Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Random

Time for a random upload/update with random pictures taken lately...

Here I am in my new raincoat holding Lana the Iguana. She's our healthy eating mascot at daycare and she got to come spend a night at our house.



Here's Lana and me all ready for bed.
Ever wonder what a crazed preschooler looks like? Well, here it is:



Baby + Spaghetti and Meatballs = Dire Need for a Bath



Daddy celebrated his 32nd birthday on April 11th. If you know golf, you'll know that his birthday fell during Master's Weekend so he spent much of his special day watching the final round of the big event. We celebrated with dinner from Buca (yum!) and carrot cake (Dad's favorite) between the good parts of the Master's.



















Weeelllll...that's all I got. I've got a big weekend coming up. Grandma Trish and Papa Steve are coming up from Nebraska and we're having a birthday shindig for me on Friday night. Saturday I'm sure we'll do lots of playing before heading off to a baby shower. Sunday we're hitting the highways and biways to head to Great Aunt Judy and Great Uncle David's for a belated Easter celebration. I'll be sure to share digital pictorial proof of all events soon.
Adios,
Taylor (and Leighton)

Sunday, April 18, 2010

It's a Zoo Out There!

Happy birthday to me people. On Saturday I turned three years old. Three years old! Can you even believe it?!?! As I like to say these days, HOLY MOLY!


To celebrate my birthday, I went with part of my family on an outing to the zoo. Unfortunately, my dad was out of town for work so he couldn't go with us. I was accompanied by Mom, Grandma Jan, Papa Bob, Aunt Jenni, Megan and Nate. We had a super fun time and took it all in. Mom was amazed at how well I held up given that we usually only stay at the zoo for a few hours and our trip there yesterday lasted for six hours.


(Of course, meltdowns of monstrous proportions ensued in the car until I finally passed out. And again when I woke up at home. See, on a side note, Mom and Dad decided that since I turned three this weekend, that should also mean that I no longer need my nummies. All of them were taken away from me-ripped from my hands and mouth and mailed off to "some other baby that needs them now". So it's been a little tough for me to calm down when I get worked up. If I could just find one somewhere around here to hide under my pillow when I need a fix...)


Here are some pictures from our fun day. Enjoy!













































































Happy New Week!
Taylor (and Leighton)

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Easter News

Here are some pics from the Easter activities in which we participated.

Easter Egg Hunt...

Leighton had to sit in the stroller. Too young to hunt eggs. Sorry 'bout your luck Lil Buddy.



Adults dressed as bunnies are creepy, but I still posed for the picture.





Easter hunting madness and mayhem:




Pause for playground photo op:






Then there was the homestead Easter festivities...
I made a nice snack of sugar snap peas and carrots for the Easter Bunny:





We got up in the morning and found all the eggs and goodies that T.E. Bunny hid around the house, but unfortunately, we don't have digital documentation.
Then we went to church for a beautiful service celebrating the resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
After that, it was off to Aunt Jenni and Uncle John's for more Easter hunting, grubbing on some yummy food and LOTS of playing outside on the beautiful day.







































Well...I thin there's some more pictures trapped in the camera. If I can manage to access them I'll try to post another blog for all our fans out there.
Take care all!
Taylor (and Leighton)
P.S. For those keeping track, and especially for those NOT keeping track, in just SIX short days, I'll be THREE YEARS OLD!!! What?!?! Wow.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Another Fantastic Vacation on the Books

Well...it's over. And...we're home. And that? Well that's stinky. Stinky like Leighton's diapers. Now we're counting the days until we get to go again. Actually, Mom and Dad are doing that counting because I can only make it to ten.




For now we have the memories and pictures. Lots and lots of pictures. Three-hundred-some pictures thanks to the Fancy New Camera That Takes Really Nice Pictures. You'll find a couple of them here, and more on flickr. (But don't worry, not all three-hundred-some.)




Mom got some cool action sequence shots at the pool that she's hoping I'll put up on the blog soon but that'll be a work in progress.




So anyways, enjoy...




