Tailgating at the St. Paul Saints Game

Today we met a bunch of Mommy's cousins in Saint Paul to tailgate and watch the Saints play some baseball! We set up our chairs in the parking lot, opened up our tailgates and munched on some snacks. Dad got the grill going and made us some brats. We all ate a lot, especially Madeline - look at that belly! We hope we can do this again , we had so much fun :-)

Fun at Grandama Judy's

Today we spent the day playing outside at Grandma Judy's while Daddy worked on his motorcycles. We found all sorts of pretty flowers. Purple ones, white ones and pink ones... After we picked a few we decided to show Daddy our treasures! He liked them too :-) The rest of the morning was spent running around and capturing the many faces of Madeline... After lunch and a nap we went to cousin Bradley's High School Graduation Party. A great Day!

Company Summer Solstice Party

Tonight we went to Mommy's boss's house for a company picnic. He has a really nice house set in the woods. All of the little ones had a great time going on a scavenger hunt through the woods finding all sort of cool jewelery - Madeline loves her new necklaces and bracelets - and her new friends! They even had horses!
Madeline had a good time watching them, petting them and even getting a little ride! We all had so much fun :-)

Fun at the Splash Pad

Being part of a bunch of Stay-At-Home Moms groups has really given us a lot of new toddler friendly places to go and hang out during the day. One of our favorites is a Splash Pad only 2-3 blocks from our apartment. It's a fenced area with benches, sun umbrellas and lots of water sprinklers (plus, it's free!). Since it isn't a pool there is no fear of drowning and the kids can just run around through the different water spouts to cool off. Madeline loves it! OK, Lunch break... Now its back to the water! I have a feeling we're going to be spending quite a bit of time here this summer :-)

Father's Day 2008

We love celebrating father's day because Madeline has such a great one! We spent a good part of the day playing at the park. Madeline and Daddy showed everyone how strong they were by swinging on the bars - Mommy doesn't think she could do it :-) Going down the slide with Daddy is one of her favorites! Once she gets going it's hard to keep up :-) She learns something new almost every time we go to the park. Today she was learning to balance on the twisty snake - we're sure it won't be long before she doesn't need us to hold her hands... Later we went back to the apartment and wound down with a few books. What a great day - Love you Daddy!!!

Cousin Ashley's Wedding

Today we went to Gibbon, MN for cousin Ashley and Tim's wedding. They had a beautiful ceremony and then treated us all to dinner and dancing!
Madeline thought hanging out with all of Mommy's cousins was a lot of fun - here she is with Conrad:After dinner the music started. At first the dancing seemed a little intimidating... but Great-Uncle Tony picked her up and off they went! Before you knew it she was really getting down :-) We think weddings and dancing are a new favorite activity for Madeline - good thing Mommy has LOTS of cousins!

Fire Engines, Ambulances & Police Cars!

No, we didn't have an emergency, but we got to see the Fire Engines, Ambulances and Police Cars up close at the Saint Louis Park Fire Station Open House! This was so great because countless times a day we hear the sirens from one of these vehicles and Madeline runs to the window to see which flashing lights are going by this time :-) The seemingly endless blaring of sirens happens so frequently because our apartment is "conveniently" located between the fire station, the police station and Methodist hospital.

The Open House was great! We got to meet the firemen and see them put out a small fire. They even had a "Madeline size" fire jacket and she got her very own fire hat! She especially liked Sparky , the fire dog :-) We could have waited in line for a ride in the fire truck, but Madeline was more interested in eating cookies and playing at the playground - maybe we'll save that adventure for next year :-)

Grandma Judy Babysits

Mommy and Daddy were invited to Cousin Becky's birthday party tonight, so Grandma Judy came to watch Madeline. They had a lot of fun playing and reading books :-) Her eyes are still red from the pink-eye, but hopefully they'll clear up soon!