Lydia's First Sucker

Yes, you read that title right. Lydia got to try her first sucker during the parade...in the arms of Grandma and Grandpa, of course! 

The purple one fell on the ground so Lydia moved on to a blue one. 

Blue stickiness was everywhere!

This crazy baby girl with spiky hair doesn't look like she needs more sucker

But, she can't resist!

"Grandpa, give me that sucker!!!"

Hmm...maybe if I'm really cute he will give it back to me.

Pow Wow Monday

The Monday of our vacation was filled with more Pow Wow activities including rides, bingo, supper in the park (egg rolls and Pow Wow Pups again!), and the grand parade.

Jonah has been talking about the Dizzy Dragons since last summer and wanted to go on it first this year. 

Silas and Lydia enjoyed the carousel

If you asked Silas, he would say his favorite ride was "The Doggies." These doggies are pretty tame, but they make an almost 3-year old happy.

My mom and I took the boys on the tilt-a-whirl. Jonah absolutely loved it. Silas experienced just about every emotion possible in those few minutes we were on the ride. I don't think his little body knew what to expect. He went from tears to laughing and back again. My mom and I kept telling him how much fun we were having. Maybe he believed us...

Going down the big slide with Grandpa took a bit of courage, but he did it. And then he went down many more times!

And, this picture of Jonah makes me so happy. He has always been a bit cautious about uneven or uneasy surfaces. He hasn't been a big fan of the moving bridges on playgrounds. But over the past year, we have seen Jonah face these challenges head on. I didn't get a picture of this whole thing, but it had a rope climb, inflatable slides, these bridges, and some other activities that you went through. I didn't count how many times Jonah went on this ride. It was tough to get him away from it!

Jonah and Silas got their first experience with bumper cars.

All of us had a good time :)

This dragon roller coaster was by far Jonah's favorite ride at Pow Wow. Thankfully, we had wristbands this year so he could keep riding over and over again. One thing that is so strange to me about this picture is that all of the other kids in the picture are kids of my high school classmates and friends. Even though I will turn 30 in just over a week, I still feel sometimes like there is no way that we are all old enough to have these growing families. When we were teenagers none of us would have been hanging out by the kiddie rides at Pow Wow. Twelve years later, we are catching up on life and meeting each other's kids (most of whom we have seen many pictures of on Facebook...how times have changed!!)

Ready for the Grand Parade! 

These guys got WAY too much candy. I don't think I even want to know how many pieces of candy Silas ate that night. By the end of the parade, Silas had figured out that the way to get candy is to smile and wave and say hello to the people with the candy. They would throw it to him and he would shout, "Oh yeah!"

We ended our night watching a drum corps in the park, playing a few rounds of Lions Club Bingo, and eating mini donuts. Oh, and staying up much past our bedtimes! 

Father's Day - Pow Wow Sunday

Our Father's Day was spent in Mountain Lake enjoying the first day of Pow Wow. We started the day with a community wide church service in the park. After church, we ate a quick lunch then got everyone down for naps so they would be ready for the rest of a busy day.

In the afternoon, our family participated in the Pow Wow Road Race. 

Mike and Silas walked a mile in the fitness walk.

Lydia, my mom, and I did the two-mile fitness walk.

Jonah ran the 1/2 mile race like he did last year. 

Here he is ready to cross the finish line. He shaved about a minute and 15 seconds off of his time from last year!

These two cuties waited near the finish line to cheer on their big brother.

After the Road Race, we got ready for the kiddie parade. We pulled together a theme at Grandma's house - Indiana Jonah and the Raiders of the Lost Monkeys. Yes, it's a bit odd, but it seemed to work with what we had. And, Monkey, Cap Cap, Heezy, and Cheezy fit right into the theme and got to be a part of the parade too!

We enjoyed supper in the park that evening. Pow Wow Pups (Mt Lake corn dogs), Lao egg rolls, and Heritage Fair milk shakes were our menu. Lydia even got to try some ice cream. She thought it was pretty good as you can see below.

The boys finished their supper with a bag of popcorn.

We ended the evening by watching a concert in the park by the MN Teen Challenge Choir. Lydia and Grandpa had a good time hanging out together.

We had a GREAT Father's Day with Daddy and Grandpa!

Saturday in Mountain Lake

We spent all of last week in Minnesota. The first few days were spent in Mountain Lake with my parents. We arrived in Mountain Lake on Friday night (the 14th). Saturday, our first full day, was a mostly relaxing one. All of the boys (including Mike) got haircuts. My dad and I took the kids to a park. Mike and I got to go out on a date for lunch. I spent some time sifting through boxes of stuff that I saved from high school. I kept just about every note, letter, and program. It was crazy to think back on all of those memories! After supper, we roasted marshmallows over the fire pit. 

I love Silas' expressions in these two pictures. :)

Lydia has no idea of what roasted marshmallows are yet. If she did, she wouldn't have been so content on Daddy's lap.

It had probably been 2 years since the boys roasted marshmallows. From the looks of this picture, we didn't tell them that they were supposed to have marshmallows on the end of their sticks! Then, once we put a marshmallow on Silas' stick, he promptly removed it and ate it...oops, forgot to tell Silas how to roast the marshmallow first. 

Thankfully Grandma and Grandpa can show us how it's done! 

YUM!

9-Month Old Lydia

This precious girl turned 9-months old just over a week ago. I still can't believe it. Our Lydia Lucille is growing too quickly! She is such a joy and a wonderful blessing to our family - a blessing that we are so undeserving of but that God has so graciously given to us.

Lydia had her 9-month check up today. She is a healthy little girl! Lydia weighs 21 lbs, 9 oz which puts her in the 90% for weight. Her height is in the 78%ile. Although Lydia had dropped down on the growth curve from around the 95th %ile to the 90th, her doctor wasn't too concerned...in fact, he seemed to think it was a good thing! :)

Lydia is a super fun, crazy baby. She is very smiley. She loves to dance, clap, shake her head "no," laugh, play peek a boo, and be kissed on her tummy and neck. And, Lydia babbles almost non-stop sometimes. She thinks her brothers are the best! They can make her laugh and giggle like no one else can. Sometimes Silas just has to look at Lydia and she will start giggling and shrieking. 

Lydia loves to be with people but always prefers Mommy. I think she would be held by me or in my lap all day long if she could. Lydia was sick last week while we were on vacation in the Brainerd, MN, area. She ran high fevers, wasn't eating well, was super fussy, and slept a lot. During this time we were staying in a hotel room. Since I didn't want the boys to wake up to her fussing and crying at night, we would bring her into our bed when she woke up upset which was once every night. That girl made sure there was absolutely no extra space between us as she cuddled up next to me to sleep. Although I couldn't sleep well that way, those were such sweet times spent with my little girl.

Lydia experienced lots of "firsts" last week while we were on vacation in Mountain Lake and Brainerd. She rode in her stroller in a rode race and a kiddie parade, rode on a carousel, watched a parade, ate popcorn and a sucker, went swimming, mini-golfed with Mommy, and played in the sand.

Happy 9 Months to our little sweetie! We can hardly remember life in our family without you. I feel incredibly blessed to be your Mommy. May God give us wisdom to raise you and your brothers in His ways!