Sunday Snapshot 8/28/11

We've been home two months now. I've been sorting through photos and found this one, taken the day after we arrived home. 

So I thought it would be fitting to take another shot, two months later...

I didn't do so well on re-creating the pose but she doesn't sit still like she used to :-) It's funny how you don't notice it but she's starting to fill out and of course her hair is getting so long! I do need to figure that out for real, soon. 

In the last two months...

• Measured at the clinic 50th percentile for head circumference, 20th for weight and 1st (1th?) for height. At least she's on the chart!

• Gained 4 pounds to a whopping 24 pounds

• Started daycare and is loving it

• Possibly said two words (not repeated so possibly not actual words just sounds that sounded like words) "all done" at daycare and "up" at her 'baby' shower yesterday

• Most often sleeps all the way through the night

• Still eats like a truck driver, only turning down baby oatmeal. And if you ask me, that's a good choice. ick.

Last week we went to an open house for the friends in Nana and Papa's neighborhood. It was fun and Katy had a blast playing with the girls and crawling around all over. Here we are after the party...

And yesterday, my mom and my godmother, with the help of my sister from afar, held a baby shower for Katy. It was great to see family and friends and watch Katy having fun with all the ladies. And the toys. And the cake!

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Sunday Snapshot 8/13/11

Getting our picture taken last week...

And having a little fun this morning...

This girl cracks me up!

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Sunday Snapshot 6/29/11 - Enjoying the summer!

Oh, how I wish I could get back the two weeks I was not ready to enjoy my time with Katy. Sadly, we have only one more week before I go back to work. The rest of this year will be tight on vacation time since we took two trips to Ethiopia and time off afterwards. I am definitely looking forward to getting back my vacation time in January. So long from now!

So for now we are going to enjoy the rest of our time together...

Visiting Nana and Papa...

 Playing inside when it's too hot or too rainy!

 Visiting the park and splash pool...

 And just plain having a ball in our own back yard.

We hope you are enjoying your summer as much as we are...now, that is :-)

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Sunday Snapshot - Let's go fly a kite!

Yesterday was the 10th annual Kite Festival on Lake Harriet. Every year I say I'm going to go but it always falls on a gymnastics meet weekend. This year I decided not to judge so many meets so I found myself free on festival day. yea! I convinced Lexi it would be fun and dragged her along for the ride.

It was around 10°F outside but the sun was shining. There wasn't much wind, which was great for walking around but not so much for kite flying. Eventually there were some kites in the air though. We had some hot cocoa and cider, roasted some marshmallows and watched some kids learn to ice fish. Maybe next year we'll fly kites too!

Marshmallow roasting on the boardwalk (in my Michelin man coat)

Early in the day, not so many kites. They looked so much bigger in person!

I loved this one!

Lexi on the ice, ready to learn to ice fish. Trying to take photos with my big mittens on I cut the photo off above her feet. I wanted to show her fabulous shoe decision. Just couldn't get her into a pair of boots for anything! At least she let me give her a hat. California girls ;-)

Sleigh rides looked fun too. Maybe next year we'll get to that too. So glad I finally made it to the festival! Who says you have to stay inside all winter?

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Sunday Snapshot - weekend events

Saturday was a big day in many ways!

Enkutatash is the first day of the  Ethiopian New Year. They are celebrating 2003 which is different from our new year as the country uses the Julian calendar. It happens around the end of the rainy season and is marked by many celebrations. I had hoped to find some locally this year but failed to gather enough steam to make it happen.

It was the first day of meet season. It was a relatively low key mock meet that only lasted a few hours. However, it's the beginning of many weekends spent in a gym, watching hundreds of routines and listening to the same floor music over and over and over again. Don't get me wrong, I love being a judge. But I am really enjoying my last weekend of laziness for a while. 

Taking advantage of the free time before meet report time, Riley and I walked down to the Linden Hills Woofstock. It was a gorgeous morning and we wandered around looking at the various booths (me) and sniffing dog butts (Riley). It always amazes me how different dogs can be and still be dogs. Tiny chihuahuas and huge great danes, all mingling and enjoying themselves. We picked up some treats and chatted with friends and neighbors. Riley even got her picture taken by local photographer Leslie Plesser of shuttersmack. I can't believe how old she's getting (Riley that is, not Leslie).

Also happening yesterday was the 911 tribute at the Lake Harriet bandshell. I'm sad that I missed out, it is a very moving event. I did see some of the fireworks from my window at least. I can't believe it's been 9 years. In some ways it seems like it's another lifetime. I remember the quiet of the skies (I live under three flight paths, not far from the airport) and the almost silent drone of the fighter jets circling high above Minneapolis. With freedom comes responsibility and I hope we never forget that. 

All that activity yesterday has made for a lazy day today. I will have to get moving if the lawn is going to get mowed and the laundry done. Oh for another three day weekend...

