Outdoor Fun

I think I have finally recovered from the crazy weekend, and I enjoyed some Emma time outside today. It was pretty nice out. It was sunny and around 68 degrees, so a lovely spring day :)

I got Emma's tote of outdoor toys down from their shelf in the garage, so Emma and I had a great time playing with all her summer toys. Emma has quite a few sandbox toys, but not sandbox, so we played in the garden dirt. It was pretty fun :)

We also threw the frisbees around and played with all kinds of outdoor balls. Emma wore off a lot of energy running around. Once Emma was hungry, we headed inside and started to make some supper.

Emma is peacefully sleeping away, and John and I are enjoying some quiet time. It was nice to have some Emma time to myself after not seeing her much this past weekend. We had a great afternoon just the two of us.

Happy Tuesday Everybody :)

Easter

Whew, what a weekend. It was fun, but it was exhausting. It was a rough weekend at work, and it was an Easter celebration, so it was interesting.

I worked on-call nights this past weekend and Friday night was really good, we got to stay home and sleep all night. So Saturday, it was absolutely gorgeous out and we spent the day outside playing with Emma. We made a trip to Costco and bought a wagon for Emma, so we spent some time pulling her around in that. I also spent the afternoon making my salads for Easter and baking some cookies.

I finally used my Spritzer, and made some cute spring cookies.

Out little Easter bunny

Cookies!

After a little more time playing outdoors, I got called into work. It was a terrible night. I didn't get home until 4:00 am. So, I only slept for about 5 hours and then we got ready and packed up to head out to Jim and Barb's for Easter.

It was really strange to not go to church on Easter Sunday, but it was a really fun day. First of all, it was absolutely gorgeous outside. So, we all ate too much for dinner, and then we spent the rest of the day outside. Emma had a blast running around, playing with water, sidewalk chalk, bubbles, and riding the 4-wheelers. Emma never stopped running around all afternoon. We also sent her on an Easter Egg Hunt.

Emma checking out her Easter Basket

Emma and her Easter Eggs

Enjoying a 4-Wheeler Ride with Dad

Water in a bucket = best toy ever

Happy Little Girl :)

Emma loves Easter...and Chocolate

It was a great day, and it was so nice to hang out with family. But once again, once we got home I got called into work, and I was there until 3:00am. So, today I have been pretty dog-gone tired. I mean my butt is dragging. I think I need a new job, this one is killing me.

Basically I have slept, and just kinda lounged around today trying to recover from the weekend. I plan to go pick up Emma shortly and maybe bring her to a park since it's pretty nice outside again.

Hope everyone had a great Easter weekend :)

Easter in Minnesota

We've finally had some beautiful weather lately. I'm talking about 70s, sunny, and just all around gorgeous. So, Emma and I have been spending some time outdoors playing with sidewalk chalk, bubbles, swinging, and just generally running around. 

Sidewalk Chalk!

It never fails that Emma sits right on some drawings...chalk butt!

Backyard Please Mommy?

She actually had a blast swinging, it's just really bright back there

Due to the crazy nursing hours both Rachel and I work, we celebrated Easter this last weekend with my side of the family. 

We left for Mankato on Saturday morning to spend the day at Rachel's house. We packed up Emma and our stuff and made the 2.5 hour drive to Mankato. Emma did really well. She never got upset or cried, but she didn't sleep at all either. But overall, it was a pleasant drive. 

Coloring on the car ride

Once we arrived in Mankato, we went to Chipotle for lunch. John was super excited to each lunch there. It was good, and we were all starving since it was around 1:00pm. 

After lunch, we went to Rachel's house to try and put Emma down for a much-needed nap, but she wasn't having it. We brought her pack n play, and she thought it was a toy to play with. So, we went outside to a park to wear her out for a while. We later had to borrow a stroller from a neighbor of Rachel's and she finally fell asleep in the stroller. 

