Memorial Day Weekend

As usual, we went up to Paya Lake for Memorial weekend. And as usual also, the weather wasn't the greatest. At least not for the first part of the weekend. Luckily we were able to check out the water a few times when it wasn't raining.
It was Quinn's first time at the cottage since last year, of which she obviously doesn't remember anything. And now she is walking too. A completely different ballgame for us parents. First time she walked up to the beach, she headed straight for the water and didn't stop when her feet were in it. We have to keep a very close watch on her out there, that's for sure! 

We put her lifejacket on when we went for a boatride around the lake. She wasn't too happy about that, but this is not up for discussion of course. It's tempting to just hold her and let her sit without it, but once you start doing that, she will never want to wear it again.

A little distraction (the radio buttons) made her forget about her life jacket.

On Memorial Day itself we headed back home in the morning, since the weather didn't seem very promising yet. Grandpa and grandma came with us and Ryan and grandpa put the swingset up in the yard. As it got to the afternoon, the sun came out and it actually got pretty hot and humid. A pretty nice day after all. But well, we were glad we changed our plans and got the swingset up and running.

Let's try out the slide first.

I guess her face says it all! She loves the swing.

Quinn is 16 months old!

Don't the months just fly by. Quinn turned 16 months old already and in another 2/2.5 months this little lady will become a big sister.

Being outside is one of her favorite things to do at the moment. Which isn't surprising as there is so much to see outside. The swingset is almost finished.......we can't wait to try it out.
Since last month, 2 more teeth popped through and she added the words 'ball' and 'baby' to her vocabulary.
Eating is going so and so. One day she eats good, the next day hardly anything. Her most favorite food at the moment is watermelon. She could probably eat that all day long. The coldness of the fruit and the structure must feel good on her gums.
She's still on a 2 nap schedule, although I have the feeling she sometimes doesn't really sleep during her morning nap. But she's still in bed for an hour or so anyway. I think it won't be long though until her morning nap will be dropped.

 After the thousands of pictures that I already took of her since she was born, she doesn't really want to look at the camera too often for me anymore. And when she doesn't want to do something, she won't do it. She has a pretty strong mind of her own already. Luckily I was able to get some good shots of her during this photo session.

Happy 16-month Birthday sweetheart!!

Tomato time!

We love to eat tomatoes and Ryan has been talking about getting tomato plants for a long time already, so it was finally time to execute the plan. We started out with four plants, just to see how it goes. If they turn out well, I'm predicting we'll be having a whole garden with all kinds of fruits/vegetables next season!

After we were done planting, we went for a walk. Quinn doesn't mind her stroller, but enjoys walking by herself a lot more. Especially when there are sticks and branches on the road to pick up and play with.

At the Zoo

We went to visit the zoo for the first time again this year with our friends the Luebke's. Quinn had been there last year a few times, but obviously doesn't remember that. So Addison and Gavin were showing her around. She enjoyed it a lot, although it was also a little bit overwhelming and busy that day. She will get used to it though. I'm sure we will be going there a lot this summer. 

Okay, these are no tears of fear! She was just soooooo disappointed that the cracker was for the giraf and not for herself.

We went back the following week. It was a little bit cooler outside, but also not so crowded with people. She enjoyed walking around and checking out all the animals that were outside.

Team Cale @ the Cystic Fibrosis Walk

It was cold. It was windy. It was wet.
But team Cale gathered anyway and we went on our 5 kilometer walk for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

Overall 43,000 US Dollars was raised and team Cale raised over $6,000 of that. What an accomplishment.
Thanks to everyone who contributed to this great result!

The little heroe himself. Cale wasn't at the walk because the bad weather and all people together were too much of a risk zone for him to catch a cold or something else. But he supported his team from his house wearing his "TEAM CALE" shirt.
(For some reason this picture comes up sideways and I don't know why or how to change it....) 

Quinn was also very proud being part of Team Cale. She was all bundled up in her stroller for which I luckily had a rain cover. She did great. Checked out everything from her stroller, didn't fuss at all, took a good afternoon nap when we got home and was ready to go again afterwards!

I told you I could do it all by myself!

Sometimes you just have to let them fly on their own, right!?!?!!?