Amber

So on Saturday (9/3), we were all out playing on a beautiful day! Leah decided to pull out some buckets and fill them with water. Of course, Amber had to play too! She thought it would be fun to pour the bucket of water on herself. An activity she repeated as long as Leah would fill her bucket. We also discovered on this day that Amber is not afraid of bugs. The first one that she picked up, she tried to eat. Luckily, I was quick enough to get it out of her mouth. The second one was...well, you can see for yourself in the picture. Oh, and she still likes to put everything in her mouth...she was also trying to eat the rocks!

MN Zoo 9/4/11

While the 2 daddy's golfed all day (2 rounds of 18 at 2 different locations...thanks to Jaclyn who found a great deal), the 2 mommy's took the kids to the MN zoo.

I was on a quest to get a group shot of the kids, but it proved to be quite difficult.

Amber was a trooper, she got a short nap on the way down to the zoo, and for the most part, she was just a doll. Kurtis and Kaysee were also just as good as could be. We were very lucky at how the little kids behaved.

We did have a little drama with the older girls, but, they did pretty good overall. Leah, unfortunately, lost a new wallet that she had bought with her own money, and, I thought that was going to be the end of the good behavior, but, after a quick outburst, she did calm down and didn't let it ruin her day. Leah and Kaylee had fun running around. I am not too sure how much attention they actually paid to the animals.

Amber is still calling all of the animals "puppy."

I was shocked at how exhausted I was from the day at the zoo with the kids. Does this mean I am getting old????

Leah got to spend the night at Kaylee's house. A fun way to spend the night before the night before school starts!

Cabin 8/26-29

Leah went up to the cabin with Nonna and Grandpa on 8/17. Joe, Amber and I didn't get to join them until 7/23. We were also joined by Joe's mom, Mary. It is always nice to be up at the lake!

Leah had a great time with Nonna and Grandpa before we arrived. They were joined from Wednesday to Friday by Dan, Tiff, Thea and Delila. Of course, the girls had a fabulous time together.

Joe and Grandpa took Leah to get a real fishing pole. She is learning to cast with it. She is doing pretty good. Before we got there, she was fishing with grandpa (with her barbie fishing pole) and she told me that she caught 2 rock bass. I don't even know what a rock bass looks like!

Amber walked up the entire flight of stairs up the hill (which is a lot) just holding my hand. I have decided that she is going to be a future tennis player, because with every step up...she grunts!

Amber didn't want to have much to do with the lake water, until we went to the public beach on the lake for a picnic/play time. She ended up sitting with me in the water - splashing and watching her sister play for about 45 minutes. It looks like she might be getting more comfortable with the lake water. Leah is still a bit shy about the lake. It is so funny because she is not shy at all in a pool. She doesn't like to put her head under water in the lake...because of the fish!

We had a nice visit with Aunt Sara who came on 8/26, and Priscilla who came on 8/29.

It is always a sad day when we have to leave. But we had to get home...Leah had open house for 1st grade!

8/16/11 A day at the beach

My Aunt Vicky (who is also Leah's Godmother) met Leah, Amber and I at a beach in Pine City. We met up with Vicky who was stranded at the side of the road (in town) because she ran over a piece of wire that got stuck in her tire. We found a repair shop who requested she bring the car there. So, we brought it there where they found the remaining wire (most of it had broken off on the drive to the repair shop). Luckily, there was no leak in the tire. The repair man was able to give us directions to the beach as we had failed to find it using GPS! So, we went to get lunch at A&W and headed to the beach!

Leah had a blast in the lake. It was pretty shallow, so she felt comfortable jumping into the water from the end of the dock. She is getting so confident in the water. I love it! Amber was not too sure about the water...sometimes she was good with it, sometimes she wanted nothing to do with it. She definitely was not going to have anything to do with walking barefoot on the sand! We took a short paddle boat ride around the lake (it was a very small lake). We had a nice time until it look like the weather got bad, so we packed it up and headed to the scrapbooking store in town! Aunt Vicky got Leah a few supplies while we were in the store. She had to work on her scrapbook as soon as we got home, where she used most of the supplies she had purchased that day!

8/13/11 Michael's 7th birthday

The handsome neighbor boy (who happens to be promised to Leah...they just doesn't know it yet) turned the big 07! What a fun day. Leah had fun playing in the pool (until she fell of the ladder and landed on her rear end - ouch). Amber had fun being driven around on the Gator and jumping in the blow up jumper. Leah is so good at entertaining her sister- she drove her around, in the gator and jumped with her in the jumper, and helped her "ride" the trike! The kids had a blast taking down the pinata. A gorgeous day to celebrate a birthday! Happy birthday Michael.

Can you believe it?

Amber is already 1 1/2! I certainly have a hard time believing it. I just want to make sure that I take this time in. I just love this age when she is discovering so much in such a short amount of time. It's just the little things, like discovering that she can clasp the strap on the doll carrier (but can't undue it), so it becomes a game...Amber clasps the strap, mommy or daddy unclasps the strap. Or, figuring out how to put the correct shape in the right hole for the shape to fall through the top. Or, figuring out how to move her mouth to form the word she is trying to say. Or, figuring out that she can "jump" from the ottoman to the couch (when the ottoman is about 1 foot away from the couch). Or, mimicking big sister. Or, learning the motions to her favorite songs and wanting to do them over and over again. It is so much fun to be a part of her discovery!

