Natural Camper

We continued our Memorial Day weekend down to Lake Okoboji, Iowa for a couple night camping trip with the Kontak family. Harper wasn't very patient with the car ride portion of the trip, but I think it's safe to say he loves camping. All the new sights and sounds easily grabbed his attention. And surprisingly, Harper went to sleep for naps and bedtime much easier than I anticipated. He didn't once make a sound and just listened quietly to the frogs ribbiting, birds chirping and rain pitter-pattering as his eyelids slowly closed and he fell asleep. He slept better in our tent than some nights at home!

Aunt Kristen & Harper

Mexican Dutch Oven Dinner

Climbing up the slide

Tunnels!

Swinging

Our Campsite

Thankfully, Kristen, Aaron and my parents arrived early enough to snag a campsite that wasn't under water. By Sunday morning though, we had lots of mud. Harper did have one outfit that got disgustingly dirty, but we managed to hang onto him most of the time while at our campsite to keep him from being covered from head to toe. 

We unfortunately didn't get to enjoy the lake with the weather being so wet, but we spent some time at a boat museum and Arnold's Park where Harper rode a Merry-Go-Round for the first time.

Harper with Aunt Kristen & Uncle Aaron

Harper with Uncle Ryan. Harper was more interested in the garbage truck.

We can't wait to make more family camping memories!

Time with Trev

We started our Memorial weekend with some much needed time with my brother Trevor in Rochester. We first headed to the Plummer House, one of Trevor's favorite Rochester spots. They have some really nice gardens right on the bluff with a big open green space perfect for kicking around a ball (despite signs prohibiting "active" games). 

Checking out the abnormally turquoise pool and fountain

Kicking the ball to Uncle Trev

"Here you go, Uncle Trev."

Our little walker

Next, we headed to Newt's, known for their award winning burgers, for some yummy lunch. You can't leave Newt's without being completely stuffed. Even so, we had the energy to check out an awesome park just outside of downtown with some really big climbing and sliding toys at the playground. We also broke out the frisbee. Trev is an awesome at throwing and catching a frisbee and puts me to shame. Let's just say a couple of times I threw the frisbee backwards. Yikes.

Lastly, we ended our visit with Trev at Culver's for some refreshing custard. It was such a beautiful, warm, sunny day. We look forward to our next trip to Rochester for more fun with Trev.

Harper's One Year Photos

We had our good friend Erin take Harper's one-year photos at the beginning of May, and I can't express how THRILLED I am with how they turned out. The day was supposed to be sunny and moderately warm, but it ended up being cold, windy, and overcast. Nevertheless, Erin managed to capture some amazing photos of our little guy and our family that I will treasure forever and ever.

Click here to take a look!

Erin, thank you so so much!

Windom Park, Hidden Treasures, and other Adventures

Today was a fun day. After Harper's morning nap, we headed to Northeast Minneapolis to meet our friends Katie and Jozef at Windom Park. Windom Park has a special place in my heart as I used to take the two boys I nannied there every day I watched them when the weather was nice. We enjoyed a little picnic and some time on the playground. Harper especially loved the swings and slide along with feeling the sand between his fingers. Also, don't you think it's funny how kids always want what each other has? Jozef was always trying to get his hands on Harper's sippy cup and visa versa. Silly boys. Cute, but silly.

Next, Katie took us over to Hidden Treasures, a thrift store in the area. Katie found a nice top and super cute dress that happened to be BCBG. I found a top and skirt, which I later learned was a designer skirt and was probably at least $500 regular price, some non-breakable plates for when we eat outside, and a baking pan that has an indent on the top, so after you bake the cake you can fill the indent with lemon curd, chocolate pudding, etc. Katie let me borrow a similar cake pan she found there at an earlier date, and I was super excited they had another one. It's a really nice thrift store that doesn't pack their shelves so full you can't find something. They also have a lot of good quality and brand clothes. Even though it doesn't make the clothes worth more being brand name or designer, it's nice to find well-made, good quality clothes for only $2-3. We had such a fun time thrifting, I think we may just go back again next week!

Back in South Minneapolis, Harper finished his nap after falling asleep on the way home. Upon waking up, I quickly drew a bubble bath as he was pretty filthy after walking and crawling through the dandelions and sand at the park. Harper had a lesson in what floats? as he or I would push his rubber ducky below the surface, watch it pop back up to the surface, and giggle in excitement. Such simple happiness. After dinner, we went for a walk to the creek and back, then ended the night with more playing and laughing...so much laughing tonight! Josh came home a little early to catch some giggles and play time himself before Harper had to head to bed.

These are the days I want to last forever. Simple fun. Smiles galore. Lotsa love.

13 Months

Our older than one-year-old boy is seriously on the go and is learning new things every day. Since Harper turned one, he has become a much more confident walker and is getting close to giving up crawling all together. He knows sounds for lots of animals including fish, elephant, lion, frog, bunny, monkey, cow, and duck. Along with ball, book, mama, and dada, he also knows hi, yeah, and bye. He loves to push things around the house and rearrange the furniture. He goes to bed around 8pm and wakes up around 6am. He has 7 teeth, three on top and four on the bottom. He does not like to brush his teeth. He still isn't a fan of bike rides, but we're working on getting him used to them. He'll eat pretty much anything and especially loves yogurt for breakfast. Oh, and he doesn't like to have his diaper changed and is getting less cooperative in general...I guess that will continue as he gets closer to being a toddler. Even so, we love him more than anything and can't get enough of his smiles and silly faces.