Ella's 9-Month Pictures

Last week we had Ella's 9-month pictures taken. She cooperated for a few minutes and then made us work! I was not too happy with the photographer but we managed to get a few good shots. And Lauren was the only one interested in the camera at the end of the session so we ordered some of just her too!

Leyton's Party

We celebrated Leyton's 2nd Birthday last weekend, and it was a beautiful day for presents, cake, and plenty of playtime!

Daddy's Girls

Last weekend we celebrated Dan's 30th Birthday (gasp! we are getting old!) on Saturday, and Father's Day Sunday. Lauren had a lot of fun helping me wrap presents and coloring cards for daddy, and when it was time for her to wrap the M&Ms she was going to give him, she had to ask ten times if daddy would share them! So sweet:) And guess which present she wanted him to open first!

Perfect Picnic

In between all of the rain storms this week Lauren and I were able to get in our first picnic of the summer! It was complete with sandwiches, pretzels, strawberries and raspberries! And I was pretty nervous about feeding Ella outside on a blanket and keeping her from attacking Lauren for her food, but luckily Ella decided to take an early nap so Lauren and I were able to sneak out and enjoy this just the two of us (plus Mischa!).

I packed strawberries for Lauren and raspberries for myself, because up until this point Lauren has insisted that she doesn't like raspberries. Well, guess who ate ALL of my raspberries??? Yes, I finally got her try a whole one, and then it was all over. The girl loves her raspberries now!

Carnival

The carnival is in town for Rice Lake's Aquafest, and Lauren had a blast! I was a little nervous because she had just woken up from her nap and I didn't know if she would be scared/ overwhelmed by all the noise, people, and rides. She sure surprised me! It was hard to pull her away from the rides, and she wanted to do each one over and over.

Proudly holding the dolphin she won from "Pick a duck"

Riding Dizzy Dragons... this was a kid-size version of the tilt-a-whirl, and we really got it spinning! She loved it! What did she say when we were done and I was afraid she would throw up? "I want the blue one now..."
We were in the green one.... I was too scared to ask for the blue one!

Loving the zebra on the Merry-Go-Round

She did this ride all by herself... literally, there were no other kids on it! I really thought she would get scared, but she said she would do it alone and she did!

The only way to coax her off the rides? Tempt her with carnival food!

Some "firsts," a hat, and other random pics

It has been awhile since my last post, and while there is nothing too exciting to post about, some of these pictures were too cute to pass up. So here they are, a bunch of randoms- but cute randoms...

Ella's first time with Mac 'n Cheese

She stands up on EVERYTHING!

First experience with Spaghetti...

And Lauren's first experience with Monster Cookie Dough!

She LOVES this hat my Aunt Kathy knitted for her- she insisted on wearing it with her dress and leggings!

Grandma and Ella

Ella sleeping with froggy legs in the adorable outfit from cousin Maggie!

Memorial Weekend Baseball

Dave and Kelly treated us to the Mortenson suite at Target Field on Sunday, and we sure were spoiled! The weather turned out great (well, I guess it did rain on most fans but we didn't feel a drop!) and it was a fun time with family and good food. In fact I wouldn't have even noticed it was raining except that Dan pointed it out to me- and yes, I was watching the game... at times... It was a whole different experience watching a game from the box seats and it was so convenient for the kids. Lauren had a great time running around with Grace, Lucy, and Leyton. Thank you Dave and Kelly!