A Fun Weekend!

This weekend Addie and I had a lot of fun with our family and friends. On Saturday we went to Underwater World with Grandma and Grandpa Engstrom. Addie is starting to show signs of her growing independence, and struggled with following the moving sidewalk through the aquarium. The whole time, she wanted to go backwards! So I would pick her up (she would start screaming) and then we would move backwards until we ran into too much traffic and had to run ahead again. Whew!


On Sunday we went over to Grandma and Papa Corbett's for brunch and Addie met her second cousins, Mackenzie and Taylor, and her Great Aunt Kari and Great Uncle Dan. Later that night we made dinner for Ben and Kelly and our new friend, Ruby. This was Addie's first time meeting Ruby, and she seemed to really like her. She is 1 month old now, and was very alert while we were there. It's amazing how well Ben and Kelly are adjusting to life with their adorable little girl!



Then today we went to the zoo with our friends, Mandy, Henry, Megan, Mason, and Cooper. We braced ourselves for disaster with these three toddlers and a newborn, but overall, it was a fun trip! The kids had a blast playing at the park and Addie really enjoyed the butterflies.



In other news, tomorrow I am going to New Orleans to meet Brian after a work trip he had there. This is the longest we will have been away from Addie, so I am feeling sad about leaving her. On the other hand, this is the first time I have been on a plane in over 2 years, so I am really excited about that!

Mama's Little Helper

First, Addie has been mama obsessed lately - calling for mama, following mama, needing what mama has, etc. However, this mama obsession worked in my favor today :) I was cleaning the kitchen after breakfast and was explaining to Addie about how I was cleaning. That we needed to pick everything up, sweep, then put everything back. Then later this afternoon when I was making dinner, I noticed Addie had grabbed the little hand broom and dust pan and set it in front of her. She then took all her magnets off the refrigerator, swept the refrigerator, then put all the magnets back on. She looked so proud! I was also proud of her, but was also excited of how we can channel this energy towards some other cleaning tasks soon...

15 Month Stats

Weight: 21 lbs 14 oz (30%)
Length: 29.5" (25%)
Head: 18.5" (80%)

Likes: Playing outside, chalk, bubbles, watering plants, chasing animals, listening to music, reading books.

Dislikes: Not getting her way, not being understood, being told "no", waiting.

News: Addie is now officially a "walker". This weekend something clicked and Addie has taken off! Walking is now her preferred and most efficient method of transportation. Yay!

First Family Vacation

This week we went up to Duluth for our first family vacation. We stayed at the Edge Waterpark and Resort. Despite Addie’s initial uncertainty, we spent quite a bit of time in the waterpark – playing with the beach balls, floating down the lazy river, and exploring the zero depth area.









We visited the aquarium and got to see many different types of fish that live in Lake Superior, including Sturgeon (which I have never seen before). We also learned about how the boats filled with grains or iron ore travel from Lake Superior to the Atlantic – and saw one begin its journey!





The next day we traveled further north and went hiking to see some waterfalls and to explore a lighthouse.



Later that day we went to Park Point Beach, the largest freshwater sandbar in the world. This was the favorite part of the trip for all of us. Brian and I loved the beautiful and peaceful scenery, and Addie loved the soft sand, chasing the seagulls, and putting her toes in the ice-cold lake.



Addie was a fun travel companion, and we are looking forward to the many more family vacations to come!

Cheers!

Addie has known how to "Cheers!" for a while now, but has become OBSESSED with it lately. Every time she has a cup in her hand she holds it out to us and says, "Cheurz!" and continues to say it until we cheers her back (tonight at dinner I lost count after 5 "Cheurz!"). It's been fun seeing/hearing her vocabulary develop. She is really into repeating things we say, and is quick to point out things she already knows.

Another fun development update is that Addie chose to walk across the room to get a toy tonight rather than walk. This is the first time I have ever seen her pick this option... yay!

What We've Been Up To

Memorial Day weekend seems so long ago, and we have been very busy since then - going to the zoo, gardening, and spending lots of time outside enjoying the beautiful weather. On May 26th we welcomed a new friend to the world! Her name is Ruby and she is so sweet and adorable. We are looking forward to spending lots of time with Ruby and her mom, Kelly, very soon since school ends on Tuesday!!! It's hard to believe another school year has come and gone, and that we have all survived it.:) I remember how anxious and sad I felt when I first went back to work, particularly at the idea of leaving Addie at daycare. Now, I am looking forward to sending her there 1-2 days per week so I can train and work on my paper (all readers - please hold me to these two things!). It's amazing how much things change in 9 months.

Another fun update is that we have converted our upstairs office into a playroom for Addie. It still needs a few finishing touches, but we are very happy with it.

We are pretty sure Addie likes it too!

Memorial Day Weekend 2009

This weekend we headed to the Corbett Cabin in Siren, Wisconsin in honor of Memorial Day weekend. It was a full cabin with the whole family there, but it still provided us with much fun and relaxation. Addie enjoyed playing with her cousin Riley and Dixie the puppy dog along with her uncles and Grandma and Papa.

She liked playing in the sand and water, going for a boat ride and tractor ride, and just spending time out in the fresh air.


All this time outside made for a very tired little girl on the way home!




We have made a tradition of spending Memorial Day planting our vegetable garden, so the first thing we did this morning was to go and get our starter plants. We needed vegetables and Grandma Engstrom needed flowers, so we made a last minute decision for all of us to go to the Minneapolis Farmer's Market for our shopping. Many of you already know my feelings about strollers at the Farmer's Market, but for those of you who don't - I hate them. I figured we could avoid being "those people" by just keeping our wagon on the perimeter and taking turns going into the market to get our plants, but when we got there I was thrilled to see that the market was not busy at all! There was no one there but the vendors and very few shoppers which allowed us to mosey up and down the aisles with our wagon at our leisure. It made me so happy to bring Addie and be able to enjoy this summer activity together!

We had a great weekend together, and it has made me even more anxious for the school year to end and for summer to begin. I am hoping that I will be able to finish the last couple of weeks of school refreshed and energized.

For those of you interested, here is a list of vegetables we planted in our garden: Butternut Squash, Cucumbers, Lettuce, Red Pepper, Sweet Peas, Tomatoes, Zucchini (Pumpkins and Sunflowers will most likely be added by the end of the week).