Hannah's cousins come for a visit!!!

And lets not forget Hannah's Uncle Jeff and Aunt Nikki too!! What an action packed weekend we had. We went to indoor parks, outdoor parks, the lake, the pool and had a backyard BBQ. There was never a dull moment, except nap time with all the mom and dads could catch a break too. Hannah loved having Jacob and Lucas visit, she is still talking about it. The kids had a lot of fun together giggling and laughing, and running around. Hannah was an exhausted little girl at the end of the weekend.



I thought this was a cute picture of Hannah and Lucas!!

We are so thankful that Hannah's family came all the way to MN to see her. We know it isn't an easy trip putting two little ones on an airplane, and packing for a weekend away. We really appreciate the visit, and are so lucky to have family that comes all this way to see us, and spend time together. Thanks Jeff and Nikki, we had a great time!!!

Family fun day!!

We had an action packed family fun day today. We started the day off at the Hamel Rodeo ( 2nd annual for us) so Hannah could enjoy a pony ride. We didn't stay for any "rodeo" entertainment, the pony ride fulfilled the rodeo experience for us this year :) Hannah loved riding the pony and just gets braver and braver each time.



From there, we went to Excelsior on Lake Minnetonka to enjoy the beautiful weather and have a healthy hot dog and ice cream lunch at the "Tonka Trolley" at a picnic bench on the lake. It was so pretty out, and so relaxing. Hannah loved watching the boats go by.



And finally, to end our evening, we went to a St Paul Saints baseball game. Hannah has been talking about baseball for the last few weeks. They learned the song "take me out to the ball park" at school and she has been singing it for weeks now. We decided to take her to her first baseball game so she could see what it was all about. She loved clapping when the crowd clapped, and yelled "here batter, batter, batter" quite a bit. She was an angel watching the game and the people sitting next to us kept commenting on our "perfect child".... if only the knew of the meltdowns before getting into the car to go to the game?!? It was a perfect evening, and a perfect day. We just need more of these days to go around....

A day at the pool..

Today we went to the pool, and had a fun day. This was our first trip to the pool this summer, and wow, what a change it was from last summer. Last year Hannah was pretty much afraid of the water and didn't want to get wet. This time, she jumped right in ready to play. She loved going down slides, playing with the fountains, and best of all... splashing mom and dad! We can't wait to go back. Hannah told me today she wanted to take Jacob and Lucas there... we are hoping for good weather during their visit so we can do some swimming!!

Happy 4th of July 2009

Happy 4th of July 2009. We had a great 4th, and a busy one! We started our day at the Excelsior kids parade parade on Lake Minnetonka. We met our friends Stacy and Mike there. Their twins Nick and Elle are in the same class as Hannah at school. ( Elle pictured above). The kids had a great time dancing to kids music, eating popsicles and playing around. All the kids decorated their wagons and bikes to walk in the parade, it was really cute. After the parade, we went back to Stacy and Mike's house for lunch along with some other families and let the kids play for while. It was a lot of fun.We left around 1:30pm to get Hannah home for a nap, and ready for the rest of her day's activities!



In the evening, we went to Heidi and Micheal's house for a BBQ. The food was yummy, and the girls had a great time playing in their bounce house in the backyard, as well as dressing up like princesses!!! We brought a few fireworks with us, and let the girls watch the fireworks on the end of the driveway. We quickly learned we didn't have very good judgement by letting Hannah hold a sparkler. We left evening with an ice pack and a little blister on her finger. As Hannah told us, "the candle hurt her". Definitely bad judgement on our part, but she is just fine and this morning when she got up she asked where her "ouwee" was. Once we got home from Heidi and Michael's, Hannah kept asking us to see "big fireworks". We told her it was too late and it was time for bed. After a quick back, and a popsicle to remedy her finger, we thought, what the heck. We headed out of the house at 9:45pm and went to Wayzata where we sat on the dock on Lake Minnetonka and were able to see fireworks from 4 different cities. The best part was there were no mosquitos, and no traffic! We were home by 10:30pm. Hannah was a trooper, and enjoyed her 4th of July!!



