Zoo with Chloe and Mallory

The zoo is a fabulous place to spend a lovely summer day. A couple weeks ago we went with Chloe, Mallory and Allison and we'll be back again before the summer is over. It was the day before Mallory's 4th birthday, so she got to choose our destination: the farm in the zoo!

Helen can't stop talking about the goats. She has this little chuckle and then says, "goats...cute...goats...so cute" Here she is feeding them:


Here are the girls riding a tractor together:
And petting a very soft bunny:
And pretending to hold bunnies while dressed in overalls:
And sneaking a kiss:
It was so much fun that we're meeting at the zoo again in couple weeks. We'll see where we end up this time.

Big Girls

We've had such a busy summer filled with play dates with many of Helen's friends. A couple of big sisters are out of school for the summer and we're noticing how crazy Helen is for big girls. It all began with Lauren Balthrop, in town with Pascal and Balthrop, Alabama. She shared her necklace with Lauren (below) and she wanted Lauren to give her piggies (for which she sat perfectly still). Here she is post-pig-tails:
Next, she's crazy for Sayen:
So crazy for her that, when it was time for bed the other night, she refused to take off the hand-me-downs she had given her:
Big girl #3: Alexis. Another play date at Calhoun beach, but this time with Addie (below, left) who brought her big sister Alexis (below, right). Helen and Alexis played like they were best friends. Helen followed her everywhere, yelling, "Lex-ees!!" and I heard Alexis say to Helen as she pointed to two benches, "Helen, would you like this to be your secret spot? This will be my secret spot." Adorable! Of course, there were tears when we left and Alexis ran to the car for one final hug goodbye.
Big girl #4: Mallory (big sister to Chloe). Helen chased her all around the zoo, calling "Ma-wah-wee!!" More on that awesome outing later, but here's a photo of Mallory and Helen in the stroller together as we tried to get them to hurry along the path. Helen couldn't stop giggling as she sat on Mallory's lap and we zoomed along:
It's great that Helen has all these amazing older kids to look up to. Looking forward to more fun soon!

San Francisco and Chico, CA

We've been back from California for a couple weeks already and I'm just now getting around to writing this post. We had a fabulous vacation there visiting all our family and friends and now we're back to all the fun of a Minnesota summer.

Helen did great on the plane (video above filmed during take-off) and generously shared the view with her baby:
Our trip began in steamy hot Chico, CA (101 degrees) where my cousin Eric got married at the Sierra Nevada Brewery. Here's Helen running around with my cousin Mike's kids, Ben and Emmett. They're overlooking big vats of beer (is that what they're called?). The wedding was beautiful and the band was spectacular. Helen danced and danced and chased the big kids everywhere:
Even though it was super hot, Helen loved playing in Ben and Emmett's playhouse:
And washing dishes with them:And on Sunday morning, before it got too hot, we went on a bike ride together. Helen sat in Emmett's seat that is positioned on the handlebars of an adult bike. She had so much fun that was got one of our own when we got home. As we rode through Chico, she saw another biker and hollered out to him, "Hi, Bike!! Hah-Nah ride bike too!!"
Eric was really looking forward to the taco truck at the rehearsal dinner:
But what he really wanted is a burrito from the mission in San Francisco. We arrived in the lovely cool city on Sunday afternoon and relaxed in the Noe Valley apartment we rented, relieved to be away from the heat. 70 and sunny each day.
Helen could have spent the entire vacation in the apartment and the garden:
She loved running around and playing peek-a-boo with us:
But of course, there were Noe-O's to be eaten:
And bread pudding from Tartine:
And a redwood forest to explore:


Some family photo attempts:

There was so much to see in the woods, but Helen most enjoyed pretending to unscrew the bolts on the fences along the walking paths:
And later, she hammed it up by pretending to be a llama eating her pajamas (from the book "Down by the Bay"). She would eat her shirt like this and then laugh and say, "Llamas funny" and continue laughing at her own joke.
On the way to Muir Woods, she crossed the Golden Gate Bridge for the first time:
And on the way back into the city, we decided to stop so she could take a closer look, but it was SO WINDY that it felt like we might blow over the edge. She really just wanted to get back to the garden apartment and the little toddler park just down the street in Noe Valley.



By the end of the trip, she was pretty good at saying "San Francisco" and when we'd come up the hill to the apartment, she'd point and say, "Hah-Nah's San Fuh Siss Oh house!"

The other day as we were approaching our house in Minneapolis, I said, "Helen, where are we?" expecting her to say, "home" and she shouted "San Francisco!!" ...maybe next year :) It was a lovely trip.

Counting

Obviously, she hasn't figured out one-t0-one correspondence, but knows her numbers anyhow. She usually ends with "TEN-EN-EN-EN-EN!" but not today. On Friday when all the wedding tasks were getting a little overwhelming, she hollered out, "five, six, seven, eight, HAPPY!!" which became the motto that got us all through. You can always count on Helen for a positive spin.

