Cutie

Just a good picture of our little cutie!

Some fun Moments from our Trip

Eleanor and Steven really hit it off. Steven loves playing with big kids who can show him what to do. And the Forstie's even had trains for him to play with!

Look at our little Rock Star! We know, these are girly glasses - we'll find him so more gender appropriate colors soon.

We brought Kira with us so that the Forsties could experience dog living. Eleanor did a pretty good job walking her but didn't want to do the dirty work! Thank goodness for Grandma Pam! However, at Rochesterfest on Saturday, Eleanor got to take Handsome the Corgie through an obstacle course. She did really well!

Brunch with Friends

Following our night out we met up for brunch on Sunday morning so we could meet all the families. It was fun to see the husbands, kids and Jolene's new house. Boy were we jealous of all the space that she has! And their backyard was awesome ... someday we'll find our forever house!

A night out with the girls

Saturday night was really fun for me because I had the chance to meet up with four of my high school girl friends for dinner. I rarely get to see these friends but it has been fun over the years to hear there stories and know that we still click. Jolene, Hannah, Sara and Brie were great to catch up with but I missed everyone else that couldn't come. I especially appreciated that Hannah, Brie and Sara all drove down from the Cities to visit and for Jolene's planning skills!

I was also really thankful for Tommy because he stayed at Lori's house and watched Steven and Lyla all by himself! Not that he hasn't done that before but it was an unfamiliar house and Steven wasn't too happy that Mommy wasn't there to rock him to sleep.

Fried Spam

For some reason Tommy was surprised and excited to see that the home of Spam is in Austin, MN on our way to Rochester. He almost pulled over to check out the museum but I told him we need to do that when the kids are older and can enjoy the museum (really just a ploy to avoid the stop and if I have to go to the Spam museum he has to go to the Precious Moments museum in Carthage MO someday).

As luck would have it, Tommy got to satisfy his urge for Spam at the Rochesterfest Food Vendors on Saturday. We went there for lunch and the first vendor we saw was Fried Spam! All I could say was Yuck! but Tommy was so excited, ran right over there, bought it and proceeded to share them with Steven. We even have photo documentation!

Oxbow Park

On this trip I wanted to take the kids (it still feels funny to say "the kids") to places that I remember from my childhood. Since we stopped at Silver Lake 10 minutes from my sister's house on the drive from KC we got one location done right off the bat.

The second destination was Oxbow Park. It is a little zoo that the County maintains with wolves, coyotes, bison, turkeys, etc. All native Minnesota animals and some animals that were injured and not able to live in the wild anymore. Steven really seemed to enjoy running to and fro but he especially liked watching the lawn mowers. Seems a little silly that we drove all that way for him to be excited about lawn mowers.

Lyla just hung out in the sling and took it all in. We did forget her hat so she got to "hold" her brothers baseball cap for awhile!

Our trip to Minnesota

We left for Minnesota today and had a pretty good drive. Steven tolerated the 10 hour imprisonment only because we stopped so many times (four total) to stretch our legs.

Tips for future I-35 travelers: never trust MO state highway maps or street signs because you will never find the visitors' center in Bethany; the Happy Chef in Story City, Iowa is overpriced and not very good; and stopping 10 minutes from your destination is okay when your baby is screaming and there is a playground available for her big brother!

Tasty

Since I can't eat cow cheese I've started to eat goat cheese. Since it is so expensive (relative to cow cheese) I hoard it but I let Steven try some and he wanted more. The only bit I had left was stuck to the package so I let him lick it! He loved it! Who would have thought that the pickiest eater in our house would like the goat cheese package clean?

Stylin' with Lyla

We have been taking photos with Lyla in all the cutie outfits that she got from her grown up friends and family. Here are the most recent...

Aunt Tracy knitted the green sweater for Lyla - we'll post pics of the knitted pants this fall. I can't put her in knitted pants when it is 85 degrees and 65% humidity outside! We were pretty fortunate during this photo shoot because we got all the cute photos done and then she threw up!


This is a picture of the outfit Lyla's friend Allegra (Maria and Leo's daugther) got for her. And the bow is from cousins Ava and Bridget. Steven loved the bow and took it from Lyla at his first opportunity!






Aunties Lideana and Maria and Abuela Ana got her the red gingham and flower outfit. It is very cute. Only seconds after these photos were taken ... Steven swiped her bow! (you can't really see it but it is there. it's navy blue on the upper right in the picture. In case you're wondering, Aunt Heather found them on the internet and you attach them with surgical glue that just wipes off with water.)

Ice Cream

Steven got his first taste of the ice cream truck today. He is a veteran of ice cream but this is the first time the truck came by our house this year and Tommy was on task!

It was raining all morning, torrential downpours and some pretty wicked lightining but that didn't stop the ice cream man. Tommy was on his way out to move the plants from the porch to the sidewalk to rain water them when he heard the dinging. Immediately he asked me if we had any cash, swooped Steven up and was out the door waving at the van!

Have I mentioned how creepy I think those ice cream vans are? At least this one had windows on both sides!

Steven got a Sponge Bob icee. It had gum balls for eyes and Tommy had to fish one out of Steven's mouth because he didn't understand it was for chewing not swallowing.

On another note, Kira has taken to hatching the kids' toys...

Lyla talks!

Lyla is quite the chatty cathy! She really coos and goos, much more than her big brother did. We really enjoy talking with her. She is starting to talk a lot more throughout the day - she doesn't get to nap like she wants to because Steven and Kira keep her awake. If it isn't Steven yelling, its Kira barking. No rest for the sweet girl!

Day out with Thomas!

Yesterday we took Steven to ride on Thomas the Train!

In Baldwin City, KS there is an excursion railroad called the Midland Railway. They host Day Out with Thomas each year and we decided to fuel the fire and take Steven. They bring in an engine that looks just like Thomas and hook it to their passenger cars (it doesn't really pull the train but they have an engineer and it goes Peep Peep like the real Thomas).

They also had Sir Topham Hatt, train tables to play with, a petting zoo, a fire truck (which Steven wanted nothing to do with, trains only for this kiddo), and story time. It was really fun and I am glad that we took him. I don't think he'll remember the trip but we got some good photos and mom and dad thought it was fun!