I thought this was too cool not to share, Heidi made jello and decorated the plate with the girls names, Bella, Mia and Hannah... so cute!!
Happy 4th of July everyone!!

A day at the park..

Today was a day at the park for the girls. Kim, Eleanor, Hannah and myself went to Baker Park to enjoy playing on the playground, dig in the sand, splash in the water & and picnic lunch. It was a beautiful day, and the girls had lot of fun.

Grandma and Grandpa Dice Visit

Grandma and Grandpa Dice came fir a visit this weekend. It started off a little rough, as their original flight was canceled due to weather. When they heard Hannah crying in the background thinking they weren't coming, their only option was to find a different flight to MN the next day and visit their little grand daughter. On Friday, Grandpa got right down to business in the 93 degree heat mowing grass and edging our lawn. It was such a huge help for us! Saturday was quite rainy, but we made the most of it finding a few rays of sunshine on Lake Minnetonka enjoying lunch, and going to the park in the evening. We spent a lot of time in the Gazebo enjoying the summer weather. On Sunday, we went to Lake Independence for a picnic on the beach. It was really windy, but relaxing all at the same time. And finally, we had to say good-bye until the fall, when they visit to watch Hannah when our little baby boy arrives. Hannah loved the attention, the M&M's from Grandpa and all the giggles that came with it.

Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for visiting!! We all had a great time and can't wait to see you again!!!

Eleanor Turned 3!!! Happy Birthday!

And here are the party goers! Eleanor the Birthday girl, Hannah, and Ray. All of them getting ready for the backyard scavenger hunt. Buckets in tote, goodies to find, chocolate to eat... they all had a great time. Eleanor's favorite color it purple, so it was a purple party, at her request. It was super cute as the house was decorated in purple, the kids each got their own bucket with names on them, and even got their own balloons with their favorite characters on it. Eleanor got Curious george, Hannah got Tinkerbell, and Ray got Diego. Eleanor's parents threw a great party, the kids and the parents all enjoyed it.



They played and played, and hugged good-bye when it was time to go. It was a great party. We can't believe Eleanor is already 3 years. We both remember visiting her in the hospital when she was born, like it was yesterday. The time goes so fast, and it is so precious. Savoring every moment is all you can do right now. With each passing milestone, the time only seems to go faster. I feel like with a blink of an eye these two are going to be getting on the school bus and off they go.... and we will be looking back wishing they were little again.

Happy Birthday Eleanor!! Thanks for having us to your party!!! We loved it!!

Happy Father's Day 2009

Somebody wanted to be just like her dad...


And was jumping up and down with excitement on Father's Day...


And was just so excited, she could barley contain herself...!

Happy Father's Day!! Today we went to breakfast for Father's Day to get dad his favorite Biscuit and Gravy!! We had an enjoyable day today hanging out and doing a little shopping. Tonight we have a babysitter coming so mom and dad can go to a nice dinner, a restaurant that we won't be ordering chicken fingers for Hannah!! It has been a great year, with many more memories to be made with Hannah and Daddy!

Happy Father's Day to all!!

Gator + Gator = Trouble

Well if these two aren't up to no good, I am not sure what is. Hannah is a brain washed little Gator, much to my dismay. She loves talking about Dad's alligator clothes, alligator car, and her alligator carseat. I need to make sure I get a hold of our little boy early on and start pushing those Buckeyes. While I don't necessarily agree with the above photo, I do think it is cute. Hannah was pretty excited and proud to be just like her dad :)

Silly girls...

The girls had such a fun day playing. Alissa, Bella and Hannahl loved playing on Alissa's new swing set and all her toys. The girls ran around, ate lots of pretzels and splashed in the pool.
Today Bella and Hannah both stayed home from school today because there was a case of H1N1 at daycare. While none of the kids are effected, a parent is. So, to stay on the safe side, we kept the kids home while the incubation period ran it's course. Scary stuff. It was kind of fun to have a play hookey day for a good reason. We are glad that Becky had us all over to play, so much fun!