Bottineau celebration

Cool dude.

She loves the little red wagon!!

Looks like Grammy has a tree branch in her mouth! Yum.

Duane, Amma and Afi

Doing her most fierce "cheese."

Grammy put the quilt I made her in the quilt show... I'm famous!! ;)

Helping Grammy make monkey bread.

Helping Grammy water the flowers.

And these flowers.

And these flowers!

We had a really great weekend in Bottineau. It was a packed weekend, but lots of fun. Friday when we got there we headed up to the fair. Dani wouldn't go on any rides (just like Mom) but agreed to go in the fun house with Daddy... she came out crying. So we cut our losses and headed to the church stand for some yum-yum dinner.

Saturday morning was the parade (or party as Danica called it). We headed to the lake with some friends in the afternoon. That evening Mom got to have a couple hours of "girl time" with some friends at the Johnny Holm concert. By the time Daddy got there, we were having a REALLY good time!!

Father's Day was lovely with just some casual visits with friends and then some family.

It was such a good weekend, I slept until 9:00 this morning!!!! Yeesh!

Snoring

Guess her nap wasn't long enough today! I left her on the couch drinking her milk and watching cartoons for a few minutes while I checked my e-mail. And suddenly I heard her signature fat-man-snore. Apparently it bothered Emma; she stared at her for a while, gave a huffy snort, and ran out of the room to sleep in the bedroom.

Sunday at the lake

We went to Rice Lake on Sunday with some friends from Duane's office. Duane's first trip out on the jet ski, he got followed back. We were certain he was going to get a ticket for being reckless or something. Turns out the registration wasn't current on it, so the ticket went to our friend!!
We had tons of fun and consequently are starting to save now for a cabin!!
Danica had the busiest weekend of her cute little life, and today all I've heard is, "I wanna go to the beach! I wanna go to the lake! I wanna go on the boat!!"

Saturday at the lake

Cute!

Alysha and Kevin

Not sure who the scarier driver is!

They're very focused.

Telling stories - ATTEMPTING a nap... it didn't happen.

Or did it?? Looks like Grandma might be zonked out!! :)

Picasso no no

Crayon on the closet door

On the bathroom floor

and on the hallway wall.
I found all this the day after Grammy left last week, so I'm not entirely sure Danica's the culprit. That Grammy does love to color after all!!

More pics

Happy.

Not so happy.
Averie trying to help.

Sad.

As good as we could get it.

At the Children's Museum.

Looks like good produce!

Dani had to teach Grammy how to use the cash register. :)

Playing

Thanks for the awesome pics Auntie Jill!!

Tate was surprisingly really good with Danica this trip. There was no "I hate babies" talk, and he played with her so nice!!

We all had LOTS of time pushing on the swing!

Super-dog couldn't be left out of the pictures!

Dirty.

CLEAN!!!!

This is probably my favorite picture ever!

Hmmm, tastes dirty.

Honey Bunny Mommy

Dani's new name for me is Honey Bunny Mommy.
So here's a typical conversation lately:
On our way home this morning - pulling into the driveway.
Dani: No Honey Bunny Mommy! I wanna go to the park!
Me: Sorry sweety, we have to stay home this morning, it's too cold to play outside.
Dani: NO!!!!!!!!!!!! HONEY BUNNY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Me: Yup, maybe later we can go to the park.
(she starts crying and tantruming)
Dani: I'm crying!
Me: I see that, why are you crying?
Dani: I'm sad.
Me: How come you're sad?
Dani: Cuz.
Me: Cuz why?
Dani: Be.
Me: Why are you crying?
Dani: Cuz.
Me: Cuz why?
Dani: Be.
Me: But why?
Dani: BEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(get it? BEcause. So now any time you ask her cuz why anything, her answer is be.)
Now I know how frustrating it is for a kid who always hears, "because I said so."
THAT'S NOT AN ANSWER!!!!

Weekend pictures

Here are just a few pictures from the Children's Museum.

Tate driving the bus!

Shopping in the market.

Ringing up the food!

She loves those eggplants!

Now they're in the restaurant/kitchen.

The kids and Auntie Jill making a music video!

Tate at the clinic on crutches.

"Painting" the rocks with water.

Averie at her soccer game. GO AVES!!

I tried to get an action shot but was a little late. That's Averie behind the little boy in red.

Tate had a football game too, and I'm so mad I didn't get any pictures! My camera batteries had just gone out. He did awesome though!!

Our trip

OKAY OKAY! I'm just going to do it. I've been putting off blogging because there's too darn much to write about. And most of you know when there's too much to do, I generally just don't do anything.
We got back Sunday from a GREAT week in Minneapolis. We had so much fun with Stef, Jill, Averie, Tate and the new puppy (new to me anyway) Lola. We spent a lot of time playing outside - Danica had the time of her life!
We went to the Children's Museum and will definitely be going back time and time again!! What a great place for kids (and Mom's too!)!! The grown-ups went out to the horse races one night for a bit of gambling. I think we enjoyed the food more than anything though... my stomach still hurts. And of course there was shopping.
Dani asks every day when we get to go see Averie and Tate again. If we're getting in the car she says, "Are we gonna go see Avie and Tate and Tepan and Jiww?" It's kinda heart-breaking to have to say no every time.
But we're getting back to normal life here again. Cleaning, laundry, the gym, and today we went to the zoo with some lady friends and their kids!! I had a great time seeing all the animals. Dani wanted to go to the beach. Go figure.
Stay tuned for pictures. I'm waiting for Auntie Jill to send hers too - her pictures are always better than mine. :)