Today Matt and I celebrate four years of marriage. There are so many things that I could write about but decided to try and narrow it down to spare you as much mushiness (is that a word?) that I can. Matt and I seemed to be a perfect fit from the beginning and our life together seems have continued down that path. Neither of us is perfect,(even though I think Mattey is pretty darn close:) but we truly seem to compliment the other. For example, Mattey has enough patience to fill a room and I have enough patience to fill a small cup :) hehe But seriously, he is my very best friend and I wouldn't trade our life for anything. As usual, we just finished watched our wedding video and will light our unity candle later. What an amazing four years it has been!
I have been wanting a storm door on the front of the house for some time, and we were finally able to get one up! You know you are getting older when you get excited about a door. Here are the before and after pictures.
Matt and Nate went to the Twins game on Monday night. Nate had given Matt the ticket as a birthday gift. Here are the Skala brothers before heading out to the game. It was an exciting game, and they said they had a blast.
It is bittersweet to type about our past weekend. It is definitely one of my favorite weekends of the year and I am sad to see it go. We left for Pulaski on Friday to meet up with Grandpa and Grandma Smith, as well as Auntie Jolene and family and Uncle Brian and family. We all stay with my dad when we go to Pulaski and it is quite the house full! 8 adults + 6 kids ages 5-1 + two dogs = one crazy time! Friday night we made our way to the grounds to take in some of that good ol' Polish music! Oh, and eat pierogies, too! We were able to see our dear friends the Hickoks from New York, as well as Amber and Tasha, my two great friends. Saturday brought a new twist this year! Since Kelsey is turning 1 on August 1, we had a birthday party for her in Pulaski so we could celebrate with our family and friends from Wisconsin. To start the day, the men folk went golfing and the ladies went to the craft show. After we met back up, it was time to set up for the party. We got all the food made and the house decorated before guests began to arrive. A special thanks to Grandma Chris for making Kelsey's cake, Aunt Evie for making the "golden" cookies, Grandpa and Grandma Smith for letting us use their house for the party, and Aunt Jolene and Aunt Molly for helping with the food! The party turned out great! The theme for the party was gold since it is Kelsey's golden birthday. Therefore, we had a gold hunt for the kids. They had a blast looking for the gold coins hidden around the house. They were even able to turn their coins in for prizes. Following the kid hunt, the adults got their chance to show their skills and have a hunt themselves. This time, they were able to turn their coins in for golden tickets (aka lottery scratch off tickets.) I don't know who had more fun! Next came presents and cake. Kelsey received so many thoughtful gifts! Thank you everyone! Once we were done whooping it up at my dad's house, we all packed up and left for the polka grounds. It was fun to watch the kids reaction to the music. Lauryn and Soren are really starting to get the dance down, so it was fun to boogie down with them. Kelsey seemed mesmerized by the whole thing and enjoyed watching the dancers. I always think how proud my mom would be of us for keeping up the Polish tradition of coming home for polka days. Sunday we were all pretty wiped out, but we managed to make it out the door to the parade. The kids caught oodles of candy! Following the parade, we hit the grounds for one last day of fun. What a wonderful weekend! I have posted a few of my favorite pictures, followed by an extensive slideshow with all the pictures from the weekend. Enjoy!
Wednesday afternoon I met my friend Liz and her son Collin in Woodbury for a day of shopping. The kiddos both did pretty well for Liz and I dragging them into as many stores as we did. Liz was looking for clothes for Collin's baptism, and I was looking for outfits for Kelsey's 1 year pictures. We were both successful in our quest! We decided to take a picture at the end of our shopping day. As you can tell, I think Collin is letting us know that shopping all day is definitely for the ladies. Next time, picture first:) Overall, it was a wonderful day of catching up and laughing about old times. I hope we can do it again before school starts. Matt was the best man in a wedding this past weekend. One of his best high school friends, Andrew, was the groom. The wedding was in Plymouth, Minnesota, so we were able to make a mini-vacation out of it and stay at a hotel. Of course Kelsey and Daddy made their way to the pool. Too bad the pool was freezing because Kelsey has grown quite fond of playing in water. She seemed to enjoy kicking her feet in the hot tub more this time because she was shivering in the pool. The ceremony was held at Millenium Gardens. It was a beautiful venue! The odd part was the weather. It was only 65 degrees during the ceremony. 65, cloudy and windy. Who would have thought that for a July wedding? Regardless of the weather, the ceremony was beautiful! The reception site was right by the garden making it very convenient for the guests. Matt's whole family was invited and we all enjoyed a great meal together, followed by a lot of dancing. Plus, we were able to catch up with many of Matt's high school friends that we don't see that often. Furthermore, Mattey gave a very heartfelt speech and even managed to pull out some crazy dance moves to win the groomsmen vs. bridesmaid dance-off. I might also add that he looked pretty darn handsome in his tux :) What a fun weekend! Congratulations, Andrew and Jen!