Here is a synopsis of what she is doing now:

*Has 4 more teeth, making a total of 16

*Sleeps through the night (7:30pm - about 6:30am: later if Mommy doesn't work!), takes 1 nap (about 2 hours). She sleeps with 3 crocheted blankets, unicorn pillow pet, a dolly, and a musical puppy!

*Climbs on everything. Still climbs on the table and end table on a regular basis. She likes to climb on the end table so that she can play with the light switch, or onto the kitchen table where she likes to dance!

*"jumps" from the ottoman to the couch

*Favorite songs: "Itsy Bitsy Spider," "Baby bumble bee" - does the hand motions (well, tries)with these songs

*Favorite books: "Touch and Feel Puppy," "Kitty, Kitty," "Let's go to the Park," "Baby signs"

*Eats almost anything, but favorites include: grapes, peanut butter, chocolate!

*Loves to take a bath...but refused to sit in the bathtub. When she is done, she pulls the plug in the tub to let the water out and says "all done"

*Seems to love the pool, still not to sure about the lake

*Very ticklish (loves "bumble bee, bumble come from the bin...)
*Loves going on rides
*New words: No, Joe, sissy, shoe, sock, po po, mine, slide, we we (what she says when she wants to go on the swing), me (and points to herself), bo (while doing the sign for book), up, down, owie, and Joe tells me that she says "Amber" when he asks her what her name is.

*After going number 2, she points to her rear and says "po po" and wants to be changed immediately

*New signs: bath, toothbrush, book

*Attempts to brush her teeth (sucks on the toothbrush), refuses to let us brush her teeth

*Has a playful personality, also a stubborn one!

*Chooses what shoes she wants to wear in the morning. If I try to put on a different shoe, she tells me "no," then points to the shoe she wants to wear and says "shoe."
*Likes to flash you her beautiful smile, turn and run to try to get into something that she shouldn't be in!

*Likes to be outside, but doesn't like to walk barefoot on grass or sand
*Can make your heart melt with her smile!

*Daddy's girl!!

What's up?

**My lovely goddaughter,Kaysee, turned 2. We had a fun day celebrating her birthday.

**On 8/2 we were hit by a massive storm with 70mph straight line winds. We had some damage, but luckily not to the house. The playset was ripped out of the ground (anchors still in tact) and flipped onto its side. The plastic toddler slide was ripped apart and the pieces were tossed into the neighbor's yard. The plastic picnic kids picnic table was thrown off of the deck and was found in pieces in the yard. The deck furniture was rearranged with one chair finding its way down the stairs to the yard. We lost power for a few hours. It was probably the worst storm I have ever been a part of! Luckily, the playset was able to be returned to the upright position by Joe, Mike and Dan (thanks boys!!). We will have to replace the slide, but it could have been worse.

**My dad had surgery for prostate cancer and he is recovering well. LOVE YOU dad!

**Leah has been doing swimming lessons on Friday mornings all summer. I took the day off last Friday (August 5). I was amazed at how well she is doing. She has made such progress in her swimming this summer. So proud of her.





**After swimming, I took the girls to Como Zoo. We were joined by Tiffanie, Thea and Delila along with Tiffanie's friend and kids. We had such a fun day (even if it was one of the hottest days of the summer - probably should have been at the waterpark). We got there just in time to see Sparky the Sea lion show- Leah's favorite. Amber was also very interested. This was the start of calling all of the animals "puppy." It was adorable. She would get excited and point to the animal and repeat "puppy" over and over! We were also able to catch a Farm Animal show which was just as intriguing to both girls. We walked through to see the animals, then spent some time at Como Town for some rides. The rides, Leah informed me, were her favorite. She even took her sister on a ride. Amber LOVED the ride and started to cry when I came to take her out. I have a feeling this one is not going to have the same fear of rides as her big sister did!


**Our friends, Gunnar and Mary, came to spend the weekend (Aug 5-8). It was fun to catch up with them. Gunnar taught Amber "knuckles" which she just loves to do now. It is very cute. Mary spent time with Leah - doing Leah's favorite activity - coloring/drawing! We also got to enjoy some adult only time! Along with our friends, Sara and Mike, we went to the Twins game on Saturday night. It was Mary's first time at a major league game...too bad the Twins had to loose, but we had a great time anyway. On Sunday, My mom, Mary, Leah and I went shopping at Kohls. We got Leah all set for 1st grade (we already bought school supplies a few weeks ago). Not too bad- all ready for school and we don't start until Sept. 6. If it was up to Leah, she would already have started school. She told me on Sunday..." I wish I went to school for all seasons because they already started!"


**On Tuesday (Aug 9), Leah and I went to Bunker Beach (even though it was one of the coldest days of the summer - we should have been at the zoo)! We went with Leah's buddies Michael and Kaylee and their moms, Sara and Jaclyn. Even though it was chilly to start the day, it did turn out to be a nice day - and, bonus, it was not crowded at all! The kids wore themselves out. The moms did not really go in the water (much)- we are freeze babies. The kids spent time at the adventure pool, plunge pool, lazy loop, waterslides, and the wave pool. Leah enjoyed everything, but I don't think the wave pool is her favorite. The other kids stayed in the wave pool for quite some time, but Leah would only last 5-10 min before she would come out for a break (she didn't like the water splashing into her eyes)! She absolutely loved going down the big waterslides. This is the first year she has been able to go down the slides (she is not quite tall enough according to their line, but they did let her go down one set of slides). Leah was actually ready to leave because she was so worn out (we spent over 5 hours there).
**Joe had a minor surgery today to fix a complication from his lack of a colon (stricture). He is doing great and we are glad to know that his pouch looks good.