Playing with Daddy

Rachel treated us out for supper for our birthdays, and we went to "Number 4" which is an American Restaurant with burgers, sandwiches, pastas, and steaks. It was very good, and we went a little early so it wasn't too busy and Emma was very good throughout the entire meal. 

Rachel gave Emma a bath when we got home, and then we put her down around 8 pm. She fought it a little bit, but she was so tired it didn't take too long her her to pass out. Once she was down, we tried watching a movie, but we all gave up and hit the hay around 10:30pm. We were beat!

On Sunday, mom and dad and Ryan came to Mankato at around 9:00am in order to hang out with Emma and us before the rest of the clan arrived. Around noon, everyone else showed up. 

It was a fun little gathering, and nice to see everyone again. Emma tolerated the crowd very well, and had fun playing with all the kiddos. She slept for half the drive back home and went to sleep at her normal bedtime with no problem. She was worn out from all the excitement. 

We had a great time in Minnesota with family, but it was nice to get home again and back to our routine. 

Emma and Auntie Rachel Playing

 

We also celebrated Trevor and Jenna's Birthday 

Spring is in the air

Oh my gosh, what a gorgeous day it was today. It got up to about 67 degrees, it was sunny, and best of all there are almost no wind at all. It was absolutely beautiful.

We started the day off by going to church, which was followed by a Hy-Vee stop for some lunch and groceries. After that we headed home and Emma crashed pretty hard. John headed to church softball practice, and I cleaned up the house a little.

Once Emma was awake, her and I went shopping. I was trying to find her some sandals, but I didn't have any luck. I found some really cute ones, but not in her size. Boo.

Next, we hit up a park. It was so nice out, and Emma just loved running around. She's so funny, because she loves going down the slides, but she won't go down the right way. She turns around and goes down feet first on her belly. John and I have tried to show her and encourage her to do down just sitting on her butt, but she insists to turn around and do it her way, and she loves it. Whatever makes her happy :)

John eventually joined us at the park once he was done with practice. After we all played our little hearts out, we went to Panera for supper, followed by Cherry Berry. It was delicious.

We played outside a little bit more once we got home, and now after an extra long bath, we are putting Emma to bed. She is pretty wiped. Hopefully she sleeps well.

It was such a fun weekend, but I am NOT ready to go back to work. Plus, I have to work a 12 hour shift tomorrow, yay Mondays.

Hope everyone has a fabulous week!!

Swinging :)

We bought her a foam bat and ball, and she sure had fun with it :)

Workin' in the Greenhouse

Hopefully, spring is here :) After another snow, and temperatures in the thirties, we finally had a nice day. It got up to about 54 degrees today and it was sunny. The only bummer was that it decided to be incredibly windy as well, so that kinda stunk. 

We spent the morning and early afternoon out at the Greenhouses and help Jim and Barb with some planting. Emma had a blast running around and playing in the dirt, as well as "helping" everyone. 

We ate lunch at the farm, and then headed back in at around 2 since John had to shoot some photos. Emma went down for a much needed nap, and I spent some time cleaning the house. 

The afternoon was spent just hanging out at home and playing with Emma. She was a little crabby this afternoon though, and I think it was just from being completely worn out from all her playing around at the Greenhouse. 

Emma is in bed peacefully sleeping and John is firing up the blueray player for some Game of Thrones, so I better pay attention. 

It felt great to do some manual labor in the Greenhouses and get dirty. It was really fun to help out a little and see everyone, and Emma just loves going out there and getting in to everything. 

We don't have much planned for the rest of the weekend, just church, groceries, and whatever else we run into. Perhaps another stop at a park with all this nice weather we are going to have, might as well take advantage. 

Happy Spring!!!

Emma modeling her County Line Nursery T-shirt

The backside

Helping fill the flats with soil

Concentrating hard

Helping Grandma Barb plant

All in a day's work

Playin'

Helping Uncle Jeff

Emma with Grandma and Grandpa Nelson