Teddy Bear Park

I'm so happy to have the sun back! Getting up to the rays shining in my window this morning at 7:30 was a welcome sight. When I got Sophia up I gave her two choices of what we could do today......choice #1 go to Lake Calhoun to see the boat races/sand castle contest for the Aquatennial.....choice #2 go to the Teddy Bear Park and bring a picnic lunch. Can you guess which one she picked? Of course it was the Teddy Bear Park.

We spent the majority of the day at the park hanging out and playing. I could hardly believe that when I looked at my watch, we had spent over 4 hours playing/eating lunch.

Sophia made a couple of friends throughout the day. It was pretty cute. I also chatted with a mom from White Bear Lake. We swapped advice on baby/kids stuff. It was fun!

When we got home we played for a bit outside in the yard and then it was time for Sophia to take a nap. I read my book and relaxed. Hal came home from the cabin and it was so good to see him.

After Sophia woke up we played and then she ate a very huge and very long dinner out on the deck. Sitting on the deck was phenomenal. I gave Sophia a bath and we put her to bed. Then Hal and I headed back out to the deck to watch the Twins game.

What a great day! Tomorrow we will head to the Y and the library. Sophia has dance too, so I'm sure it will be another busy day. Hopefully the weather will hold this week.

Productive Day

Sophia and I slept until 9 today and I wasn't sure if it would be a very productive day. To my surprise, I was fooled! We got up and ate breakfast. Then we played toys for a while before heading to the gym. I got a 7 mile run in. After the gym, we went to the grocery and got a couple of things to tide us over.

Then we came home to have lunch and make cookies. After Sophia went down for a nap, I cleaned up dishes, baked the cookies (4 dozen), and got the mail. It was a great relaxing nap time for me.

When she woke up, we played PlayDough and Sophia had dinner. Then we went to Best Buy and Target. After all of the errands today, we were both worn out.

Watching a movie tonight was a great way to end the day. I'm off to read now. Tomorrow Hal comes home, but will be gone some of the week so it will be nice to see him at least for a little bit.

Not a day of rest

Even though we arrived home from Utah last night around 11pm, we did not have a day of rest today. Sophia got up bright and early at 7:30. I rocked her back to sleep and she slept for a bit longer. I was shocked as she went to bed at about 11:30 last night. She had a short sleep!

After getting up, Hal and I sat with Sophia while she ate some breakfast. Then Hal went out to mow the lawn. Sophia and I got ready for the day and then we went to the Coin Carnival at Ojibwe Park in Woodbury. Despite the cold weather and a bit of rain, we both had a great time.

Sophia played lots of different games like duck pond, basketball toss, sucker pull, and bean bag toss. She also went in the jumper and got a Dora tattoo which she proceeded to show everyone for the rest of the day (even the server at dinner tonight!) We also got to watch the Puppet Wagon with my friend Nikki and her two kids Elle and Cayden. Elle is just two months older than Sophia is. Nikki and I have been friends since we worked together at Awadas after high school. It was fun to see them and Sophia just loved seeing Elle.

Then we decided to head to the grocery as we were out of tickets and cold! Here are a couple of pictures from today:

We picked up the needed supplies for lunch and then went back home to see Hal before he left for the weekend. Hal was headed to Nate's (brother-in-law) cabin for the weekend. Sophia and I got lunch ready and then my parents along with my aunt from Chicago came over to join us.

Lunch was really fun and it was so great to see my Aunt Danna!! I haven't seen her in a couple of years. She loved our house and had so much fun seeing Sophia. She even brought her a new baby doll. Sophia loves that she can change the clothes on her.

We tried our best to take a picture together, but Sophia was calling it quits for the day. She was ready for a nap.

Sophia napped and I finished laundry/dishes from lunch. Then we went to the Y so I could run. She had a great time playing with Ms. Amanda her favorite teacher in Kidstuff. After the Y, we went home to quick change and meet my dad for dinner.

5..8..Club was delicious! Sophia had so much fun showing off her Dora and eating with us. When we finished eating it was time to head home. I put Sophia in bed and cleaned up dishes.

Tomorrow we will have another busy day I'm sure. Who knows what the day will bring!

The last hooray/dance

Yesterday we had the last family hooray along with Sophia having dance. Uncle Ryan leaves us today and we are quite sad. I can barely wait to see him again and neither can Sophia when we go to Disney in March.

4th of July Weekend

Friday we spent the day as a family. We started off our holiday by heading to White Bear Lake to check out the Farmer's Market. After not finding much we went and walked around the lake. I was hoping to go to the beach, but it was closed. Oh well, we spent most of the morning at the park and had a wonderful time. The weather couldn't have been more perfect.

Friday evening, we met my parents and my brother in Hudson for dinner at Pier 500. We had a wonderful dinner out on the patio. Then we headed over to the rides and the games. Hal tried to win Sophia a goldfish.

No such luck. So we tried a ride to make up for it. Sophia picked the carousel of course. She just loves the horsies as she calls them.

After dinner we went home to watch the Twins game and the fireworks out on the deck. With a perfect end to the evening I couldn't wait for more tomorrow.

Saturday Sophia and I went to the store to get all of the food we needed for the rest of the weekend. She insisted on wearing her princess dress and her crown.

It was quite the sight to see this little one in Cub celebrating the 4th and starting it off the right way!

We spent the rest of the day playing outside and playing at the park. Sophia went down for her nap and I went on a run. Little did I know I was going to get caught in a storm. It rained so hard that it actually created a flood. It was crazy!

When Sophia got up from her nap we went out to the party. It was really fun to have the party right across the street. We didn't have to travel far. The food was great and so was the company. The kids all ran around and it was great to chat with my neighbors.

When it got dark outside the kids all got to light sparklers. They had about 30 boxes. They just kept coming and coming. Sophia just loved holding them and watching the lights. When it was time for the big fireworks, I could hardly believe how incredible they were. We are so lucky to have neighbors who love to see fireworks as much as we do. We stayed out late partying it up with the neighbors and started a new day on Sunday.

Sunday we spent the day outside finger painting with Sophia and drawing chalk. Then we went over to my parents for a bbq and swimming. Sophia had a wonderful time playing with Uncle Ryan.

We will be sad for him to go tomorrow. This week will be short as we head to Utah on Thursday. I can't wait for vacation!

4th of July came early

Yesterday Sophia made a 4th of July crown at the Y. It was so cute and she wanted to wear it for the remainder of the day. Happy early 4th!

Uncle Ryan is Home!

Yesterday my brother came home to visit. He will be home for a week. Is is so nice to have him here. We haven't seen him since October. He also hadn't seen our house yet, so it was fun to have him over.

We had a wonderful mexican dinner last night. Hal made homemade tortillas and we had tacos. They were delicious. After dinner we sat around and talked. I miss him so much. Sophia loved the fact that Uncle Ryan plays tons of games with her. She had a blast showing him all of her toys and running around with him.