My First Trip to the Cabin!

This post is a little delayed in getting posted - summer has kept us busy and James has celebrated all sorts of firsts these last few months including his first trip to the cabin!

We celebrated the 4th of July up north at Grandma and Grandpa Kamrath's cabin in Orr, MN. It was a beautiful weekend - yes it was hot and muggy, but it only rained when we were sleeping so what more could you ask for?

James had a great time playing outside (hanging out on the lawn and walking the dock) and chasing Josie inside. They we're both exhausted at the end of the weekend.

James did enjoy helping Grandpa drive the boat - he had a firm grip on the wheel! After that excitement he slept for a bit - with the noise and wind at his face and all. A quick bath in the kitchen sink was needed after all his crawling around and sunscreen.

We can't wait to have James back for another visit and maybe he'll cast a line into the water and catch his first fish!

Gold Medal Park

We took a walk to Gold Medal Park the other day and took in the beautiful skyline views of downtown and the riverfront. James enjoyed exploring the beautiful flowers and the grass - which he still isn't so sure about. It was a great way to end the weekend and spend some time together.

Odds and Ends - Cruising for Fun!

James has been keeping us busy at the house - getting into things, exploring and testing us.

His favorite two things to explore - hmm, the diaper pail (the little bit of plastic bag on it makes noise which is his motivation) and the carbon monoxide detector (which has a little green light to examine and a hole that he has discovered that his finger perfectly fits in!) - great items of interest wouldn't you agree?

We have found one activity that James gets quite excited about - a ride in his "Cruiser!" Perhaps we should call Pampers and see if they'd use our commerical idea, but the boxes of diapers we currently buy, Pampers Cruisers, are the perfect size for James to sit in and become a race car. Dad and James "cruise" around the condo at lightening fast speeds and James lights up with laughter and a smile. Appropriate for Pampers Crusiers wouldn't you say? We keep saying we are going to decorate one of the boxes with racing stripes and make a checkered flag but haven't found the time to do that just quite yet - but at the rate we continue to go through diapers James may have a whole fleet of cars to race here soon!

My First Swim Lesson

We enrolled James in swimming lessons for the summer and he had his first lesson just a few weeks ago. He loves baths so we were pretty sure he'd enjoy the pool and boy-did he ever. Dad and James took to the water so Mom could capture some pictures and video and James took to the water like a little guppie. He enjoyed splashing and floating on his back and spinning in circles (his favorite!). Here are a few pics of Dad and James in the water!

Happy Father's Day!

We celebrated Matt's first Father's Day all weekend - and James had a great time seeing everyone of course. We spent Saturday evening with Grandpa Mark and Grandma Dar Dar, Uncle Bryan and Auntie Megan and enjoyed some great food and conversation. James enjoyed showing everyone his patty cake skills and crawling up on everything he could explore. 

He had a difficult time falling to sleep that night at Grandma and Grandpa's - so he spent the night and we picked him up early the next morning to head to the zoo (but not before he had some breakfast of Cheerios - here is James sitting in the highchair Mom used when she was a baby).

We explored Como Zoo with Grandma and Grandpa Bragg and the little guy enjoyed everything from the polar bears to the flowers in the conservatory. He was a little under the weather as another tooth was breaking through the surface - but he had a great day as did Mom and Dad!

James made Daddy a mug and a card at daycare and he shared them with him that evening. Happy Father's Day Daddy! We love you!