

Miss Jenna showing off her swimming ability:

Andrew looking cool on his bike:

Jenna has been requesting to wear this dress a lot lately...she calls it her party dress:

Andrew and one of his friends during playgroup at the beach. They had caught some minnows, so they were making sure they had enough water.

After spending the day at the Lake Elmo pond swimming and having fun, we headed to Stillwater to get ice cream at Nelson's....YUMMY!

Hayward

We spent the 4th of July weekend up in Hayward, and had a blast. We tested out the rental by owner option, and it worked out really well. The place we rented had a really sandy shoreline, so it was perfect for swimming, plus it was back in a bay, so even on the windier days, it stayed calm. They also allowed us to bring Sadie! It was a lot of fun to have her at the lake with us.

Andrew & Bruce made friends with the neighbors right away, which lead to Andrew meeting Maddie, their granddaughter who is his age. They played a lot together, and he ended up getting to ride a jet ski, be pulled on their tube, and go out in the paddle boat to look at the otters, and turtles that were in the bay. Here are some pictures from his adventures:

The other big highlight was getting to visit the Stampf's and Marion's every day that we were up there. The kids all did really well playing with each other, which allowed for the adults to catch up a bit ;) It was great to hang out the Cori and Teresa, and their families for more than a day (which is what we usually do). Here are some pictures from the weekend:

What he was trying to catch:

Andrew wanted to kayak, but decided he could improvise w/ my lounge chair instead:

It's a shark! Nope just Sadie:

Enjoying some ice cream at West's Dairy on the 4th of July:

Splashing in the puddles:

Andrew with one of his big catches:

Home Run!

During Andrew's offical last game (we did have a make-up game after the 4th), he was the last batter during one of the inning....which means he got to hit a homerun! Here's our little all star running the bases:



He loved playing t-ball and is sad that it's over. Bruce really enjoyed coaching too. Here are some additional pictures of Andrew in action:

3 year stats

Jenna amazed us by jumping percentiles (a lot) for her 3 year check. Turns out she's not nearly the peanut we thought she was :)

Here are her stats:
Height: 38 inches (75%)
Weight: 28 lbs (50%)

We think they were a little generous with the height measurement, but she does seem tall (or a least average) when around others her age.

She did great at the Dr., but I think that's only because she asked every single person she saw if she was getting shots, and they all responded "no" so she seemed okay with being there. Apparently our flu shots last year were more traumatic than we thought!

She also celebrated her birthday at daycare. Here she is showing off her 'crown':

3 years old!

Jenna woke up on Monday morning and announced "I'm three, for real", and also reminded us that since it was her real birthday she wanted to go out for supper, and she got to pick where. She decided to wear her party dress (instead of the Birthday girl t-shirt I picked), and was lucky enough to stay home with Dad and Andrew for the day. After getting dressed, and waking up Andrew, we headed downstairs to open presents.

"supervising" car seat assembly:

Birthday Girl seeing if her new car seat 'fit':

Testing out the chalkboard side of her new easel:

Sharing the dry erase side w/ Andrew:
Every time we asked Jenna where she wanted to go out for supper at she'd give us a different answer. It was everything from McDonald's, Wendy's, Chilli's, Apple Bee's and Perkins. Somehow right as we were leaving she decided on Chipotle. We we're surprised, but happy that we didn't have to eat McDonald's :)

The kids got a little silly in the car on the way to Chipotle:

Here she is waiting for her quesadilla to cool down:

Jenna loves her new big girl car seat, and loves to put her window down:

Next up - pink cupcakes for the birthday girl:

I'm not sure why I waste my time making her cupcakes and/or cake...all she wants is the frosting. One of her favorite treats is putting frosting on a graham cracker.

Here she is picking the frosting off her cupcake:

She did take 1 bite of her cupcake.....

I think she had a great birthday, and liked staying home w/ Daddy for the day. She's turning into such a little girl, and is definitely not a 'baby' any more. She'll talk your ear off, and has her own opinions and ideas of how things are supposed to be, and is not afraid to let you know what they are. She's in her 'why' stage right now, which can be trying at times, but I know she's learning a ton. She also loves to ask people what their name is, which is typically followed up with "are you a boy or girl?" or "why?". She's our fearless kid, and I know her independence will serve her well when she's older. She's so full of energy, and is determined to live life to it's fullest, which is great. We are very blessed to have such a great little girl.

Birthday Party

We had the family party for the kids this past weekend. They had a blast hanging out with everyone and playing with all their cool new toys. Jenna kept asking over and over when her Uncles were coming to see her, since she knew the party would start when they got there. Needless to say she was very excited to see Lynn & Tom drive down the driveway. Here are some picture from Saturday:

Jenna's Cake:

Birthday Girl:

Present time:
Blowing out the candles (it took a few tries, and a little help from Andrew):

Andrew w/ Uncle Tom & Grandpa, figuring out the new soccer set:

How Jenna plays Goalie (also why Andrew won't play soccer w/ her):

Jenna & Grandpa playing with the air rocket:

As a special treat the kids go to stay up extra late (10:30) and hang out at the bonfire.
Both of them loved it, but Miss Jenna was a bit of a handful the next day since she still woke up at 6:30. An early nap helped a bit with the tantrums, but we won't be letting her stay up that late again (at least for a while), it made for a long Father's day for Bruce.