Let's go to the Fair!

If you have ever been to Owatonna you are sure to have heard of the great Steele County Free Fair.  For months now I have heard people talking about it around town, and since I was too young to really remember it from last year I anxiously anticipated it.  Let me tell you...It did not disappoint!

 

The best part of the fair was all the great rides.  Mama wasn't a huge fan of letting me go on the rides but I batted my big blue eyes and won her over!  I really liked the giant slide, there were a lot of steps to get to the top...

I was really glad Daddy went down the slide with me, it went really fast.  I LOVED it!

The other ride I got to go on was the cars.  The track was pretty small but I got to drive all by myself and there was a horn I could honk as many times as I want!

It went really fast and once again, I LOVED it!!

One ride I didn't love was the carousel.  All my friends who are older said this one went really fast.  Mama said that I had a scared look on my face the entire time, but I tried to be brave and said, "Weeee..." (I wasn't brave, I didn't like it at all).  I survived, although I was white knuckled the entire time.

Besides the fun rides, there was tons of great food to be enjoyed.  I particularly liked the foot long corn dog and fresh cut french fries!

Now that the fair is over there is only one thing to do...prepare for next year.
Have a good night!
Linden

Going to the Zoo

 

Today Mama and I went to the Minnesota Zoo with our friends.  I was really excited to hear that Colin wanted to go see the Dinosaurs because I hadn't gotten a chance to see them yet!

 

The dinosaurs were pretty cool, you could get really close to them.  They made a lot of noise, but they seemed really nice.

Colin didn't really care for them, I'm not sure why, he really likes dinosaurs, he even brought a little dinosaur toy today.  Good thing his Grandma was there to protect him.

After the dinosaurs we took a tractor ride to the farm for lunch.  After we ate we got to feed the goats, but then we decided it was too hot and we needed a break from the sun...

so we went to the Dolphin Show!  Mama's friend is really sad that the dolphins are leaving the zoo, but we were all happy that we got to see the show one more time.

The dolphins were really funny, they danced, splashed, did flips and even quacked like a duck!

After the dolphins Mama and I went and played at the splash zone.  There were lots of kids but we found an area that was less busy and I had a great time!  I really liked the fountains and playing with the other kids.

 

After the splash zone we went over to the park to play one more time before getting in the car to drive home.  I had a lot of fun climbing this rope ladder, mama even went up a couple of times with me.

 At the top of the ladder was a tree house and there were all sorts of fun bridges and places to explore.  I had a great time running around and going down the slide.

Mama and I ended the day with dinner at Bostons in Faribault.  Daddy was golfing so it was just me and Mama!  Perfect end to a Perfect day!

Linden

A Surprise for Lucy

Lucy and I have been such good girls lately that mama thought we deserved a surprise!

If you don't remember, Lucy is my favorite baby doll, I love her.  She is such a good girl, very happy, doesn't cry much, and loves when I rock and feed her.

Mama knows how much I love going for walks, so when she saw a baby stroller for Lucy at a garage sale she knew she had to buy it.  She didn't tell me about it right away when I got outside, but I should have known something was up because she has never let me bring Lucy outside to go play.  I was walking through the garage and caught sight of it out of the corner of my eye, I was SOO excited!!

Lucy loved going for a ride in her stroller, I pushed her around in circle in the drive way for over half an hour!

After dinner mama and daddy and I took Lucy for a walk around the neighborhood, it was FANTASTIC!


The surprise was a great distraction from what happened right away when I got home from daycare...I had 3 slivers!!  I didn't get them while at daycare, I must have gotten them the night before, but it still made for a pretty rough day.

Mama did a really good job and got them out pretty quick, and I only cried a few tears, they hurt really bad!!  This is a picture of my foot after mama took them out, you can still see the red spots from where they were.  Mama always tells me, you won't get hurt if you don't have any fun, but what kind of fun would that be?  I couldn't agree more!

Have a good weekend!
Linden

Night to Unite

Tuesday night was National Night to Unite and we invited the entire street over for an ice cream social!

It was a pretty great night, one of the best in Cottage Lane history!  We started the night out with ice cream, mama and daddy got me some lactose free ice cream so I could have some too.  It was an ice cream sandwich, and it was VERY messy.  Mama was too busy dishing up ice cream to get any cute pictures.

