National Night Out

Tonight our whole neighborhood gathered at the park to celebrate National Night Out!
15 out of the 17 families were able to make it, so it was a great night to get better acquainted with everyone. We all brought a dish to share and something to throw on the grill. As usual the food was great and the company was even better :-) The kids had a blast playing at the park, but the highlight was getting to climb on the firetruck and in the police car that stopped by!!!

BBQ at Marv & Kim's

Tonight we headed to Great-Uncle Marv & Great-Aunt Kim's house for a BBQ! We do this at least once every summer and it's always a lot of fun. Along with the usual crowd (Marv, Kim, Greta, Jake, Melanie, Grandma Judy & Dave) were a few fun additions... Great-Uncle Willy & Great-Aunt Alvina, PLUS cousin Troy made it all the way from New York!Madeline wore off some energy picking flowers, playing hide and seek and chasing Grandma Judy. Sam just relaxed and let everyone enjoy his contagious smile :-) We love BBQ's!

Derby Days Parade

Today was the last day of the Shakopee Derby Days Celebration and they had a parade! We went packed up some sandwiches and headed downtown to get a good spot! We had enough time before the parade started for a picnic lunch :-) Then we waited for the parade to start! Madeline thought the fire trucks were too loud, but she thoroughly enjoyed the rest of it! She waved to everyone and got a TON of candy - we may not even have to go Trick-or-Treating because I'm sure this stash will last us until the new year!!!

What a beautiful day for a picnic and parade :-)

Sawdust Tearsure Hunt

The Annual Shakopee Derby Days continued today with a sawdust treasure hunt for the Kiddos! Sam is still a little too young to participate, but we convinced Madeline to join in. There was about a 20' x 20' "Pile" of sawdust. Hidden inside was over $100 worth of quarters, nickles, dimes and washers. The first round was for all kids in Preschool and younger. She did a little digging, but seemed pretty overwhelmed by all of the kids, so she just decided to play with the sawdust instead :-) She ended up with a whopping 15 cents!!! She was so excited to bring it home and put it in her "hat" bank (MN Twins hat piggy bank)! We'll definitely go back next year to see her progress every year :-)

Kiddie Carnival Games

Last night a few of Mommy's & Daddy's college friends came into town from Chicago. This morning after breakfast Mommy, Maddie, Sam, Kelly & Hans headed out to the Shakopee Derby Days Kiddie Carnival. Madeline played a bunch of games and won some cool prizes like a rainbow baton & a bouncy ball! Both Kelly and Hans spent quite a bit of time holding Sam and seemed to be really good with him.... maybe it's time they have one of their own?!?!?!
After playing all of the games we could take, we played at the park and then got a sandwich for lunch before heading home.

While Maddie took a nap Sam had his weekly photo shoot - pretty cute :-)

It was great the see Kelly & Hans and we hope they have a great time at the wedding they were going to in northern MN later this weekend... we REALLY enjoy having visitors so just let us know if you ever want to come and see us!!!

Taste of Shakopee

The Taste of Shakopee was this evening so we headed out to see what kinds of food our great city had to offer. Nothing noteworthy to write about - just your typical festival foods, but it was still pretty good :-)
It started to sprinkle on us so we decided to head home a little early - on the way out we got a great shot of the beautiful rainbow we saw!

2 Month Stats

Sam had his two month check-up today. He sure is growing fast!

Height: 23 1/4 inches (55th %)
Weight: 12 lbs. 2 oz. (55th %)
Head Circumference: 40.7 cm (70%)

Dr. Tracey said he looks great and she was very impressed with how well he is holding up his head :-)

He had his first round of shots today... he cried, but Madeline helped by telling him is was going to be ok - what a caring big sister :-)

Playdate/Reunion

Today we met up with mommy's high school friends for a playdate! It was so fun to see everyone and meet all of their little ones. We went to a giant park in Minnetrista. The kids played while the moms caught up. All that playing (and talking) made us tired so we all sat down for a picnic lunch. We had a great time, and all agreed that we should get together more often :-)

Just the Two of them...

I snapped a few shots of Big Sister & Little Brother today... I just hope they always love each other this much!!!!

Tuesday Playgroup at the MN Zoo

Our Tuesday playgroup met at the MN Zoo again today - we just love having our zoo membership and being able to go whenever we want! Keven, Michael & Noah (and their mommies) were all there. Maddie & Michael admired the new water play area
(we'll have to bring our suits next time) before we headed out to see all of the animals. We learned all about bear claws and the kids liked watching the big piggys sleep. We enjoyed a great picnic lunch before we headed home. Another great playdate :-)

P.S.... a BIG congrats to ALL of the mommies in our playgroup - Joanne, Birgitta & Christine are all due with Baby #2 in the beginning of February!!!!