We spent most of the day on Saturday with Grandpa and Grandma Skala. They were watching the Ginskey boys so Kelsey was able to spend time her cousins. We took a long walk as the boys rode their bikes to the park. Kelsey loved the baby swing! While Grandma pushed her, I had fun giving the boys underdogs. When we got back to their house, we ate ice cream and all took naps, except for Connor ;) Sunday we left for Brian and Molly's to meet Aunt Evie and Katrina. They decided to make a spur of the moment trip to Minnesota to hang out and go shopping. Kelsey, Molly, Lauryn, Miranda, Korinne, Evie, Katrina and I braved the Mall of America and shopped til we dropped. (or at least until our feet hurt!)Once we got back to Brian and Molly's house, we ordered pizza and watched old videos. Jolene and Rolf and the kids joined us for the evening as well. What a fun time! On our way back to Owatonna on Monday, Kelsey and I stopped in Lonsdale to see my friend Maggie and her son Kellen who is two days older than Kelsey. The kiddos played while Maggie and I caught up from not seeing each other since school let out. It was fun to watch the kids interact. They played really well together. Kelsey wanted to drink out of Kellen's cup, and he wanted hers. You always want what you can't have I guess! Since Matt is fishing with my dad and brother, Kelsey and I have certainly been keeping busy! However, we can't wait for Daddy to return though!
Kelsey continues to get closer to walking on her own everyday. If Matt and I sit on the floor with her, she will take steps on her own walking back and forth between us. She has occasionally let go of the couch and tried to go on her own, but usually loses her balance right away. She is really good at standing on her own, but when she starts to walk she just seems to get so excited that she falls. The other thing is that she automatically thinks when we put her down that she needs to go to her crawl position. We keep telling her that she can stand and walk instead. It would certainly make crawling with her dresses much easier! She has to crawl with her little butt in the air when she has on a dress because it gets caught underneath her knees and she gets frustrated. Sometimes she surprises us with her walking too because she will take 7 or 8 steps without falling and make it look like she is a pro. She will have to keep practicing. My hope is to get some videos on here soon, so keep your eye out for those!
Today we took Kelsey for her first bike ride. She seemed to enjoy watching everything whizzing by her as we made our way around the neighborhood. We biked to a nearby park and took her out to swing and play on the playground. It must have tired her out because she fell asleep on the ride back home. Later in the day, Kelsey and Daddy went swimming. The water was pretty chilly, so Kelsey hesitated to sit down in the water. Eventually she did give in and played with Daddy. Her favorite thing to do was try to drink water out of her red stacking toy. Her least favorite thing besides the cold water was the beach ball. She would push it away everytime it got close to her. When we were out for dinner tonight, Kelsey used a straw for the first time. At first she just wanted to bite it. However, she caught on and then didn't want to stop. It was funny because she thought she had to tip the cup up like her sippy cup for the straw to work. Too cute!
We spent July 4 close to home by heading to Blooming Prairie for the annual parade. My brother and his family joined us along with Matt and Stacey's family for the festivities. I wasn't so sure the weather was going to hold out since it was sprinkling all morning, but it actually turned out to be perfect weather for watching the parade.
Auntie Kristin with Lauryn and Miranda The crew of candy catchers Kelsey's 1st Fourth of July The Skala cousins Sleeping on the way home After the parade was over, we went to Matt and Stacey's to grill out. Ed and Sharon joined us, along with their granddaughter, Abby. The kiddos were brave and went swimming even though it was not that hot out. After we ate dinner, we played kickball before Brian and Molly headed back to Farmington. To end the evening, we watched the fireworks in Owatonna. Kelsey fell asleep in the car on the way over, but woke up just in time to watch the excitement. She didn't seem too phased by the fireworks, although she did jump during a few of the louder ones. It was special to be able to snuggle with her and think back to watching the fireworks last summer while I was 9 months pregnant. Where does the time go? We had a great July 4 and hope you did as well!
Kelsey seems to be growing up by leaps and bounds these days. Lately, she is very intrigued with opening and closing cupboards and drawers. She especially loves the cupboard filled with wash clothes and dish towels. It is time to get baby proofing! She also says the word "up." I have no idea where that one came from. She started saying it a few days ago and loves repeating it. If you say it to her, she usually repeats it back. The way she says it is so cute! She truly opens her mouth really wide for the u sound and then makes a definite p sound at the end. I will try to video it and get it on the blog. Finally, she took her first steps the other night! Matt and I sat on the floor and we would just keep sending her back and forth between us. She still has a lot of work to do with her balance, but she did manage to put 5 whole steps together before falling into our arms. She gets so excited and then just falls into us. I will keep you updated with her progress!
Today is my wonderful husband's birthday! To start the day, we went to breakfast with Dave and Vickie. After that, we left for St. Paul to try out the Taste of Minnesota. We have always wondered what it was like, so we thought this was the perfect opportunity to see what it was all about. We had to walk a long way to get to the park because the main roads were blocked off for pedestrians.
Once inside the park, we listened to a great band. I think they were called the Kurt Jorgenson band. They had a Dave Matthews kind of feel to them. We of course sampled tons of good food including cheese curds, a gyro, lemonade, beer, walleye on a stick, a dreamsicle float, and a mega freezie. It was so yummy! Good thing we did a ton of walking to help work that off! Kelsey enjoyed being outside and people watching. There was a ton of action, so she was constantly looking around trying to take it all in. When we got home tonight, we were all pretty beat from the day. It was so much fun to spend the day together as a family. Kelsey and I sure hope that Daddy enjoyed his day as much as we did! We love you very much! Happy Birthday!
