In our bed

Lazy days!

Birthday Party!

Happy Birthday Beanitude!!

Lauren woke up to a surprise this morning.  Kevin and I snuck in last night and decorated it.  She’s finally five, it’s a big day now that she’s a WHOLE HAND! We celebrated with purple number pancakes.  I keep forgetting to use the “You are special today” plate that I made specifically for the kids’ birthdays a couple of years ago.

We started out the afternoon with a pedicure.  Lauren wanted Hello Kitty (the theme of her birthday party) so I scoured the internets looking for cute pedicure ideas.  This one won out (and turned out sooooo perfectly!)

After the pedicure we got Lauren’s ear pierced.  I was pretty occupied there so I don’t think I have any photos of the actual deed.  It went well but she was genuinely shocked that it hurt and cried for about 20 seconds (which is a pretty long time.)  Then we were off to Barnes & Noble to get her free birthday cupcake.  She devoured the whole thing (look at her jaw unhinging to stuff it all in, she’s definitely my child!)

Later, we had a mini cake for dessert.  Happy birthday to my sweet baby girl!

Sibley park playtime

It was super fun to see the Alpaca eat some yummy leaves today at the park.  We were sooooo close to the sweet little guy.

Waterpark fun

Today, the family headed over to Waseca for some more waterpark fun.  Kevin was finally able to convince Jackson to go down the turtle slide.  Once he started, he didn’t want to stop and spent pretty much all afternoon wanting to go down the slide.  I occasionally coaxed him into the deep in (but then it was right back to the slide for him!)

Yaaay for the water lovin’ sprout.  He isn’t always so agreeable.

Lauren spent most of her afternoon playing on the floating crocodile.  She was really quite good at going across it by the end of the day.

She was also a big brave girl.  Hopefully after some more swimming lessons, she’ll be diving in without the life jacket by next summer.

Nope, they’re not at all related. LMAO!

Princess Jackson

Lauren and Jack were playing so nicely together this morning.  Apparently Jack was feeling quite generous as well considering he allowed Lauren to dress him up.  I couldn’t resist, I had to snap a couple of pictures.  Someday he’ll kill me (or die of embarrassment) but alas, that day is not today!

The cousins!

Heather was visiting (family reunion that we missed in South Dakota) with the kids and had an extra day to spend in the cities so we took advantage.  The kids had a blast hanging out (Lauren doesn’t remember the last time she saw Ashley and Elizabeth.)

Aunt Tiffany even got in on the fun.

Jack absolutely loves the characters.

SUP!

Today, I tried out stand up paddle boarding and LOVED IT!  I can’t wait to do it again (and maybe take Kevin or Lauren out with me!)

Lake Minnetonka (in Wayzata) was gorgeous and a great location for us beginners.

Thanks Kari, for planning this outing!!

Some days you gotta dance

 

We’re ready to boat!

Little guy passed out in Kevin’s arms about 10 minutes into the ride.