St. Paul Children's Festival

These photos are from a few Sundays ago, but Josh just recently uploaded them to our photo library so here you go. Harper's Uncle Jake joined us for a walk to downtown St. Paul to check out the International Children's Festival. They had all sorts of free outdoor activities for kids including a butterfly house, crafts, live music, dance performances, face painting, and flower garden, along with theatre performances for $5. It was neat to check out but would definitely be something Harper would enjoy more in a couple years.

Harper is really good at picking flowers...now if only I could get him to pick weeds.

Taking off!

Snack time and water break.

Overall, it was a fun time with Jake and worth the walk. Josh was with us too. He was just busy taking all the photos.

A Father's Day to Remember

We started the day off with church where we were delighted with worship music being led by the Barbary Coast, a group of 6 elderly gentlemen passionate about their dixieland band. Harper was definitely interested in the music and even clapped for their performance...even if it was 15 seconds after everyone else applauded. Josh was reminded of his grandpa "Papa" and grew sentimental about how little time he was able to know him. Both of our grandpas who are no longer with us were musicians, Josh was reminded of his by the amazing clarinetist, and I was reminded of mine by the sound of barbershop.

Back at home, Josh opened his father's day gift: a gift certificate for a trip to the zoo and a new pair of sneakers. Every dad needs a new pair of sneakers. 

Once my dad and brothers showed up we dug into the father's day meal I prepared. The menu was cheeseburgers, homemade baked beans, potato chips, and watermelon. Oh, and we can't forget the "Dad's" root beer. It must have been pretty good since no one was ready for the homemade (from scratch!) cupcakes. 

After lunch, we piled in our cars and headed to Lake of the Isles where we rode our bikes around the lake twice. Harper managed to only fuss a little, probably because we didn't make him wear the helmet since we were sticking to the trail. He also took a little snooze the second time around but was hardly enough to count as a full afternoon nap.

Next, we put the bikes away and got out the boats! Harper loooved his lifejacket...no, really he hated it - hence the pacifier.

Though once we were on the water and paddling, Harper enjoyed himself. He really liked leaning over the side of the canoe and running his arm in the water. Don't worry, he wasn't going to go anywhere. I had a firm grasp on him, and I'm pretty sure that lifejacket would keep his head well above water. Maybe I'll test it at a pool.

Back on shore, Trevor was rollerbladin' and chilaxin' and Harper was devouring strawberries and watermelon. As evidence, check out Harper's shirt in the photo towards the end of this post. He started burping a lot and making weird gargling noises, which told me he had far more than enough water and fruit in his belly. I was just hoping it would stay there.

I couldn't pass up the chance to take out the dinghy. I find rowing so relaxing and peaceful, so I went out on my own around one of the islands and back. The truth is you can really only fit one adult comfortably. Once Harper's older and I can trust he will stay put, it is perfect for one adult and a couple kids.

Ryan also got his row on.

A big "Thank You!" to my dad for spending all the time and energy loading up the trailer, bikes and boats for a fun day at the lake. The weather turned out just perfect for a day outside, and we really had a wonderful time together. Happy Father's Day, Dad! 

And to my sweet hubby, Joshua, the most loving and caring husband and daddy a girl could ask for: I love you. Happy Father's Day.

Happy Father's Day also to Josh's dad, my Grandpa Asche, and David. And to those we miss, Josh's Papa and my Grandpa Kontak.

14 Months

It's been June 15th all day, but I just realized Harper is now 14 months old. I guess once you get past the one year mark the month "birthdays" get a little less important. I don't have any stats for you, but I will say that Harper continues to be more and more active as his motor skills develop. Check out these action photos from our camping trip over Memorial Day:



Harper's pretty much not afraid of anything and will sometimes keep going without thinking. This is why he has a scratch and bruise on his cheek from this past week. The scratch from Papa David trying to catch him as Harper tumbled down a step into their living room, and the bruise from having too much momentum and face planting onto a shape block right on top of the scratch, making it bleed all over again. Both David and my mom, who was watching him during the block accident, felt absolutely horrible, but I assured them it wasn't Harper's first owie, and it certainly won't be his last. If he's anything like Josh was as a child, I'm told to be ready for clumsiness and destruction. And if tonight is any evidence, Harper over-excitedly ran into a wall while we were playing "Hide and Seek." Yes, his walk is quickly becoming a run.

Josh and I are also amazed at Harper's language development. He's quickly catching onto many words and really exercises his voice, both in vocabulary and volume. His vocabulary now includes: orange (owr-ah), apple, all done, car, mama, dada, uh-oh, ball (his all-time favorite), airplane, hi, shoe, hat, hot, and papa. Some of them don't sound exactly how they are supposed to, but Josh and I are able to understand what he's saying. He also is getting really good at all sorts of animals including: elephant, fish, bunny rabbit, frog, duck, cow, and lion. We're also seeing the first signs of him pointing out body parts like nose and mouth. Not only can we understand what Harper is saying, but it's clear he understands so much more of what we're saying, especially when he's getting into something he shouldn't. This also means he's learning how to throw a tantrum...and a pretty good one at that. He certainly keeps us on our toes.

It's amazing what a difference a year makes.

Posting when exhausted...

...results in a photo reel with brief captions.

Last Sunday morning 

Riding a four-wheeler with Papa Jagdfeld

Harper catching his first fish

Being silly

Now I hope to catch a little rest, maybe even a nap before Harper wakes up. I didn't forget about our blog, I've just been too tired. I'll be back soon.

One small porch but many functions

Our home is slightly less than 850 square feet, so space is at a premium. Until now, our living room was doubling as office, toy storage and playroom, but with a quick trip to Ikea and a motivated mom -me-, our living room is reclaimed for living and computering...with a small basket for a few toys.

Now let's visit the porch. Already in place was an entry shelf (made by me and my brother Ryan) and cedar chest. I considered moving the cedar chest down to the basement, but it's sometimes nice to have a place to sit, and I'd rather use it then have it sit down in the dungeon. Note, the photo collage is in progress and has been for two years...

Next is my sewing studio. It's tucked over in the corner, but the way it's set up now hides the electrical sockets and cords from my sewing gear. A win win for having a little one toddling about. I also considered setting up shop in the basement but quickly realized I would never want to sit down there and sew. It's not a lot of space, but I have another bigger table set up downstairs for cutting and ironing.

Lastly, the playroom. My trip to Ikea left me with an Expedit bookshelf to put together, which I can proudly say I (with some help from Josh) accomplished after Harper's bedtime without waking him up! Not a small feat when it involved a hammer. I didn't purchase any baskets yet and am still deciding what I want to use in a few of those cubbies for smaller toys. Remember that yellow and orange table I bought awhile back? Harper has learned to climb on top of it via the bench, so the bench and stools are currently living in the basement but were brought up for the photo. 

So what do you think? Not bad for a little rental, huh? Depending on how long we're here, I might consider some window treatments in a couple areas to add more interest and color. I'll take a better picture to post when it's not after 11pm with horrible lighting for taking pictures.

Next project: the dreaded basement. (This photo was taken after some initial organizing. Yikes!) Talk about airing some dirty laundry.