Weekends Galore

I've failed to document several of my latest weekend adventures, so I fully anticipate this post to be a long, unorganized, post full of too many pictures and faint recollections. So bear with me.

WEEKEND 1
June 21: Baby Day
My sister and I had a baby day adventure! We started the day at Brookside Park where we ate a picnic lunch, played on the play grounds, climbed on the firetruck, dug in the sand, and splashed in puddles.

I can hardly stand how cute this is. He is going to be a heart-breaker someday.

Abby and Baby Quinn!

Afterwards, we surprised the babies and headed to the pool. As soon as we pulled in, Kennedy said in her cute, concerned voice, "but we don't have our swimming suits!" ...and when she learned her mama had secretly packed suits and pool toys for her and her baby brother, she couldn't contain her excitement.

Just look at that cute little bottom!

I took this video about five minutes later...

Later that night the babies asked if we could visit their great grandma (they love her so much!). She was so happy (obviously!) to answer the door and see two cute little ones staring up at her through the glass! After visiting with grandma, we snuggled up with popcorn and Stuart Little. What a perfect day.

June 22: Cedar Falls
After dropping off the babies at their mama and papa's house, I headed up to Cedar Falls for the day. A few days earlier, Trent had five trees cut down in his yard. Five HUGE trees. And, of course, he made sure to wait till I was there before disposing of all of those trees. So, guess who got to help? This red-haired girl. It was a long, tiring, and extremely hot day, but, I have to say, it did me good; living with my rents means I do zero yard work. And, holy crap, I was so appreciative of my parents after that day. ALSO, I stole several slices of tree for some fire wood for the 4th of July. So, for the next week, my car looked like this:

After our miserably hot day, Trent and I headed out for a date. Trent is so cute. He absolutely loves taking me out on dates. He's like a little giddy school girl each time we go out. I swear, he actually likes waiting for me to get ready. It's always the same...he'll be sitting in his chair, legs on his ottoman, beverage in hand, sports on the tele, and I'll come out in whatever disheveled outfit I happened to pull out of my suitcase (I am a terrible packer), and say, "ready?" and up he jumps, all giddy like, and ready in a second. He'll give me some sort of compliment, I'll brush it off like it's nothing (but inside I'm blushing), and out the door we'll go. Then, once we finally decide on a place to eat (he always makes me pick), he'll ask me ten thousand times if I'm sure that's the appetizer I want and if I'm sure I don't want another one. I love him.

Anyway, this night we went to Tony's--a cute, modernish looking pizzeria. I pick this restaurant, every time, for their calamari (even though it requires several strong shakes of salt). Then, my dear friend, Christy, and her fiance, Marcus, joined us for a drink. Afterwards, we had a quick drink or two at Toads and called it an early night.

WEEKEND 2
June 26-28: Sturgis Falls
This weekend is always one of my summertime favorites. If you're from central Iowa, "Sturgis Falls" is the equivalent of "Colo Fun Days" or "Lincoln Highway Days," but in all honesty, there are few close comparisons to be made. Sturgis Falls is a thousand times bigger and a million times better. Sorry, Colo, but you're dinky beer garden and little kid blow-up-bouncy-thing just doesn't do much for this girl. But STURGIS? I feel like the angels sing when I say that word.

Natalie and I headed to Cedar Falls on Friday afternoon. Once there, we tried and re-tried on seventeen outfits, made a pit-stop at a local martini bar with Marcus and Christy, then headed to the beer garden. My favorite part of the night, for sure, was when Lauren and I started a line dance (traveling four corners--aka, the circle dance) in the crowd; whilst weaving/dancing in and out of people, we accumulated about ten other fellow dancers. We all loved it. And of course, so did our audience ;)

The cute, almost newly weds, Marcus and Christy

Christy, Lauren, Me, and Nat

Me and an old Carlos regular, Troy; I ran into him and his wife, Lisa, every day of Sturgis weekend.

