Lots and Lots of Playing

In August we visited Grandma and Grandpa Blomstedt in Hershey. We had a fun time doing many activities and seeing family and friends.

When we arrived Lindsay was ready to get out and play. She loved running in the yard. That is until... the kittens found her. She was not very interested in them and spent a lot of time being chased.

But, After a little while she was willing to try out the whole petting thing. It turns out that she likes the kittens. By the end of the weekend she was chasing them!

When she wasn't running with the kittens she found many things to do outside. One of which was to play football with Dad and Uncle Jordan. If I remember right, I think they said that she was on Jordan's team. It was suppose to make it "fair". :)

After all the running and playing Lindsay was more than willing to come inside!

As a family we love going to Cody Park. Lindsay has fun on the rides and we all enjoy some time together. At Lindsay's age (which means she really only has two choices) the Carousal is her favorite.

Before we went to Cody Park, we went swimming at Hershey Beach. I had never been there before and had wanted to see what it was like. We had lots of fun in the sand and water. Being Lindsay's first time in a lake I wasn't sure how well she would enjoy that much water at once. But, she loved it. She would kick and splash up a storm. Lindsay and I also enjoyed floating on the ring while the boys got crazy!

Vacation

In July we went to South Dakota for vacation. We had a wonderful time with Family and loved the time spent together. Unfortunately we lost our camera somewhere between chimney rock and rapid city :( So, we only have a few pics that we took with a disposable. But, we still remember the great times and exciting things we did and saw.

We went to an old gold mine that was really neat. It had a waterfall at the back of the mine where water was hit by the miners. We enjoyed seeing the waterfall 500 ft inside of a mountain! Lindsay enjoyed the mine as well. She was actually asleep when we entered but as soon as the water got loud she was awake and laughing and having a blast. Inside of the mine we say copper and silver deposits as well as quartz shafts. Or at least that is what we could recognize.

The view right outside of the mine was breathtaking. We absolutely loved being completely surrounded by this:

Joe thought this guy was pretty cool and wanted a picture by him. He is called the muffler man(don't ask me why, I thought he had a pick in his hands?!).

Chapel in the Hills is a beautiful solid wood chapel built after a church in Norway that is 800 years old. We liked the elaborate craving and detail on the inside and out. The house in the bottom pic was then designed after the care house of the chapel, complete with sod roofing. Looks like it could use a trim!

We also went to Story Book Island. We had fun trying to name all of the stories and I think that between, Mom, Jordan, Joe and myself, that we did pretty good! Lindsay enjoyed all the activities and playgrounds at this cute park(and so did we!).

This is a pic of Joe and Lindsay having fun at one of the museums we saw. Right behind Lindsay is the mouth of a really big fish of some kind(sorry don't remember what it was called).

One of the attractions which Joe got really excited about was the Crazy Horse mountain. He loved learning about the Indians and the dynamite used to sculpt the mountain. Below is a picture of Joe in front of a sculpture of what the finished mountain will look like. If I remember right, this sculpture is a 1/30 scale.

We also enjoyed many more attractions that we don't have pics of. Reptile Gardens was neat to see the turtle that was at least 120 years old (sorry i don't remember the exact age), the bald eagle, and the Komodo dragon (Joe's favorite). We also enjoyed the snake show. I still cannot believe someone would get that close to a snake on purpose!

One of my favorite sites was Mount Rushmore. I really enjoyed the museum that explained everything about the monument. It is amazing to me that people climb that high to sculpt stone!The trail around Rushmore was also very lovely.

Dinosaur park had huge concrete figures on top of what I think was the steepest hill in Rapid City. We also saw some glass blown. He made some swans and a glass bowl while we were there.

Black Hills Gold had a half hour tour which we were able to see how their Jewelry is made. It was very fascinating and neat to learn so much about how to identify a genuine black hills gold piece compared to a look a like.

Our Favorite part was being surrounded by family and nature!

Bye Bye Crib

Last week Lindsay got a little adventuress in her crib. She discovered that she could pull herself up until her knees where on top of the rail. To me, this was a little scary. I didn't want to see her climb that high again in fear of her landing on her head. So, Lindsay has now moved up to a toddler bed. I know that she is a little young but she has been doing very well. I still put pillows beside her bed at night, but she has surprised me so far and hasn't rolled off. Most nights this is what you see.
My biggest worry about Lindsay's new bed was her bedtime routine. But, after a couple of nights she seemed to have caught on pretty quick. I would say the biggest change for me is that she now climbs into bed by herself to lay down, and that she slides out of bed in the morning to find me. She is very happy with her new "big" bed!

Making Pies

This year for Father's Day I made Joe a banana cream pie. This year I also had my helper. She is now tall enough that she can reach the counter top when she stands on my little kitchen stool. She loves to watch everything that goes on. Well, while i was rolling out the dough she decided to carefully take some from the counter. I love the pictures of her being caught in the act!!

First Birthday Celebration!

Lindsay had her first birthday on June 25. For her birthday we had a few friends and family come to our home. She was able to celebrate with Great Grandma Kier, Grandma Brown, Aunt Katie, Aunt Staci and Uncle Jason, and Jackson, and our friends Mike and Marcia Tarver, along with their girls. She had a great time playing with everyone and being the center of attention. Below are a few pics of her party. ( The party was the night before her actual B-day. Which turned out to be really good because she got sick the next day:( )

This is the Lady Bug cake that I made for her

Lindsay with her Presents from Great-Grandma Kier, Grandma Brown, and Aunt Katie.

Lindsay was very fascinated with the links that grandma Brown gave her.

She loves all of the neat things that she was given for her birthday. We want to thank everyone for their nice gifts and for celebrating with us.
(I have a picture of her with the cake but the blog isn't' letting me upload it. So, these are what we get. :)