The Price of Water

Peter and I went to a movie last night. As we were at the concession counter, this was the conversation that took place:

Employee: Hi, what can I get for you?
Me: Is it possible to just get water in a cup or do you just sell bottled water?
Employee: Just bottled water. But if you want, I could sell you a paper cup, and then you can fill it up with water.
Me: Oh, okay. How much is a cup?
Employee: $3.75
Me: (What!?!!?!?!) Oh, okay, and how much is the bottled water?
Employee: $3.00
Me: (Sigh) Okay, then I guess I'll take the bottled water for $3.00.
Peter: And I'll have a small Coke with just a little ice.
Employee: For just a quarter more, you can upgrade that to a medium for a little more soda.
Peter: No, thanks.
Employee: Okay, your total comes to $6.75, and just so you know, you get free refills on the pop.

This reminds me of why we usually sneak our sodas and treats into the theatre!

A Busy Weekend

On Friday, Sam and I visited Grandma Kim and Grandpa Roy and enjoyed a great lunch, some time in the pool and raspberry picking. Sam had a hard time understanding the concept of putting the raspberries in the container. He thought eating them one by one was a much better option!

Since Peter did not have to work at all this weekend (!) AND since I officially was done with classes on Wednesday, we had a much-needed family fun weekend! We spent some time at the mall on Friday night. On Saturday morning we had a family photo shoot, thanks to Gwen, a co-worker of Peter's who also does photography on the side. Sam was in a great mood, so I think we got lots of smiles and can't wait to see the pictures! After the photo shoot, we headed over to the Como Zoo for some animal action, which Sam, of course, loved as usual.

Every time anyone mentions the zoo to Sam, he gets really excited and says "See monkeys! See giraffes! See elephants!" So, when we found this little ride at Como Town, we had to get a picture of Sam in it. He was so excited he immediately gave the monkey a hug!

Today, though we forgot to bring the camera, we spent a few hours at the beach, enjoyed some Twins baseball on TV, had some homemade lasagna for dinner, and took a trip to DQ. Many months ago, Peter started calling our little guy "Sam-man". We now both do this so often, that Sam calls himself this as well. At DQ tonight, as we were sharing our ice cream with Sam, he would say "Mommy's turn" then "Sam-man's turn" or "Sam-man try some now." It's always been funny to us that he talks in the third person, but now that he refers to himself as "Sam-man" its even funnier!

We hope you all had a great weekend!

Meeting Baby Grace

We had a wonderful time meeting baby Grace last weekend and visiting with the proud mama and papa.

Visiting Great-Grandparents

Last week we went to visit Great-Grandpa Kenny and Great-Grandma Helen and had lunch complete with strawberry shortcake, which Sam calls "stwawbewwies and cake". We had lunch in the porch so we could watch the birds fly in and out of the bird house. There were baby birds inside, so the mama bird was bringing them some lunch too. Sam loved this! Sam also got to go for a walk with Grandpa through the trails in their beautiful yard. Thanks for having us for a visit!

Samtalk

I just LOVE the age that Sam is at right now. It's so fun to have real conversations with him and to just watch him light up with excitement about what he sees in the world around him.

"Samtalk" words for your entertainment
moonguck - music
gwampa/gwamma - grandpa/grandma
okker - Oscar
edefent - elephant
bridget book - Spanish book
gook - look
banna - banana
I dove you - I love you
how it works? - how does it work?
is that? - what is that?
cowers - colors (crayons)
yuddow - yellow
hoppencopter - helicopter
hippopommamus - hippopotamus
addigator - alligator

A conversation in the car
Sam: Oh, gook (look) a bus!
Peter: Actually, Sam, that's not a bus, that's called a camper.
Sam: No, Daddy. It's called a bus.

In the bathtub as the water is draining out
Sam: Bye, bye addigator, after why crocdie (as he waves at the water).

On our morning walk, near the duck pond
Sam: Where duckies go?
Me: They must be at home sleeping.
Sam: Oh, seeping at Gwamma and Gwampas house.

Me: Oh, there's a duck. It looks like he is eating breakfast. What do you think he is eating?
Sam: Umm. (long pause) Stwawbewwies.

A Message from Sam

Guess what everyone?! I'm going to be a big brother sometime around January 27th! Mommy, Daddy, and I are all very excited. I just hope this big brother stuff is as cool as Mom and Dad say it is. I hope you are all having a great summer!

