Daddy's Visit - Part 2

Sunday - was Mother's Day.  Rylee bought me flowers ("that will never die!"), a pretty key chain, and a picture frame.  Her real gift to me was a gorgeous necklace that she beaded herself, but she had given it to me early.  My parents gave me a few hours away from the kids so Jon and I could run to Brainerd and bum around a bit at his favorite stores (Gander Mountain and Fleet Farm) plus we were on a mission to buy Jace some shoes for his chubby Flintstone feet.  No success.  Now I know why those guys were always barefoot! (Only Robeez will work for now.)  Later, my parents dropped the kids off to us at the bowling alley in Brainerd.  We bowled and played in their arcade until it was time to meet Grandpa Chip at Rafferty's for dinner (our first visit there this season if you can believe it!).

Monday - Jon helped my Dad with a few projects around the property.  One of which was hanging the kids swing.  I'll have to post a picture because it's quite ingenious.  Not a bad lake view either!  Rylee also discovered she loves wheel barrow rides (see below).  Jon had to give her rides every day for the rest of his trip and I've given her a couple more since.  That night Jon and I took the kids to Rylee's dance class so he could see her recital pieces. 

 

 

 

Tuesday - the weather went from chilly and windy to 88 and sunny so we spent the afternoon at the park and made a stop at the DQ.  Jon and I snuck away from the kids for an hour at dinner to catch dollar Taco Night with Grandpa Chip and his cronies. 

Wednesday - Jon and I took the kids to the last storyhour of the school year (summer session will begin in a few weeks) and ice cream party.  After naps, it was a visit with Big Grandpa Bob and then back to my parents house for dinner with them and Grandpa Chip.  Afterward we sat outside for our first fire.  I'd say it was our first S'mores of the season, but since my parents have a gas stove, we've been roasting marshmallows and making S'mores indoors.  For their last activity, Jon and the kids had quite the wrestling match.  Jace has come a long way from the boy who cried when watching his sister and Daddy wrestle.  Now he throws himself into the fray!  :)

 



It was a great trip!  We miss you already Daddy!  Can't wait to see you again in a few weeks.

Daddy's Visit - Part 1

I've been so busy blogging about Jace's birthday that I haven't had the chance to talk about the rest of our fun visit with Daddy.

Tuesday - Jon was due to arrive around 8 that night, but due to mechanical problems with his plane in FL, it looked like he would miss his connection and possibly not arrive until Wednesday morning. As you can imagine, Rylee shed many a tear when I told her the news. Luckily, we got a surprise call as Jon was boarding his plane in Minneapolis. They'd made up time in the air and he's run through the airport like a madman (he had the sweaty socks to prove it and it must have been a wild ride for Rio in the carrier), but he was going to make it. Rylee and I quickly got ready and rushed to the Brainerd Airport (Jon's plane literally flew over our car as we were nearing the airport), but we made it in time for Rylee to greet him outside the gates. :)

Wednesday - Jon helped me take both kids to storyhour. We squeezed in a visit with Grandpa Chip before an early dinner so we could take both kids to the community center pool. Rylee was so excited to show off her new water-sliding skills to her Dad while Jace splashed himself silly in the zero-entry shallows.

Thursday - included a visit with Big Grandpa Bob and then a bbq/get-together with the Manecke and Bahl crew.  So much fun! 

A few pics from the night...

 

 

 

 

Friday - Jon and I took Rylee to her preschool class and then Jon spent the day at his Dad's so my Mom, Rylee and I could do all the cooking and decorating for Jace's bday party.  Jon picked up the kids after Jace's nap so they could get in a little visiting with Grandpa Chip too and I joined them later for dinner.  My Mom also picked up Lilly and she slept over so I'm sure the girls stayed up late.  :)

 

Saturday - Jace's 1st birthday party!  Also the day the majority of the ice was off Agate Lake.  That night, the girls (Mom, me, Rylee & Sara) all drove Lilly back to McGregor, the meetup up point, to meet Howard.  It was a fun road trip and Howard treated us all to Dairy Queens - my first of the season even though it was bitterly cold and unbelievably windy.

Part 2 to be continued...

Gone Fishin'

I found this cute t-shirt with faux fishing vest at Fleet Farm so I decided to make a photo thank you card. The good news is that means funny Jace outtakes for you!

The first photo - he wasn't really feeling the groove.  You'll notice a bag of puffcorn

stuffed in the crock in subsequent photos - that did the trick.  :)

 

 

 

 

"I swear it was this big!"

The best part of fishing is relaxing with a cold one after.

 

And the keeper... :)

 

Birthday Table

My Mom suggested I make Jace a play table out of Jon's old coffee table from college.   A simple race track design was quickly abandoned in favor of recreating my Grandma's hand drawn map of the resort.

