4th of July

Aunt Donna helping Gen draw a kitty at Rick's on Saturday.

We had an eventful weekend and definitely needed a quiet day at home today to recover. Friday we went to Grandma Susan's for lunch. When we arrived we found that Grandma, Donna, Brain, Catherine and Blake had gone to the park so we walked over too. After some fun in the sandbox and on the slides, we headed back for lunch.

After naps we went to the splash pad and play area at Lake George here in St. Cloud. Just like Gen, Blake didn't want to run through the water. Blake played with cups and a toy watering can in a water trough play area. Gen spent the time on the play equipment with Pete.

Grandma made steaks on the grill for supper and we headed home to put Gen to bed. Donna, Brian, Catherine and Blake headed to Hester Park to enjoy the festivities and watch the fireworks. I dropped Pete and Gen at home and headed to the video store. I also needed to pick up a birthday card for my brother. Pete and I watched Vantage Point and it was pretty good.

Donna called on Saturday and offered to drive us to Rick and Michele's in St. Micheal. We had planned to drive on our own, but we love when Donna does all the fast-paced, stressful driving. Tuesday is Rick's 40th birthday and they are moving soon back to Illinois so we went for a party with Michele's local family members also in attendance.

Just down the block from their house is a play area and pool. We spent time at the play area before lunch and at the pool after. Rick and his in-laws stayed back at the house. Michele's sister and her boys joined us in the pool. Gen didn't want anything to do with the water, so we set her on a chair between Aunt Shelly and Grandma Susan. Every time I looked over there Gen had a blank stare on her face. Later Grandma said Gen had fallen asleep a couple of times and jerked back awake.

We laid in the pool with noodles and I enjoyed having Linda swirl me around the pool several times. It was refreshing, lazy fun. We all dried off, had cake and ice cream and watched the four kids run around.

We were all so tired when we got home. Gen got her second wind and started running around the house. She had a hard time settling down for sleep and eventually I went and sat with her to get her to lay in bed. It was one of those times where she laid still for just two minutes and was completely out.

Today Gen and I slept in while Pete went to church to do sound. Gen and I didn't get up until about 10:30! When I heard she was awake and went in her room, she was laying behind the door with some books and toys, but no diaper! Luckily she didn't have an accident on the floor.

We didn't have our camera with on Friday and only took a few pictures on Saturday. Rick and Michele have a steeply sloped back yard with a large pond behind their house. Pictured below is Donna's attempt at showing Gen how to roll down a hill. Part of the problem may be that Gen doesn't really like the grass. She was outside without shoes on for the first time on Friday.