Horses

We went to visit Amelia's godmother, Hilary so that Amelia could try riding horse.  She was very excited to see the kitties roaming around the farm.  She loved the horse too.  At first she was intimidated by how big he is, but eventually she was petting his nose and laughing. 

She also enjoyed riding but the sun got a little bright for her. 

Friends

Just hanging out at the Medrano's watching Elmo's potty time.  Amelia loves to sit on their Pooh chair. 

Camping

We went to Flandrau State Park for Memorial weekend camping. 

We really enjoyed having a larger vehicle for packing.  I don't know how we fit it all in before. 

Amelia enjoyed sleeping with us just like last year.

It rained quite a bit and when it wasn't raining we were getting attacked by gnats pretty bad.  Well, the gnats liked Lucas the most. 

So we went into New Ulm for a little bit to try and escape the gnats. 

There was one sunny morning and the kids needed to go swimming.  The water was too cold and Amelia had no interest in venturing into it but she really enjoyed playing in the sand. 

We branched out from our usual meals this time and cooked more things over the fire which turned out delicious!

Amelia loved all everyone wanting to snuggle her. 

And Garrett managed to find a posse to play with like usual. 

Books, books, books!

Amelia loves books!  She likes to have me read them to her and read them on her own.  One morning she had crazy hair that I wanted to take a picture of. 

When I got back though she was reading the books out loud and I was amazed by her "reading."

 She would say things like oops and where did he go?  Ooo, aaaa, eee (when the baby had to go potty) and waas thaa? when the baby pees.  I could hear myself in what she was saying!

She said ooowww when the baby in Tubby had water pour over his head, tickle tickle when his mommy tickled him and whee when he runs around naked. 

Then she read Curious George, which is a combination touch and feel with hide and seek. 

 Where's George?

 There he is!

Kisses for George!

 She's getting so big!

Here's she's blinking because the camera's flash went off. 

Patio

We've been trying to enjoy our patio more this year and I've discovered a wonderful perk to eating outside. 

I don't have to scrub the floor after meals like this!

Garden and Backyard

We dug up our backyard.  Yup.  Fortunately the weather has been nice enough that the grass has been growing in pretty fast.  We have been wanting to do this project ever since we moved in and the garage was finished it just kept getting put off.  The yard needed to be raised up to the concrete and we had to fix some drainage.  It was never grass anyways but a big weed patch. 

I also had Lucas dig out the lilac bushes and move them to the side of the house so I could expand my garden.  This area is now home to tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, squash, and grapes. 

Next to that I planted potatoes in a garbage can.

Grapevine budding.  Last year was the first that we had a few grapes.  There are already several bunches of grapes growing this year.  Yay!

The strawberries are already going strong and I've had to cut them back several times. 

In this area I have peppers, garlic, onions, butter crunch lettuce, radishes, carrots, arugula, snow peas, and romaine. 

Here's my trusty rhubarb.  I've already cut it five times this year!

Lucas also made me some pretty cedar planters that live on the patio for all of my herbs.  It's an ambitious garden and I'm hoping I can keep up!

Pool

The baby pool finally made it outside.  Amelia didn't really know what to think about it other than the water was too cold.  I couldn't coax her in for a long time!

Besides her large ball her favorite outdoor toy is this watering can.  She constantly filled it and dumped it out.  She also spent a lot of time trying to pour the water out of it into a bucket she had in the pool.  Hopefully as the weather gets hotter she'll enjoy the cold water better.