Some happenings

Let's go back a little bit here (yes, I am finally getting to the post about our trip up north that happened a month ago!)

July 25 - 27 :: The trip up north

We made our annual trip up north (to Sebeka) for the family reunion of David's mom's side of the family. It was a different trip for us this year as we had 2 kids to tote up there. One of which was born just 4 weeks prior to the gathering! I am sad to say, I didn't take my camera out one time but it's OK because Ma and Sherri took lots of pictures!!

We arrived on Friday around lunch time. Went to Ma's first so Dad (David's dad) could meet Parker for the first time. We went over to Sherri's to get settled in and start the visiting. We ate, talked and had some laughs! Graycen went back to Ma's with her to spend the night. *As a side note, this was her first sleep away from us... thankfully, it went well. Graycen did well too ;-) We got to wake up to Sherri making breakfast (homemade pancakes with fresh blueberries from her garden!) Spent the day hanging out and well, just hanging out.

Graycen had a fun time splashing around in a mud puddle. We can thank ma for that one! We look out the door and Graycen is splashing in a mud puddle. I have to laugh at this part - Ma wasn't telling her to stop or anything (after our hard work of telling her NOT to go in the mud all day) nope, she ran for her camera! It made me laugh. David wasn't so happy about it. First thing he said was "I sure hope she plans on cleaning her up!" HA HA!! Thankfully, Ma brought her in and cleaned her up. Graycen had a great time with it, though!

Later that night, Ma took Graycen back to their house again for another sleepover. We got Parker to sleep, grabbed the monitor and headed out to the fire! FUN! We sat out there until almost midnight (or maybe it was past that, I don't remember) just talking. That's always so fun doing that!
The next day was the sad day of the weekend. Time to go home. We packed up and left. We had a great time while there. It was nice because this year Graycen was old enough to run around and play. It was also a huge help that Ma watched Graycen a lot while we were up there and even took her for sleepovers. Thanks for the help ma and Sherri, thanks for the good time and letting us stay there!!

I love how babies sleep.

A rare picture: David and I! (I hate this picture of me)

Right before Graycen fell asleep in the hammock for about an hour.

Even though I also hate this picture of me, I am going to post it anyways - the whole family!

July 29 :: The "party"

You're invited to a party that nobody wants to attend... well, not unless your name is Graycen. Actually, I don't think she would even like to be there.. It's a POOP PARTY! Just to be warned, these next couple of pictures are icky, but I just couldn't resist!

I was cleaning the kitchen when Graycen come in, stands next to me at the sink and says, "Is it poop?!?" I am just dreading looking down. Yep, she definitely has poop in her hand. I assess the situation further.. She not only has it in her hand but has it in between her fingers, on her shirt, on her legs and on her shorts. DISGUSTING! She had dug in her diaper and was playing with it. I told her it was naughty and that if she didn't want to have it in her diaper then we needed to go to the big girl potty and it belongs in there. She titled her head to the side, smiled at me and repeated "It's naughty. Icky. In the potty" I smiled and said back, "That's right. It does go in the potty. Let's clean up" She started walking towards the bathroom and all I was saying was, "Don't touch anything! Don't touch anything at all! I have to get my camera." Who does that? Really?? I am in the midst of a poop disaster and I get my camera? Wow! Hey, it makes for good embarrassing stories later on (and now.)

August 9 :: The kids' first trip to Culver's and the big (little) puppy

OK, so it's more like Graycen's first trip to Culver's since Parker was sleeping and all but who cares?! We were going out and decided to make a stop at Culver's since it's just up the road from us. We ordered Graycen a little kids meal and she was in love with the fries! I can't believe how fast she scarfed down those fries, oh and her chocolate milk, too. She didn't touch her burger. I don't know how she can not touch the burger. That's my favorite thing there! Fast forward to after we are done eating. With her meal, she got a scoop of their famous frozen custard. Any occasion for ice cream is a great one with this family! She was happily eating her cone when Dad intruded. She thought it was kind of funny, surprisingly.

Parker enjoyed himself, too.

I was going through bins of clothes for Parker (since we are now officially moving into 3-6 month clothes) when I came across a costume that Betsy gave me. It's a Dalmatian costume. As soon as I pulled it out Graycen shrieked with excitement. She wanted to wear it so bad. I knew it wasn't going to fit her (the size is 18 months) but she insisted and I caved. I knew we had a fun time coming up if I let her wear it. I put it on and told her to go show Daddy. She walked out the best she could, arms tightly at her sides and slightly raised due to the short length in the costume, feet sticking out past the feet of the costume and her chubby cheeks squeezed into the hood of the head. All I heard was an enormous cackle! David couldn't stop laughing.
She started dancing around in the costume. Unzipping and zipping it back up and telling us what a puppy says. It was hilarious! When we took it off, she was so sweaty and very sad that we had to put it away. I have since put it in a box of stuff up on a shelf which is properly marked "Stuff Graycen shouldn't see or else she will want it!" (A video to come soon of this!)

August 14 :: The boy's a charmer!

I was taking some pictures of Parker (since I have become bad mommy and don't take nearly as many as I did with Graycen when she was a baby) And he whipped out the charmer smile! He has just been all smiles lately. He coos and smiles and well, he's just cute (and HUGE!)

August 15 :: The zoo trip that never was

David had the day off. It was our plan to take the kids to the zoo even though it was supposed to be like 85 degrees out. As we were driving toward Como, down Hamline, I saw a garage sale. There was a cute Little Tykes Basketball hoop in the front yard. I said something to David about it and immediately, he said, "Do you want me to pull over? Do you want me to pull over??!!" I shouted back, "Yes!" I decided to go see how much it was. The whole time while I was walking up there I just kept saying to myself, "Please let it be a good deal." As I was nearing it, I could see a 5. I though with the dollar sign next to it, it looked like it was 15. I got to it and sure enough, it said "$5" I was beyond excited! I had been wanting to buy one of these for Graycen but didn't want to spend $30-40 on it. It was finally my lucky garage sale day. (You know how people go to garage sales and have so much luck finding that one wonderful thing? Well, this was mine!)

We drove off on the way to the zoo. When we turned in to find a parking spot, I realized just how busy the zoo was. We looked for a spot and then David said, "Do you want to just go back to some more garage sales?" I felt bad for it but said I did. I realized Graycen wasn't old enough to know that we didn't go and heck, she could even take her nap then. We drove back to some garage sales. I was lucky and found a Baby Einstein DVD that we actually don't have for $1.00 and a big Ziploc bag of 28 Color Wonder markers, a Color Wonder coloring book and about 20 coloring sheets for $2.00. Yes, I said $2.00. Anyone that is familiar with the Crayola Color Wonder stuff knows that was quite a steal! That was the rest of the findings. Hey, for $8.00 and some great finds, I am OK with that!

I am so glad we didn't go to the zoo!

August 17 :: Free day at the Children's Museum

I had learned last week that every third Sunday is free at the Children's Museum. Betsy had called to see if the kids and I would want to accompany her and her kids. We had nothing planned so decided to go. Graycen had a blast, like always! She was really tired and crabby but she had a good time so long as she got to do what she wanted.

She got her face painted.

Tried to scale a rock wall. Climbed a rope ladder. Spun the wheel for a prize. Played in her favorite area - the water tables! Played with the hula-hoops and scarves! (A video to come soon of this!) Planted some flowers. Made us some food.

After a successful day and lots of fun, we decided to make this a standing date. Every 3rd Sunday of the month we are taking the kids to the Children's Museum together.