The Good Life

On Friday the girls and I headed south to my parents' house near Lincoln, Nebraska.  Although the drive was long, we survived and made it there in time for dinner.  Oh the days when you could stop once and make it there in 7 hours.  Now it's more like stop 4 times and be there in 9 hours.  But it's nice to not rush and just realize that although McDonalds playlands aren't my favorite thing in the world (neither are the sounds of Dora or Elmo DVD's), but that's my life now and I wouldn't trade it for anything. 

On Saturday we went to a local dairy farm for their annual "Dairy Days."  It was VERY hot but we had a good time, and luckily got there early so we didn't have to wait in long lines for food or other activities.  Here are some pics from our day:

The "Corn Box" was probably their favorite thing;  they could've played in here all day.  They actually had 4 of these huge corn boxes, and it was such a great idea and good alternative to sand!

Here is Emily making a snow, I mean corn angel.

Here were some other highlights from the weekend: 

• Picking mulberries in our backyard
• Being able to lay around the house with no pressing duties and reading cooking magazines
• Helping the girls make stepping stones for grandma's garden
• Seeing friends at church and at a wedding reception
• Eating ice cream cones on the front steps
• Seeing my best friend from elementary/junior high, who I haven't seen in over 15 years
• Watching the girls have a tea party with grandma
• Having mom make my favorite meal from when I was little -- chicken and noodles
• Catching fireflies in the evening
  
  

The only real unfortunate thing that happened over the weekend was me killing an oriole as we were driving one day (my mom was distraught; if you've read any of her blog posts, you'd understand!  She said, Why can't you kill a sparrow or something?)  :)  Just giving you a hard time about your oriole obsession, mom!  But despite the oriole incident, she agreed to come back to Minnesota with us, so we are lucky enough to have her here for the next several weeks! 

Our week with Bri

Some of you know that Emily has been in Las Vegas with grandma all week.  Grandma Susanne flew here a week and a half ago, was here for Bri's birthday, then took Emily back home with her for a week.  Other than the fact that Emily has gotten up at 4:30am each morning (apparently her body never switched over to pacific time), they have had a great time.  Bri has been enjoying her week being the only child as well.  Here is a snapshot of some things we've been up to.

When I ordered this "hanging strawberry basket" from a neighborhood girl for a fundraiser, I never thought it would be so much fun.  I actually doubted that it would even work, but sure enough, it's growing strawberries, and lots of them!  We've probably eaten about 5 so far, and there are tons more on there now, most of them still white. 

Here are some other random things Bri has done this week.  Here she is painting a little figurine she got for her birthday.  She was so excited when she opened it, but I told her we would paint it when Emily left, probably on Monday.  Well, when she walked in the door on Sunday after taking Emily to the airport, she could not wait a minute longer.  Kids do not forget things, I tell you!

Here we are making scones one morning.  She thought she was pretty talented to be stirring both bowls at once.  :)

Bri loves dogs, but lately I've been hearing more of "Get away, Bella",  "Don't slime me, Bella",  or "Bella, you stink."  But aren't they cute together?

Jer thought it would be fun to take Bri to her first movie last night, so we took her to Shrek 4.  She did great (having a popcorn and Icee didn't hurt, either.)  She sat in her own seat and ate her popcorn for the first half, then sat on our laps for the rest.  It was a good movie and I think she had a fun night.

This morning we did a 5K memorial run/walk in honor of a friend's nephew who passed away a couple years ago.  No, we did not run, we walked and pushed Bri in the stroller.  Since it was in White Bear Lake, we visited an old friend "Cup and Cone" afterward.  Where else can you get a kiddie cone for 40 cents?  What a perfect size for a kid;  wish it was closer!

It's been a good week, hopefully for Emily and grandpa and grandma as well!  I've really missed her, though, and can't wait to see her tomorrow.  As the girls get older, I miss them more and more;  when they're not around, I realize how our family isn't complete without them.  Don't get me wrong, I love vacations and time away from the kids as much as anyone, but after awhile you're ready to see them again!

Happy Birthday Bri!

Today my baby is 3!

3 years ago today she was a little stubborn coming out, and she still is a little!  (Awhile back her favorite phrase was, "Do self!, do self!")  She wants to do everything herself, but still likes to snuggle.  She is such a silly little thing.  We are always laughing at things she says, and her sincere little prayers before eating dinner are priceless.  We love you, Bri, and hope you have a wonderful birthday!  (Don't tell her but she thought her birthday was yesterday, since that's when we celebrated.) 

The morning started off with the traditional birthday donut.  (This year they moved up from sprinkle donuts to apple fritters.)

Here is Bri with the Sleeping Beauty dress my mom made her.  It fit perfect, mom.  Sorry the lighting isn't the best in this picture.

We had a party last night and got a jumper again this year.  "Jungle Safari" was the closest thing they had to our "frog" theme.

Bri had requested a frog cake, so we had that and lily pad cupcakes. 

Hope you had a great time last night, Bri, and a wonderful birthday!