Actually

Ryan has started using the word "actually" lately, and it's funny to hear him use it. Today he said it over lunchtime and I quick wrote it down so I could remember it. For lunch, I gave him a peanut butter & jelly sandwich, 1/2 banana, some peas, and two (2!) baby tomatoes. He gobbled up the sandwich and the banana and then said, "Mom, these are not really actually my tomatoes. I don't like them." It made me laugh so I took a picture of his plate to show what he was talking about. Also, as I'm writing this post he is behind me sitting at the table, and he just yelled out, "I don't like vegetables! I want popcorn already."

Pomme Bebe

I ran across this as I was searching the internet tonight... Pomme Bebe (http://www.pommebebe.com/). It's a store, or restaurant I guess, for babies. They have one in Newport Beach, CA. They make fresh, completely organic food for babies and toddlers. You can stop in their store, belly up to the bebe bar and order some food for your kids. Or you can order their food online. Anyway, I thought it looked fun! Only drawback... a 4 oz. container of baby food costs $3.25 to $4.50 each! Oh well, I guess I could puree my own baby food if I want it to be that fresh. :)

First Hackett Cabin Trip

Yesterday (August 21st) we drove up to Farm Island Lake, near Aitkin, MN to spend 2 days with Scott's parents at their cabin. I cannot believe it, but this is the first time we've been to their cabin since our kids were born! Ryan and Grace have never been there, so this was fun for them too. We spent 2 relaxing days... cruising in the pontoon, reading (I read a whole book!), eating, making s'mores, playing baseball, napping (mostly me and Grace), digging in the sand, fishing on the dock, and enjoying each other's company. We got home tonight and I'm so glad we went because this has been our first weekend together as a whole family since Scott's baseball ended. (By the way... their season finished when they lost two games in the Regional finals in Ohio. Scott got home on Sunday, August 17th. I'm sad that his team didn't make it to the World Series this year, but I am proud of all they accomplished.) Anyway, back to the cabin stuff - here are pictures from our time there over the past 2 days.

Making s'mores.

Eating a graham cracker - yummy!

Smarshmallows (as Ryan calls them)!

This is Grace's "I'm tired and I'm going to suck my thumb backwards" look. I've always wanted to capture this on camera because I love how she sucks her thumb.

Relaxing at night.

Ryan really wanted to sleep on the couch while the adults stayed up in the livingroom.

Getting ready to go fishin' with Dad and Grandpa.

All geared up. But actually, once he got down to the dock he got bored because he wasn't catching fish right after he cast his line. Takes after his Mom I guess.

Playing ring toss.

Baseball game... better than watching the Twins.

Me and Grace.

Grandma and Grace.

Making sandcastles.

Look at me!

Enjoying the water.

Essential sandcastle making tools.

Checking out a stick in the water.

Throwing rocks off the dock.

Grace & Grandma (again?)

This time it's Grace and Grandma Karen (my Mom). This picture was taken on Sunday, August 17th, 2008.

Cousin Fun Round 2

Last weekend (August 16-17), Ryan, Grace, and I visited with Jess, Malorie, and big Mark. We went up there on Saturday and spent the night. Ryan and Mal had a lot of fun playing together... chasing bubbles, throwing rocks in the pond, trying to catch frogs, playing in the tub, and practicing their golf skills.

Popsicles Fix Everything

Ryan spent the afternoon with his Grandpa Duane and Grandma Diane on Friday, August 15th. When I came to pick him up, we were all hanging out visiting when Ryan accidentally got his finger shut in a door. Poor little thing. I could tell it was pretty painful. But you wouldn't know it by looking at these pictures! I offered to give him a treat (to take his mind off the hurt) and it seemed to work. I guess a green popsicle is better than tylenol. :)

Grace & Grandma

On Friday, August 15th Grace and I took a quick trip to visit my Grandma T. Grace wore the dress that Grandma T. recently gave her and I think she looks pretty cute. It's fun to watch Grandma play with her... it's very sweet.

