waterpark!

this past weekend joel, lauren and i went to an indoor waterpark that was about 2 hours outside of minneapolis. we had gone to another one in december with my family and lauren loved it. so we thought we try another one to help tide us over until summer (it's been a LONG winter). lauren had a great time and thankfully her daddy was willing to pretty much do all the water activities with her. hey, someone had to watch our stuff and take pictures. :) she loved the lazy river, but it wasn't too relaxing for joel who had to continually change their course to avoid the waterfalls and squirting statues. they also did a few water slides together, but lauren wouldn't go any more once i had the camera out (of course!). but it was a great little family outting, and when we got home it was over 60 degrees and sunny! quite a change considering it was 0 degrees just the week before. summer can't come soon enough!

daddy and lauren hanging out in the kiddy pool.

this was about the extent of my water fun.

actually, i did manage to quickly plop in. but THIS was the extent of my water fun.

thank goodness for daddies!! :)

warming up in the hot tub.

a nice little back float.

just hanging out and having fun.

and the inevitable time to go home. :(

big girl bed

a few weekends ago, joel, lauren and i went to ikea to buy a big girl bed. lauren was very excited and was a great "helper" when we were putting it together. she slept in it the first night and did very well until about 6:30 am when we heard a thump followed by crying. sure enough she had managed to find the one area of the bed that didn't have the guard rail on it and fell out. so after that she decided the crib was a safer place to sleep. but she eventually gave the big girl bed another try and has liked it ever since. one night she came prancing out into the living room around 11:00 announcing to joel and i that she was awake. ( a definite plus to the big girl bed - more freedom). but for the most part she does very well and it seems her crib is becoming a thing of the past.

she likes to line up her stuffed animals, which she calls her "friends".

everyone is in their place and ready for bed.

at least i hope everyone is ready for bed! :)

best buddies

today we had 4 of my cousins (or cousins-in-law) over for lunch. we all have little girls that range in age from 18 months to 22 months. my cousin celia has 6 month old twins as well, but they obviously are too young to play with the "big girls", but it won't be long.... it has been so great watching the girls enjoy each other's company more and more. they are all so sweet and play very nicely together. they are all working on their manners and many times more than one of them will chime in with a "please" or "thank you" when a mommy says, "what do you say?" i feel so blessed to have this wonderful group of cousins/friends for lauren to be a part of for many years to come! :)

it's not easy to get a group shot! (l-r) katie, ian, lauren and ava.

katie and lauren playing in the "tunnel".

katie, ava and lauren playing catch.

ian was busy doing some very impressive coloring! :)

celia and baby kiera, who will be having fun with the "big girls" in no time.

it's not as hard to get them all together when there are cookies involved. :)

after a few hours of fun, it was time to say goodbye. they are all very good huggers.

and finally, little kiera and tegan all ready to go. bye, bye girls. we hope to see you all again soon!