The Place to be Seen in Twenty-Thirteen! SCFF

I don't know if it is Mama's computer, or the blog site, but something has been acting up and I wasn't able to blog...

Last week was the Steele County Free Fair.  You guys, it is a BIG deal!! Like, HUGE!!!  It is so much fun that we had to go two nights in order to enjoy it all.  I could have gone all 6 nights but Mama and Daddy wouldn't let me.  Wednesday night we went and checked out the animals.  I wanted to go through all of the barns.  We saw horses, cows, pigs, chickens and roosters.  I liked the roosters the best.  Mama was so excited for me to try Cotton Candy for the first time, but I didn't really like it.

Thursday night we went back and I got to go on the rides!! I was so excited that I didn't even want to eat my corn dog, I just wanted to go play.  Unfortunately, the fair has a height limit on all of the rides so I couldn't go on the really fun ones like the Zipper, the Scrambler, or the Ring of Fire, but I still had a great time.

Mama and Daddy both took me down the really big slide.

It was a lot of stairs to get to the top, but it was a lot of fun!

Mama and Daddy wanted me to stay on the little rides...

Which were fun...

But I wanted to explore new heights!!

I had such a great time on all the fun rides.

After a while, Mama decided that I needed to slow down and eat some more supper so we headed over to the Ferris Wheel and did that together as a family.

The view from the top was pretty neat to see.

After that I told Daddy, "I want to go on a fun ride now..." so Mama took me over to the roller coaster!

And Daddy finished the night off on the Tilt-A-Whirl.

Another successful year at the fair.  I can't wait until next year,

Linden

When Daddy's Away, the Girls Will Play!

Daddy was gone this weekend, and that meant a weekend with my favorite lady, MAMA!!!

We had a very busy weekend planned, it started out on Friday night at the Steele County Relay for Life.  We weren't part of any team, but we knew a lot of people who would be there.  It was really great seeing everybody out, and there were tons of activities.  It is great knowing that all this money is going to support cancer research.  

A couple weeks ago at the Farmer's Market I was able to decorate a luminary for the event in honor of Papa Bob.  After walking around for a long time we found it, isn't it cute!?!  We had to leave before they lit them all up, but I heard it was beautiful.

The next day we drove to Rochester to hang-out with Grandma Nancy and Papa Bob.  We got to take Papa's convertible to Red Lobster to celebrate our trip to Maine last summer!  I can't believe it has already been a year.  Papa was nice enough to share a bite of lobster with me, he is the greatest!

After lunch we went back home and got ready for Dinner With the Cows.  Normally it is called Breakfast on the Farm, but this year they had to change it up because of all the rain we got this spring.  I was so excited to ride the bus out to the farm, I talked about it all day!

Once we got to the farm there were all sorts of fun activities.  I think my favorite was the baby animals, or maybe the play-doh, or the jumper, and the Dairy Princess...No, I think it was the horses and baby cow!  I think they were all my favorite, but my definite favorite was the train ride!

To make it even better, Papa Bob and Grandma Nancy came over too!!  They just stayed for dinner but it was great seeing them!

Once we had done all of the activities at least twice it was time to ride the bus back home.  I was pretty mad at Mama because she wouldn't let me keep riding the bus once we got back to town.  I guess I will have to wait until next year!

Well folks, that is what I was up to, hope you had a great weekend too!

Linden

The Things You Say

Mama is going to to be doing the blog today, sorry it has been so long!!

This past year has been a crazy one, full of all sorts of ups and downs.  Have a 2 year old has been a great blessing, she fills our hearts and home with love and laughter and each day is a new surprise.  It has been over a year now since my dad (Papa Bob) was diagnosed with brain cancer.  We have been so blessed to be given so much time with him.  In addition, we have all of the normal life things going on that just keep us moving.

As you all know, Linden has always been a good talker.  She started young and hasn't stopped since (wonder where she gets that??)  The past few months have brought on some pretty funny conversations.