After closing that place down, we hit the bars. I think. Obviously, my memory is a bit foggy--I'll blame this on time, not drinks. 

The next day:
Natalie and I walked around the festivities for a while.
Natalie and I hit the mall (where I purchased seven of the same sweater in seven different colors. really.).
Christy and I got pedicures/manicures.
And, then...the beer garden again.

WEEKEND 3
July 4th weekend: Eldora Tubing Extravaganza

WEEKEND 4
July 12: This night consisted of four ladies, one baby girl, sushi, margaritas, a small town bar in Kelley, IA, and live country music from our local celebrity, Mr. Neil Hewitt.

 

July 13: On this night we had an impromptu, gluten free barbeque at my house. I've never hosted a gluten-free party before, but my mama and I pulled it off--complete with gluten-free chocolate chip cookies (who knew that was possible??)!

After hours of card games, we brought the party to the beer garden/street dance in Colo. I have to admit, I loved this night--mostly because I spent the majority of the evening being swung around the makeshift dance floor. 

Amy!

WEEKEND 5
July 18: I spent the evening with my old friend, Nate. I had a ton of fun, which ultimately depressed me, as I knew it was the last time I'd see him in a really, really long time (he's moving to Arizona today). It's so difficult to describe the relationship I used to have with him; it's the kind that is still comfortable today, even if we only see each other every few months. We spent the night talking, laughing, drinking, playing Mario Cart, and hanging with another friend, Tyler, until 4 AM.

July 19: Another day of goodbyes :( My friend, Laura, and I went to the pool and had such a fun, relaxing day! Laura is another lifelong friend and everything just comes so easy with her. But, sadly, she moved to Colorado a week ago...everything around me is changing way too freaking fast!

Holy crazy hair!

July 20: This day was spent tubing in Boone, eating gizzards and pizza, and watching movies at Natalie's house.

It seems like all five of those weekends were over in a blink of an eye--I wish life would slow down!

Wordless Wednesday: kennedy at the pool :)

Two videos / two precious babies

I was copying some pictures to my hard drive tonight and couldn't help but watch some old videos that I took about a year ago. As soon as you watch these, you'll understand why I couldn't help but share.

The first one starts with Chuck doing his typical sniffing thing around the plants at our house while Kennedy cutely says, "Chuck, outta there....Chuck, outta there!" I remember she said this three or four times before I got my camera out for a video, and I am so happy I was able to capture a bit of that cute little voice. ...she says it first thing in the video, so if you missed it, turn up your volume and start it over!



The second one is of baby Quinn laughing at Chuck. And then falling over. And then he does it again. And again. And, of course, I was too slow to get my camera out for this one too! ...he was giggling (and falling down) like this for a good two minutes before this video starts.



And stay tuned: I'll be posting another precious (but a bit more recent) video bright and early tomorrow morning!

In a nut shell...

My baby brother graduated from college on Friday...

Here he is with his grandmas.

  

This little girl went to pre-school orientation on Saturday...

I got to watch this little guy while she was there... 

I gave my dear mother a movie, a CD, and these beauties for Mother's day...

Can you believe I arranged these myself!? Beginner's luck, I'd say.

And then took her out for lunch...

And ended the weekend with a triple movie date to The Great Gatsby...

El Weekendo

On Friday, after my semi-annual haircut, my mom and I headed to Des Moines to shop for a dress for her to wear to my sister's wedding (which is less than three weeks away!). After trying on several dresses, she finally bought one, and then two hours later decided she didn't like it anymore. We were, however, rather successful in the makeup department; we both had makeovers done by the Clinique people, and spent way too much money on eye shadow and "primer."

On Friday night I went out to dinner with an old friend of mine (Miss Laura Lou) who informed me that she and her husband are moving to Colorado this summer! I am so happy for them and am happy for another excuse to visit that wonderful state.

