Happy 5th Birthday Rachael!

Saturday Linnea and I went and celebrated my friend's daughter's 5th Birthday!! It was definitely a fun princess party! They rented a huge princess bounce house which was a blast!

Here is the princess! I can't believe she is 5! A whole hand!

All the guest got their own cupcake on their own princess stand. We took ours home to eat.

YUM!

Washington County Fair

Linnea, my dad and I went to the Washington County Fair on Thursday which just happened to be family day soooo....

ECFE was there with all kinds of crafts and fun music for the kids.

Linnea got to do some stamping...

some duck picking and she also made me a noodle bracelet. So thoughtful!

Good thing grandpa was there to help!

We of course HAD to check out the animals...above she is looking at a bunny...trying to figure it out. She for some reason wasn't interested in petting this time. Just looking.

And looking at the ducks.

And looking at the lights.

and the goats.

But for some reason she did want to try and touch the chickens. Good thing it didn't get her finger! Geez Linnea of all the animals to pet! We also had lunch there...cheese curds and a corn dog. Both of which she devoured. She also tried a sno cone for the first time!

I was so happy it wasn't soooo hot and humid. We even got a run in together before we left.

It was a perfect day.

On a side note, my training for the Mankato marathon in October is going well! I did 12 miles on Saturday. Half with friends and half with the rain and my zune. I have lucked out and haven't had to do any long runs in this humidity.

Something to snuggle

Here is Miss. Linnea with her new favorite bear! She was given this bear when she was in the NICU over Christmas right after she was born. It is so cute to see her hugging and snuggling with her stuffed animals lately. She hasn't really done that before and doesn't really have a "lovey", which maybe is okay. Besides the binkie that is. She will put her animals under blankets now and "tuck them in". Like I said it is pretty cute! Maybe she will bring one into her crib one of these days.

Splash Park!

Wabun Picnic Area by Minnehaha Falls has a new Splash Park!

It is free and it was just what we needed on one of the days this hot hot and humid week!

We met my friend and her girls she nannies for. It was FANTASTIC!!!

Grandma's Garage Sale

So after months/years of organizing and cleaning out my grandma's house while she has been living at the Woodbury Estates we finally had a garage sale this past weekend. I unfortunately didn't take any pictures but it was quite the sale full of lots of memories for us. The picture above was taken one day of preparing. As you can see in the back ground the living room is cleared out besides those boxes! In fact after this sale, almost everything is in the garage! It's an empty house which is weird and sad but a huge accomplishment at the same time. The upstairs and kitchen carpet is even ripped out!

In the picture Linnea is sitting in an elephant magazine rack that she enjoyed climbing into. But she could never figure out how to get out. She also tried to push it around but that was also frustrating because there are no wheels so it just wouldn't move. Oh well at least she was kept occupied with this or with old blocks, dolls and a pull along duck while we packed things up.

The sale went really well! There is still a lot left to decide what to do with but a lot of things also found new homes which makes us happy.

Linnea and I had a fun sleepover at grandma and grandpa's old house in Richfield with my parents on Thursday night so I could be there bright and early to help set up. It reminded me of all the time we (my brothers and I or my cousins and I) slept over and grandma made us pancakes or waffles or something delicious for breakfast.

Linnea slept great over there at bedtime and at naptime which was so helpful! I could help with pricing, setting up and cashiering and I even got to sneak to a garage sale and buy her some more jammies, shorts, sundresses and tank tops! We also walked to a new park during the sale and Linnea also helped me set up bedding in the front yard. By helping set up I mean flopping down on it.

Like I said before, I'm glad so many things found new homes. I am also glad I have so many things of my grandmas.

Now to figure out what to do with the rest!

Como Zoo

Hmmm...what are Lily and Linnea climbing up to see???

The polar bears!!! They are at the Como Zoo in their new remodeled space!

They have been there since the first of June I believe and we saw them about a month ago but they were sleeping so this past week and weekend was much more fun to see them!

We got to go to the Como Zoo two times in a row! Friday we went with my friend Lisa and her twins and niece.

The girls loved the butterfly garden!

On Saturday Brian, Megan and the boys were going and since we live so close and as you can see Linnea was kind of in a mood and needed to get out of the house we went again. Uncle Brian was nice enough to hold the grump.

We had a great time walking around and watching Sparky the Sea Lion show and eating our lunch.

New things!

Linnea has discovered and we have given her quite a few new things lately:

Above is a picture of one of Linnea's newest things. The meltdown. Now I have worked with kids a LOT. I have seen many forms of temper tantrums and meltdowns. But I have never seen one like Linnea's. I know they are all normal and hers will probably change, but for now she basically does it in slow motion. She slowly gets downs to her knees with a VERY disgruntled look on her face and then eventually ends up laying like this or on her tummy. For now we just ignore (unless we are taking a picture) and try not to laugh and she eventually stands up and carries on being her happy self.

She has also learned to eat at the table! We have moved the high chair downstairs and she now eats on her booster seat with us right at the table. She has done pretty good. As soon as she begins to tip that plate over I take it away for a break or decide we are done. So far so good! Good job lil lady!

She loves stickers and coloring and making cards for people! I think she gets the craftiness from me...

I found this kitchen way back at the Woodbury Lions Club garage sale in May! Sadly we didnt have a space ready for it and it was full of water so needed some serious cleaning. Grandpa so nicely cleaned it up for us and delivered it to our house this week so we have been busy working/playing in the kitchen. Im on the lookout for toy food and dishes for it still though! Linnea is so cute playing in it. She hides things in the oven and then acts super surprised when she opens the door and the item is still there...item being a book, a stuffed animal, a toy car...hopefully she never really puts these in a real oven. She also loves to "wash" her hands in the sink and make tea for us and then drink it, but not before we do "cheers"!

These pictures above and below are from tonight. We had a great time splashing around in the crab pool and playing with bubbles and the hose after dinner. We then came in and took a bath and got our jammies on. Meanwhile Daddy made a rootbeer float for himself. Linnea remembered that the last time he made one of these he let her try some. So she was adamant about trying it again. Above is the bite, below is the reaction. In picture and video form. Enjoy!