And even more Minnesota!!

We spent over a month in the great north so of course, more pictures! We were able to spend some time with family, hit some other pools in the area, and get our "play" on in the woods at a friend's cabin too!

Having fun with Grandma Karina (and in Grandma's homemade rompers)!

Me and Lucy at a cabin in Osceola, WI

Enjoying the sun at the new Como Park Pool

Maybe not everyone:)

Having fun with Grandpa!

I can't believe they are TWO!

Everyone says time flies with kids, and I know they are only two, but it feels like it has whizzed by! Of course the weird thing about time is that it also feels like the day they were born was so long ago... how does that work?

We planned a birthday celebration in just a few days and I think we pulled it off. I went park hunting a few days before the big event (on July 22) with the girls in tow. We were looking for a place where we could have a BBQ, that was easy to get to, and had a playground (doesn't sound too hard right?). Well, it was a little more complicated with all the summer festivals and fun-runs going on, translating to neighborhoods and streets blocked off; to top it off I94 was shut down for several miles as well.

Needless to say we made it work. We decided on Minnehaha Falls Park. The Wabun picnic area had everything we wanted and more. There were picnic tables amidst tall trees- not one but two playgrounds right next to each other, and as a bonus, there was a great wading pool with a fountain to boot!

The next challenge we had to conquer was how to make sure we got one of the two picnic areas that I had my heart set on. So... even though the party didn't start until 12, I woke up, got a latte, and headed over to the park at 8:30AM. I got the spot. It's a good thing I did, as about 15 minutes later someone came over and respectfully said she was bummed out because she was aiming for the same place.

I set everything up with table clothes, balloons, flowers, set out the bowls and plastic ware, set up the toy area- then it started to rain. Of course:) I succeeded in getting everything to a dry place and then Dave came to take over the "watching of the table". I went back, got the ladies, and we arrived around 11:30.

Our spot in the park-- I think Luna might be dipping into the cake early!

Stella and Lucy with their birthday boas getting ready to party!

Lucy having her cake and eating it too.

Stella and the huge balloon

The five ladies... kickin' it in the 2 inch deep water at the wading pool

We had a great time! We had a good number of folks that were able to make it- which was great on such short notice:) Thank you to our family and friends, and family friends who came to help us celebrate the big number TWO x2!!

Northern Minnesota... finally!!!

It had been almost 2 years since we were able to stay at good ol' Twin Pines. Whenever we would travel back to Minny, the stay would be too short to be able to go... there were already too many things to do and people to see in the cities.

I was elated that it worked out this time. We were able to enjoy it up there (and the great 70-80 degree weather) for 10 days! Dave worked remotely from the cabin and various coffee shops, so unfortunately he did not have as much time to enjoy, but on the flip side, the fact that he even could work remotely was in our favor.

We stopped in Mooselake on the way up to celebrate the fourth of July and then continued on to the "Little House". Here are a few shots of our trip!

Stella, Avery, & Lucy on July 4th

Stella checking out the bug collection jar

Its hard to stop running after coming down the driveway!

Master teepee builders

Luna, Lucy, Nico, Stella

That's where the boys are!!

Don't bother Mom!

Stella peeking through the stairs

Reading before bed... we've have those cabbage patch sheets since I was their age!

Brave Penny

Missy and Gus with a gaggle of assertive visitors!

Two Year Old trapped in Car!

So I am a little behind on writing and I have a lot of fun things to say about our long stay in MN including the girls 2nd birthday... but I just had to post the recent drama first.

Yesterday evening I was getting the girls into the car in the parking lot behind my parents condo. Its always a bit stressful sans stroller because I have to make sure that whomever is the 2nd to go in does not decide to roam the streets! Normally I open the front passenger door and drop all my stuff and put the keys in my pocket and then start the buckle down. Yesterday I just happened to not have pockets so I threw the keys in the front seat as well.