We were at the Lake with Grandma Carolyn when I overheard this conversation:
(Linden to Grandma Carolyn: Grandma, Can I have a cookie?
(Grandma Carolyn: I think you need to ask your mom...
Linden looks at me, looks back at Grandma: No, I think I need to ask grandma...

On our way to the grocery store she asked what we needed to buy.  I told her we needed some fruit and veggies, and when she asked Why (gotta love that phase!!) I told her that they make our bodies healthy and strong.
Linden: Mama, I think we need that (she points to some chocolate covered nuts)
Mama: How come?
Linden: They make our bodies healthy
Mama: No, I don't think we need chocolate.
(A minute later)
Linden: Mama, I think we need that (she points to some chocolate cookies)
Mama: How come?
Linden: They make our bodies healthy
Mama: Carrots and apples make our bodies healthy and strong
Linden: Nope, Chocolate

When Dave puts linden to bed I go running, I always tell Linden that I am going to a meeting so she doesn't want to come with. The other day she saw a pair of her tennis shoes and said, "can I put my meeting shoes on and go run with you mom?" She's too smart for me!!

The stories and things she comes up with amaze me each day.  When she was just learning to talk Dave and I made a point to use the correct word for things even if she didn't so that she would eventually learn it.  Now that she is older I have stopped, maybe because I think some of it is really cute, and maybe because I just want to keep a little bit of my baby girl still.  Here are some of my favorite Linden-Speaks

• Mola Bar (granola bar)
• Mogurt (Yogurt)
• Corn Chops (Pop Corn)
• Cereal Bran (Raisin Bran, her favorite cereal)
• Pochi Pochi (Chipotle)

I love my kid.  When I over hear people say "I can't wait until my baby is talking" I laugh and think, you don't always want to know what they have to say!  And some days that is true, but it adds to the adventure and the fun and I wouldn't want it any other way.  

We'll try and get back to posting more often,

Amanda

Keeping Busy

Hasn't the weather been fantastic lately!  I am LOVING the warm temps and bright sunshine, it means plenty of outside play time and tons of fun.

Last Saturday we went to the Farmers Market.  I love walking around and getting to see all of the fun stuff for sale.  My favorite stand is the guy selling the yummy popcorn!  I Love Popcorn!  We had a busy day planned, after the Farmers Market we rode our bikes to our friend's house to watch the marching band festival.  We got a big bag of popcorn so we would have plenty to share!

With all the warm weather I have been getting to spend a lot of time in my pool.  The water starts out icy cold, but the bright sunshine warms it up pretty quick.  I was being silly the other day and decided to run around in my Daddy's Winter hat, aren't I cute?

This weekend Daddy setup his tent in the back yard so we could play in it.  Mama made lunch and brought it out to the tent!  It was a lot of fun having a camping lunch.  Daddy and I tried sleeping in the tent but he kept talking and making noise so I couldn't fall asleep, Mama made us go inside to go to bed.  Maybe next time Daddy will be able to sleep outside like a big kid.

On Friday I got to go play at Grandma Darlene's house.  She is a friend of my Daddy's, she has a granddaughter that is a little older than me, but lives a long ways away.  Grandma Darlene has a lot of fun toys and loves sharing them.  She even let me play with her baby Monica, but don't tell her granddaughter that!  We couldn't take any pictures because we didn't want to get in trouble.

Today we went to the MN Zoo.  They moved some animals around so now they have a place for Giraffes!  They are REALLY tall and have really long necks.  We were lucky enough to get to feed them, did you know that giraffes eat people crackers?  You hold it in your hand and then they take their long, black tongues and lick the cracker out.  The giraffe tried licking my face!

Off to go play in my tent before I have to go to bed!

Linden

Jake and Bella have been Replaced

As you all may know, I have two dogs named Jake and Bella.  They are pretty good dogs and are fun to play with, but they can get in trouble from time to time.

The past few days Bella has been VERY naughty, and when one of them is being naughty the other is usually following right behind.  The past few days Bella has taken to stealing food.  It started on Saturday when Bella and Jake decided to eat my sandwich, but yesterday was REALLY bad!

