Brianna is, in our completely unbiased opinion, the cutest little girl in the entire world! It brings both of us incredible joy to live out daily adventures with her.
Today's adventure started by putting out flags to honor fallen U.S. servicemen and women. Later, after the rain stopped, we went outside to plant our garden. I know, it's a little late but life is busy and it has been kind of cold and rainy this spring. The important thing is the seeds are in the ground! After Brianna woke up from her nap she was thrilled to be outside with us getting her hands, shirt, face, legs, shorts, and feet dirty.
Brianna wasn't sure where to
plant this red bell pepper...even
though mommy had a great spot for it.
This looks like a good spot!
I can't remember why she is so sad here but I think she wanted to get inside the fence where mommy and daddy were planting things. Or it could be because she allowed the flag to touch the ground. I assured her it would be ok!
Here is our completed garden with onions, carrots, beets, zucchini, yellow squash, red bell peppers and better boy tomatoes. Not a big garden, but we are eying real estate in our back yard for a bigger one in the coming years.
We took a quick break between planting and our dinner BBQ for a swim in our gigantic above ground pool. Since it was 88 degrees with moderately high humidity the water felt great (I'm sure she would agree!).
About the time we wrapped up our garden my parents and Eme's parents and Anthony came over for a Memorial Day BBQ. After Brianna finished her meal she couldn't help but take advantage of able and willing reading bodies! She brought Gamfie book after book. But it was mainly her new favorite book "Baby Bear Baby Bear What do you See?"
And then she had to show off for Grandpa as well! And, of course, he willingly read her about Baby Bear! I love how she puts her arms behind her back! She is so cute! What a great day!
Despite a forecast of rain by the "professionals" we decided to get outside to plant, refabric, and rerock to enhance our curb appeal a bit. Crabgrass had begun to make its way into the landscaped area and there were 2 dead plants in there when we moved in to our house. We were glad to ignore the rainy outlook as we only experience a short 2 minute passing shower.
The before photo probably won't look a lot different than the final product but the weed barrier was compromised, thus necessitating a full removal and replace.
Rocks are temporarily displaced, fabric is removed and Eme is finishing up some final rock clean-up.
Putting the new fabric in place.
Plant placement.
Even Brianna dug in and helped!
The finished product with a new fabric weed barrier and beautiful Chicagoland Boxwood and Dark Horse Weigela.
We've had a pretty fun week this week.
Sunday, we had Mick and Hung over (because they had no power from the storm) for dinner, Celebrity Apprentice, and Brianna's first hair cut. We just took a little off the front/top so it would get out of her eyes. I love toothbrushes too. They come in handy for more than just brushing teeth.
Monday, we finished cleaning up from our weekend getaway.
Tuesday, Casen came over for a couple hours in the morning to hang out. They loved the toys but what they loved more where the old school felt Sunday School story images. Who knew they would have so much appeal? Then later, I caught Brianna reading (or studying) a book from her carseat.
Wednesday, we were invited by my sister, Margaret, to go join them on their trip to the Children's Museum. It was a ton of fun! Brianna and the boys had fun running around and exploring each room we went into. Even the adults got into the fun. I mean, who can resist a little competition, right?
We kept saying that they looked like mad scientists in their little aprons!
Thursday, it was so beautiful out that a morning walk seemed in order. We walked over to the church so I could work for a little bit. Then, after nap, we filled the sandbox my parents let us take and played, we set up the tent to let it air out from our camping trip, then put on a swimsuit and filled a rubbermaid with water so Brianna could do a little wading. A full and fun day.
The week so far has been great. It's a great reminder that you just have to get out and enjoy every moment of sunshine you can!
This year, Jon and I decided to continue our camping tradition. You may remember our crazy story from last year... Well this year was not as crazy, but just as much fun... and I would venture to say, way more relaxing!
All last week, we were pulling out our camping gear, organizing, and reorganizing making sure we had all that we needed so we would be ready first thing Thursday morning when we set out for our adventure. We arrived at Tettegouche State Park by 2:30 or so and started to ready the campsite. The weather was wonderful - sunny skies and not too much wind. We opted to hang out at the site and around the campfire for the evening and just take it all in. Although Eko was a little uneasy about being tied up and not knowing what to do, Brianna knew exactly what she could do... play with the rocks and wood chips around the site. She was a great little camper. As we were setting up the tent and our bedding, she was content to just play inside and help. Here she is filling one of the two little holes of the barricade with rocks.