Hand-Me-Downs? Oh No!

Grace is now officially a member of the "I have an older sibling and I had to wear their hand-me-downs" club. I wanted to put her in a comfy, long-sleeved shirt for bedtime but all of her jammy tops were dirty, so the best I could find was one of Ryan's size 3T shirts. She didn't seem to mind. Purple pants and a grey Minnesota Wild shirt go together, right?

Eden Prairie Wins 2nd!

This past weekend (August 7-10), Scott's summer legion baseball team (he's the coach) played in the state tournament in Burnsville. They played 8 games total (2 per day) from Thursday to Sunday. The kids and I didn't attend the Thursday games, but since we've only gone to 1 game the whole season I decided we better show our support and make an appearnce, so we started by going to the 10:00 AM game on Friday. I was worried that keeping track of 2 kids, feeding them, changing diapers, keeping them entertained, etc. would get to be difficult while trying to be spectators at the game too, but it was actually really fun and I was able to manage the kids well. We not only attended the morning game on Friday, we also attended the rest of the games all the way through Sunday. It worked out pretty well on Friday and Saturday. We'd go to the morning game, head home for lunch and naps, and then come back for the afternoon game. On Sunday Scott's team had to play back-to-back games so we didn't get a break between games, but it still worked out okay. All weekend I think Ryan was in heaven. He got to be outside, rolling in the dirt, playing baseball and other games with any kid he could find, and getting excited to see Daddy when he was coaching at 3rd base. And when I say "rolling in the dirt", I mean it literally. I had to give Ryan 1 to 2 baths per day all weekend. He actually had dirt pebbles embedded in his thick head of hair. He loved seeing all of it come out in the tub water. Grace was a trooper all weekend too. My favorite times with her were when she'd sit on my lap, facing me, while I was watching the games. She would bounce and laugh, smile and play, and give me hugs. It was fun. Okay, back to baseball now. Just a little history about Scott's team... they won state the past 4 years in a row, and last year they won 2nd place in the legion World Series. So they are a pretty good team. This is Scott's first year as head coach though, and his first year as a legion coach at Eden Prairie. He's always coached high school at Eden Prairie, but over the summer he's been with Bloomington and Minnetonka's legion programs. Scott was pretty worried I guess, for lack of a better word, about taking over such a successful program because he wondered if they would falter under his lead. But so far, that has not been the case. Although they didn't win state this year, they did play in the championship game and took 2nd place. I'm very proud of the team and what Scott has accomplished as their coach. Winning 2nd place gave them a spot in the regional tournament. Scott and the team are in Ohio now. If they win this tournament they'll be heading back to the World Series (which is in North Carolina this year). GOOD LUCK TO SCOTT AND THE TEAM!


Scott (#26) and the team, waiting to receive their 2nd place trophy.


Proud of their accomplishment!


Ryan was checking out the trophy until someone offered him a sucker. I caught him just as he was getting up to run towards that sucker. :)

May I Have This Dance?

Ryan said something pretty cute tonight. We were at Kohl's (all of us... me, Scott, Grace, and Ryan) shopping for some clothes for Scott. I was pushing Ryan in one of the store's strollers and when we stopped in the tie section, he stood up in the stroller, turned around to face me, put his arms out towards me and said, "Mom, may I have this dance?" Where does he get this stuff? I thought it was pretty cute... and funny. :)

Stand Up!

I just want to write a quick note about Grace. When I came home from work today Scott told me that Grace had stood against our ottoman all by herself. It sounds funny to be so proud of this accomplishment when we're talking about a 10 1/2 month old baby, but this is big news for us! Grace has been a slow developer in the "moving" department. As I've told most of you before, she doesn't crawl, or walk against furniture, etc. Just recently she started to become a big roller. Every time we put her down, especially when she lays down for bed, she quickly rolls to her tummy. She can even, somehow... by kicking I guess, get from one part of the room to another when we put her down on the floor. And I was pretty excited to see her stand up, on her own tonight (with a little help from the furniture).