August Already????

Get ready for pictures, because I have a lot of catching up to do! July literally FLEW by! We stayed extremely busy and before I knew it, August was here! Our month was full-Halmoni and Haraboji were in town from Korea, Uncle Jon and Auntie Catherine were in town from Colorado, we celebrated the 4th of July, spent time at the lake, made time for a visit the Children's Museum, rode some amusement park rides at the Mall of America, enjoyed a quick trip to Duluth, and played a lot of soccer.

Our August is shaping up to be just as full and we're going to squeeze every last bit of fun out of summer as we can! That means you'll find us indulging in lots of frozen treats, stopping by the pool every free evening that we have, enjoying our last few weekends out on the boat, and spending time with our friends because all too soon, that thing known as school is going to change our daily schedule. Whether it's preschool of kindergarten, it's coming!

Amelia caught a fish and wanted NOTHING to do with it!

Even our enthusiastic swimmers didn't want much to do with the cold water of Lake Superior!

A Goal for the 'Blue Lightning'!



Amelia looks like she could melt after playing hard in HOT weather!

Graham and Amelia show of their awards

A Happy Birthday dinner for Uncle Jon

Amelia clearly thought riding the balloon ride at the Mall of America was amazing

This is how we shop these days. It does make for slow going, but I don't hear a single complaint about tired legs as Amelia is too focused on her baby to consider how far or long she's been walking! A win/win situation!

Two of Curious George's biggest fans so we had to check out the new exhibit at the museum!

Outdoor museum fun

Happy campers at the Mall of America

No, Amelia didn't eat all of these hot dogs. But, you won't find a bigger hot dog fan anywhere on the planet!  She was thrilled to pose with the hot dogs grilled to feed our 4th of July crowd

This is the first summer the kids will jump off the boat directly into the middle of the lake. A perfect way to spend hot days!

Amelia is all about safety. With a life jacket and an inner-tube, this girl takes no chances! :)

Happy (VERY belated) Birthday to Amelia!

This post is late. Very late. As in almost embarrassingly late. Amelia turned 4 on June 26 and I'm just now getting around to blogging about her celebration...oops!

I'm still in awe that my "baby" is 4. More days than not lately, I want to freeze time. I want to freeze time because Amelia loves nothing more than to cuddle up with a book so we can read together. She loves nothing more than to hang out with me in the kitchen while I'm cooking. I often lose track of how many unsolicited hugs and kisses she gives me each day. I'm told constantly "Mommy, I love you so much!" Amelia is my little shadow and I love it! I am so lucky and I often wonder, how I got so lucky. I have no doubt that Amelia was meant to be my daughter and I will be forever grateful that I  have the opportunity to watch her grow and see what life has in store for her!

At 4 years old, Miss Amelia is still as girly as they come. She loves pink, and dresses, and nail polish, and purses, and princess dress up clothes, and jewelry (more on this later), and shoes. Seriously, this girl loves shoes! In the past year she's also developed a love for all things pony. Pony toys, pony books, pony art projects, and cow girls who specifically ride ponies, not horses. So, it seemed fitting that Amelia celebrate another year in cow girl style with all her friends. We hosted her birthday bash at in indoor play area and served Amelia's very favorite meal...hot dogs and chips (I never claimed it was a healthy choice!) Cupcakes topped with ponies wrapped up the night and I'm confident that Amelia had a great time!

Let dinner begin!

Make a wish!

Graham loved this slide!

Watching the party clean up...they were too worn out to even move!

Now, back to Amelia and her love of jewelry....I have a specific necklace that Amelia LOVES. She often asks to wear it and I'll occasionally let her if we're at home, but it's from Tiffany and Co., and to be honest, I'm afraid she'll lose, it so more often than not, she's stuck just admiring it. Leave it to Grandma and Grandpa to make her 4 year old dreams come true though. Amelia is now the proud owner of her very own mini Tiffany bean necklace. I'm quite confident that she's the youngest, and happiest owner around!

Amelia also enjoyed her very first trip to the American Girl Cafe. Seated next to Amelia,  is her trusty side kick "Amelia Bedelia" (creative naming on Amelia's part, right?). This cafe was made for my girl. Pink walls, pink booths, pink tables, and pink lemonade. Can it possibly get any better for a pink loving girl? It sure is good to be 4!

Team Olson

Tennis lessons started this morning, so let me introduce you to the newest doubles team in the neighborhood!

