Minnesota fun!

While our blog has been on vacation, our little one has been busy having fun in Minnesota visiting family. There are lots of stories to share, so let's get started!





Our first full day in Minnesota involved, what else, a visit to one of Minnesota's 10,000 lakes. We crammed everyone in the van (Aunts Megan and Kaitlin and friend Johny were visiting Grandma and Grandpa, too) and headed to Itasca, location of the headwaters of the Mississippi. One of our goals for the trip was to get Evie to enjoy swimming. Up to this point, she has been hesitant. Evidently, all it took was some coaxing from her aunts (or maybe their bribing with cheese and crackers), because Evie became a fish in the water. After wresting her into her suit and slathering her with sunscreen (or "sunscream" as Evie calls it...and it certainly involves screaming), Evie dipped her toes into the water. Then she dipped her bottom in. Then her belly, and before we knew it, she was kicking her legs while propped up by her arms on the bottom of the lake. It was such a joy to hear her say "I'm swimming!" and scream with delight. She also loved playing in the sand and we made our first sandcastles.


P.S. If you want to read the less PG version of this trip, check out Evie's Aunt Megan's blog. I'm really hoping I haven't scarred my sisters from ever raising children.

Singing With Evie Lu

Here is one of Evie Lu's favorite songs for you.

She Knows What Is Up

In the kitchen with Evie Lu


Kaia and Evie Lu are having a great time in Minnesota and I get to join them soon. Until then I have a video for you.

What Will I Do?

I know what is going to happen next!


I know that Kaia and I are blessed with a great kid even though we whine about Evie Lu's seemingly increasing whining. (I wonder where she learned it?) The fact is we have a great little girl who is learning and exploring what it means to be a little person. I say all this because two days ago I was thinking about how great it would be to have a couple of Evie free days as Kaia headed out to Minnesota. I dropped my family off at 4:30 am and by 4:45 I was at a loss. My lovely wife and little girl were gone. What will I do?

Yeah!!!!

The Beach

Are you sure you dropped your keys here?


For some reason Evie Lu has been skittish around water in first couple years of her life. Kaia and I have tried to gently introduce playing in the water, but until recently she wanted nothing to do with it. This week we found the cure. If you let Evangeline spray you with the hose or splash you with water, she'll let you spray or splash her back. It is a hoot. The only worry we have now is whether she'll spray Kaia while we are tending to our garden.

This is really fun, you should try it.

This Bed Thing Might Be Okay

Can You Spot Cuddle?


Evie Lu's first night in her toddler bed was not the most restful for anyone in our house. Evangeline cried out at 1am because she had lost her cuddle. (It was just on the floor.) She fell out of bed around 3am. (Kaia had placed pillows right beside the bed expecting the fall.) But all in all it was a success.

Tonight Evie said, "Time for bed", jumped out of Kaia's story time lap, and crawled into her bed. We've not heard a peep from her since. Kaia was not happy I took a flash picture of our sleeping child, but I couldn't resist. Sweet dreams.

By the way, if you look under Evie Lu's chin you can spot a piece of Cuddle.

Great, Now She Can Kick The Wall

Mommy, what happened to my crib?!?


I am an idiot. For a couple of months I've been asking Kaia if we should transition Evie Lu into a toddler bed. Kaia, who is not an idiot, would ask me why we would change something that was working just fine. Somehow idiocy won the day.
Our neighbors had a yard sale this weekend and there was a toddler bed for sale. We bought it, painted it, and walked Evangeline through the process of taking apart her crib and setting up her bed. This was all great until Evie realized her crib was gone and started crying. As of right now she's been in bed for 30 minutes and if she doesn't kill herself by launching off the bed while jumping I'll consider the night a success.

Do you notice what is not in the bed?

I Want To Fly

Flying!

Evie Lu and I have been on vacation together for the last week and I have a healthy respect for all stay at home moms and dads. Evie Lu at two is a whirling dervish of activity. She has the attention span of, well, a two year old. This has made for some interesting days. Something I can count on to bring a few moments of fun is flying. Do you want to come over and fly? Evie Lu is ready for you!

Daddy, you fly too!

Go Cubs - Part 3 (Ballpark Food and Rally Caps)

Do you want a dog too?


Evie Lu has always been a champion eater, so it should not have surprised us that ballpark offerings would be a huge hit. We gave our little girl half a hot dog and before we knew it she was asking for more. Kaia asked me if we should give her the other half and I said we should. After all, you don't go to Wrigley every day.

I can eat and watch the Cubs.


A month before Jody and Leanne's wedding I was watching a Cubs game and they showed the broadcasters being delivered a four pound pretzel. I immediately called Jody and told him I'd buy him one at the game. It took some searching, but I found the Twist and brought it back to the bleachers. It was the talk of the 6th inning.

Behold the Twist! A four pound pretzel.


Evie Lu learned many things at the game and one of them was the magic found in a rally cap. (Well she learned that if you wear your hat in a funny way your team will still probably lose.) Evie was tickled by my head wear and was insistent on trying to fix my fashion faux pas.

