Visitors from Everywhere!

The last few weeks have been a whirlwind for Mark and I! Amazing, but a whirlwind!

It all started when our friends Leah and Brian came into town to stay with us for a night (on their way to a wedding) and our friend Ashley came into town for the  weekend. It was a real TFA reunion :)

We had a fun little BBQ caught up and just had fun with each other. It's great to be a teacher and to have summers off!

After Leah and Brian left Ashley, Julie and I continued our busy fun weekend! We danced OULA, we got yogurt and went for walks! Saturday evening was fun because we had more guests, Max and Marcella spent the night! They loved staying with us and the "babysitters" (Ashley and Julie).

Sunday was fun. We all went to the Mall of America to dance OULA at Athleta (MOA on a Sunday at 9 am is the way to go to avoid crowds!) Then we all went to Food Truck Festival in Uptown. It was delicious and fun! I got to have GF cheese curds, Mark and Greg tried amazing Nachos with brisket, Julie a burrito bowl and Ashley other Nachos. Then we got rained on.... big time, huge storm. But we stayed it out and then got dessert, delicious GF donuts :) We will definitely be back when the Festival is in Burnsville in September! Anyone else in?

The week of visitors continued as Paul, Susan and Henry arrived Wednesday. It was a fun week! We played outside (weather was beautiful, 70's almost all week!) went into the cities, had yogurt at Sebastian Joes (If you've never been I recommend it! Right by Lake Harriet), walked around the lakes, swam at the beach at Nokomis, visited Northfield, went on Canoe rides, played in the kiddie pool, used the NICERIDE bike system in minneapolis (also a fun new experience!), had a few cookouts, ate amazing Mexican at Pineda Tacos (very authentic) and just watched the cousins play and fight together :) We definitely miss Paul and Susan being in MN but we loved having them visit!

More visitors arrive tonight (my mom and dad!) Because Mark and I are heading out of town to go to Asheville for Anna's Wedding! It will also be our first weekend away from Dean! We are excited, sad and nervous but more than anything excited! We have planned to go a night early so we will stay downtown and have a little mini-romantic getaway in the beautiful Appalachian Mountains. then wedding festivities begin! I can't wait to see Anna and Warren hitched and to be reunited with all my suitie gals and their men. And also Good luck Mom, Dad , Steve and Nancy with our little monster :)

Our Kid is One!

Summer is here, sun is out, Cici is shedding, and our baby is now a TODDLER! It's so hard to believe! But he is so different than he was just a year ago. We celebrated his birthday last weekend with friends and their babies, and watching him crawl around and through the bouncy castle (thanks Sandhals for bringing it!) seemed so crazy... and nice. YES we loved Dean as a newborn, and yes I miss him falling asleep on me, but I sure don't miss those long nights, having to hold him ALL the time and always feeding. I think in our society we aren't given permission to say how hard it actually can be, even though we DO love our kids! Now some people love that stage and to them I say you are saints! I just don't live well off of no sleep! And I'm LOVING finally sleeping through the night, and seeing our little guy learn and show us so much!

Playing with herbie

Cool caterpillar

He did not want cake!

My favorite things about Dean being one...
1. Sleeping through the night :)
2. Almost being done breastfeeding! (Can't believe I made it one year!)
3. His big open mouth teeth smile
4. Watching him take off and fall on his face every time he tries to walk.
5. Watching him and Cici interact.
6. Hearing him start to say words... like Uh oh and hi.... ya he's got a little ways to go.
7. His silly little tantrums, I know those are going to get old soon.
8. The way he will still snuggle
9. How he loves things dad and I love... dancing, being outside, listening to good music and watching sports.

The interesting thing about having a toddler is that people start to say "When are you having your next one?" Well I'll save you the question, we are going to wait
a little while :) Mark and I are enjoying our freedoms with having an older baby:

1. I was able to go to DC for a girls weekend and celebrate Anna and Warren's coming wedding!!!! We had such a great time taking in the different monuments, boat tour, eating good food, and 80's dance party :0

2. We've been able to have people over to our house and hang out without worrying Dean will wake up. We had a house guest Cari and it was not stressful at all! (Because Dean pretty much behaved :))

3. We were able to go to a Twins Game, and stay the WHOLE time.

4. Mark was able to go to Beer Fest and enjoy a lot of different microbrews and local breweries with his brothers.

Needless to say, we are very happy with where we are!

This coming year brings lots of changes for Dean and I. I am going back to full time teaching, but this time in our Home School District 196! I'm so excited because it means no more commuting and no more stupid rush hour or accidents :( I will miss my school and the students, teachers and parents but I'm excited to start a new journey at Greenleaf Elementary. My brother in-law Mike works there too so that should be fun.

Unfortunately we had to also find a new daycare because our old one is by my old school :( But luckily we think we found one that will be just as great, and is very close to our home! We are looking forward to a new daycare adventure.

So even if we don't have a new baby in this coming year (like my brother and Susan!) We will have lots of changes and fun times ahead.

For now we are looking forward to a summer of sleep, State parks, my parents coming to MN, visits from old friends, my brother, cabin trips, lots of cooking and more! For now 2 more days of teaching... and then it begins :)