After ice cream we had our annual water balloon fight and I was right in the action.  One of the big girls taught me how to squeeze the balloons really tight and pop them, I thought it was pretty fun, and I LOVED getting all wet.

Mama and daddy let me stay up extra late that night because I was having so much fun.  The big girls in the neighborhood really liked playing with me.  We colored almost the entire driveway with chalk before the night was over!  I sure am I lucky girl to have so many friends.

The highlight of the night was when the police and fire truck showed up!  It was a lot of fun climbing in the truck and hearing the loud sirens.  The police officer and fire fighters were really nice and brought us some fun treats too.

I couldn't believe how big their helmets were, I could barely move it.  I thought it was pretty neat that their helmet even had a buckle on it!!

Off to bed, I had a very busy day today, I'll try and tell you about it soon!
Linden

Maine

I am sure you all have been waiting at the edge of your seat to hear about my trip to Maine.  Part of the reason it has taken so long is because mama and I have been doing some SERIOUS Olympics watching...but the real reason is that we had so much fun and took so many pictures that it has been hard to figure out what to blog about first!

Here is my highlights reel...

Maine is known for their beautiful coast line and daddy really wanted to take advantage of that so he booked a couple of boat tours.  The whale and puffin tour was a lot of fun, the boat was HUGE and daddy and I made sure to tour every inch of it!  Grandma Nancy, Grandpa Bob and Mama mostly stayed inside the cabin.  It was pretty cool seeing all the birds flying around, and I couldn't believe how big the whales were!!

The main reason we went to Maine was for Mama and Grandpa Bob to eat Loper (Lobster), I just can't quite say that on the beach, and this little lobster shack we found right on the ocean, didn't disappoint!  The lobster was delicious and the pie was AMAZING!  Grandpa Bob and Mama ate all the lobster they could eat in a week. 

Grandma Nancy wanted to go to the ocean so we made sure to check that one off the list.  We found a really great beach that we didn't have to walk real far to get to.  It had really soft sand and a lot of fun rocks to climb on.  Grandpa Bob didn't want to leave, he loved sitting in his chair and listening to the waves.  Grandma Nancy was happy that she got to touch the ocean for the first time in her life.  It was a great day.

My favorite part of the trip was getting to spend so much time with my Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Bob.  (Side note, in real life, I call Grandpa Bob papa.)  We did a lot of driving on this trip and Papa Bob always sat in the front seat.  When I was trying to procrastinate taking a nap I would play a game where I would say, "Hi Papa!" and then Papa Bob would say, "Hi", and then I would say to Grandma Nancy, "Hear him?"  I am a pretty lucky girl to have such a great Papa.

Even though I was Grandpa's girl all week, when I got home Grandma Nancy was the only person I talked about.  I need to convince Mama to let Grandma Nancy come with us on all of our car trips, she is GREAT at helping me procrastinate my naps.  Grandma Nancy loves to talk and sing songs, read books, play with my baby, and count.  Grandma Nancy always had my favorite snacks, plenty of kisses and lots of adventure.  Once again, I am one lucky girl.

I got to see a lot of really neat things while I was in Maine.  We went to the Maine State Aquarium and I got to touch a lot of local sea creatures.  The museum was really small but we still had a great time.

Here is a picture of me in a cave from Acadia National Park.  We went to the top of Cadillac Mountain which is the highest point on the east coast. I really liked climbing on the rocks and running on the paths. 

We did go to a couple other museums.  I think Papa Bob liked the Owls Head Transportation Museum the best.  They had all sorts of old planes, trains and cars that were really neat to see.  I really liked trying to ride this little trike outside.

Each day we did a lot of really good playing, and Mama always says, the more fun you have the more you need a bath.  Good thing the house we stayed at had a REALLY big bath tub!!  This thing was HUGE!!  I liked pretending to slide down the edge like it was a slide, I also liked that I could crawl all around.  Mama and Daddy even brought a couple of my favorite bath toys from home!

All in all, we had a really great trip.  Grandma Nancy said it took Papa Bob a couple days to recover, that's how much fun he had!!

Have a good night,
Linden