Daddy, that's not going to help.


At the end of the game we had an eight game losing streak, but it was a fantastic night. Even better was the knowledge that we had tickets for the Tuesday night game as well. Go Cubs!

A happy family at the Friendly Confines.

Go Cubs - Part 2 (Mr. T and Fonzie)

Dad, Wrigley Field is cool, but you messed up on my Cubs logo.

We made our way to our spot in the left field bleachers where we were certain a Cubs home run would land. We were two rows from the left field wall and it was amazing. The ushers noticed Evie and another little kid in the stands and they did a great job of trying to keep the drunk and obnoxious from being too drunk and obnoxious. One guy got booted before the first pitch. Family friendly indeed. We were taking bets on how many new words Evangeline would learn during the game.

Mr. T is in this picture. Really.


Mr. T threw out the first pitch and led Take Me Out To The Ballgame during the 7th inning stretch. We couldn't hear him, but I know it was awesome because he's Mr. T. What else do you need?

Cheering for the Cubbies while dad keeps score.


We had a great time with Jody, Leanne, and Jimmy and all our left field friends. The highlight of the game was when Evie Lu's new favorite player, Alfonso Soriano, picked Evie Lu as the recipient of a baseball. After he tossed it up to us the crowd started chanting, "Baby Cub, Baby Cub!" It was amazing. (I can now say I've played catch with Soriano. Notice I didn't say I played throw with him. Just catch.)

Soriano is looking for the right little girl to give a baseball.


I had made the mistake of teaching Evie Lu that if an opposing player hit a home you have to throw the ball back, so we spent a good part of the game not letting Evie throw back her Soriano ball. The game didn't turn out to be a Cubs win (actually it was their 8th loss in a row), but we had a blast. A red line train ride later we were back at our hotel and an exhausted Evie fell deeply asleep. Go Cubs!

Evie Lu and her prized possession.

Go Cubs - Part 1

Okay driver, let me know when we're close.


Monday after the wedding found us driving the three hours back to Chicago to catch a game at Wrigley. This was my first trip to see a home game for my beloved Cubs and Kaia and Evie Lu were great about putting up with my silliness. The game started at 7:05 and I insisted we get to Wrigley by 3. I have a patient family.

The sun isn't shining, but can we play two anyway?


We walked all around the stadium and Kaia took pictures from every angle of Wrigley. Someday Evie Lu will look at these pictures and I'll be able to say this was her first time at Wrigley. She probably won't care a lick.

A beautiful sight.


We met up with Jody, Leanne, and Jimmy and went in search of real Chicago deep dish pizza. Surprisingly, this was harder than we thought it would be around Wrigley. It didn't help matters that it started raining and the local bars were afraid Evie was an undercover cop and wouldn't let her in out of the rain. We were pointed toward Pauly's Pizzeria and got some pretty good pie. I need to go back soon to explore the other recommended pizza places.

Evie Lu eats real Chicago deep dish pizza.


Despite the rain we lined up with a couple thousand of our closest friends to take our place in the bleachers. We were told the leftfield bleachers were more family friendly than rightfield. We found out family friendly is a relative term at Wrigley. More tomorrow!

Aunt Leanne, Jimmy, and Uncle Jody before the game.

The Dance!

Elaine shows Evie how to take embarrassing pictures for future use.


With Jody and Leanne happily married it was time to dance! There was a great band at the reception, but for some reason Evie Lu only wanted to dance while they were taking a break.

Evie Lu with her favorite dance partner. Check out the grin.


Evie Lu's cousin Parker was once again the favorite. Evie didn't want to dance with Kaia or me, but Parker was the big winner. Evie's dance moves consist mostly of running around in circles. If you told me she'd run 5 miles in cirlces I would not be surprised.

Parker's not having such a bad time herself.


There was a moment when the future flashed before my eyes as a little boy started dancing with Evie. A whole chorus of folks told me that I had years of this to look forward to, but thankfully Evie ran away from him. Keep running, Evie. Keep running.

You've got to blow this one up to see the grin.


Oh yeah, Jody and Leanne were there too.

Evie Lu Gets A New Aunt!

Okay Evie you're going to have a new Aunt. She'll give you food too!


Jody and Leanne's wedding day was perfect. The sun was shining and everyone was in great spirits. Kaia spent most of the day as a single mom while I fulfilled my best man duties. (Mostly I made sure the other groomsmen had gum and made sure Jody didn't pass out.)

Cousin Parker keeps Evie Lu occupied.


Once everyone got to the church for pictures, Evie resumed her monkey see monkey do game with Parker. Everything Parker did, Evie copied. It was a riot. When Evie wasn't copying Parker she was running circles with other little kids in the entryway. Where she gets the energy I have no idea.

We clean up alright.


The ceremony was beautiful and Evie watched it all from the floor in front of the first pew eating cheerios. We are very excited to welcome Leanne to the family and to get to know her family as well.

The happy couple saying, "I do."

Wedding Rehearsal And Dinner

Mom don't take pictures, I'm talking to Aunt Becky and Cousin Parker.


