Summertime Fun: August 2013

We have been enjoying our summer immensely so I'll use this blog as a smorgasbord of sorts to memorialize some of the highlights.

We've been working on our new house as we go, one step at a time.  Maddy has a new decal on her wall and she loves the stars.  We love them too!  She also has a new little table in the living room where she can color and put stickers all over her arms, legs and wherever else she can get them to stick.  

In August we made it to Sunset at the Zoo and saw Mr. Ben, whose songs are geared toward kids but remain adult-friendly too.  We brought a picnic dinner and had a very nice evening.

 

 

  

Maddy is so much fun!  Steve and I really try to enjoy every stage she's in, but I could never have imagined how much joy an almost 2 1/2 year old can be.  She's very imaginative and LOVES to pretend with her kitchen and her "friends" (stuffed animals).  Madeline makes us "Strawberry Soup".

Mommy (left) and Daddy (right) Bunny

"I like to hang A LOT"

 

The Static Slide

 Our dear friends Eric and Melissa Gregorich welcomed their daughter, Althea Grace to this world on August 21, 2013,  a bit earlier than expected.  She's doing well and growing strong!  We love her to pieces already and look forward to sharing many adventures with her and her wonderful family.

Althea Grace Gregorich

Me holding little Althea

Our friends Jeff and Andrea were married August 24, 2013 and Steve was one of the groomsmen.  Maddy's little buddy Luella came to our house and Mandy and Jay watched both Maddy and Luella for the evening so that Christy, Andy, Steve and I could attend the wedding and festivities thereafter.  Thank you Mandy and Jay!

Maddy and Luella

Congratulations Andrea and Jeff!

 

Me and Steve at Peninsula Park

Steve, Brendan and Eric

 

The next day we celebrated Riley's birthday at Wilson Pool, one of the best pools in the area.  There's a big pool just for little kiddos so it's lots of fun for Maddy and for us.  We had a great time!

Wilson & Riley

Love the party favors!

Maddy finally tried her glasses on at home!

Camping at Timothy Lake

 

We celebrated our friend Eric Gregorich's birthday by camping the weekend of August 9-12 at Timothy Lake.  We headed out Friday night but a thunderstorm prompted us to take a pit stop at Ice Axe restaurant in Government Camp, OR.  As we sat in the dry, warm restaurant looking out the window at the lightning and heavy downpour, we were relieved we decided to wait it out.  Once the weather cleared a bit, we headed out to the campsite and arrived around 9:00 pm.  Steve put up our tent with some help from our friends already there, and Maddy and I hung out in the car until we were good to go. 

We had a wonderful weekend camping, first time for two nights in the tent for little Maddy and she enjoyed it very much.  She is a true camper, which makes her parents very happy.  : )

We went on a short hike (more like a longer walk) and took in the beauty of Timothy Lake and the views of Mount Hood.  We had lots of friends around and lots of kiddos for Maddy to play with.  All in all, a very good weekend with very good company.

Melissa and Maddy on a hike

Maddy and her Daddy

My little Peanut

Look! Rocks!

Morning at Camp

Heated game of Old Maid

Did I mention Maddy LOVES pockets?

Minnesota Trip: July 2013

 We had a fantastic trip to Minnesota in July this year, with some time in the Cities with the Faust side of the family and time in Bayfield, Wisconsin celebrating Grama Shirley's (GG) 90th birthday! 

We started our trip in the cities and a BBQ at Shelly and Ben's house.  Maddy loved the sand table and playing with her cousins!  We celebrated Jana's birthday while we were there.

What fun to also discover that Maddy and her cousin Leah had the same Ladybug PJs!






We then headed to Bayfield and spent time at Superior Rental Cabins with my siblings and their families.  Most of my side of the family were able to make it to Grama's celebration, but we missed Benjamin and Amy.   The cabins were on Lake Superior at a sand bar, where we could walk out for a LONG time before the water was even waist deep (nice for all the kiddos!) 

Gabi, Anali, Maddy, Nolan

Anali and Grama coloring together

Aidan, Maddy and Nolan

 

 

Grama (GG) and Madeline

 

Grama's 90th Birthday celebration was held at Pike's Bay Marina, where my parents keep their boat.  It was a fun event, nicely decorated and catered by John, Sharon and Jared (the Pier) and Mila had a wonderful slideshow of Grama's life which was so much fun to see (and brought many a tear to Grama's eyes).  There was a professional photographer for the event, so we had lots of photos taken (still waiting on the proofs).  Grama thoroughly enjoyed the event, above all everyone's company.  It was a huge success (I commend my mom for all her efforts!)

GG and her "great ones"

Marnie, Jon, Joel, Mila and Grama

Maddy borrowed GG's birthday hat!

 

 

Gram's gift - Madeline Rose blog book (Maddy age 1-2)

The next weekend I stayed up north for my 20 Year (!) High School Reunion while Steve took Madeline to the cities to spend more time with the Faust side of the family.  Steve, Jan and Maddy went to a "Dora the Explorer" exhibit at the Children's Museum, and considering Dora is about the only show we let Maddy watch, she was pretty jazzed to see bigger-than-life sized versions of  her heroine and all the other Dora characters.

My brother-in-law Tim, Steve, Maddy and I then met in Hinckley for brunch and Steve returned to the cities to fly back to Portland (Tim happened to be flying out the same day, so it worked out beautifully).  Maddy and I returned to Duluth where we enjoyed another 5 days between Knife River, Duluth and Bayfield.  All in all it was a great trip, one to be remembered!

Grandmom, Madeline and Granddad

Maddy playing with "Bebo"

Maddy meets her first gnome

...and her second.

Maddy, Mom and I went to the Duluth Zoo one day. You can still see the devastation caused by the recent flooding and many exhibits were still closed.  We had a fun time there together and we even went on a little train ride which Maddy enjoyed very much!

Grandmom and Maddy on the train

Grizzly Bears are scary even behind glass

 

Maddy's first Portland Malt Shoppe Malt...YUM

 

GG and Madeline at the Pier

Strawberry Fields in Bayfield

Maddy and I stopped at Bayview (Grama's property)

Milestone while in MN: Maddy moved up to a "Big Girl Bed!"

Happy Times

So much has been going on this summer, it's hard to keep up!  In an effort to commemorate some events that happened, here's a recap post for the beginning of July. 

We had friends over to our house over the Fourth of July.  The weather was perfect for grilling and playing in the kiddie pool!

Kieran and Maddy - buddies!

Luella and Andy - my favorite achievers

The weekend of July 5 we headed to Seattle for Lisa and Nicole's wedding.  It was great to see Mike, Jan, Shelly, Jay and Chuck out on our side of the United States!  It was a beautiful wedding (congratulations, Lisa and Nicole!) and we had a wonderful time.

Sorry to the people who were actually playing Bocce

Nice grin, Maddy!

The next week we had a visit from Uncle Larry and Aunt Sue!  They took us all out to dinner (thank you!) and we had a great visit.