Bathtime with Lily and Aunt Cheri

Aunt Cheri gave Miss Lily a bath. She loved playing in the water (Lily, not Cheri). Thanks for the bathtime, Aunt Cheri!!

4th of July at Lake Minnetonka

Food, music, the lake and fireworks - does it get better than this? We celebrated the 4th of July in Excelsior, Minnesota on the shores of Lake Minnetonka. First we went to the store and filled the cooler with lots of good food and drinks - Tom even tried sushi for the first time! It took two trips to haul everything down to the lake (thank you Cody and Kellen for going back to the van for all the stuff!) but we staked out a great spot by the shore. We sat and listened to the Minnesota Orchestra and then watched the fireworks as they were shot from a barge out in the middle of the bay.

After the fireworks, Cody and Kellen jumped in the water and took a swim in Lake Minnetonka. Are they crazy or what?!? Here are some photos from our 4th at the lake...

And yet another thing for the memory books ... on the way home, the car in front of us began swerving in and out of its lane, nearly sideswiping the cars in the next lane. The driver was also having a difficult time maintaining a steady speed and was clearly unable to stay in his/her own lane. It appeared the driver was quite intoxicated. Kellen called the police on his cell phone and reported the driver. He stayed on the phone with the dispatch operator as we followed the car. Pretty soon a police officer pulled out from a side road and pulled the car over. We were told to pull over behind the officer to give a statement. As it turned out, two police cars arrived on the scene. After they checked out the driver of the other car, they came back to our car to talk to us and get our statement about what we witnessed. It turns out that the driver of the car was an elderly man who was unable to drive safely, especially at night and should not be driving. It made us feel conflicted - sad for the poor elderly man, but also glad that we reported the vehicle and could have prevented an accident.

At "The Mall" with Aunt Cheri and Cousins Kellen and Cody

Aunt Cheri, Cousin Kellen and Cousin Cody came all the way from Oregon to visit for a whole week!! We spent their second day here at the Mall of America. We saw lots of stores, went to the Underwater Adventures aquarium, ate at the Rainforest Cafe restaurant and had a ton of fun in the Nickelodeon Universe amusement park. It was a very fun day and one we'll remember forever! Memories of our day at The Mall...

Nickelodeon Universe Theme Park

Cousins Kellen and Cody were brave and rode the roller coaster in Nickelodeon Universe (look closely, they're in the second car). Then Aunt Cheri, Cody, Kellen and Mommy all rode the Log Chute water ride. I was too little for the big rides so I rode on the carousel with Mommy and Daddy instead. It was fun! Here's pictures of all of us "ride warriors"!

After all the excitement of Nickelodeon Universe, we had lunch at the Rainforest Cafe, a "wild" restaurant in the Mall of America that has a rainforest jungle theme. We sat in an area with animated gorillas that "came to life" every few minutes and there were even thunderstorms while we ate. Aunt Cheri bought me a stuffed baby gorilla and a tiger.

Rainforest Cafe

After lunch, we went to Underwater Adventures, an underground aquarium underneath the Mall of America. We got to see tons of fish, turtles, stingrays and sharks. They had a small pool where we all got to touch stingrays and sharks (well everyone except Miss Lily).

Underwater Adventures

Wow - what a busy day. After all the fun and excitement, I am exhausted. I am off to sleep, dreaming of my day at the Mall with Aunt Cheri, Cousin Kellen and Cousin Cody. I can't wait for all our adventures to come this week - we'll post more pictures of all the fun!

Say Goodbye to the Swing

Summer is here and the days are flying by. It's so hard to believe Lily is already 8 months old ... and has now outgrown her swing. The days of lazy swinging are over and are giving way to more exciting activities, new toys and interacting with EVERYTHING around her. When she began sitting forward in the swing and nearly tipping it over, we decided it was time to pack it away. So here's one last look at her last time in the swing - ahhh the memories...

Another first - Lily took a bath in the "big girl" bathtub instead of her baby tub. She loved playing and splashing in the water. She's experiencing so many new things as she grows so quickly. Crawling is just around the corner!

Since there can never be enough pictures of Lily, here are a few more... it's so nice to dress in short sleeved summer outfits - no more snowsuits, mittens, blankets and layers and layers of clothing.