Jump Around Fun Zone

Hannah met up with a few friends at the new indoor play area with inflatable houses, slides, and an obstacle course. She had a blast jumping and running around, and took a GREAT nap that afternoon!! :)

Hard At Work

Hannah has been hard at work helping Mommy and Daddy around the house this week! She's convinced that she can do anything we can do - by herself, of course :)

Cleaning the litter boxes is just part of taking care of the kitties. Hannah loves feeding them, pouring water into their dishes, brushing them when they'll hold still long enough, and she even attempted to brush Bella's teeth the other night. . . . .
Cleaning the floors, putting dishes away, rinsing things off in the sink, and helping to cook are all big hits with our homemaker-in-training.

No list of chores would be complete without yardwork - this summer she mastered the art of watering near the plants :) This week she helped Daddy plant bulbs for us to enjoy next spring.

Such a Big Girl!

Our baby girl is growing up! She has spent the last week sleeping in her big girl bed, and the transition has been much smoother than anticipated. Hannah wasn't too sure about the idea at first, and spent a few minutes crying at the door and then running into bed, crying at the door some more and running back to bed. . . after about 10 minutes, all was quiet, and when we checked on her later she was sprawled out in her bed. :) Yay!! For some reason it seems to take her less time to fall asleep now. . . .maybe we should have tried this sooner! Her morning ritual of knocking on the door to let us know she's ready to get up is pretty cute, too :)

I know that one day Hannah will resent me for posting this picture :) But I can't help it.

That's right - it's potty training time! Hannah loves sitting on her potty and one day will maybe even use it :) We have no plans for trying anything drastic to speed the process up - for now we're having to much fun watching her spend 20 minutes at a time putting the lid up, sitting down, standing up, putting the lid down, putting the lid up, sitting down. . . . . . . . . . . .

Hovander Park

Hannah met up with a few friends at Hovander park this week for one last hurrah with the animals. We loaded up on feed for them and she parceled it out, making sure that EVERY pen got attention :) Her favorites were definitely the goats and sheep, though!

Adventures in Minnesota

Hannah and Mommy spent most of the month of August in Minnesota - we spent time visiting friends and family, made a mini-trip to Two Harbors, went to the Cokato Corn Carnival, and of course spent plenty of time feasting on fried-food-on-a-stick at the Great Minnesota State Fair (the only TRUE state fair, if you ask anyone who's gone!) Here are a small (?) handful of the pictures that we took while in MN - enjoy!!


Exploring Gooseberry Falls, north of Two Harbors. We spent a couple of days camping with Great-Grandma Donna, Grandma Cindy, and cousin Andrew. Watching the boats coming in was cool (bi-i-i-g boats!) and on our way home we made a stop in Duluth where Andrew and Hannah had fun exploring Canal Park and got to see the big lift bridge go up for a ship that was coming in.


Cokato Corn Carnival - Mommy grew up in Cokato, and we had fun meeting up with old friends, eating pork chops and LOTS of corn on the cob, and going on rides.


Time with the Sowers - Great-Grandma Fran had fun playing with Hannah and cousin Gavin. Hannah had fun showing Grandma Jan and Grandpa Gehry around the playground :) She also played outside in the water - amazing how much a fun a hose can be! Hannah also put on a lovely piano recital for all of us.






A swimmer at heart :) Hannah is definitely a fish in the water. She showed Grandma Cindy and "Bompa" Mark everything she learned in swimming lessons, and gave Andrew a few lessons while she was at it :)


Hannah spent a lot of time in the garden helping Bompa pick veggies - - She started calling him Bompa within a few days of our arrival, and has continued walking around the house talking about him(or talking to his picture) every day since our return.

STATE FAIR TIME!!! We convinced Grandma Cindy and family friend Kevin to try out some of the rides :) Hannah explored the Little Farm Hands exhibit where she was able to try her hand at driving a tractor, milking a cow, picking veggies, and collecting eggs - she brought all of her "goods" to the farmer's market and earned "money" for her hard work, and then spent her money in the store (she picked cheerios). She also tried some fun new foods (classic State Fair staples) - pronto pups, mini donuts, cheese curds, and an elk burger. While we were walking through some fine arts exhibits, Hannah decided to take a nap in her stroller. She did surprisingly well sleeping like that until the parade started, and then she had to get up and wave to all the princesses and clap for the marching bands :)

Out to lunch - Auntie Manda and cousin Andrew joined us for an afternoon of fun at a McDonald's Playland.

We had a great trip, but it was definitely good to get home again after such a long time away. We were both happy to see Daddy :) and we've spent the last couple of weeks getting back into our daily routines.

Gymnastics

This summer Hannah started attending "Mini Gymmies" gymnastic lessons. She had a ton of fun and we've decided to keep her in the lessons for awhile longer :) Here are a few pictures of Hannah in class right before we left for MN in August.

Balance Beam Routine
Floor Exercise
Parachutes may not be an Olympic sport, but Hannah sure loves it!
Posing for the judges after dismount? NO - BUBBLES!!!!!!!!
She's a gold medalist if I ever saw one ;)