Emma's First Camping Trip :)

Well, it took us two years, but we finally brought Emma camping for the first time this past weekend. We headed to Diamond Lake after work on Friday, so we didn't get there until around 9:30 pm. It only took a little over 3 hours to drive out there, so it wasn't too bad. Emma did not sleep at all on the drive, so she got pretty restless by the end of the trip.

Once we got to the campsite, Emma had a blast just tearing around and exploring everything. We could not get her to settle down for the night for anything. It was after 11 pm before she finally fell asleep. She was a wreck by that point, but she slept well all night and slept until 7:30pm, so that was nice.

Saturday was a very busy day. We spent the morning riding golf carts, walking down to the lake, playing on the playground, and just generally exploring the campsite. We also went for a boat ride, which was Emma's first time on a boat. She really liked it, but she hated her lifejacket. She kept pulling at it and saying "off?", but of course we made her keep it on. With all the rainfall these past couple weeks, the lake was on a "no-wake" policy, so we could only drive 5 mph. But it was still fun to cruise around the lake a little.

In the afternoon, we had a bean bag tournament with some of Mom and Dad's friends at the lake. We also spent some time just visiting and enjoying the beautiful weather. The entire family was able to make it to the lake on the same weekend, which probably won't happen again this summer so it was nice to take advantage of that.

The lake was pretty green and slimy, so we filled up a kiddie pool and let Emma play in that. She would not nap for us until 3:00pm, and then she slept for a solid three hours, poor girl was pooped. After supper, we went for one more boat ride, and then we had a campfire and headed to bed. It was a busy day in the sun, and we were all tuckered out by the end of the day.

Me and my baby cakes :)

Emma's First Boat Ride

Helping Uncle Ryan drive the boat

Tired toddler

Emma loved her golf cart "rides"

Playing in the pool

She also thought the tents were awesome :)

Helping Grandpa Jack fish

Daddy's big "catch"

Boat ride

Emma playing with Grandpa's gloves

Sunday was a pretty low-key day. We basically just packed up and visited in the morning. After lunch, we all headed home. Emma slept about an hour of the ride home, and she did really well on the trip again. No major fussing or anything. We got home around 4:30pm, and we ended up with some neighbor kids playing in our yard with Emma. They were in the pool, the sandbox, and playing with all the toys on the patio. Emma was having a ball.

Once again bedtime was a battle. She just did not want to give in. We had to let her cry it out last night until she finally fell asleep. She can be such a little stinker!

Today, it was back to work. The day was gorgeous, so after work John, Emma, and I went to the zoo. Emma just loves being able to explore and run around on her own at the zoo. She had a blast, and we all enjoyed the sunshine :)

Emma enjoying the view

Giraffes :)

Once again it was a busy, fun-filled day. Emma went down for bed much better tonight. She is currently sleeping, John is playing softball, and I am enjoying some TV while I blog :)

Now, I just have to make it through 3 more days of work, and it is vacation time :) :) :)

Emma's 2nd Birthday/Father's Day

I cannot believe my baby girl is two years old already. I can still remember reading that first positive pregnancy test like it was yesterday. Where does the time go?

For Emma's Party this year, we had it on Saturday, June 14th, which was the day before Emma's actual birthday. It was an Elmo themed birthday party, which was very appropriate for Emma since she has a slight obsession with "melmo".

My family came Friday night, which was nice because they were able to help with all the set-up and take-down associated with Emma's party.

It ended up raining a ton during the party. It came and went in showers, but it rained 3.5 inches yesterday, so everything was pretty wet. So, we spent most of the party in the garage. It was a good turnout though, and it worked out just fine in the garage, so the weather didn't bother us too badly.

Emma handled the party like a champ. She didn't nap well during the day due to all the activity going on, but she was a happy little birthday girl. She got spoiled with birthday presents, and it was just a great party overall.

Elmo cupcakes

Opening presents with Uncle Jeff

Elmo fruit tray

Party Decorations

Emma with her aunt and uncles

Birthday Girl

Turning Two is tough

Me and the birthday girl

Emma and Anna testing out her new picnic table

And the new patio chairs

The girls and their rides

Birthday cake!

The party wrapped up by around 7:00pm, and then it was clean-up time and then time to relax. It was a great party, and Emma loved all the activity, but the peace and quiet that follows a party is always nice.

Today, the sun was shining and it turned into a beautiful day. We all slept in some, and then we enjoyed a delicious brunch at Braccos. The rest of the day, we just spent some time outside enjoying the weather, and my family enjoyed playing with Emma some more before they had to head home.

Today is both Father's Day and Emma's actual birthday, so we had a lot of celebrate. Emma of course doesn't quite understand what a birthday is, but when asked how old she is, she answers "two" and holds up two fingers. Pretty stinkin' cute.

I also am very appreciative of what great men I have in my life. My dad has always supported me and been there for me, and is such a great example of what a good parent is.

