back in the saddle

Our fall schedule has officially begun.  It feels nice to be back in a routine, although life definitely hasn't slowed down at all.  But, unfortunately, I don't think that's possible. 

 

Here's a little glimpse of what our last few weeks of summer looked like.  We spent one of the first weekends in August camping with a whole bunch of cousins in Walker, MN.  It was a fun weekend full of campfires, volleyball, swimming, being tourists, eating, roasting marshmallows and roughing it in a tent.  (i forgot the pump for our air mattress...eek!)

 

Lincoln loves the park, and thankfully there's a really nice one close to our house.  Many evenings we would end up there to swing, slide and just run around.

 

 

Both Lincoln and Libby loved spending time outside in the pool!  So did I!  :)

 

 

To help solve part of our daycare dilemma, my parents came down to visit/babysit Lincoln for a few days.  So of course we had to go to the mall for a little shopping/people watching/oriental massage trip.  And we found a great new mode of transportation!  You might notice in the video a part where a cute little chick rode by in her stroller!  :)

 

 

 

While my parents were here we had to hit the Great Minnesota Get-Together!  It's become a tradition, and we always have a great time!  And I think we may have a little cowboy on our hands.  Lincoln absolutely LOVED the horses.  And of course with Grandpa's encouragement, he may have planted a kiss on one or two.....or every single one we stopped to see!  :)

We also made a pit stop that weekend to the stables at Bunker Hills.  I had never been there before, so we just though we'd check it out to see if we could pet the horses.  You can't.  But they had saddles set up on a log to practice sitting in.  He looks like a natural! 

 

My dad also got our bike tires aired up and attached our Burley to my bike so we can finally get cruising on our bikes.  Better late than never!

 

Then my parents left.  And they took Lincoln with them.  I only cried for an hour or so, but then I got SO much done!!  And Lincoln had a blast at grandma & grandpa's.  He was grandpa's little sidekick all week - they had so much fun together!

 

My brother brought Lincoln back on Thursday night, and we had a nice, relaxing last weekend before Hal started school and Lincoln started his new daycare on Tuesday.  Of course, football has been underway for a few weeks now, so Monday it was just Lincoln and I at home.  We may or may not have spent almost the entire day in our jammies.  :)

 

And that all leads us to our first day of daycare.  Well, these pictures are from the second day because, let's face it, I'm just not as on top of things as I would like to be and I totally forgot to take a picture on the first day. 

 

I guess it was a little too early in the morning for a real smile.  But he still likes to ham it up for the camera!

 



 

It literally took most of the summer to find a new daycare, but our last interview was the winner!  The problem we ran into was that for Lincoln's age group, most licenses only allow them to have one or two children of that age.  So most of the places I called were already full.

 

The first couple days have been pretty good, but it's going to be a transition.  But it's close to home and close to work, and I think it will be a good fit!  Thanks for praying with us!

 

Hope you all had a great summer!

Twelve Months!

So....I scheduled this to post on Wednesday morning, Lincoln's birthday, and I just realized it didn't post.  So here it is.  Better late than never!

 

I can't even believe how fast this year has gone, and am even more amazed at how much Lincoln has changed and grown in just one short year!  I am so blessed to be this little guy's momma and fall more in love with him every day!  Happy Birthday, Lincoln!

 

 

Last Day of Daycare

We are so sad that our daycare is closing.  We love Jacquilyn and the care she has provided for Lincoln this past year.  We will definitely miss her and her daughter, Saelah, who loves Lincoln and Lincoln loves here - they're great friends! 

First day of Daycare - September 16, 2013

 

 

Last day of Daycare - June 6, 2014

 

So now the search begins for a new daycare for Lincoln.  It's so hard.  Please pray with us if you think of it.  We were so blessed to be able to have him in a Christian home and environment this year.  Praying we can find something similar.

Eleven Months

Thankfully we're almost to the end of the first year monthly photo sessions.  And I only say that because it's getting harder and harder to get him to sit still enough to even get one good picture where he's looking, let alone smiling!  My goodness.

 

But, clearly, turning on Veggie Tales was not a good tactic.  Oops.

