Amusement Parks and Movie Theaters

Last weekend we got to cross off two major summer bucket list items - our local amusement park, Valley Fair, and Lyla's first ever movie!  Which also turned into Evie's first ever movie.  Which was not the best decision on my part.

On Saturday we packed up first thing and headed to Valley Fair with our neighbors and their two kids.  We got there as soon as they opened and made it all the way to mid-afternoon with four kids and zero meltdowns.  If that's not a miracle, I don't know what is.

We started out in Snoopy Land with all the kiddie rides, and Lyla was able to ride just about everything.  Evie wasn't able to ride much, in fact she only rode one ride.  I have to admit even my tummy had butterflies on that thing, and that tiny girl sitting next to me was just leaning as close to me as she could get, silent the entire time.  After it ended she started crying and I wasn't sure if it was because it ended or because it happened.  I'm pretty sure it was the latter.

After Snoopy Land we headed to the water park area and hit the splash pads, lazy river, and wave pool.  Lyla and Graham, the 5 year old across the street, were too cute all day - always looking for each other and riding next to each other on rides.  They all had such a blast, and did I mention NO naps AND no meltdowns?!

At one point we ran into this little marching band that came out playing "I'm So Fancy".  We saw them again and they were playing "Uptown Funk".  Lyla was Hooked with a capital H.  She could not get enough of this little band.  One of the girls gave her a high five  and told her to dance with them - and that's all it took.  She immediately hopped out of her stroller and shook it with them for the rest of the song.  She was in heaven.  She never mentioned them again that day, but the next morning she woke up crying - which is not the norm.  I went in her room and cuddled up in her bed and she started talking about the marching band and how she missed them.  Apparently she had a dream they came to our house and she got to dance with them again.  I think we have a little marching band-er in our future.  :)

On Sunday I told Ryan that he could take his little daughter on a date to her first movie - which she has been talking about for months!  And then I got all jealous and begged to let Evie and I come too, promising to watch Evie if she didn't handle it well.  Surprise, surprise - the 16 month old didn't want to sit for 2 hours in the dark.  But she actually did pretty well, all things considered.  And Lyla had a ball with her popcorn and lemonade.  Next weekend Ryan actually gets to go on that date to see Minions.  More on that later.  :)

- K

The Zoo

One of the things on our summer bucket list was to take the girls to the zoo so we took advantage of the beautiful weather on Sunday and ventured out to see the animals.  The first thing we ran into was a brand new splash pad.  We had no towels, no bathing suits, no change of clothes but neither of them seemed to care.  They ran around like fools and got completely soaked, only stopping for the occasional cotton candy fuel up.

Once we finally dragged them away from the water we actually did see some animals.  Our zoo has a farm in it and that's always been Lyla's favorite part.  We spent a lot of time with the goats - Lyla mostly put them in a head lock, which luckily only resulted in one finger bite.

It was such a fun trip.  Love my crazy little family!

- K

Butterflies!

I think my most unexpected favorite thing about being a mom is how you get to see everything through a child's eyes again.  You get to help create the wonder and excitement they have with everything - from the big excitements like Santa and the Easter Bunny to the more every day little joys like pointing out a hummingbird outside our window at dinner and the big eyes and smiles when they see it themselves. 

Lyla is as curious and inquisitive as they come, and I've had a blast this summer starting to do little "experiments" with her like planting flowers and watching daily as they grow and bloom, noticing the smells and colors.  A few weeks ago we got a butterfly kit that let's you watch as the caterpillars grow, create cocoons, and then become butterflies.  It was pretty amazing to see them grow significantly each day.  When they made their appearance as butterflies Lyla got to put flowers in their habitat and feed them sugar water.  She was a pretty good little butterfly mama.  :)

The other day (after Tim got caught several times sitting on the counter next to them, licking his chops) we set them free.  Both girls were pretty thrilled to watch them fly away, one at a time.  One even let me hold it and another climbed onto Lyla's little finger. 

I hope she remembers this!  I know I will.  :)

- K

 

 

A Weekend with the Burns

Last weekend we had more visitors!  Auntie Alycia, Uncle Colin and baby Brailyn came into town for a whole 48 hours and we enjoyed every one of them.  We didn't have a lot of time but managed to get them out to Lake Harriet, which is obviously one of our faves, and it didn't disappoint.  We even got to ride the trolley for the first time which was so fun!

Always love having family visit!  Thanks for a great weekend, guys!

- K

she tried to steal this random dog.

lyla loves to tell me "kisses are disgusting" these days.  but i'll never stop.  :)

a picture with both of them went really well...

Fireworks!

I can't say enough good things about our 4th of July weekend.  First of all, every weekend should be a three day weekend.  For real.  Second, for the first time we completely chucked all the bedtime rules out the window and kept the girls up late to see fireworks.  So worth it.

Ryan's best friend, Jeff, came into town for the weekend and him and Ryan drove out to Wisconsin to get some "real" fireworks.  Whatever dreams he had in his head about him and his daughter lighting them off together and creating lifelong memories and blah blah, they totally came true.  Which isn't fair at all because it never goes that way for me.  But anyways, they were the cutest together.  Lyla couldn't get enough and neither of them had any regard for safety.  They would light the firework and run screaming, flop on the grass next to each other and stare into the sky until they exploded.  And then my heart would explode a little bit too.

We started the 4th at the local farmer's market, headed home so Jeff and Ryan could do a little interior decorating and forced as many naps as we could on the girls.  Later we headed out to Eden Prairie to a little family festival they had.  Lyla bounced on the bounce houses and got her face painted.  Evie just followed her around and danced whenever she could.  We all made it to the fireworks with minimal meltdowns and even went on a little off roading adventure to get the heck home afterwards.

It was a great 4th all the way around!  Love our beautiful country!

- K