Things I'm Loving this Summer!

I've had a lot of posts about our life and Dean but I thought I'd share some things that are making this summer wonderful :) Below you will find my favorite grocery store treats, recipes, places to go and more!

A. Icecream
-I didn't really crave icecream in pregnancy, but POST pregnancy I can't get enough!
First I was loving Ben and Jerry's. They have a new line, called "Core" and I RECCOMEND IT!
My favorite flavor (well the only one I've tried)

Salted Caramel

1. Hazed and confused-Nutella and icecream YUM

2. Salted Caramel icecream (which I am currently eating in the office alone, and was caught by my husband.... he says I look shameful eating icecream in the middle of the day and blogging about it... I'm ok with it!


3. Carmelized Banana Gelato

B. Trails and Parks

Lebanon

If I'm eating all that icecream I got to burn it off some how! Mark and I have been discovering tons of trails and parks around the Twin Cities area! Favorites include:
a. Lebanon Hills Park (Eagan, MN)-5 minute away regional park with amazing lakes and nice wooded trails

b. Patrick Eagan Park-2 minute walk from our house!
c. Spring Lake Regional Park (Hastings, MN)
d. Minnehaha Creek Trail (South Minneapolis)
e. Lake Nakomis (Minneapolis, MN)
f. Afton State Park (Afton, MN)
-Before the summer is up we hope to explore Nerdstrand Big Woods State Park, a 10 min drive from my parents place in Northfield; Jay Cooke State Park, up North near Duluth, and Interstate State Park, North of the cities.
-We sure are spoiled with all of the trails we have available! I remember living in Kansas City we had 1 park we loved, and there really were no others. And it was a 1.5 mile loop!

Far away view of the spring lake bluffs

C. Ymca
I'm back to going to the Y :) Technically I can bring Dean with me but 1. I like my free hour away and 2. I think he's still too young to be in the daycare. I miss my zumba but I'm trying to take easy by just doing a yoga/pilates/tai chi blend called Body Flow. I'm actually training to teach Body Flow next month! So excited.


D. Pancakes and Luna Bars
I can't get enough of either! Mark laughs at me every morning when I say I'm going to make breakfast because he knows EXACTLY what it's going to be! I found a recipe on Pinterest that is my current favorite because of the amount of protein and the "low calorie" nature of it.

Greek Yogurt Pancakes-I've actually been using just Plain Yogurt from Trader Joes
(adapted from The Pioneer Woman’s Cookbook recipe for Edna Mae’s sour cream pancakes)
Makes 12 4-inch pancakes
Indgredients:

• 8 oz. Greek yogurt (I used 6 oz. plain,  2 oz. strawberry)
• 7 tbsp. all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:
Place Greek yogurt in a medium bowl. Add flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. Stir together very gently. Stop short of the mixture being totally combined. You want the pancakes to have some interesting texture.
Whisk eggs in a separate bowl. Add vanilla to eggs and stir to combine. Pour egg mixture into the Greek yogurt-flour mixture. Stir together gently. Don’t worry about the mixture being totally combined; a little white and yellow swirling is fine.
Pour the batter onto a griddle sprayed with cooking spray, ¼ cup at a time. Cook for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes, then flip the pancakes. Cook for another 45 seconds and remove to plate. Repeat with the remaining batter. Top pancakes with syrup, fruit, or desired toppings.

E. Baby Things I swear By
So not many of my friends have had babies yet, but I want to make sure I remember what baby things I LOVED so that when they do have babies they can know what is good :)
1. Ergo Baby! LOVE IT! More than we wanted to spend on a carrier, but Dean refuses to be put down, so this makes it possible for Mark and I to do things around the house and STAY comfortable. (He is playing Nintendo WI with it as we speak!) The added waist belt and padded straps make it more comfortable than any other carrier for long periods of time (Not the best for a quick grocery trip though)

2. Snugapuppy Swing: When nothing else will put Dean to sleep, this Fischer Price swing does the trick! And he love the cricket sound... so weird!

