Skip to main content

Marina Turns One!

Yup we headed to Wisconsin again. We seem to always make a stop at Culver's on the way.

It's just something you do in Wisconsin. Plus it's a lot better than most fast food.

Even Meadow helped drive.

Marina's first birthday party was being held at my Grandma's lake house. Since my Grandma doesn't get to see Meadow very often we planned to spend the night.

I made tacos from leftover fried avocados, black beans  and a few things we picked up along the way.

Meadow hadn't seen her cousin since Christmas.

She's gotten so grown up since we last saw her.

Meadow has re-found her tongue again and always has it sticking out.

That's my little goofball.

Not a bad leftover dinner.

Marina mostly looks like Jeff, but here she looks like a combo platter of the two.

Definitely a combo platter.

So cute.

Bean gotee. 

Meadow is too wiggly for her Great Grandma.

The next morning the cousins played while the adults helped set up for the party.

Hey I do exist!

The little ones played amongst the balloons while we turned the place into party central.

My Grandma just loved watching her great-grandbabies.


Jeff made us nachos for lunch from our leftovers.

Then our family started to arrive.

Brittany also came up with the idea for the balloon bouquets. She's so creative. 

Little dude was in the house with his pops.

Meadow was so excited to play with her cousins she didn't want to eat or nap.

Great-grandma had some really cool toys.

Everyone was eyeing up that drill.

Brittany made Marina's birthday dress. She's so lucky that her mom can make her clothes.

We all snacked and chit chatted for a while.


After we filled up on snacks it was time for Marina to open her gifts.

The balcony was even full for the big present reveal.

She was more interested in what Brayden was doing.


Her favorite food. Bananas.

Meadow was finally winding down and getting sleepy.

Marina got some rad toys.

Nolan was sad none of the toys were for him.

I knit her a doll with different accessories.

We also got her a peacock shirt and the Pat the Zoo book.

This three lovely ladies are so great.

Marina wasn't sure if she should play with the box or her knit baby.

I put Meadow down for a nap while everyone else sang Happy Birthday.

She's so cute. My little niece.

Brittany made her a special blueberry banana cake with no sugar and cream cheese for frosting. I wish I had tried some.


Cake time!

Don't touch the lens with messy hands!

I was literally asking for it.

For everyone else Brittany made a chocolate Bundt cake with Door County cherries. It was so good.

Brayden wanted to play outside and eventually everyone else followed.

Brayden and I were smart and wore our rubber boots today.

I found an old step ladder half buried in the sand.

I think your dad one-upped you with his rubber boots.

My Grandma was concerned that her pump was pumping too much. Leave it to my dad to help out.

Brayden had a good time whacking ice.

The pump wasn't low enough in the water and the tarp had fallen down.


Brayden was jealous that my dad got to break apart ice.


Then we let him play with the mallet.

He destroyed a natural igloo in the process.


We tried to uncover that step ladder again, but no luck.

Somewhere in here I stepped in water after Brayden told me to smash some ice. I'll get the little dude back.

I wish I could take a cuddle nap with Meadow.

You can. You just can't run away and clean the house.

Then I got to open my birthday present from Chelsea. She got for me a wooden spoon with a peacock design on it, my other favorite candy Daim, a kitchen towel and a cookbook I've been wanting forever Rustic Fruit Desserts. Thanks Chelsea.

Brittany had some boxes of stuff she was giving away that Chelsea and I dug through first.

You should wear that dress. It looks good on you.

Good times were had, but the party had to come to an end.

Then it was time to pack and clean up.


The cousins played together one last time.

We tried to convince my Grandma to come with us to Little Chute, but she wouldn't have it.

We had such a good time visiting her.

I wanted to stop here, but we weren't really hungry yet.

Back at my parents I had more gifts to open.  I got Wizard of Oz salt and pepper shakers and new hiking shoes. I was pretty excited about the shoes. I usually wear sneakers when I go camping. It was time for an upgrade, especially since these are waterproof.

After finding out Kim's Place, a.k.a Darboy Chicken, was closed we settled on Butch's Pizza for dinner.

It works, though I feel like we need some Sprecher tap root beer.

My parents finally set up our old crib for us or as we like to call it baby jail.

She seemed to like it.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

An Appalachian Hipcamp Road Trip: A MKE and O-HI-O pitstop on the way to Tawney Farm, West Virginia

Day 1  Scott had gotten a lucky gig to check out some off the beaten path campsites for Hipcamp. Our trip was going to bring us to the Appalachians. We packed our car full and headed east "early" Friday morning. Early for us is never that early, but at least we got out on the road at a decent hour. While driving through Madison we stopped at Cabela's to pick up a few more supplies that we would need. Our original plan was to make it to Indiana Sand Dunes tonight. Scott mentioned that if we drive through Milwaukee we could skip the Chicago tolls. I agreed and then he asked if we could stop in Cudahy to say hi to the folks. I said we might as well stay the night.  When we got there we went to Tsing Tao with my dad, my childhood favorite restaurant. It's in an old Ihop and has a great buffet at any time of the day.  Sorry Scott, I wasn't impressed. That's because your pretentious. Anyways, Meadow decided she didn't want t

An M&Ms Halloween

Theo's been on a Mario spree recently. Mario Maker 2, Bowsers Fury, Mario Odyssey. He's also been getting a bit riled up by the challenging moments.  It was crunch time for me to get these costumes done before Halloween. Meanwhile I once again ended up in the northwest exurbs. This time I purchased a used Iron Sleek backyard rink setup. The kids are going to have the best winter ever.  Somehow I managed to haul all the hardware and 19 long 2x6s. The kids Christmas present had made it home safely. I guess while I was gone the kiddos actually played air hockey. Fitting. Sometimes they get along.  The fourth costume and I was finally getting the hang of these appliques. These were looking so good.    Meadow dug into one of her old lego kits. Busy day. Must mean a visit to La Casa Market for deli tacos. So good. Love that it's just down the street.  I did the finishing touches on Scott's costume. These costumes are really meant for kids and teenagers so I had to alter Scott

Winter Camping for Brooke's 29th Birthday - Part 1

All winter we had plans to go winter camping, but because its been so so cold we had to keep putting it off. Scott was supposed to work on my birthday and last minute didn't have to. We decided this would be the perfect time to go before the snow melts.  I think we would've went earlier in the worst winter in recent memory, but a baby and sub-zero temperatures don't exactly mix.