A visit to Minnesota

We traveled to Minnesota last Friday.  It was a wonderful trip where we were able to see several family members and even a good girlfriend!  

 Lola turned ONE!  Another birthday I cannot believe is upon us.  It's crazy how fast the years are flying.

She is getting so big and is such a sweetie.  She had fun crawling around, eating her cupcake and watching the big kids play in the yard.  I love her eyes in this picture... they are so beautiful.

 Congrats Nikki and Steve!  We really appreciate being included in your celebration.  It was really fun.

We stayed with Sam and Emily.  We had a wonderful time visiting, relaxing, playing and eating!!  The girls here are playing with their babies.  Olivia LOVES to play babies and was in heaven with Lola and Lincoln to "take care of" while we were there.

I had the chance to give Lincoln a bottle!!  It was such a treat.  He is a GREAT baby and it's so fun to see Sam and Em as parents.  They, like Nikki and Steve, are so natural with their little ones.  I may not be remembering correctly but I don't remember myself being so calm and natural with Braden when I had him.  

 Braden's highlight was catching frogs in the pond out front!  They had a blast playing around the water. We also went swimming at a beach near their house.  Braden tried to catch sunfish that were swimming around our legs and Olivia enjoyed having her daddy swing her around in the water.  Even Lincoln made an appearance in the water.

Here Olivia is in "care taker" mode and is teaching Lincoln about what each of his fingers is called.  It was adorable.

He is so cute and is smiling a ton.  I think we even caught a few giggles.  I love that Braden, Olivia and Norah are going to have cousins to grow up with and I hope that we can see each other enough that they do feel that they are growing up together.

I don't have pictures (didn't even think about it) but we were able to watch fireworks right off their front deck.  It was PERFECT.  We were sad to miss the Tosa festivities but I can't think of another place I'd rather be if not at home.  

I also don't have ANY pictures of all of us adults together.  My mom was with us too and we talked about taking group shots a few times and then got distracted (imagine that!).  Oh well... next time!  We do plan on seeing each other a few more times this summer thankfully. :)

Last but not least I was able to sneak in an EARLY morning coffee date with Meg in Uptown.  We met at Dunn Brothers and spent a little time catching up as we LOVE to do.  I sure do wish we could see each other more.  

It was a GREAT trip and the drive went surprisingly fast. :)  This summer has been so fun thus far.