3. Aden and Anais Blankets: I don't tend to be one who buys certain names of products, but I LOVE these blankets. They are meant for swaddling, but we use them as a light cover up in the warmer summer weather! He LOVES them.

4. Boppy Pillow-I can't imagine breastfeeding without it. And it's nice for just holding him too!

 5. Graco Trekko Classic Connect Stroller-A cheaper version of a fancy trail stroller, that works with the trails we've been on (rocky and roots) and fits with our carseat. Doesn't have great storage but we bought a water holder clip on thing that adds storage space!

As far as important things like diapers and wipes go, we haven't really found any we love. Mark is partial to Huggies whereas I like the Seventh Generation (Because it doesn't have the dyes and other chemicals). Bottles Dean seems to have no preference and he can't seem to keep a Paci in his mouth, Even though we try! Beds we do like our Pack n' play, but I'm not as tied to that as I am my other favorite things. I'm sure as he grows we will continue to find more favorites and certain things he won't love as much as he once did.

Now on to one of my favorite summer things THE CABIN! Look for updates from the giant Aronson Cabin adventure coming soon!

Friend Visits, Family Fun and First Vacation

Dean is now over a month old! I can't believe how fast the time is flying!

We are now enjoying watching him smile and grunt and make "dinosaur noises" when we talk to him. He still has a fussy time in the night, but he is starting to become so much more interactive it's fun to spend so much time with him! Yesterday Mark even watched him roll over from tummy to back. We've obviously got the strongest, smartest, cutest baby in ALL the world :)

Apologies for my baby talk, but Dean "talking back"

Had our 6 week visit to the doctor and both he and I are healing well.Dr. has cleared me to start doing more things so Mark and I have been taking more walks around parks took Dean to Afton State Park and other regional parks around our home! I also got to go to the YMCA for the first time and I'm not sure if I enjoyed the freedom from anyone or the Yoga class more. Regardless I can't believe how excited I was to see Dean when I got home and how much I had missed him!

We've also been enjoying lots of time with friends and family: Max's 3rd birthday, trips to Northfield to visit my parents, visits from them here, park trips with Paul, Susan and Henry and random drop in visits from friends!

Fell asleep right away in her arms

Matching cousins

Park time is tiring!

Grame love

Jimpa with Henry

Speaking of friend visits, Cathy came to visit the first week of July and we had such a great time with her! We didn't do a ton, but she was such a help, bought us food, took care of Dean, gave me time to sleep and bathe; it was wondeful! We definitely miss her!

She messed his hair up haha

My babies and buddy

Beautiful view

The 2nd weekend in July Mark and I decided to be brave and make a family trip (me, him, Dean and Cici) to the cabin. It turned out great! We ended up making great time even in rush hour traffic, Dean hardly cried, and we only had to stop 1 time in 5 hrs! Not bad. We all enjoyed the relaxing, peaceful time at the lake, even if sometimes we did have to deal with a baby crying. It's hard not to feel happy when you are surrounded by such beautiful views, have a good place to stay and gorgeous weather.

Relaxing at cabin

He only sleeps being held

Family picture

Cabin Baths are fun!

This weekend we are headed to Afton for a big celebration with all the Aronsons because Mark's sister Sarah and her 3 kids are in town. We are excited to spend time with them this weekend and week and next weekend the entire Aronson clan is headed up to the cabin. It should be a crazy but fun time. Between 2 babies, 2 toddlers, 2 kids, 3 teenagers, 8 adults and 3 dogs, it will be quite an adventure! Very different from our last cabin visit.

Next month we look forward to spending some last days with my parents before they head back to NC, I will start teaching classes at the YMCA again, Mark and I both have a few professional development work days and we get to see Deanie turn 2 months. I can't believe how fast he is growing! Just look below...