I had Stella "trapped" between me and the car while I was getting Lucy in and then I shut the door. All of a sudden, I heard the big CLICK. Lucy was now officially locked in the car with all the windows up in 90 degree weather. (It baffles me how this happened, no one was near the key fob and Lucy would not have been able to lock all 4 doors from her door.) My mom happened to be outside getting ready to take the dog for a walk and I was hollering my "freaked out mom" holler and she came rushing over.

My first thought was to call AAA. Then I realized wait a minute... I need to call 911, so that's what I did. And then we called AAA just to cover our bases.

It took almost 10 minutes for the cop to arrive. And, I guess the police do not carry equipment to open doors so they called their specialists who said they would be 15 minutes. AAA also said it might be 15 minutes. Lucy seemed to be doing OK and in good spirits. All of a sudden she started crying really hard- her face red, and I noticed she was sweating pretty hard core.

It had been 15 minutes total now and I wasn't taking any chances. The officer pulled on his fancy gloves, got his crow bar, and broke the front passenger side window. Thank goodness for tempered glass that are pebble-like (instead of shard-like) but Lucy was definitely jostled by the noise.

A minute later, AAA comes zooming up.

There was no way we could have known. So we may be out a couple hundred bucks but there is no price for a safe child.

A mom's anxiety is no joke; I never really appreciated what moms everywhere go through emotionally until I had kids of my own. Thank goodness everyone is OK!

Sailabration!

It is pretty neat being in Baltimore for the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812. They are calling it the Sailabration as there are more than 40 tall ships and navy vessels that arrived in the harbor on Wednesday from all over the world! I took the girls down to the waterfront  where we walked several miles along the boardwalk and saw several of the ships come in- it was pretty neat! The tall ships were by far the best with all the sailors standing on the higher 'yards' and moving to the music representing their countries.

The little ladies posing in front of the "Iroquois" from Canada-
a Navy Tribal Class Destroyer, docked in Fells Point 

The "Gloria" coming in from Columbia, 257 ft long with 4  masts and 23 sails;
You can see the the sailors standing on the yards of the ships all the way to the top!

Lucy and Stella on the dock where we were watching the boats come in to the harbor

The "Cuauhtemoc" sailing in from Mexico; 270 ft long;
the sailors look like they are holding hands on this one!

We were on the dock of the restaurant that our friends own watching the show;
 this guy at our table actually brought a mini cannon that he was shooting off as part of the festivities (just blanks of course, but quite loud!)

Garden Progress

So my community garden plot seems to be doing well! We've eaten a lot of the kale and collard greens already. Someone did climb the fence and steal my broccoli however, which was OK, since it actually wasn't growing properly anyhow. I was warned about this happening for tomatoes and peppers, but broccoli??

The day I got my plot a couple months ago

 The first pic is the tomato view, the second is the kale, pepper, squash view.

In my backyard I harvested my strawberries; they weren't super sweet, but still tasty!

The Baptisms

So I haven't posted in over a month! My goal was to at least get one in May and I really pushed it!

We had a great trip to Minnesota for a couple weeks in May over Mother's Day. And... the girls finally got baptized! We went to Salem Lutheran on May 20 where both girls were christened. It's pretty neat that they were able to have it done the same place as their mama.

They spent a fair amount of time during the service on their baptism and both girls made it through. Lucy had a bit of a meltdown right when we got up to the altar, but was calmed down when the pastor had her come over to the water. After they were baptized, we walked them down the aisle (it kind of felt like it did after we were married!) to "this little light of mine"- it was very nice and a bit emotional!

Afterwards, we went to Becky and Noe's for a taco fiesta and it was great to see our extended family even if it was for a short while! John, Sandi, Cindy, Sam, Lizzy, Shawn, Natalie, Casey, Alex, Max, Mindy, & Nick all showed up for the festivities along with my parents, Dave's parents, and our siblings of course. Becky and Noe are Lucy's godparents, and Paul is Stella's.

Here are some shots from the service:

Lucy being baptized

Stella's turn

Godparents