The Salmon Family: 2011

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Maggie makes me laugh....

"Look Mom- I wrote dad's name. I know I'm not supposed to call him 'Dan' but I couldnt' write D-A-D because I only have one D magnet."

This video isn't terribly funny....other than the fact that I think in 10 years we will just look back and laugh and laugh at how Maggie pronounces her "s's" :)

On June 12, my parents celebrated their 40th anniversary. In leiu of a big celebration, all of us "kids" chose to head to Chicago for a nice dinner out. It was a wonderful night- great food, good drinks, and a good time hanging out at Doug and Katie's place after supper. Congratulations, mom and dad on 40 years.... Here's to 40 more!

Monday, August 29, 2011

Sleep Nazi

Lucy puts daddy "to sleep."

Last Day of School!

Here are pictures from the girls' last day of school in June. Maggie will start 4K at "mom's school" in the fall, so this was a BIG day. She's been attending the same daycare since she was 4 months old!

Lucy and her beloved Nova. Nova "gets" Lucy. We are keeping our fingers crossed that all of Lucy's future teachers are so understanding! :)

Maggie and her teacher, Ms. Vicki. We are so thankful for Ms. Vicki this past year. She really, really saw potential in Maggie and took a lot of extra time to work on her letter sounds and reading because "well, she can do it!" Maggie is certainly going to miss her next year! Thank goodness Ms. Vicki lives nearby- we plan to visit with her!

Just had to include this picture- the last day of school, mom got a special delivery at school. I was certain they were from Dan, but they were actually from my "Secret Pal" at work. What a great way to end the school year!

Last day of school! Bring on summer!

Happy (belated?) birthday, Lucy!

On June 4, Lucy turned 2. Remember June? Like, 3 months ago? Anyway- we were lucky again that Lucy's "real" birthday fell on a Saturday, which meant that we got to celebrate on her actual day! A few months before her birthday, we came across some super adorable "Very Hungry Caterpillar" party stuff at Target. Hmmm... a caterpillar cake can't be too hard, can it? Nope!

The birthday girl!

One of the easiest cakes....ever!

Caterpillar decorations

In keeping with the theme... a caterpillar dress!

so happy!

Blowing out candles!

Maggie gives the cake a "thumbs up!"

Milan liked the cake, too!

Opening (many, many) presents!

Maggie- being cute!

Lucy, hanging with her godfathers!

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Misc April/May

Too many posts. I'm getting lazy.

Here are some random, cute pictures from April and May.

Maggie wearing the shark oven mitts as high-heel boots.

Madonna. Oh, wait, I mean, Maggie.

Lucy on the phone.

Maggie modeling ALL the hair clips from Aunt Margaret and Uncle Harry.

Lucy eats sand. So what.

Hot day!

It's a secret!

Shhhh... don't tell....

...but I think Lucy pooped her pants!

Dad's Post!

In May, Dan made the difficult decision to accept a new job at Gallant Building Solutions in Crystal Lake, IL. The much longer commute means a lot less time with dad at home, but in the end, we knew it was the right decision. The goals and visions of Gallant were much more aligned to Dan's own personal goals and views- which, in the end, makes for a a happier worker. So far, so good.... we are so proud of him!

Zoo

The Salmons bough a "Zoo Pass" for the Milwaukee County Zoo this year. We took advantage as soon as we had a warm day in April... and had a blast. Not only can we go anytime we want, we also get special invitations for classes, events, etc. In June, Maggie took a "bug class" in the morning while mom and Lucy met some friends from Madison and checked out the rest of the zoo. In August, we're all camping at the zoo overnight! So exciting!

Best part about the zoo? We can pack our own picnic lunch!

Silly girls!

Lucy and Maggie check out the scary lion!

Maggie after her "bug class."

Modeling her "bug costume!"

Independence

It's official . Lucy has reached THAT age. You know, where every sentence starts with "I do it" or "Let ME do it" or "I do it MYSELF." Ahhhh. We have just learned to get started about 30 minutes before we actually need to- allowing Lucy ample time to "do it herself."

The joys of independent 2 year olds.

(this video was from April- before she became quite so vocal)

...and this is what happens when she is successful. Note she not only took the pants OFF, but managed to put them back on herself ... backwards!

One afternoon while I was putting laundry away, Lucy was quietly playing alone in her room. She was busy putting her "babies" to bed. She was even kind enough to share her precious "plugs" (pacifiers!) with them!

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Um... Easter?

Easter. Remember that holiday, like, many months ago?

I'm a little behind. Now that school's done and summer is FINALLY here- my goal is to work on a few posts a day and catch up. We'll see how that goes!

Anyway- we were lucky to spend Easter weekend with the Salmon family in Minnesota. Saturday was a fun, relaxing day. Grandpa Mark set up one heck of an Easter egg hunt. It was totally fun, because all 4 of the little girls actually "got" it this year! After a yummy barbeque, we "celebrated" Maggie's birthday (again!) with a cool Tinkerbell cake that Grandma Bernie ordered from the bakery!

On Easter Sunday, we headed to the nursing home in Rushford to visit with Great Grandma Mindrum and the rest of Grandma Bernie's side of the family. Cousin Caryn organized ANOTHER fun Easter egg hunt for all the little ones and we even managed to snap a few pictures of all the "Mindrum" cousins and grandkids together!