Packin' In The Fun Before Summer Is Done!!!

The past two week's we have:

 

Munched on some sweet corn...again, and again, and again!

Danika never gets enough:)

 

Haddie turned 5 months old last week...Time flies:)

 

This little bug brings so much joy to our lives!

Likes: When Danika talks to her, being held, eating, her giraffe, her exersaucer

Dislikes: Sleeping!!!! That's pretty much it, but it's a big one:) She is still up about every 3 hours at night and only takes 1 good nap during the day...I knew we were in for it when Danika was such an easy, good sleeper.

 

We spent a few nights on the Lake with the Brenner's. Danika fished, Kayaked, went for a pontoon ride, roasted marshmallows and ate a smore...So much fun!

 

Caught a baby fish:) 

 

 

I enjoyed my favorite summer time treat...Cherry Berry frozen yogurt:) She has to have the pink kind, so it's usually strawberry with sprinkles 

 

Oh and to throw one more thing in to last weekend, I ran a half marathon! It was the Madison Mini and it was a great day for a race...the weather was wonderful and the course was great- Hopefully a race I can do every year:) Then we stayed for a little while and enjoyed the Farmers Market

 

 

Daren especially enjoyed the spicy cheese bread, fresh out of the oven:)

 

 

Haddie started solid foods:) She was so curious about us when we were eating and just not hungry enough, so we gave it a shot. She's lovin' it...so far she's tried oatmeal cereal, avocado, sweet potato, peas, and peaches- Peaches seem to be her favorite:) 

 

Trying out the sippie cup 

 

 

I celebrated my birthday last week...

 

Danika worked hard to help Daddy make a cake from scratch for me:)

 

 

Here's my best birthday present...new accent chairs for the living room:)  

Looks like the girls like them too!

 

Danika's highlight of the week was going to the Minnesota State Fair (and Daren's too!)

Granny spent the morning with us there and spoiled Danika....

 

They went on the Merry-Go-Round... 

 

Daren & Danika went on the Giant Slide... 

Then she said "Just one more time?!?!" so I went with her too

 

She saw many, many animals... 

 

And the highlight of the day, week, month, probably even year...

Her new PINK cowboy hat from Granny! 

 

"Look at my new hat sissy!" 

 

The girl loved (and still does love) it SO much. She wanted to wear it the entire day- even while she munch on some yummy french fries:) 

 

Haddie was a pretty good kid throughout the day, but did not like being the test subject for a photo op at the french fry stand. Luckily, they gave us a free fry coupon for the torture:)

 

Danika got to pick one ride to go on and of all things she chose the ferris wheel! How lucky was she when low and behold, when it was her and Daren's turn to get in, it was a PINK one!

 

And on the way out, we had to make a stop at the Mr. Bubble pit...I wasn't too wild and crazy about her getting wet and soapy, but luckily for me, she's like her mama and hates to get messy, so she was good with jsut walking through the bubbles:) 

 

So it's been a busy, but fun few weeks:) I'm sad to say it's back to the grind tomorrow:/ It's kind of bittersweet because I am very excited to get back in my classroom, but I'm overwhelmed with all I have to do, and I will miss my girls a lot too! Danika is looking forward to going back to Amy's house and seeing her friends.

 

Oh, and one last thing we've been up too... I had a special project I put Daren to work on. I've been wanting to make Danika a dollhouse so I enlisted him to construct it:)

It's quite the masterpiece! More to come about it...I just need to put my crafty spin on it by painting it white, adding some wallpaper, furniture and dolls:) Hopefully we get it done soon because Ms. D is SO excited to play with it!

 

One last look and these two characters....

 

Danika- 2 1/2

Sassy, independent, smart little whipper snapper, loves dancing & singing, lovable:) 

 

Haddie-5 months

Sleepless, smiley, hungry, chunky, cuddly, loveable:) 

 

 

These pictures reflect this moment of our lives....while we have our challenging moments raising these two strong willed (and fiesty at times) girls, we feel so blessed 5 million times over to have them in our lives.

 

Love to All,

Daren, Jamie, Danika & Haddie

 

 

 

 

Making Up For Lost Time

Here we are Sunday again...they sure seem to come fast, in the Summer time especially. I'm making up for missing last week's post with LOTS of pictures this week, because we have been doing LOTS of things!

First off, I spent last weekend relaxing for the annual girls weekend with the gals from Daren's family. It was a great time away...I left Danika behind for some daddy time, but Haddie tagged along with the grown up girls. We spent much of our time playing games, doing water activities, and just simply lounging around- however, this was the only picture I managed to take. This is my excuse for no blogging last Sunday:)

Here's what we've been up to around our house the last week or two...

We made 9 dozen ears worth of freezer sweet corn-Danika was actually a pretty good helper:)

And Haddie was a watchful observer 

The ultimate test...how is it Danika?!?!

I think this means "Delicious"!

Auntie Lori came to have a playdate with us. We went to Irvine park to swing, look at the animals, and play in the fountains. Then we had GIANT ice cream cones at Olsons:)

We traveled to Lake City to visit my sister and her crew of kiddos:)

They played at the park together and we attempted to go to a waterpark...

This was the extent of the waterpark fun- No more than 10 minutes after we got there, lightning struck and we had to evacuate the water for 30 minutes...while we waited under a shelter, it rained POURED. However, I think Danika and her cousins had more fun dancing in the rain than they may have  in the pool:)

We also went to watch the ski sprites at Lake Altoona. Danika wasn't as into the skiing show as much as I thought she'd be, but she did enjoy playing on the beach in the water and getting her toes wet:)

And on Sunday we went to visit Great Grandma and Grandpa Spielman in Hudson. Danika enjoyed playing ball in the yard and building with blocks. Daren helped them trim some bushes and of course Ms. D had to get right in there and help too! Grandma had the perfect size rake for her:)

Haddie has also attempted crawling this week! It's crazy to me because Danika was at least 9 months old before she figured it out, and here Haddie isn't quite yet 5 months, but she's determined...She gets her belly up and on all fours, then she rocks and moves her legs forward, but her arms aren't quite strong enough yet so it looks more like a hop. I did get it on video this week, but it was taking forever to upload, so maybe next week I'll try to get a shorter version, and who knows, maybe by then she'll have it mastered a little more:)

Until next time...

D J D H