First Haircut!

Olive had her first haircut this morning.  I think most kids likely get their first haircut much earlier than 28 months, but so far her hair has grown in a nice shape!

She did surprisingly well.  I thought I would have to have her sit on my lap but nope, she sat in the chair all by herself!  

Well, Stella sat on Olive's lap:

In the mirror:

She even followed the stylists' directions to "look down" or "look straight ahead":

She was quite concerned about the screaming boy next to her, but didn't let it get to her:

The final product, pretty stylin':

And her first lollipop as a reward:

She wanted pigtails in, so I'm not really sure how it looks when it's down.  We just wanted to cut the back off to even it up with the sides.  Pretty exciting, and another "first" to check off the list!

Holiday

It was so nice to have Monday off, and it was a hot and windy day so we went to the lake.

Olive loves being outside, but especially outside anywhere that also has water.  She loved finding small rocks to throw in.  Mostly she would find a rock, show it to us, then shuffle her little self down to the water to throw it in.

She is pretty much the cutest person ever, we think:

Especially cute in a swimsuit (even a swimsuit with leg holes that are too big - what an awesome problem to have, small thighs):

Surveying the world:

So much to learn.  So much to see.

Weekend Party

We had another busy weekend, with our friend Jessica visiting from Denver.  Somehow we managed to take no pictures while she was here.  Hmmm...

On Sunday, Matt and Jessica hosted a Mediterranean BBQ at their house.  It was Papa's Birthday and our Anniversary.

Olive enjoyed about 8 cups of lemonade throughout the afternoon:

6 years of marriage looks like this for us:

Lori and Ron were visiting from Chicago and got to meet Oscar for the first time:

Oscar and Matt looking alike:

Oscar reliving his days in his Momma's belly:

Papa on his birthday with his 3 grandkids:

Olive's favorite part of the party:

And a video of Sam lasso-ing Olive and Irene (why not?!):

Laura and Levi were, in fact, at this get together but apparently hiding from the camera.  They're shy, you know.

Fish and Falls

It's taken me a while to get these pictures up for some reason, as this outing was almost 2 weeks ago now.

We went with the whole fam to one of our favorite summer hangouts - Sea Salt Eatery. It's near Minnehaha Falls in Minneapolis and SO much fun.  There's delicious seafood to be eaten, live music to be heard, and a waterfall to be seen.

Sam and Matt enjoyed taking silly photos of one another (told ya I'd post em):

Olive shared her ice cream with Uncle Matt:

I got some good nephew cuddle time with Oscar:

Levi got some silly faced cuddle time with Irene and Olive:

Irene and Olive danced to the live music (and held hands at the same time!):

Olive and I looked at the falls in the rain:

A random assortment of the fam (Mom, Laura and her creepy baby doll, Jessica, me, Levi):

Yay for summer!

   

Sneaky Monkey

This morning I made a strawberry pie.  Olive was otherwise engaged at the time and not too interested in helping.  While part of it was cooling, the pie shell filled with strawberries was sitting on the counter.

Imagine my surprise when I walked into the kitchen to this:

Look at that pleased look on her little face:

She must have seen that deliciousness sitting on the counter, gone and found her stool, brought it into the kitchen and climbed right on up:

There was a sizeable dent in the side closest to her:

She just seemed so proud of herself and her problem solving skills.  When I asked what she was doing she said, "Got my stool from the bathroom to reach strawberries!".

Sure did kiddo, sure did.

She also said, "I like strawberries a lot", as if to justify getting into something she shouldn't - she just couldn't help herself!  She likes them a lot!

I couldn't get mad, it was too cute. And all it took was some rearranging to make it all better.

Yeee-haw!

Last week we went to Como Zoo with Nana and Papa.  Olive was kind of crabby and not too interested in the botanical gardens (I'm not sure why I thought she would be!).

After looking at some mist in the rainforest with Papa:

We got to the real fun...Olive's first ride on a carousel:

She loved it and smiled the whole time as we went around and around (it was FAST)!:

She is still talking about it and saying, "ride horse again":

Swimmin!

Olive had her first swimming lesson yesterday and it was a big hit.  

Here she is with Sam before hitting the pool:

Using a noodle to float on her tummy:

Discussing the option of blowing bubbles into the water in her hand (Olive decided against this):

Kicking while on her back:

Olive really had a good time and lasted the whole half hour - we thought she might be done before that.  She and Sam will be going back next week with big plans for getting her face wet in the water!

Mother's Day/Thank You

To Olive my love, 

Thank you for letting me love you too much.  

I am happy on this Mother's Day that I am learning to be a Mama from you.

I love you.

To my Mama,

Thank you for letting me love you too much.  

I am happy on this Mother's Day that I am learning to be a Mama from you.

I love you.

Wading

Yesterday was a gorgeous day, so after work we went over to Lake Nokomis to walk around and enjoy the sun.  

Olive, of course, wanted to touch the water:

Then she decided she should get in the water and luckily, Sam was up for it:

I imagine it was a bit chilly, but she didn't mind.  She kept asking to go "deeper":

A video of the event (don't mind the airplane noise, this is an urban lake, folks):

Her cute little skinny legs - can't find pants that will stay up on this girl:

The two goofballs (Olive always holds on for dear life if you put her on anyone's shoulders):

And video evidence of why sometimes I feel as if I'm living with a 2 year old girl and 11 year old boy...goofballs, both of them:

May Day

On Sunday we went to the May Day Parade in Minneapolis.  It's put on by In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre.

Olive and Irene were very patient while we waited almost an hour for the parade to reach us (we sat at the very end):

Some treats help young girls be patient:

Mmmmm:

Some of the parade:

Olive and Mama enjoying the sun and entertainment (and treats):

And how the parade looked from Olive's point of view: