Father's Day

It's been a while since I've updated.  I've been kind of busy.  Not busy with lots of exciting things, but just lots of this and that type things.

Besides the weather, we had a great weekend.  On Saturday, Chris came up and we bowled.  I'm happy to report that I WON the first game.  Yes, you read that right.  The second game we didn't quite get to finish because time ran out on our last frame so I guess Chris wins by default on that one.  This was Meredith's second time bowling but it was the first time I've been bowling with her.  Her first time bowling was when we were down in Florida and I was pregnant with Anna.  I ended up staying home because I wasn't feeling well.  She had a blast!

 

Today we visited Grandpa Schwake and Chris at the St. Paul Farmers Market.  At least the weather held out and it was very pleasant while we were there.

What's new with us?

Greg & Sarah:  Not too much.  I got Greg tickets to the River's Edge Music Festival next weekend so he can see Dave Matthews Band.  We got pictures of the girls taken last month.

Meredith:  She has been going to zoo camp and participating in some classes at the Apple Valley Community Center.

Anna:  She's got the most going on.  She has been crawling for just under a month now.  She has become really, really high maintenance.  Seriously, I don't remember it being this bad with Meredith.  She is into EVERYTHING.  Everything a baby shouldn't be getting into.  It drives me batty.  And she is fast.  Like Speedy Gonzalez fast.  She cruises along the furniture.

She is weaning herself of bottles I think.  Ever since she started crawling, she has become very picky about when she will take a bottle.  I have been offering her 3 bottles/day, but most of the time she refuses her morning bottle.  She will easily take one before nap time and before bed time though.

I think she is teething again.  She has 4 big bulges up on top so I wouldn't be surprised if she cut all 4 of them at once sometime in the near future.

She says mamamamamamamamamamama and dadadadadadadadadadadadada.  On command even!

She claps her hands and purposefully plays with her toys.  She even plays together with Meredith.

Long Road Trip

We took our first ever long road trip as a family last weekend over Memorial Day weekend.  We drove out to Escanaba, MI for my cousin Peter's high school graduation party.  Where is Escanaba you ask?  It's in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan along the lake.  

I was bracing myself for an epic fail.  Being in a car for 8 hours with a 4 year old and a 10 month old sounds like total torture.  

It actually wasn't that bad.  

Anna was a tad grumpy on the way out and had a few crying spats but I'm sure that it was related to the fact that she wouldn't take a bottle ALL day.  Meredith on the other hand listened to her kids music on her iPod the WHOLE way there and barely uttered a sound.  

The drive back was even better.  Anna was quite happy and cried/whined for a grand total of maybe 10 minutes.  Otherwise, she was quite happy when she was awake and slept a little bit too.  Again, Meredith listened to her iPod and barely uttered a sound.  

All my crazy relatives were there from my mom's side of the family.  It was a lot of fun and a big thank you goes out to my Uncle David for his hospitality!  

That's baby Bowen - Mer and Anna's cousin.  

They had fun playing with him.  

Everyone seems to think Anna looks like Greg.  Yay?  Nay?  

As usual, that silly guy was there to make the kids laugh.  

That's the guest of honor (my cousin Peter), and my uncle Robin playing Jarts.  I'm impressed with this picture.  I caught the Jart in mid-air.  

What do you do when  Jart gets caught up in a tall, tall tree?  Why you climb up it of course.  

It's a good thing there were people standing around ready to summon an ambulance.  

 

This is my cousin Vance.  Better know to Meredith as Uncle Grandpa.  Vance, bless your kind heart for playing with her for so long:-)

This is Peter (the graduate) performing at his own party.  He will be attending McNally Smith College of Music this fall.  

As usual, there are many pictures that I didn't get to take.  We had a great weekend and we're looking forward to seeing everyone again!