They aren't really a doubles team (I'm pretty sure one needs to make consistent contact with the ball to be a member of any team), but they did stick together like glue during their group lesson! As we were leaving the courts and heading to the car, Amelia looked at Graham and said "We're best buddies, right Graham?" and Graham said "Yep we'll always be best buddies, but that doesn't mean I always have to share my transformers with you!"

 I'm LOVING the stage we're at with the kids right now. For the most part, they really do get along and act like best buddies. But, I'm not going to pretend that we don't have days where I insist they play on different floors of the house just to give myself a referee break. These days, I'm doing my best to be deliberate with family time in an attempt to create lasting memories for the kids (and myself, who am I kidding) and my fingers are crossed that they enjoy each others company for the rest of the summer. Fall will be here before we know it and with it will come a new stage of life for us....ELEMENTARY SCHOOL!

What we've been up to lately...

Graham ate an entire head of broccoli and he loved every single bite. He finished his lunch so I asked him if he'd like dessert and he asked for a huge helping of vegetables.

Amelia and this new pony "Pinkie Pie" are inseparable these days.

We LOVED the new dinosaur exhibit at the zoo!

After a busy afternoon playing in the sprinklers, the kids wanted to pretend they were relaxing on the beach.

All dressed up for Graham's piano recital.

Graham received his very first trophy at his performance.

Happy Amelia after a bike ride.

It's official...the training wheels are off and Graham can ride on two wheels. Hopefully, he learns to stop soon because watching him ride at full speed up and down the street then standing by to catch him when he decides he's done is getting VERY old. :)

Playing catch up....

No surprise here, but I'm once again behind on the blog. Consider this picture heavy post my best attempt to catch up!



Amelia was so excited to go on her very first field trip. We went to the zoo but I think the ride on a school bus and a picnic lunch in a princess lunch bag was the highlight of her day!

Last day of preschool for the year!

Last day of preschool forever...next stop kindergarten! I'm glad Graham is ready for the next step because I'm sure not!

Preschool Diploma Time

Happy Graham

Amelia and her wonderful, fantastic, amazing teacher. Graham had her last year and I LOVE her!

Daddy Jeff and I attended our reunion at St. Olaf and it was a fantastic weekend catching up with old friends. The kids joined us for a bit so we of course had to document their visit to campus with a picture in the chairs.

 This picture won't mean much to many, but to our family and I'm sure other Oles, can it get any better than watching my children run and play with other future Oles on the hill behind Old Main?

A good trip to the dentist meant a trip to the donut shop. And yes, I'm fully aware that we just put all that sugar back onto their teeth, but it sure was fun!

Spider Man and Ariel the Mermaid shopping at Target.

Unofficial Start of Summer

I guess you could say that tonight was our unofficial start to summer as Graham had his first t-ball game. I'm amazed at what a difference a year makes. Last year the kids spent a great majority of the time playing in the dirt and only a small amount of time focused on the game. Tonight they were pretty focused on playing and didn't care so much about the dirt. It actually doesn't matter what they're focused on, they all look adorable no matter what they do!

Getting ready for his turn at bat

SWING

Right after Graham made this face at me, he told me that no Mom's were allowed in the dugout

This is very typical Amelia as she always has a book in hand. She was only semi-interested in watching the game.

I think this is her "I'm really hot and kind of bored and I really want you to put the camera away!" face.

Amelia's First Dance Recital

Today was a big day for Amelia...her very first dance recital!  I was certainly one proud Mama to see my little girl up on that stage dancing her heart out! I wasn't just happy to see how adorable Amelia looked in her little ballet shoes and lion costume, but I was so proud to see her in front of an audience having a great time! Amelia can be very slow to warm up in a new environment and being on a stage in front of a huge audience is definitely a new environment. But, she was so brave and showed off all her little dance moves with confidence! I will fully admit to getting completely choked up when Amelia spotted me in the audience which made her smile turned into a grin and she began to wave. Sometimes I still have to pinch myself that this life really is my own. Today I got to be the Mommy in the audience waving at my little girl up on stage and what a fantastic day it was!

My only regret for the day was that I didn't break the 'no pictures in the auditorium rule' which means I don't have a single photo from the actual performance. I need to remember this for next time. Some rules are made to be broken, right? :)

Getting ready for her big debut!

Celebrating after the show!

Amelia and her friends Zebra Mary and Zebra Laney.