My husband is such a great daddy. There are plenty of evenings when I am at work that John has to take care of Emma by himself, and he does a fabulous job. He also rough-houses with her, and she just absolutely eats that up. He is so good with her, and I love seeing him and Emma spend time together.

Playing in the sandbox with Grandpa Jack

Hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa Kiecker

What a great weekend it was, but man was it busy. This weekend flew by, and now we have to start a new week of work. But it was so much fun, and everyone had a great time.

Happy 2nd Birthday to my beautiful, funny, spunky, fun-loving, happy little girl. She has brought so much love and laughter into our lives! We love you so much Emma, and can't wait to see what this year brings!!! :)

Girls Day

Emma and I had an action packed day today. While daddy's away, the girls will play. Or something like that.

Our day started off bright and early at exactly 6:10 am with Emma-the-human-alarm-clock yelling for my attention. We started off with some breakfast, and played in the basement for a little while. After that, we really didn't spend much time at home at all.

We left home at around 8:00 am and we headed to the Farmer's Market down by the Falls. It was down right cold today. It was about 53 degrees, windy, and cloudy during this visit. Luckily, I knew the weather was supposed to be cold so I dressed us both accordingly.

We shared a cinnamon roll and bough a load of banana bread at the Farmer's Market, otherwise we just spent a lot of time looking around, getting ideas for next time.

After the Farmer's Market, we went to the zoo for Zippity Zoo Day. The zoo puts this on every year, and they have inflatables, face paintings, zoo keeper talks, games, and some free food. This was a really fun visit, but it was pretty darn cold.

Emma loved the inflatables, even though she would get stuck in them once and a while and then kinda freak out. She is just a little bit too young for those still. We also did a face painting which went really well. Emma also fed some goats, and she loved every minutes of it. The rest of the time was spent seeing the rest of the animals. We left for home at around 11:00, and Emma took a much-needed hour and a half nap.

Emma's flower face painting 

In the afternoon, we headed to the Washington Pavillion and went to the Kirby Science Museum. It was pretty fun, and it had a lot of activities appropriate for Emma's age. She had a blast getting into everything. I actually bought a membership, so I plan to bring her back a few times :)

Spaghetti for lunch :)

Loving the water table at the Science Museum

Blocks :)

Having fun

My adorable date for the day

This is what happens now when we tell Emma to "say cheese" 

I had a great day with the little munchkin, but man does she have energy. She finally winded down and headed to bed about 8:30pm, so I hope she sleeps in a little bit tomorrow morning :)

It was really nice to have a day for just the two of us. Emma did really well all day, there were no meltdowns at all, and she genuinely seemed to enjoy herself.

I would say it was a very successful girls day, although I think my bed may be calling my name...

Sunshine and Hailstorms

What an interesting week. Luckily, it's been a lot calmer than last week as far as work is concerned. Monday night I had to work until 8:30pm, and John had softball, so Jim and Barb came to town to watch Emma at the softball games. I guess she just had a blast running around with the other kiddos.

On Wednesday evening, we decided to take Emma swimming. There's a pool in town where the kiddie pool is free admission, so we like to take her there sometimes to save a few bucks. She had a blast playing in the water.

Emma and I hanging out at the park

Kisses

Swimming

It was all fun and games until Emma tripped and fell on the cement and skinned her knee. Then it was time to grab some supper and head home.

Thursday was a strange day. I had an OB appointment in the morning, and everything is looking A-okay with baby nelson #2. On my way home, it just absolutely down poured. It was tough to even drive in. When I got home, I ate some lunch then laid down for a little nap (still catching up from last week I think) and anyway I woke up to our tornado sirens going off!!

That got my heart beating a little bit. I looked outside and it was just dark as could be, and started raining. Pretty soon the hail followed. I turned on the news, and we were in a tornado warning for the next half hour or so. I could not believe the amount of quarter-sized hail that fell in such a sort time. It sounded terrible, and was kinda scary.

Hail storm

Our deck, covered in hail

And poor Emma was still at daycare, so they had to all hang out in the bathroom while the tornado warning was in place. After about 15 minutes of this intense hail, the sun was shining again. And then that was the end of the storm.

Overall, the damage was minimal. John's car got some hail damage since he was at work and it was parked outside. Out house looks good from what I can tell, and our garden and a couple hastas look pretty tough. But overall, we can't really complain.

Thursday evening, John's work paid for a trip to the Canaries game. They got us all tickets for the party deck, so it was free food and drink all evening. It ended up being a beautiful evening for baseball, and it was nice to visit with everyone from John's work.

Today was ok. I stayed home sick from work today. I don't know what my deal is, but I had the worst sore throat ever, felt really fatigued, and just didn't feel the best overall. I slept away most of the morning, and by late afternoon was starting to feel better. 

John left for Chamberlain this evening because he is fishing in a tournament with his dad and brother tomorrow morning. So, Emma and I had a nice evening to ourselves and tomorrow will be a girls day. I am thinking we are going to go to the zoo in the morning and then maybe to the Science Museum at the Washington Pavillion in the afternoon. 

Hope the weather behaves for us. :)