Love,
Sam

Playing with Cousins

This past weekend we went up north to visit Peter's family, and Sam had a lot of fun playing with his cousins Will and Wyatt, who just moved back to Minnesota from California. Our weekend consisted of boat rides, lots of playing, nature walks to the creek, a trip into Nisswa, a birthday party for Wyatt, and much, much more!

Oscar is afraid of deep water. He jumped on this rock while chasing after a stick, and then didn't know what to do from there.

Sam, Will, and Wyatt throwing rocks into the creek
Happy Birthday, Wyatt! We think he enjoyed the cake!

Sam wrestling with Will and Uncle Jack

Will and Sam watering Grandma's flowers

Our future golfer

Swinging on a sunny day

Cuddling with Daddy on a windy boat ride

So, where are we headed?!

Finally home!

After a four hour car ride that should have been 2 hours and 45 minutes, we are finally home from our weekend up north! Too bad we didn't watch the news earlier today to find out that 94 was CLOSED because of the individual who decided to make an illegal U-turn on the freeway and cause a tanker truck to roll over spilling gallons of fuel all over the road. Thankfully, no one was seriously hurt.

On a brighter note, we did have a great time up north visiting Peter's parents and Robin, Jack and the boys. Pictures to come! Also, a big thanks goes out to our little trooper, Sam, who was a GEM on the four hour car ride. We were pretty impressed that he remained happy by singing, talking, playing with toys, and reading books for four hours while strapped in a car seat. This made things much easier on Daddy while navigating through traffic!

Congratulations!

Congratulations to John and Amber on the arrival of their little girl, Grace Leigh! We are glad everyone is healthy and doing well and can't wait to meet her!

No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed!

I probably should have reprimanded him for jumping on the bed, but instead I grabbed the camera. I also love that he managed to pull his hat into the crib and put it on...

A Rainy Fourth of July

We spent the 4th of July down at my parents' house and only got a short hour or so of sunshine, though people still managed some pool time...even in the rain!

Sam got to see his first fireworks show right from my parents' front yard. Reed and Chelsea brought some fireworks of their own, and the neighbors across the street spent a fortune on a great show we got to watch for free! It was a late night for Sam, but he loved it. I think he actually thinks Uncle Reed was responsible for all of the fireworks because he's been talking about Uncle Reed and fireworks all week long.

A Visit from Grandpa and Grandma

Last weekend we had a great visit from Peter's parents. On Friday, Sam and I joined them at the MOA for a little mall walking, and then on Friday night we all did dinner at Outback and went swimming at Grandpa and Grandma's hotel. The water was a bit chilly, but that DOESN'T stop Sam! On Saturday, Gary and Peach babysat for us so we could head down to Northfield for Jason and Angela's wedding. The wedding was a lot of fun, and it was great catching up with friends at the wedding AND with Grandpa Gary and Grandma Peach! Thanks for visiting:-)

The boys being serious...

The gals...

Really cool wedding day transportation!

Sam with Grandma at the hotel pool

Happy Birthday, Oscar!

On Sunday we celebrated Oscar's third birthday. Sam and I went to the pet store to pick out a new toy and a bone for Oscar. He loves them both! Though it did take a while to convince Sam that the soccer ball rope toy was for Oscar and NOT for him...ahh, two-year-olds! Oscar is also enjoying his new summer birthday haircut, which makes him much less fluffy, but much more energetic! Above is post-haircut, and below was in last week's hot weather.

Summer Fun

June was a busy month! I cannot believe today is already July 1st. I've been busy job searching and interviewing, and it finally paid off (yeah!), while also working hard for my Public Policy class this summer. Sam has been busy with lots of playdates, and Peter has been working a lot too, though as mentioned in a previous post, he did get the chance to enjoy a guy's weekend in Chicago to watch the Twins. Hopefully July will be a little bit calmer, though it is summer, so I'm sure the calendar will fill up quickly:-)

Sam with Madeline (Jeremy's niece)
They will be the ring bearer and flower girl at Candy and Jeremy's wedding in February.

Sam with Owen, an ECFE buddy

Soakin' up the sun at the beach on a 95 degree day. Where did those days go?

Peter works until 8 on Tuesdays, so here is Sam saying good night to Daddy via cell phone.

A water park in Burnsville - This was a playdate with Jackson and Henry, but Jackson was much quicker than Sam, who was always trying to catch up, so he didn't make it in the picture!

Coloring with Uncle Reed after Reed's first solo babysitting experience.

They watched the movie CARS!

Chillin' with Baby Lucas (aka Baby Gookus according to Sam)

Sam with Wyatt, another ECFE buddy.

They've been friends since they were three months old!