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Sunday Snapshot - from the garden

A few years ago, I picked up a few dahlia tubers for my garden. I thought I'd attempt overwintering them in the refrigerator. Turns out, it worked! Well, mostly anyway. I had about an 80% survival rate. But since one tuber in the spring makes many tubers in the fall I always end up with more than I had the previous year.

Of course I still have to buy some new ones every year because the catalog comes in the middle of winter, when the whole world is white and brown and cold. It's all bright and shiny and flowery. sigh. This year I picked up a few new varieties and they are just now coming into full bloom.

Tomorrow is the last day of the Minnesota State Fair. I'm contemplating going one more time because the Dahlia Society has their show in the horticulture building. While I'm not up to showing these beauties, I have in the past and have one little ribbon to show for it. These people are *serious* about their dahlias and I'm just not. But it would be fun to see the show! If only I could helicopter in and not deal with parking or riding the bus or whatever painful combination of both gets me to the door.

Anyway, here's what's blooming in my garden this week...

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Sunday Snapshot - State Fair!

I've been shamelessly trying to get Lexi to fall in love with Minnesota. We've had pretty good weather so far - if not a little hot and sticky - so that is a bonus.

This weekend I dragged took her to the Minnesota State Fair. Now I love the fair, the people, the exhibits, the animals, the food--oh the food. Every year. Even if I have to go by myself. I admit I'm a little crazy. But it is a great fair. And I got to introduce Lexi to her first deep fried cheese curds (from the Mouse Trap in the food building, of course) and some amazing mini donuts. We also found some animals, both in the barns and on the midway :-) and listened to Rush from outside the Grandstand. My timing was off and we missed the butter heads and milkshakes in the Dairy building but there's still another week...

We also scored tickets to the Vikings preseason game against the Seahawks. Seats were upper deck but pretty good and we won! It wasn't as loud as the end of the season games. Hopefully we can go to one of those games to get the full effect of the Metrodome.

Today we got to sleep in, well ok, she got to sleep in and I got to get up to let Princess Riley out (and in, and out, and in). Then a nice walk for coffee and then some browsing at Target and the Container Store to see what kind of storage options one has for a tiny living space. Lexi moves out on Wednesday and I'm very excited for her! We only had a few weeks to live together and I'm definitely going to miss her being here. Her new place is going to be perfect for her, I hope she loves it!

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Sunday Snapshot - 8/22/10

We needed to record the proof that we are doing well and not having just popcorn and cereal for dinner!

Today Lexi and I picked up some great produce at the farmer's market. We mixed up some red potatoes, carrots and onion with garlic and rosemary. I marinated a flank steak with Dave's tri-tip marinade and grilled it. We also mixed up some of Kathleen's mango habanero salsa (although we use a bit less pepper than she does).

We will shortly be enjoying a rustic berry pie with the last call blueberries (amazing), raspberries and strawberries. And ice cream of course.

It's a fitting celebration meal I think as tomorrow Lexi starts college. You rock Lexi! Now I need a nap...

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Sunday Snapshot - 8/14/10

For the past week I've had a wonderful house guest. My beautiful cousin Lexi has decided to venture east from California to attend college in Minneapolis. While she gets her housing situated, she stays with me. I'm so happy to have her here and so excited for her to start this grand adventure! She's already found a place to live and today is her first day on her new job. School starts next week so she'll be busy! I hope she comes to love Minnesota as much as we do and maybe even decides to stay on after school. It's a lot to ask of a native Californian, I know.

Congratulations Lexi, you rock!

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Sunday Snapshot 8/1/10

Getting ready for National Night Out on Tuesday with Lemonade Angel Cakes with Creamy Lemonade Frosting. I hope they are as good as they sound!

**update: They do taste delicious, if you don't look at the bottom of the cupcake. Yes, dark pans really do make a difference. Unfortunately the house smells like burnt sugar and the bottoms of half of the cupcakes are black. ugh. The ones baked in the light pans are great!

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Sunday Snapshot - 7/25/10

Last night the Minneapolis Aquatennial wrapped up with the fireworks display over the Mississippi. I loaded up the blanket, camera, tripod and my fancy new remote shutter clicker thing and headed out. I thought that getting there around 8pm would secure a seat where I could also see the river but I was way wrong sadly mistaken. At least I found a spot with a mostly crappy pretty good view as long as you ignore the street lamp I saw too late to find a new spot. Seems to happen every year! The wind was blowing just enough to rain all of the firework soot down on everyone and I missed a good portion of the middle trying to get some out of my eye. Luckily I still had my remote so I kept clicking. Most of the images came out cloudy with lack of wind but the earlier ones look better. I need to explore more options for my camera than the generic 'fireworks' setting. Thought they would turn out better. There's always next time!

I like this one not for the fireworks but for the glow stick vendor streaming across the bottom. Interesting that you don't even see the guy, just the glow sticks.

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