Here is a copy of her sketch for the resorters.

After nearly a month of painting during Jace's naps,
I finished the table a few days before Jon arrived.
 

Closeup of the left side...
 

and the right side.
 

I'm no artist so it's not to scale and it's pretty simple, but I have to say it looks pretty cute.  :)

Miscellaneous Cuteness

Here are a few more shots from the day of the party that I don't think got worked into any posts. :)

Our family...

 

 

 

 

 

The one year old...

 

Mr. Blue Eyes (from before the party)

Chillin' with the Grandpas

 

 

Career Circle

When Rylee turned one we did a Chinese career circle (not sure what it's actually called) that is supposed to predict what your kid's future career will be. She picked the toothbrush.

So we set up Jace's circle with (in no particular order):
 a stuffed animal (vet)
money (stock broker)
pen (writer)
calculator (accountant)
car (racecar driver)
football (sports figure)
camera (photographer)
fishing pole (guide)
mouse (computer geek)
truck (construction)
hair rollers (beautician) -his favorite things to steal from Gaga
stethoscope (doctor)
shot glass (bartender)
hammer (carpenter)
mickey mouse (entertainment)
toothbrush (dentist)
whisk (chef)
potato (lazy moocher!)

Jon put Jace in the circle and turned him around so he could see all the items.

He immediately crawled for...

the toothbrush!

So we're going to have two dentists in the family. 
"Good God! [They'll] be staring at our teeth all the time." 
(If you're an "On Golden Pond" fan that will make sense.)


The second thing he went for was Rylee's pom poms. 
It's always good to have a back up plan.  :)

Then Rylee decided she wanted to pick a new career.  She wants to be a vet. 
She can still probably use those dentistry skills from her first pick. 

 

Jace in Cake

After playtime we ate conies and some delicious salads, and then Rylee opened Jace's presents. She's a very enthusiastic gift opener and always willing to land a hand. Then we were on to the cake. Jace enjoyed everyone singing, but didn't get the concept of blowing out his candle. Luckily Rylee was there to step in once again. :)

 We gave Jace a cupcake and let him have at it. As you will see in the photos, he figured this part out no problem!

 

 

 

Party People

We had a very small party since Jace doesn't know that many kids here.

We just invited his "cousins"...

 

Max...

 

Megan...

(somehow I didn't get any pictures of Meg on the day

so here is one from a few weeks back)

 

 

Lilly...

 

 

 

Of course, the dogs were there too.  Angel (above) and Rio...

 

 

 

It may have been a small party, but it was still fun.  The kids played a few games.  One was Bozo's Grand Prize Game with the sand buckets.  Of course, none of the kids of this generation know who Bozo the Clown is!  (I always wanted to be on that show and win the bike!)  They also played a little magnetic fishing game.  Then Max discovered they could use the bubble wands as light sabers and we didn't have to entertain any kids the rest of the party!  :)

 

Jace's Party

When we planned Jace's 1st birthday party, we thought: what could be more fitting than a fishing party at Agate Lake on opener weekend.  Little did we know there would be snow flurries the morning of and partial ice on the lake!  Oh well, it was still a great theme and a reel fun party!  :)

Here is the invite that I made... 

 

For party décor, I made tons of cute paper plate fish and bobbers.  The fish hooks are J's - cause I'm that clever!  :)

 

For dessert we had a brownie cake, cupcakes and of course plenty of mini Swedish fish and gummy worms.

 

Here's a closeup of the brownie cake that my cousin Lilly decorated...

 

 

...and a closeup of the cupcakes.  I stole this idea from Pinterest except they used Goldfish crackers.  Knowing Rylee's issue with goldfish crackers, I found these mini Swedish fish candies.  I think it looks cuter this way anyway.

 

I also made this stringer of fish along the windows that spelled out "Happy Birthday Jace."  You can sort of see the party favor gifts in this pic as well.  Each kid got a bucket, fish net, stuffed fish, fishing rod game and bubbles. 

More party details to follow.  :)

Happy 1st Birthday Jace!

I can't believe my sweet little guy is 1 year old already! What a wonderful year it has been too. Not having to work this year was an unexpected blessing (thanks Jon!) and we really made the most of it - this MN trip has been especially wonderful (again, thanks Jon!).

I don't have access to my photos, but here are a few phone shots throughout the seasons.

Mr. Cutie Patooti in the hospital....



Jace's laundry basket Summer...



Spiky haired Fall...



A Winter spent wearing his sister's pajamas...



And a walking Spring!



Happy Birthday Jace!
Every minute with you has truly been an absolute joy.
Love, Mommy

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