After Miles' birthday we had a visit from Grammie Julie. She came and had a full weekend with Miles all to herself while Aaron and I went on a bar hop and tubing trip with our friends. We had a blast and Grammie Julie did too. She took Miles to our friend Henry's Pirate birthday party at the park.When Aaron and I got back we took s trip up to the Frontier Village and had a picnic and saw the Bison. White Cloud (or one of the other white buffalo) was right near the fence so we got a good look at her.
Picnic with Grammie
We got really close to the white buffalo
Dakota Thunder, from the back side
We've had some other fun adventures. The family went camping for the first time with Miles. Our friends Max and Henry spent the night with us too, then Katrina and Vivian joined us the next day. It was fun for a bit, but we got rained on that night and we had to go into town for breakfast instead of having our campfire cooked eggs in a basket and bacon. As the day wore on, the bugs started to come out and the flies got really bad. Poor Hayduke was overrun by the biting flies. So we packed up and headed home to our nice soft and fly-free beds.
This is cool Mom, are we going to sleep in here?
Waiting out the rain in the truck.
Miles wasn't digging the second day
We went swimming at the Jamestown Reservoir for the first time in two years. We have had flooding the past few summers and the swim beach has been under water. We didn't want to miss out this year with the water being down. So one evening we packed a picnic dinner and went to the beach to get some sand in our toes, and our shoes, and everywhere else.
Miles with his swim diaper on his head. :)
Paddling around with Mom.
Snuggling with Dad after the swim
Wasn't that fun?
Our garden has been providing us with some pretty good eats this summer. Plus we've been getting fresh raspberries from our bush in the back yard. Miles and I love to go out and eat them right off the bush. We've discovered that Miles loves tomatoes. He is our good little eater. There really isn't much he doesn't like to eat. As I go through our photos I am finding that we have taken a bunch of him eating stuff. Mostly with it all over his face.
I love this one, eating cherries.
Summer is slipping into fall pretty quickly here in ND.We are gearing up for Halloween and hunting season. We've been out once on a hike/hunt with Dad and plan to have many more hunts this fall. I am working on Miles' Halloween costume. I am also planning a party for the kiddos and one for the adults this year. I'm excited! As I usually get for Halloween. Any menu suggestions? You are all invited to the party!
Miles is ONE YEAR OLD!!! It has certainly been a year of changes for us and growing for Miles. Once we got past the first 6 months and he started sleeping through the night our lives have been easier and more fun. Not that we didn't treasure him from day one, but as a parent when you start to become less sleep deprived, life gets better.
So we had the big birthday party!! The celebrations started with the arrival of Grandma and Grandpa Kross who came all the way from Florida. They were so happy to see Miles and how much he had grown.The whole family went to Bismarck for a Roller Derby Bout. We saw the Bis-Man Bombshells play the A-salt Creek team from Wyoming. The Bombshellz didn't win, but it was an exciting match.
We love roller derby
Family Fun!
Go Bombshellz!!!
We spent some time seeing the sights around Jamestown (mostly Walmart). Grandma and Grandpa bought us a patio set for our anniversary. Aaron and I were really wondering why we haven't gotten one yet. Well, thanks so much Mom and Dad, we really love it and it has been great to have this summer.
We also took a trip to the Ronald Reagen Minuteman Missile command center in Cooperstown, ND. That was pretty neat. We learned a lot about the Cold War and how many missiles there are/were in North Dakota and how we are strategically located to launch missiles that can hit Russia. I'm glad we are done with that part of our history. Miles wanted to push all the buttons.
Don't shut the door on Grandpa
Low clearance
All is quiet up top
And of course we played in the splash pool.
Grandma keeping her feet cool
Then the big day arrived, PARTY TIME!!!
We were so happy to have our friends over to celebrate. Thanks to everyone who came to the party. And thanks for the Birthday wishes from everyone who wanted to come but couldn't make it. We understand. We had a great time with all the alligator theme stuff that Mom (me) and Grandma put together. Lisa made a great alligator cake and Karla made a giant cupcake just for Miles. Our friend Lori made alligator masks for the kiddos. Lori and Mur-Man weren't able to come to the party, but we saved a mask and goody bag for them. Below are some of the highlights from the party. You can see more pictures from the party here.
Henry, Eiley, Gus and Miles fishing for gator food.
Goody boxes!
Lisa and the awesome cake she made
Miles contemplating the giant cupcake
Henry and Vivian showing him how to do it
The family
Getting the hang of it
I Love this cake Karla!!
Dad says "take a bite"
Dad getting into it too
Frosting kisses for everyone!
I Love Birthdays!
Fun toys to play with
Thanks again to every one who came and for the gifts and birthday wishes. We had such a great day and we are grateful to have so many wonderful people in Miles' life to help us celebrate.
July has been filled with visits, vacations, and work trips. I haven't been up on updating the blog, but I will fill you all in with July installments. First with part of our trip to Kearney, NE.
We are back from our vacation in Kearney, NE. The ride back was a bit of a challenging one. Miles is at the point now where he isn't content just sitting in his carseat. He wants to GO!
Packing to go to Kearney, "Don't forget me Mom!"
We got to Kearney on Monday (July 9) because Aaron had some work meetings to attend. We had dinner with our friends and Aaron's work colleague Mary and her husband Keith. Mary and Keith have 2 little girls. Ella is the same age as Miles and we first met her on our trip to Texas a few months ago. And we got to meet Anna who is 3 and a little ball of energy.
