Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Weekend with Daddy

This past weekend, Emma spent some quality time with Daddy while Mommy went to Atlanta, Georgia for a reading conference.  During the weekend, Daddy taught Emma how to build a fire.  Emma was mesmerized by the yellow flames.  Besides campfires, Daddy and Emma went to Crosby Park to do a little exploring.  Emma got her first chance to dip her feet in some water that wasn't her own bathtub.  Daddy and Emma also did lots of tummy time and even found time to fold some laundry.  Mommy was really impressed by all the things Emma and Daddy did together.  She was also very thankful that many of the household tasks were completed when she returned.  Mommy is very lucky to have such a great husband and daughter.  Thank you Daddy and Emma!

 Emma's first campfire


Who is that cute little girl in the mirror?

Emma wants to help fold some laundry


Mommy in Atlanta meeting "The Sisters"



Saturday, August 11, 2012

Leap of Faith

Today Emma went over to Grandma and Grandpa Walczynski's house, so that Mommy and Daddy could go ziplining.  Emma began her morning with a late nap while Mommy and Daddy drove down to Jordan, Minnesota.  After their arrival, Mommy and Daddy went on a high ropes course and then on three zip lines.

The high ropes course started with a challenge called "A Leap of Faith."  You had to climb up a wooden pole, turn around, stand on the top and then leap into the air and catch a trapeze.  Both Mommy and Daddy made it to the top, but Daddy was the one that made it onto the trapeze.
 This is going to be easy...
 I'm about halfway.
 Still climbing


 Okay, now I am scared


 Daddy checking out the view

 Daddy is almost to standing on the post

 Daddy made it to the trapeze!  Whoa!!!






Next up was the high ropes course.  First you climbed up on a rope ladder which led you to the first challenge.











The first challenge had you crossing by swinging from rope to rope.  Mommy thought the cable you had to walk on was slippery.









Please don't let me fall.  Please don't let me fall...
No problem, swinging is great







The next challenge was called the "Charlie Chaplin" because you had to walk with your feet like a duck.  Both Mommy and Daddy found this one challenging because they slid down the first part of the rope.

No pictures of Daddy on this one because there were some hidden bloopers 





The third challenge was a breeze.  You had to cross on one wire but you pushed out onto a rope sideways.








I think I can, I think I can...








The fourth challenge was like being on a jungle gym for adults.  Mommy liked this one best.  She loved swinging back and forth.







The final rope to cross was like a bridge with some parts missing.  Both Mommy and Daddy flew across this one.








Last stop was to get to the ground using a zipline.  Mommy held her breath before she let go and went flying.  It turned out to be not as scary as Mommy thought.    However, the longer, taller ziplines were still to come.


Daddy made it to the end of the high ropes course...and down he goes

After climbing back up the hill, Mommy and Daddy went through three longer zip lines.  One went over a gorge, another over a small river and a third that started out as a slide.  The slide made you feel like you were going to drop down into the river.  At one point, Mommy and Daddy were crossing different zip lines at the same time.
 Ready or not, here comes Mommy!
 Zip, Zip, Zippppppppp



What an amazing, unforgettable, trust-building experience!

Happy 4th Anniversary!  How are we going to top that one?

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

National Night Out

Today Emma, Mommy and Daddy went to the neighborhood block party for National Night Out.  Emma had her picture taken with the fire truck and ambulance.  Besides meeting quite a few of her neighbors, Emma was introduced to the twins, Chloe and Drew, who live on her street.  Chloe and Drew are about four months older than Emma and could become some neighborhood playmates in the future.  The big hit of the night was the cat that came wandering over to Emma's blanket.  We have no idea where the cat came from and Emma wanted nothing to do with him.  However, all the other neighborhood kids wanted to play with him.  Mommy wishes that there were more chances throughout the year to get to know your neighbors.  It seems like very few people have time to just stop by and chat these days.

 Mommy and Emma inspect the ambulance

 Emma was tempted to touch some of the instruments on the fire truck...Luckily she was distracted by her strong desire for a bottle.

 Emma meets Drew her next door neighbor

 
Practicing rolling over in the setting sun.  What a perfect summer night!

Monday, August 6, 2012

Bread that was hit by a Bomb

Last night Daddy, Mommy and Emma baked some cranberry bread for the National Night Out celebration in our neighborhood.  Emma was fascinated when Daddy squeezed the orange and cracked the egg.  It is a good thing we had fun making the bread because when Mommy tried to get it out of the pan, it stuck to the bottom.  After she finally got it out, the bread looked as though it was hit by a bomb.  Perhaps we'll just bring some watermelon to the gathering instead.

 Wow Daddy, I think this is going to turn out great!

Sunday, August 5, 2012

The Visitors Keep Coming

This weekend we had our friends Molly and Tim stop over to meet Emma as well as Emma's Great Aunt Deb. 

When Molly and Tim visited, Emma was very proud of her crawling skills and tried to show off what she knew.  She also decided that Molly's clothes looked too nice and needed some spit up to look just right (sorry Molly).  Tim did a great job entertaining Emma with her mirror and various toys.



When Aunt Deb stopped in, Emma was all smiles because she had just woken up from a nap.  She was able to be held for a little bit before the hunger pangs set in.  Overall, another fun weekend that went by so quickly!!

Friday, August 3, 2012

A Sea of Beauty

Another thank you to our friends from Alaska, Patience, her mom, Mike and Violet.  They recently sent Emma a handmade quilt with an under the sea theme.  Emma loves the bright colors and patterns on the blanket.  When Patience lived in Minnesota mom always loved looking at the quilt displayed in her house.  Although mom is a little nervous letting Emma crawl around on the special blanket (especially with the state of pooing events as of late), we made sure to have photo opportunity with this amazing piece of art.  This was one of the most thoughtful gifts Emma (and Mommy) have received.  We miss our friends from Alaska greatly.  Hopefully, once Daddy is done with grad school and Emma is a bit older, we can go on a visit to Alaska.

 "I spotted a sea horse...Mommy, didn't you used to call me a sea horse?"

Thursday, August 2, 2012

Please Read to Me


"I just love the surrealism used in this artwork"

Emma has just started to become fascinated with picture books.  Mommy read her an Eric Carle book yesterday about little rubber ducks.  Emma loved all the bright colors and couldn't stop staring at the pages.  There was one scary experience though with the pelican page.  I guess Emma does not like pelicans at all (Sorry to those relatives living in Florida).  Mommy thought Emma would be much more terrified of the whale or the dolphin in the book but it had to be the pelican.


August is going to be "I Love to Read Month" at the Maas house

"Mommy, I think this book is even bigger than me"

"Once upon a time in a far away land..."