It was MEA weekend here in Minnesota, so Joacim and I took both Thursday and Friday off to do something fun with Izzy. I had the best of intentions.....I was going to plan a trip up to Duluth or Grand Marais for the weekend, filled with lots of hiking and bonfires, but time just ran away from me. Nevertheless, I think we still had a pretty good time.
My plan for Thursday was to go to Minnetonka orchards like we did last year, and hang out in the AMAZING weather and then get some pumpkins. Unfortunately, little Izzy wore shoes that were too small, and by the time we got out of the corn maze (where I lost my sunglasses as well) she had a blister on her foot. So that was shot, but we did get pumpkins. WIN!
I wish you could've seen her from the front. She was wearing an elastic headband around her head and was all rocked out ;)
I was pretty bummed when we got home. Sometimes it's frustrating because I have a very particular idea of what I want to happen, and when it doesn't, I get a bit rattled. I think Joacim sensed my mood, and suggested that we try to ride out bikes to Excelsior, which is a lovely little town on Lake Minnetonka (about 7.5 miles by bike trail). I love Excelsior...such a cute little town, and they were having a farmer's market when we got there, so the main road was closed of (made me feel MUCH more comfortable regarding Izzy). I took my camera with me to capture the lovely fall colors that Mother Nature bestowed upon us this year.
Once we got to Excelsior, we decided to grab an early dinner at Maynard's and then bike back home. Now, looking back, it was fun, but in the midst of the ride back, my legs were cramping so terribly bad (damn kidneys) that I honestly wasn't sure if I was going to be able to make it back home! Luckily, Joacim and Izzy were both patient and let me walk as much as I needed to in order to make it back safely ;)
This was a LOVELY weather weekend. At some point over the weekend (I don't remember when :) Izzy and I headed out to the backyard so she could do gymnastics and I could take her picture (at her request), so the following is a collection of those photos. Even though she's not actively participating in gymnastics right now, her strength is ridiculous! And that smile on her face while she's doing this is something I wish I could bottle! There are also a couple of pics of Rosie and Murphy, who were also enjoying the warmth and sunshine :)
Well crap....I totally forgot about some of these draft posts I had. Guess it's time to catch up again!
As I posted earlier, Joacim went to Sweden a couple of weeks ago, and this is a little post to remember all of the fun things that Izzy and I did.
we were painting our little rock family that Izzy's collected
and then she got a little silly
okay, a LOT silly
here's my little Rock Star before I took her to daycare one day
just something pretty I happened to see
Joacim's trip left the dog-walking up to us
dog coma and iPad face
we decided to construct a little Santa House from a kit (sadly purchased last year)
ugh...so freaking CUTE when sleeping...
bed head
this is TOTALLY something I'd wear
I had to do a little "surgery" on Alfie, our Elf on the Shelf (FINALLY, a Pinterest WIN!)
cat in the box
another dog walk
apparently she and Joacim go to this tractor quite frequently on their walks, so Izzy decided that we had to too.
Whew...we did SO many things while he was gone. I was on vacation, so that was nice. We had originally planned on driving back to Indiana, but I was a little nervous making the drive by myself. I hadn't been feeling all that great, and I just didn't think it was smart, so we stayed home. I got the house decorated for Christmas, had a cleaning service come, had a window-washing service come (outside only, folks), hung the lights OUTSIDE ALL BY MYSELF (with a paralyzing fear of heights), and took care of Izzy. It was hectic, yet relaxing at the same time. I'm so thankful that my body seemed to know that Joacim was gone and behave ;)
(Since it's New Year's Eve, I figure I better catch up while it's still 2011!)
We had a few things left to finish up the week before Christmas. I was smart this year in getting a bit of a head start, and really focusing on the whole gift-giving. It made it MUCH easier. One of the most important things Izzy had to finish was her Pappa's gift! While he was away in Sweden, she made him a cast of her hand print, and she had to finish painting it.
