Social Butterfly

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!

Getting Closer

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!

Sunday Funday

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!

Fourth of July

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!

Look What I Can Do

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!

Our Birthday Boy

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!

Visitors

Yesterday, we were lucky enough to have my dear friend Becky visit us with her husband and two adorable little guys. Becky and I used to be penpals when we were little. Our dad's were in the Optimist Club together and we would get to see each other four times a year at the state conventions. Since Becky lived in Fond du Lac, it made it pretty special to get to spend that time together. I have many fond memories of staying in hotels and finding ways to keep ourselves entertained. I think elevator races were my favorite, especially at Embassy Suites because they had glass elevators so we could watch each other :) Becky's husband is from New Ulm, so they stopped in Owatonna on their way to visit his family. Thanks so much for taking the time to visit with us!