Summer Trip to Wisconsin

In July we drove back to Wisconsin for a nice long visit.  Eric had a conference in St. Paul for part of the trip and we spent the last week in Door County for fun.  I was more worried for the drive as two-year-old Annabel is much more active, but by some miracle, she rode really well. She colored, looked out the window, napped, had snacks, and read books.  We made sure to have a few active stops like McDonald's Playplace or a park and knowing there was a pool at end of the first day entertained her for awhile.  We again enjoyed late night pizza and swimming in Bismark.

Grandma got a big hug and smiles when we finally arrived after day two of driving.

Our friends, Brent and Paola, and their little guy Lucas came to visit us at my parents house for a couple days!!!  They are friends we met in Illinois, but now they live in Michigan.  We were so thankful they went out of their way to visit!!  Annabel and Lucas had a lot of fun even though sharing was not their strong point!

Annabel and I met my friend Chuck for lunch in Colfax.  She insisted on staying incognito in that strange place!!

Reading with Great Grandma 

Summer day at Jan and Jean's.  So beautiful out at their house.  I think you really don't appreciate how pretty Wisconsin is until you gain perspective!

We went for a nice walk and trip to the playground with Eric's brother Neil, Jodi, and Ava.  I think they really enjoyed each other.  You would never guess that Cousin Ava is 9 mo younger!

This was the first slide Annabel chose.  Fearless!!

Enjoying the day with Grandma June

Stay tuned for fun pictures of our great trip to Door County!! 

I'll be caught up through the summer soon.  This weekend we are taking it very easy, as we feel we've been too busy and Annabel is feeling it!!  She has been overly tired from going to bed too late, waking up early, playing hard at day care, evening swimming lessons, and other evening errands.  Due to the over-tiredness, she has shown us more what the two year old protests look like and has refused putting clothes on 3/5 mornings this past week.    

The Thomas obsession continues.  We knew it was getting serious when we were changing her and she said, "put a diaper on this useful engine."  This week Eric has been Henry, Annabel is James, and I'm still Emily.  Not Thomas related, but sometimes she is Wolf (and makes the cutest wolf sound!), Eric is Tiger, and I am, fittingly, Elephant!  She called out for Tiger in the middle of the night and yells "hi elephant" or "hi Emily" even in public. It's been fun to watch her develop her imagination. 

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!!

We are having the most gorgeous weather for this time of year!!!  So thankful!! 

Tonight we are having a bit of a Friendsgiving dinner with four international students from the university.  We don't have table space or a whole heck of a lot of room, but we will have meatballs, ham, mashed potatoes, brandied carrots, and fresh veggies and dip. One of the guys is bringing pumpkin pie.  It will be fun to have others to share the holiday.

We enjoyed a Corn Maze yesterday.  Annabel ran and ran and then slept all afternoon!  The weather was warm where a hat was not needed after all, but Annabel wanted to keep it on.

She ate some of this corn before we noticed and stopped her and then she said, "This is for cows."

For the past few weeks, Annabel has been really into Thomas the Train, where she expects to be referred to as Thomas.  Eric is usually Percy and I'm usually Emily.  The last few days, however, we have been Bash, Dash, and Ferdinand (the Logging Locos).  Occasionally Annabel is Henry, Rosie, or James.  It's a bit hard to keep track.  It often goes like this:  "Thomas, can you come here please."  "No, I'm Bash."  "Oh, Bash, can you come here please." "No, I'm James."

A few weeks ago, we went to a small pumpkin patch.  They don't have the really big ones like in Wisconsin, but we still had fun and enjoyed pumpkin everything: soup, pie, and donuts.

The goal was to hit the pumpkin to the hoop with the golf club.  It took her awhile.

Horse-pulled wagon ride.

Annabel and I walked to church this morning, while Eric stayed home to start making the meatballs.  We have so much to be thankful for this year.

Annabel Smiles

One of my favorite movies as a child was Savannah Smiles.  We rented it (and a VCR) often from The Video Store.  Thinking back, I'm not quite sure how great the movie is, as it's about a girl who runs away from home and accidentally ends up in a car with two convicts.  They end up becoming really close with the girl and she is sad to be reunited with her parents, who pay less attention to her.

With Annabel Smiles, we never know what we will get.  Usually if we ask her to smile for the camera, she really tries and gives the funniest look.

  
Lately, she has began to smile more and I will miss her attempted smiles.  

Just Me and My Mom

One of Annabel's favorite books is Mercer Meyer's Just Me and My Mom.  This month we have plenty of time to practice the scenes!  Eric took a work trip to South Africa for 10 days, was home of 4 and then off to California for half a week.  It's conference season, but be in-between presentations, he is able to have fun.  He was able to meet up with our friends Cameron and Brent and they took in a baseball game and lots of golf.  

But, Annabel and I have been having fun too. 

On her birthday, we went to a big park.  This swing happens to be right about the height of Annabel's head, so when she ran towards it and it was rocking a bit, it swung up and hit her right in the chin!!  Down she went!!!  This happened twice.  She was ok and it struck me funny; I still giggle if I picture it.

DQ birthday treat!!

A couple weeks ago, we had rain for at least five days with one nice night in the middle of the week.  We took advantage and after work and day care, walked around the zoo.  These cougars were so close and so big!  The peacocks were fanning.  It was a beautiful night.  I found out that Annabel loves popcorn!

One very rainy Saturday morning we checked out the new indoor playground a couple towns away.  It was so nice.  Annabel played forever and had a lot of fun.  She went down this slide backwards on her stomach for awhile until she built up the courage to go on her bottom.  It was more fun that way.

We've made a couple trips to the library to gather books to entertain us in the evenings.  She was calm on this trip, but the next trip she thought the shelves of books were great places to run behind and dodge mom chasing after her. 

A walk around the neighborhood.  It's hard to say no when she brings me my coat and shoes.

Last night we had a great night!!  It was gorgeous out so after supper I decided we needed to go somewhere!!!  Jazz Fest free stage it was!  She danced and ate more popcorn!!  She held onto that bag tightly and didn't want to share.  By some miracle, there were no bugs!!

Walking the river area after the show. 

Lunch at the farmer's market where I had a delicious acorn squash, purple onion, and goat cheese pot pie with a veggie quinoa salad.  Annabel tried a bounce house for the first time...and it was free!!  She also loved the playground.

The hardest part about temporary single parenthood is getting us ready in the mornings and meal plans!  I took Monday off as Tuesday is Canada Day.  It was going to be impossible to find day care on Monday, so I'm enjoying an extra long weekend.  Tomorrow we are planning to get together at the church mom's group I frequented when Annabel was a baby and Tuesday there are some Canada Day events at a park.  I may be all parked out, but we will see.  I would love to watch some fireworks, but a 9:30 or later darkness makes it a bit challenging with a toddler.  

Overall, we are having a good time, but I think Annabel is missing Eric and tiring of only me as she is finding more and more ways to be mischievous.  At least Eric will be back to celebrate (after work) for the 4th!