So much fun, such a short weekend!

Is it really the end of the weekend already?! Friday after work, I picked up Olivia and we headed to a park to wait for Duane to finish his day. She seemed to have fun but I wasn't prepared enough with a snack so I was rewarded with several meltdowns. Once Duane got home, we headed for Burger Moe's in St. Paul. The weather was great and their outdoor patio is awesome - so what else could we do? Olivia was super cool in her shades but had no problem eating like a pig for all to see. We discovered she LOVES pickles - oh and chocolate-banana malts, too! ;)

Saturday morning Duane headed out to work on the boat. Around 1pm he had it fixed (he's such a Mr. Fix-It!) and was home. Olivia was napping, so Duane napped and then I napped, too. It was a nice treat to be able to take a nap. Once we all woke up, though, we made up for our lazy afternoon! Duane and Liv "worked" in the yard and decided to made a bonfire for the night.



helpin' Daddy - one of her favorite things to say

 We made homemade pizza for dinner, which I feel like we always make but gosh is it good! Once again, Olivia was picking off Duane's pizza and snacking. Once dinner was finished, it was back outside and time for s'mores!



being a ham

"hmm....I'm supposed to eat this thing?"
(it's her first marshmallow)

just licking the marshmallow, she wouldn't bite into it

1st ever bite of s'more

"mmmm....that. is. good."

roasting marshmallows with Daddy....except she put her directly into the ashes!

 We decided not to head out on the lake today. We thought Liv wasn't acting herself again so it was either another ear infection or teething. Our rationale for not going boating was to take it easy and make sure she got a good nap to help her fight whatever was getting her down. Huh - so much for 'taking it easy!' What did we do today? We went to the MN Zoo and was it ever fun! It was HOT but we made the best of it.

She's ready to go!

This little prairie dog was jumping up onto the glass and had Liv laughing out loud!

Look at the size of that cow! It's a clone - no joke!

oh, the goats (I'm thinking: "gross.")

Oh goody, now we're petting the goats but Liv loved it so it was okay.....we promptly washed our hands

Okay, then we moved onto the cows.....

.....then it was the chickens.....

After the chickens, we had lunch in the air-conditioned farmhouse. Once again, Liv proved to us how much she loves pickles. She had 2 spears and chose them over fruit.

After a short walk from the farm animals, Duane decided he needed a bomb pop - Liv wasn't going to turn that down!

So, remember how I said something was going on with Liv? Well, right after we got to the zoo, I noticed her right ear was oozing some gross stuff - I'm no doctor but I know an ear infection when there is one. Great - ear infection #4 since tubes....I wonder where this is headed?

Also, remember how I said something about Liv needing a good nap today? Ha! She fell asleep as we were turning out of the zoo parking lot (no joke) and woke up right as we parked the car in our driveway. I let her play in her crib for a full hour before I realized there was no napping going on any more today. So, we played outside, had dinner, a much needed bath and early bedtime.

Have a great week, everyone!

Father's Day Weekend 2012

Happy Father's Day to all fathers out there! Another awesome weekend was had by all up here in St. Paul! Friday was very low key - we ate leftovers for dinner and played with Olivia until her bedtime. On Saturday morning, Duane smoked some ribs - which has turned into his annual Father's Day tradition. Olivia had to be outside with him and couldn't be bothered with coming inside for breakfast. So, breakfast was brought out to her.

While Duane and Liv watched the smoker, I ran to Target for our weekly restock of groceries. Olivia has recently noticed Elmo which is odd because she's never watched Sesame Street. Well, I couldn't let her go on without some new Elmo books so I stocked up on some while at Target. Gotta love their $1 bin for other random things!

It was raining so she was allowed to watch some Pokoyo on my iPad

We invited our friends, the Bowe's, over for the Father's Day Feast. Everyone loved Duane's meal and Duane declared his ribs as the best he's ever eaten - ever. That's quite a statement!

Thankfully, after lunch, the sun came back out and it was hot! Olivia was a party pooper and napped the rest of the afternoon but we all hung out outside. For whatever reason, Duane came up with the idea of making a 'redneck slip-n-slide' with a ridiculously large tarp we have in our garage. Evelyn and Duane were equally excited to participate but Jason and Vivian were a little more hesitant. Sarah and I were the judges for the slides...

Evelyn slipping and sliding

Sarah and Vivian

Duane having so much fun!

