Minnesota Zoo

I'm a little behind on this one, but I wanted to post a few pictures from our trip to the MN Zoo a few weeks ago. The kids had a great time, especially at the playground and in the water fountains. Charlie's favorite animals were the otters and goats, both of which he got to see up close. Ava and Joe saw just about everything - I left with Charlie for a long ride up and down the freeway after lunch, so he could get a little nap in and make the most of our day there.

Peek-a-boo!


Only in Minnesota...a giant mosquito - yuck!


Farmer Ava


On the wagon ride back from the farm...you wouldn't guess he's about to have an "I-need-a-nap-right-now-and-you-forgot-my-nuk meltdown," would you?


Great way to end a hot day!

4th of July

Aside from having to work on the 4th (my every-other-Sunday gig landed on a holiday this time around), we had a great time at our annual neighborhood celebration.

Here are the kids lined up for the bike parade




Showing his patriotic spirit


Stomping on the "Pop-Its"




Time to relax




A few of the guys put on a spectacular (and I imagine highly illegal!) fireworks display - Ava loved it (with her hands firmly planted over her ears) and Charlie, somehow, slept through the whole thing even though it was right outside his bedroom window!

Daddy's home!

'nuf said!

Charlie is 1!

I keep asking myself where the year went. As his birthday approached, I kept thinking back to the year before...one year ago, Ava and I were getting together with Angie and the boys at a park, not knowing Charlie would arrive in two days...one year ago, Ava and Joe and I were having lunch at the Olive Garden, not knowing Charlie would be coming the next day...one year ago, I called in to work to tell them I wasn't coming, because my water broke!...one year ago, the labor was getting super painful...one year ago, on Sunday, June 7, Charlie was born at 7:44 p.m.

Now, Charlie is our super-active, super-happy, super-drooly baby boy. :) Okay, he's a toddler, and truth be told, he's been toddling for three months now, but darn it, he's still our baby.

Some of the things our one-year-old has been up to lately: making animal sounds (he is good at the growly ones...tigers, bears and lions), "so big!," hugs and kisses, his first words have been "hi," "more," "hi kitty," "yeah," "mama," "dada," "oma," "chug chug" and some form of sounds meant to be "Ava." :) Charlie likes to head for the kitchen cupboard when I ask him if he wants a snack, head for the stairs when I ask him if he wants a bath, and he'll throw his diapers (and anything else he can get his hands on, including a baby monitor that went missing for a few days) into the diaper pail. He is a handful, but a happy handful.

We spent his birthday on Monday with friends at a train store in St. Paul, which Charlie absolutely loved, followed by a celebratory ice cream cone.






We had a family party for him on Saturday, the 12th. All of his grandparents and great-grandparents made it, and he loved the attention and presents but was not so into the cake.

Here he is with his new Cozy Coupe, complete with his chauffeur, Ava.






Look at these pretty grandmas!


The cake doesn't look so threatening, does it?


But Charlie was not a happy camper after plunging his little hands into the frosting and finding it stuck to his fingers. He might have had a little taste of it, but he had no interest in eating it until the next day, when I thought I'd have a slice in peace, and he ended up eating half of it...


Happy First Birthday, Charlie. We LOVE you!!!!

Last Day of School - First Day of Summer

Today Ava had her last day of "3-year-old" preschool. She's been going three mornings a week this year, and next year she'll be doing full days (9 til 2) M-W-F in the 4-5 year-old class. Ava had a fantastic experience this year. Every morning (truly, I think without fail), she was happy to go, and was always excited and all smiles when I picked her up, too. There were five boys and four other girls in her class, and she made a few especially close friends, and we will continue to get together with them over the summer and beyond, I hope.

Here is Ava with her teacher


Ava and her best pal (and her best pal's little brother) :)


Heading home...and, for reference, I added the same shot before I dropped her off for her first day in September...doesn't she look so much older?! (Charlie's grown a tad, too).


Well, as you can see, she wasted no time getting her summer vacation started. It helped that the temp was in the 90s today (when I got in my car, which had been sitting in the sun, it said 101!)
Anyway, I filled up the water table this afternoon...


And turned on the sprinkler...


Charlie loved it, too!


I am so looking forward to the summer - no travel plans, just staying home, hanging with friends, some camps and sports for Ava, and surely some trips to the beach, zoo and Eau Claire for pontoon rides at Oma and Opa's. Happy Summer!!!

Boys and their trains...

It sure starts early, doesn't it? The train table we bought for Ava on her second birthday has gotten more use in the last two months with Charlie than the last two years with her. We have mostly gender-neutral toys for 0-2 year-olds, with some "girl" toys and some "boy" toys, and obviously more of the "girl" than "boy" because of Ava. It has been amazing to me how Charlie has been so completely drawn to the "boy" stuff. His very favorite things are the remote control car, the Handy Manny tool set, and the train. (And, really, anything with wheels on it).

Here he is with Lambeau, watching the train go around:

Busy, busy, busy!

We have been on the go the last couple of weeks. I don't know what's gotten into us; I always like to do a little something every day, whether it's a play date or just a trip to the library (I don't do well staying home all day), but we hit some extra-fun places recently, along with our usuals.

Last week Wednesday we went to Teddy Bear Park in Stillwater with a couple of Ava's best friends from school. It was a beautiful day - we had a picnic and played for a while. Charlie loved it - a lot of the playground is geared toward the toddler set - he could have spent hours there.

Having lunch

Posing by the giant teddy bear on our way out

The next day we met my friend and her boys at Como Zoo and had a fabulous time; again, the weather was perfect. I love this zoo (much more, in fact, than the bigger, fancier Minnesota Zoo; it is just the perfect size to take kids - you can get through most of it in an hour or two, and you get such a better look at the animals...I realize this means that their habitats are smaller, so sorry about that, animals, but I like to see you up close!).


And the next day, Ava, Charlie and I went to the Children's Museum. I didn't think Charlie would enjoy it as much as he did, but he could have wandered around there all day, too! I didn't take pictures while we were there, but Ava was very proud of the face painting she did on herself, so I snapped a picture when we got home (by the way, in case it isn't obvious, she is a "rainbow kitty." :)

After vowing to spend the weekend at home, just relaxing, where did I find myself on Saturday morning but Nickelodeon Adventures at MOA. I relented, because even though I felt like we were outing'd out, Joe hadn't been able to join us yet, so he was in the mood to get out, too. Here is Ava getting ready to ride the swings by herself for the first time.

Not an outing geared toward Charlie, so he pretty much sat in the stroller and ate the whole time...

And that brings us to this week. It was my dad's birthday on the 27th, and since we didn't have anything planned that day, we decided to spend it in Eau Claire. The kids and I stopped first at the Children's Museum in Eau Claire. Again, bigger isn't always better. We always have the best time at this museum, even more so than the Minnesota Children's Museum. Everything just seems to be so perfectly accessible for toddlers and preschoolers. It's nice and new, too.

Ava spent some time with Charlie in the toddler play area

The new water exhibit was really fun

And the restaurant is always a hit. Charlie got to empty cupboards to his heart's content, and I didn't have to watch MY kitchen being destroyed for the umpteenth time!!!

We went to Oma and Opa's for lunch and a nap and then went to my mom's school to visit at the end of the day. Here's Ava busy working at her desk.

Before heading back home, we "took my dad out for a birthday dinner." (I'm pretty sure the birthday person is not supposed to pay, but wouldn't you know, that's how it worked out). Anyway, I snapped this picture on our way out... :)

Whew, just reliving all of that makes me tired - I'm going to bed!