The last night of our vacation, some of us (Mom, Dad, Haley, Kevin, Kris and me) headed to downtown Palm Springs for a street fair. (Leighton couldn't go with because of his early bedtime so Grandma Trish and Papa Boots stayed home with him and they all went to dinner at the club.)




I had a great time at the street fair but my parents made a very bad parenting choice to keep me out WAAAAYYY past my bedtime. Things went well through the waiting for the table at the restaurant period, during which time we walked the fair and shopped the shops. I stopped to pose with this cute poodle statue:


Then we had our dinner (well I actually just had chips, salsa and chocolate milk, but that's cool because I covered dairy and vegetables and kinda, almost covered carbohydrate/starch...) and then walked and shopped some more. Dad even gave me a ride on his shoulders so I could see everything that was going on:






But then something bad happened. Something very very bad. There was a rock climbing wall and I wanted to climb it and Mom said no because I'm too young and I said NO MOM MY NOT TOO UNG, MY BIG GIRL AND MY CLIMB THE WADDER NOW COME ON so Mom and Dad said we would go ask the people and we walked there and nobody could talk to us because they were busy helping kids that looked bigger than me but I didn't admit that and Mom looked at a piece of paper and winked at Dad and then pointed to it and said LOOK TAYLOR it SAYS you have to be five years old and you're only two so you can't do it and we're going home because it's after 9:00 and you're a wreck. So we started to walk to the car and that's when this happened:





We got to the car where I was FINALLY given a nummy and calmed down right away. Unfortunately, that only lasted until we got back to the house where I broke down again for no apparent reason but it involved things like MY NOT WEAR A PULLUP TO BED MY WEAR PANTIES and no Taylor, we're not doing that on vacation but when we go home maybe we can start doing potty training for bedtime and MY NOT WANNA WEAR JAMMIES, MY WEAR MY DRESS TO BED and a wrestling match involving a pullup and Mom saying EEERRRR Taylor I am so done with you right now and then Grandma putting me in bed with my nummies and water and an eventual surrender to sleep.




(Note: Life has been like that around here a lot lately, but not to worry, in an extreme act of parenting Mom and Dad took ALL my books away and I'm earning them back by displaying appropriate behavior.)




Other fun activities interspersed with my tantrums included:









Lots and lots of swimming




Fun times with my cousin Haley (who looks JUST like her mommy, Kris in this picture!)




Lots and lots of golf cart rides





A trip to The Living Desert where Leighton and I rode together in a wagon (so fun!)





A day out without kids for Mom and Dad-they went hiking at Indian Canyons and had a romantic date night at their favorite restaurant, Kalura Trattoria Italiana




And lots of practice on my "skaters"





The weather back here in Minnesota has been unseasonably beautiful which has been the state's saving grace since we had to leave the sun and very warm weather in California. And to remember the beauty of Palm Springs until we go again, we have this:







TTFN.

Taylor and Leighton (who, by the way, if you're keeping track, still DOES. NOT. SLEEP. THROUGH. THE. NIGHT. Argh.)


Monday, March 22, 2010

The Good Life

Greeting from Palm Springs, California. Just a quick update before I head off to bed completely exhausted from the many adventures. (Of which I will share more details at a later date.)

Leighton, much to everybody's chagrin, took to the grass like a fish to water. Mom, Dad, Grandma and Papa were very happy that he didn't react like I did the first time I came to Palm Springs.

He may not look like he truly appreciates the grass here, but it was his first moment:



With more time to acclimate to it's unique texture, he's become very accustomed to it and happy with it:





There have been a couple firsts for me as well.

My first pair of roller skates:



Grandma got them for me, complete with all the safety gear. I told Mom that I want to take them to Meggie's next hockey game so I can skate with her.

I also got my first set of golf clubs-WITH A BAG!-as an early birthday gift from Mom and Dad. Sweet!



Today we all went to the driving range and putting green so I could try all my clubs out. I'm no Stephanie Oster yet, but I'll keep practicing and I'll be there someday.



I am beyond exhausted from all my adventures, so you'll have to excuse me for now. I'll be back soon with more pictures of our adventures.
Peace out,
Taylor (and Leighton)