The Wedding!

It is confirmed. Helen loves a party! Saturday was my brother Jim's wedding, and we all worked together to pull off a spectacular event at my sister and her husband's place. Even Helen did her part. Here she is helping with flower arrangements:
In honor of the McKubbin family (Jim's new wife, Melia's name) and because Jim loves kilts, the men in the wedding party were kilted:
Here's our whole family. Welcome, Melia!!:
And here's our little immediate family:
A kiss for GoGo:
Helen and Daddy investigated the lights (that she thought were candles) along the tent posts. She kept trying to blow them out by putting her face up to them and blowing through her nose. That's her current method for extinguishing flames:
Helen with her Bah-Pah:
isn't the tent gorgeous?! Thanks to Jessica and her wedding planning skills and amazing ability to have a vision and make it a reality.

Even after a 3 hour nap, H needed a little rest before the big night got underway:
Then she found a bowl of pretzels sitting on a table and she devoured as many as she could. Here's our Pretzel Princess:
For Helen, the party really started with her new friend, Alexis, the lovely and sweet flower girl. Helen chased her around, calling "Leck-Iss!!" and Alexis was happy to do anything Helen wanted.
It was love at first sight for both of them and they played together as much as they could. Alexis even read Helen a book before bed. They couldn't have been any sweeter together. Here's Helen ready to "catch" Alexis at the bottom of the slide:
Here they are drawing with chalk:
And, most fun of all, here they are dancing together:
Helen couldn't get enough of the dance floor. She'd run into the middle of the circle and dance and ham it up for the crowd.


When it got very late, we went inside for bed, but even after she was in her pajamas, she asked for more "dance!? dance?!" so, of course we went out for more. In party shoes and PJ's with Aunt Jess:

And one last glimpse of the lovely setting: cafe tables by the pool and surprisingly little trash to clean up (hooray!).
Congratulations, Jim and Melia!!

A Trip to Wisconsin!

Eric's cousin, Alyssa, graduated from high school, so we took a trip to Wisconsin for her open house and to see Nana and Bah-Pah B. When we pulled into the driveway around midnight on Thursday, Helen was sound asleep. As soon as we turned off the car, she opened her eyes, threw both fists in the air, kicked her feet and shouted, "NANA'S!!!" She was so incredibly excited that she couldn't get to sleep until 1:30am. Of course, that didn't stop her from waking up at 5:30am, ready to greet the animals and play with all her toys.
Even on very little sleep, she was beyond thrilled to go to the amazing (and free) Vilas Zoo in Madison.
She rode a giraffe on the carousel with Nana:


And then she and Nana rode on the train. She's still talking about the "tunn-uh" (tunnel) and how dark it was:
We saw so many animals up close: seals with long whiskers and big eyes, otters diving and playing in a turquoise pool, flamingos, peacocks, an ostrich, goats, a huge lion sitting on a rock, a tortoise eating grass, and so much more - all just steps away from us. It was a wonderful place to visit. Here's Helen's up-close experience with a huge tiger!!


Here we are swinging in the back yard at the end of adventurous day one:
Helen had such a fun time with the next door neighbor, Sully. He likes to run around and smash things, which she found a little disconcerting. Judging by the names of her best friends (Neave, Layla, Iris, Sayen and Chloe) you can see she's not around boys very often. Even in music class, the boys are much more subdued than the girls, so it was funny to see how she reacted to Sully's behavior. She looks pained in this video, but she really did enjoy playing with him. Wherever he went, Helen would run after him calling, "Suh-Yee!!!" He really is a sweet heart. Each time he would smash into a truck, Helen would run to it and pick it up, give it a hug and set it back into place:


Helen spent the whole weekend getting in and out of Sully's car. She didn't want to push it anywhere, she just wanted to get in and out, then say "uh-thuh side" (other side) and try to get into the side without a door, then go back to the door and get in, over and over. She filled the back with rocks and "money" (grass that she would pick from one particular spot in the lawn).
On Saturday, we went to the Cambridge Pottery Festival just down the road from Nana's. As we looked for beautiful mugs (and found them!), Helen chilled out in the stroller:

She had to get out after a little while and she couldn't resist the free samples of kettle corn - just like her Mama:
On Sunday, we saw Alyssa, the graduate:
And played with Helen's second cousin, Alexandra. Here they are chasing the top of an ice cream pail (make-shift frisbee):
And filled the bird bath with rocks. Give Helen some rocks or pebbles and a receptacle of some kind and she's occupied for ages:
After a great time with all the relatives and lots of running around, we headed off to Minnesota. Moments after we pulled away, she was fast asleep:

What a wonderful weekend!!!