Summer Fun

Kate & I have been having a lot of fun this summer! Last Friday (the 5th) we went to the zoo together; I know we go there a lot, but she loves the zoo! The lions were very active, as were the seals, and Kate enjoyed seeing those a lot.

On Wednesday the 10th, we met Meghan & Adelaide for lunch at this new place called Brickhouse BBQ. Afterward, we walked along the lakeshore path, because it was an absolutely gorgeous day. It brought back a lot of memories of my favorite year of college (sophomore) when I lived in Tripp Hall. That was a beautiful walk home every day after class!

Thursday, we met Dan for lunch at Sprecher's. Kate didn't want to eat her grilled cheese, because she'd rather have my sauerbraten. Yes, my 18-month-old eats sauberbraten. She certainly is an adventurous eater!

Friday, I took Kate to Olbrich Gardens and we had a great time looking at all the different gardens. She loves to go up to flowers and "smell" them; it's so cute. She did get rather mad, though, that I wouldn't let her climb in the fountains. Luckily at this age, she's still rather easy to distract.


Kate & Adelaide at their lunch date





Look at that hair!










She loves to help push the stroller






By the elephant outside the Thai garden


Giving the elephant a hug. She does this now whenever she seems animals in books; she hugs the page like she wants to hug the animal itself. It's so cute!

The rest of my mom's visit

My mom was here almost a month (Wednesday, July 6 until Monday, August 1) and it still seems like it went by way too fast! But, we got a lot of stuff done for the remainder of her visit:

--Fish fry on Friday night at the Esquire Club with my mom, Tracy, Kirsti, Katrina, my aunt Chris, Dan, Kate & Grandma
--Breakfast on Saturday morning at the Original Pancake House, and again for lunch on Sunday
--Church at the Deerfield Lutheran Church on Sunday morning to hear her play the prelude and the offertory. Kate loved the music, obviously; she just got so mad that I wouldn't let her go up there and play the piano with Nana!
-A BBQ on Sunday night with the Hines, my mom, grandma, and Colin. That was super fun; we had Dan's famous burgers (with Swiss cheese, bbq sauce, mayo, and onion straws; so good!), hot dogs, brats, chips, corn on the cob, and angel food cake with strawberries.



She found this hat and put it on; funny girl!




This is her "funny face" as well call it; she scrunches up her nose and smiles; it is so cute!


I'm glad you like to read, honey, but you don't need to sit in your book bin.




Love this face!


I love this skirt on her




She loves her pasta, and she loves feeding herself even more!


All dressed up after church on Sunday!




Three generations after church




Aww, Kate, why do you not look at the camera?

Happy Birthday!

On Friday, July 23, we headed down to Chicago to see my aunt Chris and her family. First, we stopped at this excellent Mexican restaurant in Libertyville called Casa Bonita. It was amazing; much like Frida's here in Madison, and Frida's is one of our favorite places. Kate loved the chicken enchiladas; this 17-month-old eats more types of food than some adults I know! Friday night, we went to Lou Malnati's, one of our favorite deep-dish pizza places down there. On Saturday, we got ready for the Italian party that Chris & Mike were hosting that night. But what Chris didn't know is that it was actually a surprise party for her upcoming 60th birthday (at the end of August). About two hours into the party, we all gathered in the living room, my mom started playing "Happy Birthday" on the piano and we all sang to her. So, that was a fun twist to the party.

I love this dress she had on for the party!


Can't keep her away from the piano!


I can get down by myself, Mom.






My grandma and her three daughters




Kate intruding on Chris's mother-daughter photo


After the party. I had already changed into my pajamas (I obviously didn't look like this at the party)


Kate loves her Uncle Dan






The group

Our trip to the lake

I was so thrilled that we were able to go up to the lake a second time this summer. Luckily, we went in the middle of an extreme heat warning, so it was perfect weather for swimming!

We went up on Friday the 15 and met my mom, Chris, Karissa and Grandma (they had all come up earlier in the day, while Dan & I didn't leave until about 3, since he had to work) at one of our favorite restaurants, The Five O'Clock Club. They have the most delicious seafood; I absolutely love that place. Of course, Kate would rather wander around outside where the flowers were (flowers are her new favorite obsession), so Dan & I had to take turns eating. Oh well, such is life with a toddler :)

After dinner, we went back to the cabin and hung out for awhile. I love my family; they are so much fun to be with! It was especially nice to see Karissa, too, since I don't see her as much now that she's away at college much of the year.

Saturday we swam until the three of them (Chris, Karissa and Grandma) had to leave. On Sunday, we also spent a lot of the day in the water, which was a blast. Kate had her own little lifejacket, and she loved being in the water with me. She is such a daredevil; I would be on the raft with her, and she would just leap off and try to swim to my mom (who was obviously quite close to us, but still!) It was so funny to see; she clearly had no fear!

Sunday night, Tracy, Rori, Kirsti and Colin (Kirsti's boyfriend) came up. We had a lot of fun with them the next three days. Kirsti, Colin and Dan spent a lot of time fishing, and being the little fish she is, Rori loved being in the water with Kate, my mom and me. When Kate wasn't swimming, she loved to sit on the shore (still wearing her life jacket) and sort through the rocks. It was so cute to see!

We spent the nights playing Euchre or Clue. There's the original 1950s board game at the lake, and since it's one of my favorite games, I convinced Rori to play with me. She quickly became obsessed with it, too, so we had a blast playing it over and over with Tracy & Kirsti.

Overall, we just had the best time up there. It was so relaxing and so fun to be with family (and of course I love it that my mom is here; we miss her whenever she's not); it was undoubtedly one of the happiest parts of our summer.




I love this gorgeous view of the lake






All tuckered out on Saturday afternoon, so napping on Daddy




Playing school with Rori

Our trip to the Dells

On Sunday, July 10, we headed up to the Wisconsin Dells for our annual trip to Wilderness on the Lake. We had such a great time; we stayed in the condos there like we've been doing for the past 7-8 years, and there is such a beautiful view of Lake Delton from our screened-in porch. It was incredibly hot most of the time we were up there, which is perfect for swimming! Kate loved the kids' pool. There was this kids' slide that had about five steps to get up, so I would stand there as she crawled up (so that she didn't fall backward) and then as soon as she got up, I stood at the bottom to catch her when she came down. She certainly didn't need much help though! She is so independent, she loved going down the slide by herself. She would often go down literally 20 times in a row. Now, if only that independence included sleeping by herself... one can only dream!

At night, we had a great time just hanging out in the condo and playing cards or watching movies (Rori brought up White Chicks, which is an absolutely hilarious movie that you can watch over and over without getting bored). As always, we said that three nights were not enough, so we're thinking that next year, we'll have to do four.






The beautiful view from our room; too bad the screen is so noticeable!


Is she a baby Dan or what?


Entranced by the TV; we never let her watch, so she was thrilled that she could watch Dora the Explorer (or whatever Rori was watching; can't quite remember)

She made my day!

I've been awfully busy with work the past week or so, which means I have to do some work when Kate is awake (which I hate to do; I like to get it all done when she's sleeping). Today, Kate was sitting next to me on the couch eating breakfast while I was updating our group on LinkedIn. She saw my headshot on there, pointed to it, looked at me (and it was clear she understood the picture was of me) and said, "Pretty!"

Never knew such a little thing could make my day :)