We have a very busy spring on the wedding front! This last weekend was the first of 3! My cousin Felicia got married in Nebraska, so we made the 400 mile drive to celebrate. Parker does not like to be restrained these days unless he is constantly entertained...it was a rough trip down at times. I was especially excited for this wedding because Felicia, her sister Melissa, and I were pretty close growing up. She is only a year younger than me so it just worked to hang out! In case I haven't mentioned it, I have a large extended family (47-ish first cousins on my mom's side!) This makes family stuff pretty eventful!
The wedding was held at a hotel/event center with a fun "water park" area. We spent Saturday morning at the pool. It was a little chilly, but we still had fun splashing.
Cousins Jayden and Cody Racing!
And a trip to Nebraska is never complete without a stop at Runza! If you are not lucky enough to have experienced a Runza, then you will just have to Google it!
Parker's First Runza
There WAS an actual wedding amidst all of the other fun! Felicia was gorgeous. She had an amazing lace beaded dress that was so elegant. It was a beautiful ceremony.
Parker wasn't too interested in the festivities, but he enjoyed being outside! It was almost 70! It hasn't been that warm in MN yet this year so it was a welcome change.
After the ceremony we had a blast with family and danced the night away! Parker isn't much of a dancer yet, but I think he has potential.
I have been thinking about taking Parker to the dentist for some time. Then, several weeks ago my friend Tamara from our ECFE class mentioned taking her daughter to a place called Camp Smile. They are a pediatric dentistry office and offer free exams for children under 18 months. Parker was in a bit of a crabby mood, but he did well overall. We first met with a hygienist who asked about our and Parker's dental history and gave us a few pointers for starting him out right. We got a list of foods that are harder on teeth to try to avoid. I also learned that snacks like dairy and fresh fruits and veggies actually help to clean cavity causing sugars from teeth. So, it is always a good idea to follow up a carby stack with some cheese or yogurt to help remove the sugar residue. Milk can also contribute to cavities so we were told to limit it to meal times and stick with water or a small amount of juice at other times.
Anxiously waiting for the Dr.
Parker saw Dr. Bobbi Augustyn. She was very nice and let him play with her light and mirror tool.
"What's she gonna do with this Mom?"
Then he got to lay down to get his teeth examined. He was NOT a fan of this part, but that wasn't surprising. His got a clean bill of health and we were told that he has some major molar action going on! He fights hard when I try to take a look.
I am glad we are starting him early on the right road to dental health. We got some fancy xylitol toothpaste and need to go back in about a year. We can't wait to go back!
This weekend is Crystal Frolics, our city celebration! This morning (Saturday) is the Fire Station Waffle Breakfast which is always a tasty adventure! Plus it is Parker's first trip to the fire station! We saw some trucks a few weeks ago, but it's fun to see the whole set-up. Hopefully we will get a chance to walk around the carnival later today or tomorrow.
Sunday we walked over to check out the carnival and food stands. I thought we had missed the parade, but we were lucky enough to catch some of it. There were some cool little boat cars that Parker was pretty interested in. They kept driving around in circles and he thought it was so much fun.
He also got to see his first clowns. They were just intriguing. I wonder if they purposefully stay away from the babies because they didn't get close to any of them!
It seems we have had a lot of first in the last week, some more significant that others. Just thought it would be fun to share a few of them!
May 27th - First time in a swing, he LOVED it!
May 28th - First elevated temperature. Not quite a fever, but you could tell he was fighting something!
Sleeping it off
May 28th - First fruit. Cantaloupe on a mesh teether, so he didn't REALLY eat any.
June 3rd - First vegetable. Pea puree, he wasn't huge on it.
June 3rd - First haircut. Given by mommy, it was getting a bit uneven and needed a good trim. He started out curious and ended scared so we had to stop with what we did. Still a little uneven, but much better!
We took our first family vacation last weekend to Milwaukee. It is quite the drive with a baby, but we have made a couple trips to Nebraska so he has become quite the road warrior! It was a quick trip since our main purpose was to catch the Brewers-Twins game on Saturday, but we had SO MUCH FUN!
We drove out on Friday night and got to hotel about 9:30. Parker must have been a bit mixed up because he didn't go to bed until 11:15, which is really late for him. After waking up we went to breakfast. Our hotel had a great continental spread of hot and cold dishes! Then we headed to the pool! Jimmy likes to say that I take advantage of ALL the amenities when we stay at hotels, but the pool is always my favorite! We got test out Parker's new life jacket for on the boat this summer. He seemed comfortable in it and it kept him afloat!
I love his little board shorts!
We also got to use Parker's new float toy. We are going to have so much fun in this thing!
Then we took a tour of the Miller Brewery. We are not huge beer drinkers, but it's kind of the thing to do in Milwaukee. We got to see the packaging and shipping facilities, the brew house, and the historic caves where Frederick Miller originally stored his barrels of fresh beer. It was a pretty exhausting morning for Parker so we made a speedy departure when it was over.
In the filling and packing area
Not quite sure what to make of all the boxes....
So tuckered out
About 5 minutes later...
After a brief nap and a stop back at the hotel we headed to Miller Park! It is a much different atmosphere than Target Field. They have on-site parking and allow tailgating,which allows Milwaukee's finest to indulge in their favorite pastime for hours before the game even starts! (It's drinking, in case you didn't know.) That fact aside, it is a really neat park. If you are going to have a roof, that is the way to do it! It is the only fan-style retractable roof out there which gives it some fun character. the outfield walls also open up to give a real outdoor feeling. It was also a LONG game again, almost 4 hours. Having a baby along always adds uncertainty to situations, but we made it to the end!
View from our seats
Taking another snooze
We got to see the famous SAUSAGE RACE!
Parker upset when the Brewers tied it up in the 8th
Luckily, in the 11th Plouffe hit a huge home run! It gave us the lead and eventually the win! Parker was very excited about this and couldn't help but express himself!
It was a long game, but a fun one!
I would say this vacation was a smashing success! I can't wait for the next one!
About a year ago I sent a text to one of my best friends, Julie. All it said was "Guess what?" Of course she guessed correctly that I was pregnant! After a little small talk she let me know that she too was expecting! We had gotten married within months of each other 2 years earlier and now we were expecting our first babies within a week of each other. Even though we live miles apart, it was an amazing blessing to share that journey with Julie. As soon as we found out that I was having a boy and she was having a girl, they were betrothed! Ava was born 15 days early and Parker stole her due date! We have been eagerly awaiting the first time they would get to meet and play together. That day finally came! Julie was home visiting and we were lucky enough to steal an evening with them. Ava is such an amazing little girl! I can't wait to watch her and Parker grow up "together."
And what kind of mom would I be if I didn't capture this moment? Hope you enjoy these as much as I do. Save the date for June of 2034 or 2035...It will be the party of the century!
First meeting...Not quite interested yet
Playing together!
Parker made sure to dress up for his big date! (Who knew it would be impossible to find black baby pants in April?)
This is one of my favorites!
Learning to share
The beautiful babes and me!
All 3 in this one are beautiful babes!
Ava kept reaching towards Parker, it was so cute!
It was such a fun night and we can't wait to be together again soon!
Despite the sadness of my Grandpa's passing we did have a few fun moments. Parker had his first hotel stay! He did very well being in a new environment. The hotel had a pool so we checked off another first, SWIMMING! He loved the water and thought it was fun to float around in his turtle tube.
Another fun part was getting two 4-generation pictures. Since we don't get together very often it was nice to get these pictures.
My maternal grandmother just wanted to keep touching Parker so it was tough to get a good picture of us all, but you can tell that is him!