On Saturday, I babysat the cute littles. In honor of the Kentucky Derby, they both put on their favorite hats and rode around on my back. About every 10 seconds during this "horse"back ride, and without any instruction from me, Kennedy would take off her hat, swing it around her head, and say "Yee Haw!" It was adorable.

Another adorable moment of Kennedy's:

She was driving away in the little toy car we have and said to Quinn, “I’m guna go get gas.”

Quinn said, “Bye, Kennedy.”

Kennedy then stuck her head out the window, looked back at Quinn, and said, “You can chetch up with me later, okay?”

HOW DOES SHE COME UP WITH THOSE CUTE LITTLE PHRASES!?

And if you thought I misspelled the word “catch,” you are way wrong, reader! Kennedy pronounces most things that start with a “Ke” or “Cu” sound as “Ch.”  So, for example, in Kennedy talk:

catch = “chetch”

ketchup = “chetchup”

come = “chum”

I really, really, really hope she never grows out of that!

On Cinco de Mayo, I went out for margaritas with my old friends, Austin, Zach, and Tyler. And, let me tell you, those boys are absolutely hilarious! Hanging out with them was the perfect end to my weekend.

Last Weekend: full of babies!

On Friday afternoon I picked up the two most adorable babies in Story County and took them out for lunch at our local eatery. The place was packed when we arrived and I was so proud to have the two most adorable dates there. The two of them entertained the entire restaurant with their cuteness.

After lunch we went home to bundle up before heading to the park. I told Kennedy that she had to go potty before we left. She said she didn't have to go and I explained that she might not have to now, but she might at the park. Her response: "my mommy said I can go in the grass."

Obviously, I laughed.

...last summer, my mom took Kennedy and Quinn to the park; my mom had her head turned for a minute as she video-taped Quinn, and when she turned around, Kennedy had her pants at her ankles and was popping a squat right there in the middle of our city park. And yes, it's all on video.

But I digress...

Once at the park, the babies had fun playing on the tire swings and slide, climbing over everything, and racing me back and forth to various trees and other landmarks.

I bundled her up with pajama bottoms (under her dress) and both of them wore socks for gloves (or "glubs" as the babies would say).

Kennedy "catching" Quinn as he came down the slide.

Such brave ones!

After the park, the babies and I went home, played catch, jumped on exercise balls, chased each other around, and eventually settled down to read Green Eggs and Ham ten times and watch some cartoons.

This is my "I am so lucky!" face. The babies were too into their cartoon to smile with me.

My mom brought home some coloring books and paint (per Kennedy and Quinn's request), so the evening was spent painting pictures for our fridge (and great grandma's), helping out in the kitchen, and playing in an extra bubbly bathtub. 

Kennedy and Great Aunt Marcy checking on the cake.

The babies proudly holding their masterpiece.

My mom and Quinn

Kennedy insisted on wearing giant headphones the entire night and eventually fell asleep with them on while rockabying (is that how that's spelled?) with her Great Aunt Marcy.

Around 3AM, baby Quinn woke up missing his mama. I rockabyed him for a while and soon Kennedy joined the party and asked if we could watch cartoons (what kind of a second-cousin would say no to a 3AM party with her baby cousins? ...not this girl!). After one episode the babies were still awake, so we went back to bed where I read them Green Eggs and Ham (again).

Once I thought they were asleep, I moved to the basement but wasn't too surprised when I heard the pitter patter of baby feet and "Anny?" echoing through the hallway. How precious. Quinn and I cuddled some more and soon he was back to sleep again. I just love these babies soooooo much.

The next morning we enjoyed--*drum roll, please*--green eggs (and toast) for breakfast and that afternoon the babies went back home to their mama and daddy.

This is Quinn's "Cheese!" face.

She loves playing dress up!

The rest of the day was spent shopping for a much needed new pair of shoes and some running clothes.

On Sunday, I finally did my taxes (talk about last minute...) and really not a whole lot else.

All in all, one heck of a great, baby-filled weekend!