As opposed to our shorter trip last year where we didn't bother cooking at the site, this year we went full out camping. I love the take-along booster seats so you can contain the little one while you prepare and eat meals. It was a little chilly that first night and morning but we were prepared, plus it warmed up pretty quick.
Here we are on the way to the bathrooms to shower. Brianna did a wonderful job driving and turning the wheel. That is, until she realized there were window buttons within reach. Those are always more fun! By the way, I do not recommend showering a 17 month old when a 1 minute push button shower never gets warm, and her whining/crying echoed throughout the entire bathroom. I felt like an awful parent.
After we were all ready Friday morning, we set out for our first hike. We had done the first half of the hike (to High Falls) a previous trip, but this time we went a little further to Two Step Falls. It was a beautiful morning and fun to explore the new terrain.We ate lunch back at the campsite, then headed out again for another hike to the cascades. There must have been a landslide at some point, because the trail had been washed away. Pretty amazing to see the magnitude of something like that just take out trees and everything in it's path.
Before heading to our favorite pizza place in Grand Marais, we made sure to go down to the lake. We know our dog and knew he would want to jump in, so we were smart enough to grab a towel specifically for him. Glad we did because he could not wait, he was so excited. In fact, he laid right down, as if he purposely picked that exact spot so his head would lay just above the water. Jon reminded me that if he pulled too sharply to just LET GO of the leash; I came close to going in a couple of times, but I managed to stay dry.
On our way home, we made a pit stop at the Great Lakes Aquarium in Duluth. You might be able to notice the very wet walkway and road in this first picture. It ended up raining off and on again all day, which made us glad we packed up when we did. The Aquarium was more of small exhibits than an aquarium but we enjoyed getting out of the car, and I know Brianna had a blast looking at the animals and walking from here to there and everywhere!
Brianna realized that she could turn in circles... and that it was fun - kinda. Not in this video, but a previous time, she turned so much that she got pretty dizzy. Maybe I'm a bad mom for just watching all of it unfold, but I just lost track of how many times she turned herself around (I thought it was cute). She got so dizzy she didn't know what to do with herself. First, she fell over, as most people do, then tried to pick herself up but couldn't do it, she kept falling over. Shortly after she stumbled the second time, she must not have liked how she felt because she started to whine a little. I consoled her and told her gently that this is what happens when you turn and turn and turn around like that. Then what does she do...
I've caught Brianna in the act of a few cute things the last month. Here are some pictures to document.
We were stuffing diapers and she took a handful into the kitchen... and I guess she got tired!
At one of my last Dr. appointments she found something and somewhere to lay her sleepy head. She's doing that a lot lately. Anywhere softer she can lay her head down, she pretends to go to sleep.
We were hanging out with my sister, Margaret, and she insisted on taking her ponytail holder out. Nice hair!
She loves Eko. Just yesterday he was laying down and she tried riding him like a horse. Of course, he just laid there.
As I mentioned in the last post, we were able to get some much needed prep work done on the basement prior to our new carpet being installed. It always seemed pretty dark downstairs and we thought a painted trim would help lighten the feeling. Here is the time-line: Monday we determined we would be installing carpet that coming Saturday; Tuesday evening consisted of clearing out everything from in front of the walls; Wednesday was sanding all the trim and a coat of primer; Thursday was the first finish coat; and Friday was coat number 2... and 3. Although it was A LOT of work in a short amount of time, it was one of those, "this was well worth it" moments. We are so happy with how it turned out and how different it feels, even to just walk down the basement stairs - huge difference. Thanks to Jon's dad for coming over that Friday and lending a much needed hand to help paint and pull up old carpeting.
It wasn't a typical birthday, but I had fun. Plus the outcome of a transformed basement just keeps giving and giving and....!
The first weekend in May, which was also my birthday weekend, mother's day on Sunday AND the weekend we decided to recarpet our basement, Brianna took a trip with Gammie and Gamfie to their trailer for a little camping adventure. From the pictures my mom took (all 120 of them) and the way they described her all weekend, she loved it and loved hanging out with them. More and more, she loves to be and play outside and just get dirty. It worked out perfectly, for us anyway. We were able to get some much needed prep work done on the basement Friday night before the carpet came Saturday morning. Plus we went out with friends Friday for a little birthday celebration. Thanks mom and dad for being willing to take her, even though you just had surgery on your hand and you hadn't been out there yet to clean up. I know she had a blast!
Brianna wasn't sure where to
