Diva Lauren!

Here is my two year old going on thirteen year old daughter, Princess Lauren!! She is very independent and wants to do everything by herself.
The other evening, I told her it was time to go upstairs and take a bath. She looked at me and said, "Stop with the attititude, Mom." WHAT? Needless to say, that didn't go over very well, but it's so hard to correct those things when you're trying not to laugh. Just yesterday, we were headed to the grocery store and I was trying to hurry her along and she said, "Let's go pal." Who knows where she comes up with these things, but needless to say, she keeps us laughing and I can't wait to hear what she says next!

Fair Fun!

Lauren has discovered that she loves fair rides!! Every summer the DuPage County Fair takes place across the street from our house. This year she and Ashley had a great time riding on all of the rides. Lauren's favorite was the great big ferris wheel! I think Uncle Mike and Justin were holding on tighter than the girls!

They also got to ride on the train and the giant slide. Wheeeee!! We love having the fair so close. Someday I hope Lauren gets to participate in all the fair activities just as I did growing up.

One of my other favorite summertime places growing up is Adventureland!! We drove to Des Moines to meet baby Molly at the end of July and also managed to squeeze in an afternoon at Adventureland. (For those that have never been to Adventureland, think mini-version of Six Flags.)

Lauren loved riding all the rides with Nick and Steph. Nick was so good with her and held onto her on the train and held her hand through the park. He's a great big cousin! Lauren would have loved to ride all of the big rollercoasters too...it's too bad she's only 36 inches tall! Maybe next year...or when she's 18 if her Mommy has anything to say about it!

The biggest moment of our trip to Des Moines was meeting Baby Molly Jane!! She is such a sweet baby girl and we barely heard her make a peep. We can't wait to see her again. Lauren talks about "Baby Molly" all the time!

Thanks for checking in on us. Summer is winding down, but we're trying to squeeze in every last minute of summer we can get. Thanks for checking in on us.

Until next time--

Crivitz 2009!

We spent a great week in July in Crivitz, Wisconsin with Justin's entire family! When I say entire, I mean 20 people (10 of which were 11 and under!!) We really had a great time and had some really good weather. Lauren loved playing with her cousins everyday. She was sad to come home and leave everyone behind.

We spent the first part of the week enjoying some time at the beach. Lauren loved playing in the sand and riding on Boppa's boat. Lauren liked the boat better this year than last, but still wasn't particularly interested in going fast. Good thing Boppa takes driving instructions from his granddaughter!

One evening we went to Caldron Falls, one of the favorite places to skip rocks! Lauren didn't quite "get" the skipping rocks, but loved just throwing rocks into the water. It turned in to one of her favorite activities for the week...throwing rocks into the water off of Nonny and Boppa's dock. Watch her throw rocks here.

Of course Lauren is silly as ever. She thought it would be funny to put on the lady bug floatie. This is how she wore it:

She is definitely a silly little monkey and says the funniest things sometimes. One night as I was putting her down for bed, I asked her if she was having fun. She said, "Yeah, I'm gonna tell my parents about it." I laughed to myself and asked her if she knew Mommy and Daddy were her parents. She said, "No, You not my parents." Oh really?

We spent one morning exploring the small waterfalls at Veterans Park while the rest of the crew went to Laona. It was such a nice morning and we had the park to ourselves. As we're quickly discovering, Lauren is fearless. She wants to do everything herself and isn't afraid to try new things. She definitely does not get that from me!

Lauren also got to try out her first S'more! Mmmmm! And she loved it. Who wouldn't? Gooey marshmellows and chocolate? The second picture is all 10 of the cousins!

The end of the week was a bit chilly, so we had to find some indoor activites. One afternoon I caught Lauren dancing with some of her cousins to Mary Poppins. How cute! Watch her here.

Each year we try to get a grandkids picture with Nonny and Boppa. 10 grandkids...whew!! But they're some of the cutest kids I have ever seen (Lauren's in the hat in the front...Thanks Gigi for such a cute outfit!)!

Thanks for checking in on us! It's been a fun summer so far!

Until next time--