So it begins...

There was a time when I could leave Elsa in her room for a few seconds to play by herself. I'd come back and she'd be playing with the same object, completely oblivious to the nearby bookcase. This morning I left for maybe 20 seconds, and returned to this scene:

Luckily, I've already created a playroom for her downstairs, which will hopefully cut down on the toy mess upstairs. I'm pretty excited about it and hope to post some pictures of it soon. Still working on the finishing touches.

The Big 3-0 and more

Elsa's new favorite game is throwing whatever you give her on the floor and waiting for you to pick it up. She thinks it's hilarious.
Below: Elsa gets a taste of her heritage, in the form of a crocheted Norwegian flag. "Uff-Da!" she says, as she abandons it over the side of her crib. I'm guessing it tasted like pickled herring.



Friday, my sister and I spent 1/2 day at an Aveda spa. Manicures, facial, lunch, hair, makeup; it was faaabulous! Saturday, Tim and I spent the night at the new Westin in downtown Mpls to celebrate my birthday. It's in the old Farmers & Merchants Bank building from the 1940's, and it's super cool. This photo doesn't do it justice.

We left Elsa overnight for the first time. She had a blast with grandma and grandpa and didn't even seem to realize that we'd been gone for 24 hours. We had a great time also, watching the band at the Nomad and partying with lots of friends. Sunday the 22nd was my b-day, and also Elsa's 11 month b-day. We had a huge b-day feast at my parents house. We're talkin' crab legs, tuna steaks, bruschetta, salad, and two kinds of homemade pies - blueberry and key lime. Here's me w/ the pies.
Not pictured: a thought bubble coming out of my head that's screaming, "Holy crap, i'm 30."


Drooly McGee, cute as can be.

First family bike ride

Tonight we put Elsa in her trailer and took her for her first bike ride. There are two important things we learned from our ride.
1. Elsa loves riding in her trailer.
2. Her love of the trailer only lasts about 5 miles, so don't take a 10 mile bike ride!
We really should've known better, but it was such a beautiful night and she was having so much fun in the beginning. Oh well, i'm glad I remembered to take a photo before we left.

Oh yes, it's ladies night...

Last night was Ladies Night in Lindstrom. The city puts on 4 of these nights per year, and it was our first time. You basically show up downtown, shop at different stores that are all having big sales, and eat their free food and drinks. It was great. And because this weekend is Karl Oscar Days, last night was Swedish themed. But isn't Lindstrom always Swedish themed, you ask? Yes, but I guess the difference was that last night they had a guy dressed up as a gnome walking around town. Too bad I was laughing too hard to remember to take a picture. The best part of the night was a free 1 hour boat ride at Tiki Steve's. The boat is a huge double-decker pontoon complete with hottub and bar. Steve was having a drawing to win a 3 hour, 50 person party ride. One of us had to win that ride. And guess what? We did! Actually Crystal did, which is the same as all of us winning. It was a lucky ladies night indeed.

The week in review

July 4: Party with the family. It was so great to see everyone! This is a picture of me and my cousins, fresh out of the pool. (Jenny, we're missing you in this one!)


July 5: Elsa hams it up for the camera.


July 6: Crawling around in a summery dress.


July 7: We went to a b-day party for Elsa's friend Gracie. Happy Birthday Gracie! Elsa had some watermelon.


July 7, evening: Elsa sleeps like a little angel. Parties are fun, but tiring.


July 8: A thunderstorm flips over our table and crushes our umbrella. Oh, the humanity!

That's gotta hurt

Elsa sleeps in the strangest positions these days. I put her down and she gets up, crawls over to her musical crib toy and turns it on, then sits and listens to it while she bites on her blanket and falls forward, totally asleep. Notice how both feet are even with her ears. Imagine sleeping like that. Ow!