After our fun afternoon with friends, we had even more fun coming - a date night!!! Olivia and her babysitter, Catie, had a great night and we were told later that Olivia didn't even notice we had left. We had a nice dinner at a new restaurant in Woodbury and then saw "Rock of Ages." Even though Liv wasn't with us, we noticed that we still inhaled our dinner, feeling like we had to finish quick so we were ready for her.... That's part of it, right?!

This morning Duane got his Father's Day gifts (a beer glass, Tommy Bahama shirt and artwork made by Liv) and we packed up and headed to White Bear Lake! Olivia did so well again today and it was great until we left....

Soon after we anchored, a man and his dogs parked beside us. Olivia LOVED watching his dogs play in the water 

Walking in the water with Daddy

Showing her sand and how to dig in it with her hands

She dug right in and had no trouble getting it everywhere!

After removing her diaper and letting her go with her bikini bottom, we got out her floaty to see if she'd sit in it. She LOVED it and how it allowed her to kick her legs and get around.

We all hung around in the water and before we knew it, it was lunch time. Olivia was really into the music!

After lunch, we saw a mom and her little girl walking near our boat in the shallows. We met them and while her little girl was much more willing to share, Liv embarrassed us by screaming, "mine" at certain toys. Figuring it was time for us to call it a day, we packed up and tried to head back. Engine trouble kept us from ending the day as perfectly as it started but we made it back before the rain moved in on us. Liv stayed awake until we were pulling out of the parking lot and then she quickly fell asleep.

Rain kept us indoors most of the afternoon so we made popcorn and watched a little TV.

Before dinner, Duane kept Olivia busy with finding "flowers for mommy." She was so excited when she brought them to me. I put them in a vase and placed that vase on the dinner table and she kept pointing at them and smiling through dinner.

Happy Father's Day, Duane - Olivia is such a lucky little girl! Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there, too! :)

a Pig Roast, boating and biking

What a busy weekend! This past Friday, it was Olivia and me - Duane was spending the night with our friends, getting ready for their 9th Pig Roast. The Stone's were our first friends up here in the Cities and for years, Duane has been Jaron's right-hand man with the pig roast. The guys get up around 4am and get the pig going - about 12 hours later it's done and they literally tear the meat off the pig by hand. Needless to say, it's so good! So, with Duane gone on Friday, Olivia and I had a night for the girls. Actually, it was like any normal night - dinner, bath, a little playing in the basement and reading before bedtime. I had a really boring night of laundry, then bed.

Saturday morning Olivia and I putzed around the house, made a run for Target and then we played in the yard until nap time. It was beautiful here on Saturday so I laid in the sun for a bit and then started getting ready for the party. Liv took a solid 3-hour nap so by the time she woke up, I was totally ready to go. Duane and Jaron were busy tearing the pig apart when we got there. Olivia had a great time running in the yard and watching the people.

The three hour nap must have done her a serious favor because she was still awake at 9pm when we rolled into our driveway. I thought for sure she would be asleep shortly after we started the car but nope - wide awake. Oh, and she was totally awake before either of us this morning...

We have a serious trooper on our hands and couldn't be more thankful. Even though she was down on 2+ hours of sleep, we whisked Liv off to the lake in 90* weather. About 5 minutes after we took off from the dock, Liv was asleep in my arms....we drove a bit more and then took a risk and parked. We took such care and propped up an umbrella to keep her in the shade and what wakes her up - a towel brushed her face. Darn! She seemed refreshed, though, after the 30 minute nap and was amused by a water bottle and a thing of sunscreen. She liked to act like she was putting sunscreen on us. We had lunch and then decided to take a drive to the public beach. Well, it's not really a beach anymore - it's completely covered by weeds and grass so we could only walk in the water, which was fine. Liv was easily knocked over by the waves and wind but she kept on going.

1st juice box - LOVED it!

So, we thought as soon as we left the lake, she would be out....umm....no again. She stayed awake through the drive home and the hour we had her in her crib. By 3:45pm, we decided to just go through the day without her nap. To keep her mind off being tired, we took a bike ride and stopped at a park. She went down the slides about 20 times and climbed all the steps by herself (with us behind her and at the bottom of the slides, of course!) When we got back home - meltdown. Duane started dinner so she and I took a lap in her wagon. Thankfully, she was asleep by 7:30pm. I'm not sure how she did it, I could have gone to bed hours ago myself....

Have a great week!