Bella got put in time-out 3 times!!  Mama was NOT happy.  I am a pretty good listener so I usually change my decisions after 1 time-out, Bella doesn't learn.  First she tipped over my milk which Mama wasn't happy about.  But then after dinner Bella made a REALLY bad decision and climbed on top of the table to try and get some scraps while we were down playing.  That was a REALLY long time-out.

I decided to help Mama out today, I replaced Jake and Bella with Beagle and Spot.  

Of course, I didn't really get rid of Jake and Bella, they would be sad without me.  I was just pretending that I had good puppies that could be outside without getting any timeouts.  Beagle and Spot are such good puppies that I can walk around with snacks and they don't take them from me.  They know how to Stay really well (although I am still working on Come), and they never jump up on me.  They sure are great dogs.

One can dream,
Linden

Mama got Crafty!

Warning, there are a LOT of pictures, enjoy.

As you already know, Mama and Daddy got me a new Big Girl Bed.  Mama talked about redecorating a bit, but she just wasn't quite sure what she wanted to do.  It may have taken her a couple weeks, but the results are great!

Mama had a great idea to use parchment paper and a crayon (markers and pens don't write on parchment paper) so she could lay out all of the art how she wanted before hanging it on the wall.  It is hard to see the crayon, but it is there...

I wanted to show you some room shots before I show you close-ups of all the art...Here is my bookshelf/reading corner...

And here is my Big Girl Bed!

Mama made most of the art herself...Here is the first sign she made, although she had to re-do it a couple times before she decided she liked it...She used scrapbook paper, her digital cutter, and a 12x12 canvas from the craft store.

Mama bought this one at the Farmers Market (See yesterday's post)

Here is another one Mama made using scrapbook paper and chipboard stickers...

Mama likes this sign the best, she said she immediately thought of me when she read that quote.  She used her digital cutter to make all of the letters.

Mama used cardboard and fake flowers to make me a Pretty Pink L!  (she used scrapbook paper for the circles)

Mama got the wooden plaques from the craft store and painted them.  She then used scrapbook stickers to decorate them.

More circles out of scrapbook paper...

Another L!  Mama was going to use this L for the flowers, but the flowers were too big and it looked pretty funny.  Instead she took scrapbook paper and covered it.

I got this cross from my Auntie Wendy, Auntie Missy and Cousin Tyler when I was baptized and it has been hanging in my room ever since.  I was really happy to see Mama moved it so it could be seen better.

Another canvas Mama made using scrapbook paper and her cutter, she sure does love that thing...

Mama bought this frame at the craft store...

And last but not least, the flower I got from my good friends before I was born (this isn't part of the art wall, but I love it so I thought I would share it again).

Don't you love my new room art!  Mama had a lot of fun making it all, and I love to look at it.  I told you all the pictures would be worth it.

Have a good night,
Linden

Busy Saturday

Another Saturday done, and another fun day.

 

Daddy had to work this morning so it was just me and Mama.  I decided to sleep in so Mama could too, she was so happy that she surprised me with a trip to the Farmers Market.

 

One of my favorite books right now is called Red Wagon, it is about a little girl named Lucy who gets a new red wagon but before she can play with it she has to go to the market to get vegetables for her Mama.  (Click here if you want to see a video of me reading it.)  When I heard we were going to the market the first thing I asked was if we had a red wagon, turns out, we do!!  I walked all over the market but I didn't find Lucy...

After all that time at the market Mama and I were HUNGRY and needed some lunch.  Today was such a beautiful day that Mama decided we should eat outside.  It was a really good idea until Bella and Jake decided to eat my sandwich...

Daddy got home from work right after lunch so we went to Cabela's for a Family Fun Fishing Day.  I had a great time fishing, I even touched the worms!

And best of all, I caught a fish!!  So did Daddy, Mama wasn't so lucky...

We had a pretty good day.  On top of all that fun stuff I got to play at the park and go for a bike ride!

Off to bed, I need my sleep for another fun day tomorrow!
Linden