 

 

 

 

Canadian Camping Trip

This past weekend we spent camping with Darby and Deanna (& Britta and Mandi) and Derek and Jill (& Chloe, Abby, Thad and Ezra).  We had a super fun weekend with great weather!

 

 

We camped at Sioux Narrows Provincial Park in Sioux Narrows, Ontario.  It is beautiful.  I have never been to that part of Canada before, but I'm hoping this won't be the last time!  Saturday morning the boys and Thad and Britta headed out trout fishing and left the women and babies and Chloe and Abby back at camp.  We filled the morning with playing at the park and a two-hour hike through the woods.  It was pretty rugged terrain at times (we may or may not have been on a trail?!), so we definitely got our strength and cardio workout in for the day.  We all were pretty warm so we headed back to camp to get on shorts and the girls got on their swimsuits.  They're pretty brave because the water was ice cold!  But they had a blast splashing around in the water.

 

 

Deanna took most of these pictures (because we all know I have good intentions, but usually forget to pull out the camera/phone).  So I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.  It was such a relaxing weekend and we hope to get at least one more camping trip in this summer!

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sioux Narrows bridge



 

Nothing better after a long, busy weekend than to kick up your feet with a cold drink

and Bob the Tomato and watch a few episodes of Veggie Tales!

Major Distractions

I had to do some work from home this weekend so I took advantage of Lincoln's naptime on Sunday afternoon to sneak into his room/our office and get some editing done.  But, seriously, how is anyone supposed to get any work done when this cutie wakes up from his nap so happy and ready to play?!

 

 

 

Weekend Warriors

This past weekend, Lincoln and I headed up to Baudette for Lacy Holen's wedding (now Lacy Pinder!)  We picked up Briana Sardina and her boyfriend, Chris, from the airport on Thursday afternoon and headed up north.  This was our first trip without daddy so it was a little different, but we had a great time!

 

 

When we were up a few weeks ago, Lincoln (or maybe Lincoln's mommy) forgot Larry the Cucumber at Grandma's house!  So when we got up there on Thursday night we found Larry all tucked in in his crib.  I wish I could have gotten Lincoln's face on video.  It was priceless.  He looked at Larry, looked at me, back at Larry and then just started giggling!!  He was so happy to see his friend again!

 



 

We made sure to stop and visit both of Lincoln's great-grandmas.  At great-grandma Rose's house Lincoln found a box of toys that all of us grandkids used to play with.  It was fun to watch him explore and play with all those "old" toys.  He was kind of confused at first with this phone.  I think he was looking for the apps.  :)

 

 

Saturday morning we woke up to this gorgeous sunrise.  The picture doesn't do it justice, but it looked like a fire in the sky!

 

 

Saturday afternoon was the wedding so we had to get all dressed up.  Look at those sharp-dressed guys!  Two of my favorites! 

 

 

 

Britta and Lincoln!  Britta is never far behind Lincoln - she just loves him to pieces.  In fact, she usually likes to be right on top of him.  A few times she just sat right on him when he was playing on the floor!  It's cute because she really does just love him so much she doesn't want him far away from her.  At one point she reached in for a kiss.  I tried to grab my phone to get a picture because Lincoln was kissing her back.  Then all of a sudden Britta started to cry.  Lincoln bit her lips!  I couldn't help but laugh.  Gotta watch out for those teeth - they're sharp!

 

 

Lincoln loved sitting with Grandpa Sunday morning at church - he even raised his hand to say a verse and then laughed when Derek called on him!

 

 

Checking out the traffic flying by the chapel.

 

 

I was a little nervous driving back to the cities on Sunday afternoon because it was just the two of us - Briana and Chris stayed up north an extra day.  Lincoln and I have never traveled alone.  But he did GREAT!  I think he's going to be a great road-tripper.  He slept the first two-and-a-half hours.  Then we stopped, changed him, played for a few minutes in the back seat, got back in the car seat with a bottle.  He was awake for about an hour-and-a-half just babbling and playing in his car seat and then slept the rest of the way home!  It couldn't have gone better!  I thought he might not sleep well that night since he had slept so much in the car, but he did!  What a trooper!

 

Such a fun and relaxing weekend to just hang out with grandpa and grandma!  Now we just can't wait for the weather to finally warm up so we can play outside every day!