Happy Birthday Elsie!

Today marks Elsie's 4th birthday! When she woke up today she looked at me with a big grin and said "Mom, don't I look so much bigger now that I'm 4?!" And yes, she did look bigger! Elsie is thrilled to be 4, which in her world means getting a big girl bike (with training wheels) starting preschool in a few weeks, and taking a dance class! Our 4-year-old (I have to keep saying it to believe it) loves to tell jokes. Meaning she has the tone/delivery down but not the content. Example: Mom, why does a bat eat a cone? ha, ha, ha. The punchline is still being developed. She still loves books and has a fantastic imagination. Today she was teaching a balloon how to walk. I've enjoyed every year we've had with Elsie and am looking forward to seeing what this one brings!

Take a walk down the past 4 years with me...

Here she is making sure we are all aware that she is 4 years old.

3-year-old E.
2-year-old Elsie a.k.a. the cutest girl at an all-you-can-eat waffle breakfast.

1-year-old Elsie

Day 1 Elsie

2 + 4 = A Birthday Party

Elsie and Margot invited their grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins over for a birthday party to celebrate their 4th and 2nd birthdays. I have to admit that it's nice to have one day of chaos to celebrate two birthdays, I'm not sure the girls will always agree, but it's worked great so far!

Highlights from the party included the kids going down the slip and slide (sorry no pics of this, it was toward the end of the party and I gave up on taking pictures and was instead having an adult beverage), water balloons that my dad patiently filled up, pin the tail on the donkey, and a fishing game. Also, not to brag but my potato salad was a big hit and I made some pretty cool cupcakes. Elsie loved opening her gifts. Princess pajamas, princess dress up clothes and princess toys were a few of her favorite gifts, are you sensing a theme here? These crazy princess ladies are unavoidable!
Cake face.

Margot enjoying every bite!

Can you sense their fear of fire?! Relax girls, this is supposed to be fun.

Um, don't worry Elsie you don't have to eat all the food on the table. Classic Margot face when the camera is out.

So close Margot! Folks, she didn't even have the blindfold on and went straight for the eyes with the donkey's tail. This girl may need some extra attention at school.

Had to include my dr. seuss inspired cupcakes. The top cupcakes are supposed to remind you of thing 1 and thing 2, the marshmallow things are the cat's hat and you can figure out the fish cupcakes in the middle, right?

2 in August

Happy Birthday to Margot Belle. She has spent the past few weeks telling whomever will listen she will be 2 in August. Finally, the special day has arrived! Margot's day started with a doughnut with two birthday candles and ended with a Diego video...life doesn't get much better. In between, she had lots of other treats, played at a water/splash park, played at another park and opened a few presents. Here are a few things to note about this special lady:

• She is super funny and has great dance moves, but when you think about who her mother is this isn't a big surprise.


• She adores her older sister and spends most of her day saying/doing everything Elsie does.


• She LOVES the water and is fearless when it comes to jumping, splashing and playing in the water.

And for your viewing pleasure, a reverse-order Margot photo timeline...

2 year old Margot
1 year old Margot

Day 1 Margot

Happy Summer!

I think I could sum up the summer so far in one word: water. The girls love playing in the water and we have enjoyed as much of it as we can. Swimming at the pool at the gym, going to lakes, playing in the sprinkler and pool at home and even splashing in a few puddles has kept the girls entertained this summer. Elsie very carefully plays with the sand.

We love potholes after a good rain!

Look at this cute litter stinker...she is fearless in all types of water.

Margot thinking about who she should dump this scoop of mud on.

A quick "CHEESE" for mom and then let me get back to the water.

A Trip Up North

In mid-June we spent a week up near Brained with my sister's family. Her in laws were kind enough to let our two families and our bachelor brother enjoy their lake home for a week. You might ask, how was the weather? Well, it wasn't great, but that didn't stop us from going for a boat ride, playing in the water, going mini-golfing, go-kart racing, turtle racing and playing in the rain. We enjoyed lots of great meals, drinks, and somehow managed to keep four children under the age of 4 occupied during lots of rainy hours.

Elsie loved the boat ride! She didn't however love falling out of the canoe. I wish I had a picture of that scene. Soren, Elsie, cousin Gabe and Uncle Nathan all went overboard. Elsie high-tailed it back to the cabin and the boys took another go at it and enjoyed the canoe.
Elsie and Gabe battle the rain while waiting for a turn to do the turtle races. They look so NOT impressed by what we are making them do in this picture. I had to include this picture because this is how I imagine them looking during their teenage years when we make them go to small towns and do odd things like turtle racing.

Best Friends Margot and Stella take a stroll around the mini-golf course. Margot and Stella are 20 days apart and when together are either the best of friends or the worst of enemies...there is NO in between. Honestly, these two were either hugging or throwing punches. We all find it very entertaining!

Soren and his ladies.

This is a first...all four cousins looking at the camera and smiling! I never thought this would happen. (note that is is June 20th in the picture and the kids are wearing pants and jackets. crazy MN weather)

Here we are packed like sardines and ready to roll. Can you find Soren? I didn't make him sit back there the entire car ride. Also, no worries - the baby in the middle is a doll, not some random third child not buckle into a proper car seat.

Farmington Fun

It only took us 6 years to get into the Farmington's hometown festivities, a.k.a. Dew Days. Today the girls and I checked out Family Fun Day, which involved snow cones, lots of games such as; kid bowling, bean bag toss, pull a rubber duck out of a pool...all the classic games! All of this fun was free! Let me tell you, this stay at home mom is really getting into free activities, I even double discounted my coupons at Rainbow Foods last week, but that is an entirely different post. Enjoying the wonder of sugar juice on ice.
Animal balloons! yup, those were free too!

A little sister love while we wait in line for our next game. Take note of the bouncer in the background. Elsie LOVED it! Margot freaked out, which required me to scramble into the bouncer to get her. It was not a pretty sight...I was wearing a skirt and pulling a freaking out toddler out of the bouncer. I'm sure everyone in line got an eye full.

Summer Cut

Drum roll please...Elsie had lots of her hairs cut this weekend. Here she is with her sassy new hairdo.

Here's how the family is reacting to this sudden change:

Elsie - "I'm a short-haired Tangled princess now!"
Anne - I'm excited to have back 30 extra minutes of my life each week. The upkeep of Elsie's long hair was getting a little much for me.

Margot - Less hair to pull and play with, so I'm guessing she's not a fan.

Sören- He'll be patiently waiting for her hair to grow.