Ella and Miles playing. That blur on the couch is Anna
She only sat still for a second
Miles and I were on our own for most of the week. But we found some fun stuff to do. We went to the Centennial Park pool. They have a graduated entrance to the water (like a beach) and it was perfect for Miles to crawl around and splash in the shallow water. What was really fun is we ran into Aaron's cousin's wife Keisha and their little girl Londyn at the pool. An unexpected surprise and we were happy to have some friends there to play with.
Drying off after a swim
Splashing in the pool, that's Londyn in the background. She didn't really want her picture taken but I caught her.
Uncle Luke was all to ready to show Miles that he could walk. They practiced going up and down the hallway at Grandpa Sam and Nana Linda's house.
Miles was a contender for the loudest baby at Matt and Sally's wedding ceremony. Miles did teach Cousin Carter a few new vocal techniques, but he was pretty quiet during the ceremony.
Then at the reception Miles got to meet all the Pearse side relatives. And there are lots of them. Aunts, Uncles and lots of cousins to play with.
Kennedy just loved Miles. Look out for that bear hug!
Aunt Rita, a seasoned Grandma kept Miles happy. Kennedy didn't want to let him out of her sight.
Don't dunk me in the punch bowl Daddy!
The ladies and their babies, and one little girl
We visited with Grandma Mary Lou and Grandma Irma, and had an adventure in downtown Kearney. I'll post those pics in the next installment.
We hope all the Dad's out there had a wonderful Father's day. We were thinking about our Dad's that day and I wanted to make sure Aaron had a great first Father's day. We decided to equip the family for family bike rides. This summer is turning out to be a wonderful one weather wise and we wanted to be able to soak it up as much as we can. So we went to Fargo to get a bike for Aaron and a bike trailer so we could pull Miles along.
Miles in the buggy, we have a helmet for him, we just hadn't put it on him yet.
Aaron told me that he thinks the last time he actually owned a bike was in high school! Wow! Well, if he wants to keep up with Mom and Miles this summer we better get him one.
Family's first bike ride together. Many more to come this summer
So we are riding now. Hope to see you all as we cruse by.
Well summer is here and we are soaking up the summer sun. You really have to take advantage of the nice days in North Dakota or you might blink and summer will be over. Miles loves being outside. His daycare provider gets him out when ever she can. We also spend our weekends looking for opportunities to get out. Two weekends ago Grammie Julie visited us and we spent some time in the back yard. We tested out our new splash pool that was an early birthday present from Grandma Kross. We also went to the community pool for a swim, it was packed with all the kids who are out of school.
Grammie and Miles
Drying off in the sun with Grammie Julie after the splash pool
We have gotten the pool out lots because like I said, you have to get outside any opportunity you get.
Dad and Miles in the splsh pool
Last weekend we went to Kite Fest here in Jamestown. We packed a picnic lunch, put Hayduke in the truck, and had a great time having lunch in the breeze and admiring the kites. This is a fun event they have every year. Something you wouldn't think would draw a lot of people, but it does. People come from all over to show off their kites, and there were some impressive ones. One giant whorly-gig thing, a big teddy bear, a gator, and lots of these little ground kites like a crab and turtle that look like they are crawling along the ground when they catch the wind.
Dad and Miles admiring the kites
Picnic at Kite Fest
Cool fish kites
Turtle ground kite
We have also had friends over a few times for grilling burgers.
Our friend Henry with the dogs wanting to join the party inside.
So come on up for a visit. It is beautiful here right now. We have lots of room and be sure to bring your bathing suite so you can have a go in the splash pool with Miles. We hope everyone is enjoying their summer, we sure are.
First let me apologize for the lapse in updates to the blog. I guess time has just been getting away from me. I have been working on some Derby stuff, we are having a bout on June 23 so come see me skate. Plus there have been parties and other activities to keep us busy.
Going for a hike with the baby n the Kelty pack. Thanks to the Stephens family for passing this on to us. We love it.
I wanted to post about my first Mother's Day. We had a great day doing exactly what I wanted to do. We got outside in the sun shine, got some exercise and even had some time to pick wild asparagus. Let me tell you about this stuff! It is so good. Miles enjoyed chewing on the stems. All you have to do is roast it with a little olive oil and salt and pepper. It is AWESOME! It tastes like you smothered it in butter.
Dad giving the Kelty a go. Miles figured out he could grab at the hair on Dad's neck.
Miles playing in the grass
Grandpa Sam was in town and we went up to Chasley and Fessenden to check out his properties and hike around on the prairie. This is a great area to get outside with the dogs and let them run. Although, we have to keep the tracking collar on Willow because she runs out of sight and we usually have to track her down.
Grandpa Sam tending the trees on his property in Fessenden.
The only thing missing on my first Mother's day was the Dairy Queen Blizzard I requested. We drove by DQ that evening and the line was 10 cars deep and the parking lot was over capacity. Everyone and their mother (literally) was at DQ that night. So we just went back the next night and extended Mother's day a little longer.
Mom and baby on the prairie.
Well I hope all the moms out there had a great one. Especially those of my friends who had their first Mother's day. I am so glad I am a member of the Mommy club now.
