The last weekend of Summer!

What a beautiful weekend! We've been looking forward to this 3-day weekend for weeks now, especially since we got to stay with Addison since Thursday due to Brenda being on vacation. What a treat! Since it was 75-80 degrees and sunny every day, we spent time outside in the backyard and we hit the beach as well. Back to work tomorrow, but looking forward to Grant and Stacy's wedding and more beach time in just 2 weeks!

Addison talking to her buddy the duck

We found her sleeping like this during a morning nap - how cute is that?!

Taking a break to read a book

Addison writes her first blog posting - A day at the park with my Dad.

Some of you might find this odd but I thought I'd write a posting for once and give my mom a break. I figure it's the least I can do for the best Mom in the whole wide world. She always takes the time to write such wonderful things about how much she loves watching me grow, laugh, play and "All kinda thing like that there."

I'm sure you're wondering where I got that saying from. My Grandpa Allan got that saying stuck in my head the first time I visited California when I was 3 months old and I haven't been able to get it out of my head since. Anyway, I'm writing to let everyone know that I had the most amazing day with my Daddy.

We started out by having a wonderful breakfast together and then he took me for a jog through our neighborhood. After my morning nap we went to the park where I played in the sand, got my tan on and swung on the swing set. The best was when I climbed up the steep stairs leading to the slide. It was my very first time accomplishing a feat of this magnitude. I made it up the entire way without my Daddy's help. He was so proud of me! He clapped and cheered me on the entire way. However, I must say he was a bit nervous when I went down the steep stairs. It was a little touch and go going down the first four steps. Then, on the fifth one I ended up falling off and landing on the sand covered playground floor. It was no big thing though. I got up and dusted myself off and moved on to the next playground adventure. Thanks Dad for such a wonderful day! Love, Addison.

Ok, maybe DJ wrote this but Addison played a big role in the editing room.

Playtime at the Calhoun Park

Another gorgeous weekend in the Mini-apple! We spent a ton of time outside this weekend, with Addison roaming around the kiddie park by lake Calhoun for much of Saturday afternoon. She was quite adventurous, climing up the slide and slithering down the playground equipment. It's hard to keep this girl clean these days!

On Sunday we all came into my office to drop off some plants and pictures (I've been doing a bit of office redecorating to make myself feel more at home!) and Addison had a GREAT time sitting in my chair and banging on my keyboard. She also made friends with a little stuffed Target dog that was sitting near my desk, and insisted on repeatedly kissing and squeezing him. She even propped him up right on the keyboard in front of her all by herself!

Addison had pizza for the first time this week and scarfed it down with gusto. We made it ourselves on a piece of whole wheat flatbread with veggies and cheese, so although this version was healthy, I'm pretty sure she'll love the real deal when she gets a hold of that someday.

Bottle before bed with dad

Target!

Park time!

Pizza!

Cedar Lake Beach

What a weekend! Possibly the nicest weather we have had all Summer long. Following a week of torrential downpours, tornado warnings and flash floods, this weekend was filled with sunshine, blue skies, warm air and a mild breeze. It's even been cool enough at night to sleep with the windows open.

Addison and I went to the zoo with our good friend Natalie, and Mara and her kids - I think Addison has seen enough of the zoo this year. She has a hard time sitting still in the stoller, and constantly wants to get out and crawl around. If she sees a field of grass or a body of water, she squirms and wriggles and says "down!" Well, it sounds like down. The zoo isn't exactly the best place for crawling around, but we enjoyed the day anyhow.

Sunday, DJ and Addison and I hit Cedart Lake Beach, not far from our house. Addison ate about 10 handfuls of sand, crawled all over a kayak, splashed in the water and scarfed down her first PB&J sandwich with watermelon. She had a great time, and so did we!

Morning sleepy head

New fave pastime - open drawer, take clothes out,

put clothes back in, shut drawer, repeat...

Cedar Lake Beach -

on our way down the trail

Watermelon obession

Splish splash - sorry for the sideways view here!

Wheeeee! One final rinse before heading out

"Hot"

Addison's trick this week is saying "hot" and blowing on her food. There's something new all the time! She continues to love all bodies of water, and will do anything to hop right in. On Saturday we went to a pool party, where Addison attempted multiple times to climb into the pool by lowering herslef over the side (like she does on the stairs) and going in backwards. Don't be alarmed, we were right there with her of course, but her confidence in her abilities is growing daily. We then high-tailed it to a party with my Target co-workers and family/kids, where it proceeded to downpour and Addison and my boss's children insisted on crawling around in the rain becoming soaked. The woman and her husband hosting (no children yet) were panicked - it was hilarious! The kids had a good time though. I have no pictures of that event, but plenty of bath-time, and a few of the pool party. Enjoy!

HOT

Como Zoo

This past weekend Logan was visiting with us (and is here all week) so we decided to make a family outing to Como Zoo, one of the best FREE zoos I have ever been to! There is a beautiful carousel ride, tons of fun animals, a sea lion show and even a little amusement park for kids. This season there happens to be a beautiful butterfly exhibit, which was amazing - a huge tent shaped like a catepillar filled with flowers and plants and butterflies of all shapes, colors and sizes! We got some pretty cool pictures and Addison even tried to reach out and touch a few.

We also spent time on Saturday afternoon at DJ's softball playoff tournament. Addison got to hang with her buddy Cailin who is one day younger than her. Lots of July babies last year!

At the softball tourney

She was ALL OVER this little pug puppy


Trying on the pink cowboy boots from Grammie Pam :)

She likes them, I promise!

Eating lunch on Como Park before the zoo

Before the carousel ride - yippee!


Huge lillypads

I couldn't resist - these are the worst jeans I have ever seen on a man!

The tortoise, my favorite

my other favorite

Addison trying to get a better glimpse of Sparky the Sea Lion

Reaching for butterflies



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Before the Sea Lion show