I don't even remember when I took this photo, but it's probably going to be one of my favorites. These two were SO tired. Joacim worked most of the week before Christmas, and when he finally rested, he REALLY rested. And my little princess fell asleep with her crown and family jewels on :)
A little time was spent combing Barbie's hair. I got this for her at the Children's Museum the day we went there because she had so much fun playing with Barbie's hair there. I had one of these when I was a kid, so it only made sense that she should too, right?
And THIS is what we had for Christmas Eve dinner. I usually make it in the shape of a wreath, but since it was just the 3 of us (and Izzy hardly counts when it comes to eating) I made it this shape instead. I'd link the recipe, but I CAN NOT find it online, so eventually I'll get around to digitizing it. Needless to say, it's got chicken, mayo, dijon mustard, and cranberries (and some other mixers) and it's baked in this croissant shell. So. Good.
And, we mustn't forget all of the Christmas Carols that Izzy learned this year. There's no real video to go along with these since I took them in the car at night, but just listen. ADORABLE I tell ya!
This past week, Joacim went back to the place he got his tattoo for a touchup. He wanted more yellow in it, so I tagged along to see the process. I haven't been able to go to any of the others because they've been later in the evenings and much longer, but we didn't thinki this would take long, so it worked out perfectly.
This guys is talented..no doubt about it. The drawings and paintings in his part of the studio were incredible! Granted, not exactly my taste, but I can appreciate his talent.
It was really cool to watch...but I never thought about the bleeding, or how fast the skin would swell. The tattoo looks really good, but I'll wait until it's completely healed before posting another photo.
Izzy's daycare was closed on Friday in observance of Good Friday, so Joacim and I both took the day off to spend some time with Izzy. We were hoping to sleep in a little, but Miss Izzy had other ideas. It's strange...it's as though she knows when we're off work...all week long I've had to wake her up to go to daycare, but Friday morning, she was up and about at 7:30am. And since she's got her big-girl bed now, she can get out...and she does. All I remember hearing is, "Hi!!!!". And the way she says it...it's like she's surprised every time and says it with such enthusiasm. I mean, how could anyone be upset about that? Certainly not me..even at 7:30am on a Friday morning of a vacation day :)
It was a BEAUTIFUL and WARM day!!! So warm, in fact, that I had a hard time finding something for Izzy to wear, so we headed down to the outlet mall in Edinburg to do some shopping. See how excited she is? :)
But quite quickly she fell asleep (must've been from all the excitement shown above :) She decided that she needed to wear this hat in the car....
Do you see the drool?
We got her some crocs and tons of summer clothes, so she should be all-set (at least for a little while, and pending an enormous growth-spurt!). Good thing we had her stroller to carry our goodies in, because she certainly wasn't having anything to do with it!
After we were done shopping, we headed north to Heidelburg Cafe. I guess this place had been featured on the Food Network a few times, and it was recommended to Joacim by a guy he works with, so we headed up there to grave a bit of some authentic German food. All I kept hearing about were the brats....maybe this is why. I put my hand next to the brat to give you a size-reference. This thing was ENORMOUS!! Now, granted, it wasn't exactly to my liking (the whole sausage thing sometimes freaks me out) but the German Potato salad and roll were delicious!
Izzy had fun playing with the salt-n-pepper shakers
What I could hardly believe is that she actually ate, and enjoyed, some sausages (not the one I had, but others that were pretty similar to hot dogs)
And here she is giving some high-fives!
All-in-all, it was a really fun experience! They have some good food, and GREAT pastries. I was even able to find these cinnamon Mentos that I LOVE LOVE LOVE (and CANNOT find anywhere else...so I bought nearly all of them :) The place is FULL of kitschy stuff!
All of this activity was pretty rough on Izzy and her napping. She fell asleep every time we got in the car. here she is on the way home with Yurtle the Turtle
Once we got home, we were going to take her to a park nearby, but we were all pretty wiped out, so we played in the backyard and then decided to stay home. She went to bed without any problems, and Joacim and I caught up on some shows on the DVR. It was a really great day!
