Happy Birthday Dada!

Como Zoo With Great Grandpa

Two Dollars on #8 Please!

Today we went to Canterbury Park for their Family Day, where they had face painting, petting zoo, and a park to play at. Addie had fun with all those activities, but actually liked watching the horses race best. After watching a few races, we went down to see all the horses where we let Addie pick one to bet on. She chose number 8 (my guess is that choice was based on the colors on its blanket). Number 8 didn’t win, but came in second… maybe she has some validity in her picks!

Favorite Summer Activities

We had a great Saturday morning with some of my favorite activities. We first went to the Mill City Farmer’s Market where the breakfast fare may even be better than all the fresh produce! After that we spent some time at the Central Library where we found a great new CD, and to wrap up the morning we walked around by the river at St. Anthony Main. It was one of those mornings where I felt so grateful for living in such an amazing city!

Potty Chart

We have started a sticker chart to help encourage Addie to take more of an interest in potty training. It is definitely helping, but I think it’s still going to be a while until we are diaper free. A frequent Addie quote on this matter is, “Maybe when I a little bit bigger”… ugh! However, we recently had a step in the right direction with Addie getting her first sticker for going pee in the potty. Her reward for this was some Dora underwear, and she was thrilled! She was racing in and out of the aisles at Target looking for her Dora underwear and could not wait to wear them!

Rodgers/Engstrom Family Weekend

Our Christmas gift to my parents was a weekend at the Corbett cabin. This was their first time there, and despite the weather being uncooperative Saturday afternoon, we all had a really good time!

Big Girl Bed

While we were in SD Addie decided she wanted to sleep in the "big girl bed" at our hotel. She did great in it and all she could talk about was getting her own "big girl bed" when we got home. Since we had a twin bed stored in the attic, it was easy for us to set one up for her right away. She did great her first night, so the next day we went to the store so she could choose a new quilt for it. She has loved it so far, and still hasn't figured out that she can climb out of it which we love!

Happy 4th of July!

We spent our 4th of July at the cabin this year. The weather didn’t cooperate in the morning, but turned beautiful in the afternoon. We spent time swimming, going “boom boom boom” (riding the jet ski), and fishing! Addie got her first fishing pole and so far has loved fishing. She likes to sit at the end of the dock, push the button, and then reel in her fishie. We watched fireworks on the beach, but Addie was overly tired and scared of the loud noises, so we had to lay her down after a few minutes, and just like when she was 4 months old, she slept through the whole thing!

DMB

One of the many places we traveled to while on vacation was to East Troy, WI to see the Dave Matthews Band play at Alpine Valley. We have done this nearly every summer since 1999 and is one of my favorite summer traditions. This year however, was a little different from the rest. We were pulling into the venue when I decided to look over our tickets to see what this "Reserved Lawn" business was all about. After some careful examination, I figured out that Brian did not grab our Alpine tickets from our desk drawer, but our Xcel Center tickets! In 11 years of making this trip we have never forgotten our tickets! The show was sold out so we started making phone calls, and talking to scalpers. Eventually we found one that was willing to sell us a pair of pavilion seats for under $200 so we were able to make it in. All in all it wasn't so bad... we got the tickets for WAY under face value, got to use the VIP entrance, lounge, patio, and restrooms, and best of all... I didn't have to sit on the lawn!

Bumblebee

One of our many conversations in the car during the past week:

Radio: Imma Be by The Black Eyed Peas comes on.
Me: Hey! I know this song! Do you?
Addie: Hey! Yeah, I know this song!
Me: What's it called?
Addie: Bumblebee!

South Dakota

Last week we traveled with my parents to Custer, SD for a family vacation. My step-dad, Brian, has a sister who owns a house out there so we were able to visit with them as well as his parents who are there for the summer. Addie did great on the drive - we only needed to stop two times during the 10 hour drive (and those stops were at the request of the adults, not Addie!). We stayed busy each day with different activities, swimming at the pool, and making dinner. We had such a great time, and there are so many "firsts", stories, and cute moments that I will spare you all the details, and just list some highlights below!

• Driving and Wall Drug. Addie was scared of T-Rex... we heard about this EVERYDAY.

• 4 Mile Ghost Town and the Flinstones! Addie said she liked riding the train and going for a car ride with Fred best on this day

• Brian and I hiked Little Devil's while Addie spent the day with Grandma and Grandpa

• Mount Rushmore and Custer State Park. We had fun looking at the "Big Heads" and walking around the park. Addie LOVED seeing all the animals, but enjoyed the buffalo most.

• Mammoth Site and Sylvan Lake. Addie was excited when she finally got to dig for her own fossils! We spent the afternoon hiking around Sylvan Lake and climbing on rocks. We were told many times that day that "Addie likes hiking"!

• Storybook Island and the Badlands. Addie LOVED Storybook Island. I just wish we had set aside some more time and that it wasn't so HOT! Her favorites there were the train ride, Humpty Dumpty, Santa (go figure!) and Bambi. We were not able to hike in the Badlands as much as we wanted due to the 100+ temperatures. But we still headed out on a few trails and completed a little program for Addie to become a Junior Ranger. This day was the highlight of the trip for me, with being able to camp with Addie for the first time (and it will definitely not be the last!).

Go Crockpot!

Brian and I have been playing in a kickball league for about 5 years with the Minneapolis Park Board. This season has been different from all the others because we have been bringing Addie with us. She is so cute at the games! She sits on the bench and visits with all the other teammates, drinks her water, and eats raisins. The highlight of the evening for her is after the game when she gets to run the bases. Everyone cheers for her the whole time and she looks so proud when she reaches home base!