The day before the wedding we gathered to make sure everyone knew what was going on. Evie Lu made sure to scope out the church for the best places to run in circles. Cousin Parker became Evie Lu's role model at this point. Evangeline wanted to do everything Parker did and sometimes the only way to get Evie to follow was to say Parker was coming too.

Okay, you keep taking pictures and I'll keep eating my hand.


The rehearsal dinner was held at the Illinois Governor's mansion. It is the third oldest governor's mansion and it hosts more events every year than all the other governor's mansions combined. The menu for the night was a Springfield culinary original, the Horseshoe. This is an open faced sandwich on two slices of Texas toast. You pile on the meat of your choice (our options were ham, portabello mushrooms, hamburger patties, or Buffalo chicken), add a layer of french fries, then top it all off with a cheese sauce. (With every sandwich you get a 15% off coupon for a cardiologist visit.) They were pretty great.

Clapping for Uncle Jody.


The evening was capped off by Jody singing a song he wrote for his bride to be and a tour of the mansion. We only made it through a couple of rooms before Evie Lu hit the wall and we had to leave. (I always enjoy it when people comment on how good Evie Lu is being and the tone of voice is like that of someone noticing how the grenade you are holding hasn't gone off yet.) Evie Lu slept hard that night and she was ready for a whole lot of dancing for the big day.

A happy family with a tired little girl.

Springfield!

Where have we been for the last couple of weeks? We've been all over the country. Kaia and Evie Lu stayed home while I went to South Carolina and then we all packed up and headed to Illinois to be a part of Jody and Leanne's wedding. (Evie is thrilled to have a new aunt!) It will take us a while to show you all the cool stuff, so keep checking back over the next few days!

Will and Evangeline at Abraham Lincoln's house. Who is that on the post?


When you go to Springfield you have to check out all the Abraham Lincoln attractions. He lived in Springfield before becoming president and the whole town is all Lincoln all the time. Two days before the wedding we spent the day at The Lincoln Presidential Museum and had a blast.

Will, Evie Lu, and her Uncle Jody with the Lincoln family.


Kaia and Evangeline spent quite a bit of time in a kid's area where there were dress up clothes and games from the era. The gentleman showing Evie how to play the game was a riot. Thankfully Evie Lu didn't take out any other kids as she swung the toy around.

Evie goes old school with a game.


Evie Lu models an outfit I hope is in style when she's 16.


The best part of getting to Springfield was being with family. Evie Lu got to catch up with Grandma Rhonda, Aunt Kathy, Aunt Becky, Cousin Parker, Uncle Jody, and the new additions of Aunt Leanne and her family. It was fantastic.

Two cousins on a sunny day.

Just me and Mommy!

Evie and I have been all to ourselves this week since Will is on a retreat across the country. Thank goodness he comes back tomorrow because I think both Evie and I have had enough of each other! Really, we want Will back home safe and sound because we love him and miss him lots. Evie and I have been having some fun table conversation this week. Two nights ago, I asked her how many songs she knew and we made a list:

Evie's playlist:
ABCs
Pinkle pinkle widdle star
Free my mice (Three blind mice...took me a while to figure it out)
Donja know da muckin man? (Do you know the muffin man?)
Jesus loves me (she knows that word for word!)
Old MacDonald EIEIO
And many more...

Evie loves music, and now has started requesting "music! music on!" when we drive to daycare in the morning. I guess she isn't a NPR fan.



Wearing big sunglasses makes me look like a star in a magazine!

Time for hair and makeup

A week ago, Evie got into my makeup and I thought I caught her before she did anything. When I asked her what she did, she pointed at her eyes.

Sure enough, she had done some work on her eyebrows. It was pretty funny, until I tried to remove the marks. Have you ever tried taking eyeliner off a 2-year old? Traumatic. Let's just say, we won't be trying out for Toddlers and Tiaras anytime soon. Evie may have other plans.





She tried on my heels this afternoon and I caught a few pictures of her model walk and poses. Maybe she's been watching episodes of America's Next Top Model. Oof.

Aren't I Smart

Can I see a picture of Evie?


One morning last week I walked into Evie Lu's room and she said, "I'm wet." I thought nothing too new there, but then I started to notice things were amiss. She was very wet everywhere and then I saw a completely dry diaper just sitting in the crib. I asked Evangeline if she had taken off her diaper and she gave me a very pleased with herself, "yup!" So at some point in the morning my little girl had pulled down her pajama pants, taken off her diaper, and then pulled her pants back up.
Hooray for potty training! Now if we can just make sure she pees where we want her to and not just anywhere.

Evie's New Kitty

Evie Lu's aunt Megan may be collecting quite the menagerie of pets, but Evangeline does not want to be outdone. Evie Lu received some gifts from Grandpa Wayne and Grandma Bev for Easter and among the gifts was a stuffed kitty. Our little girl was immediately taken with the new pet and has not wanted to put the cat down since. Kaia thinks it is acting as a proxy for the real cat in the house and now Oscar doesn't have to be worried about Evie wanting to carry him everywhere. Here is a video of the new addition.