Summertime

It's so cliche but this summer went by way.too.fast. It didn't help that I wished half of it away while Scot was gone...so I feel like it didn't really start for us until we were a family again on July 11.

But so it goes and I do feel we made the most of the time we have now that we are staring down Labor Day weekend. So here are some of the highlights:

During our first full weekend together in July, we made our traditional post-deployment B&B visit.
Reunion 1 (May 2006) - Duluth, MN
Reunion 2 (Oct 2008) - Stillwater, MN
Reunion 3 (Jul 2010) - Osceola, WI

While each trip has been amazing, I could really do without this cause for a celebration. The coincidence this time was that it fell on our (12th!) anniversary.

July 18, 1998 vs. July 19, 2010




So, this time we made our temporary residence at the St. Croix River Inn in Osceola, WI which is across the St. Croix River from Taylors Falls. It was a really nice place - our room was very spacious with a 4 season porch overlooking the river. We had our anniversary dinner at a place called Grecco's, which was great - it was a perfect night to sit on the deck, enjoy an amazing meal, great wine, and each other's company.
We were quite adventerous the next day - we headed into Taylor's Falls in the morning to hike, have lunch, and then canoe 8 miles. It was another gorgeous day and we headed out to an Italian restaurant for dinner. We lingered in our room both mornings with breakfast delivered to our door. It was just about all we could ask for - a great anniversary and reunion. Huge thanks to Aunt Julie who watched the girls for the 2 nights we were gone.



On July 24 we hosted a "Welcome Back" party for Scot at our house - we had a pretty good turnout for a summer weekend party. It was really nice to have so many friends over to our place!

We attended other parties the next 2 weekends - the first one was a going-away party for friends who were moving back to Michigan after 5 years in the Twin Cities. Jen is in my Book Club & we will really miss her! We had our own send off for her "Book Club Style" a few weeks prior at The Melting Pot. Yum! The following Saturday we went to a party that one of Scot's friends from the Guard had - it was nice to hang out with that crew and put a lot of faces to names that I've heard over the years.

My parents came over for a visit a few weeks ago and we went to a Twins game in the new stadium - it was a great game! They played the White Sox and won 7-6. It was about as action-packed as baseball can get with 23 hits - and Joe Mauer hit his first homerun at Target Field - and we had wonderful weather to boot. My dad also celebrated his 82nd birthday while they were here - crazy!




We have also had the opportunity to get on a few lakes over the past few weeks. My friend Tricia lives on a lake near Cannon Falls - we had a great time despite the gale force winds that were out that day. And just this weekend, we went up to my friend Kelly's cabin in Webster, WI for a day of fun in the sun. Ava had a blast swimming with her buddy Emma and her favorite part hands down was the jet ski! (Well, it was mine and Scot's too - I forgot how much I love those things!) Ava wanted to go faster and faster the entire time. One time we actually fit all 4 of us on the ski...and Reese fell asleep. We had a good laugh about that!







In between all of the organized events, we have been filling our time with our new hobby - biking! We purchased all of the gear we needed in April (right before Scot left) so we were ready to go when he got back in July. Scot and I each got a new bike (neither of us had owned one since just after college) and then we got a tag-along bike for Ava and a carrier for Reese. We are really enjoying getting out on the trails - it's a great way to fit in some outdoor activity with the kids. We mostly bike on the trails around Woodbury, but while they are convenient, they are HILLY. But we are both getting a lot stronger and the nice scenery on the trails generally makes up for complete exhaustion...well, almost. So, one day we drove out to the Gateway trail and logged about 10 miles there. I usually ride with Reese on my bike (though she's on with Scot in these pictures) and Ava rides with Scot.







Phew! That's a lot of activity for 6 weeks! Ava is really looking forward to fall because of 1) preschool, 2) "ballerina school", 3) Julie's wedding and 4) her birthday. Lots of fun stuff coming up!

Favorite Foods

Reese is a big eater. You can't tell by looking at her, but she really likes to pack away the food. This is taken from today's "report card" from Vicki's and it represents a typical food consumption day for her:

Breakfast:
8 mini waffles
3 bowls of mandarin oranges
1 cup of milk

Lunch:
2 helpings of macaroni and cheese
2 helpings of cottage cheese
peas & carrots
strawberries
1 cup of milk

Snack:
Yogurt
Juice

One of her favorite foods is cottage cheese - she can't get enough of it! (I just tried to upload a cute video of her eating said cottage cheese, but it failed - ugh)

And Ava? Not as big of an eater as Reese...but she is a really HEALTHY eater. In fact, if I ate more like she does, I'd probably lose some weight! Her favorite foods are fruits and vegetables. She doesn't eat much meat and she doesn't like most of the typical "kid foods" (ie: hotdogs, chicken nuggets, PB&J, pizza, etc.). One of her favorite foods? Tomatoes! She eats the regular kind like apples. And the grape tomatoes like candy.

18 Months

Little Miss Reese will be 19 months in a week...so this post is quite tardy. Just thought I better get some of her stats on record before I forget. Reese hit the 1 1/2 year mark on July 10th, one day before Scot came home. I can't believe she's already on the "other" side - moving closer to two. Sigh. Where did my baby go?

We had Reese's 18 month doctor appointment on the 15th - she checked in at 22 lbs and 33 inches. Pretty much right on par with where Ava was at 18 months. Guess we make them on the shrimpy side...;-)

Here are some things to note:
•She says about 30-40 words, she understands hundreds
•As much as I would like it on the occasional day, she has zero interest in the television. I know, not a bad thing, but sometimes we all need a break! :-) I bet she's watched 1-2 hours of TV total in her life.
•She's a mover and a climber - I thought Ava was advanced at this age in her physical development, but Reese seems to be even moreso. She has been climbing up the stairs on our backyard swingset by herself for months. And she runs. She really seems to have no fear.
•She LOVES fruit - blueberries, bananas, mandarin oranges, watermelon. If she could eat fruit all day, she would be a happy camper. Heck, if she could eat period all day, she would be a happy camper - the girl LOVES her food, though you wouldn't know it by her petite stature. She goes from zero to crankfest in no time if you aren't serving her food quickly enough.
•She's more and more interested in books, so we read with her quite a bit, especially before bedtime.
•After hovering under the radar for 18 months, her happy disposition has unfortunately taken a turn for the worse a lot of time. She likes to exert her independence, show her temper, and be a bully! One of her report cards from daycare last week detailed how she sat on Raymond (the only kid younger than her at 13 months) and swatted him numerous times throughout the day. Reese! While Ava has always been a challenge, one thing she never did was hit other kids, so this is a new one for us.
•She loves to give kisses - she will stick out her lower lip and zoom right on in to plant one on you when you ask for a kiss - love this!
•She has become quite attached to her blanket ("mimi") and her stuffed puppy ("bubba") - she sleeps with them every night and during naps.
•Despite her change in temperment at times, she still really is such a joy the majority of the time - she is a sweet, sweet girl! (But growing up way too fast)