miles and the ladies

my sister, beth, and friend, jayme, and I used to babysit the snell girls (jessica, abbie, erin, and anna) 15 years ago when the twins were just babies. they have remained close friends and I still can't believe they are all grown up! abbie just graduated from high school this year and jessica is already two years into her college career. where does the time go? we took a little day trip up to plymouth to visit today. I decided to test out the capacity of the new car. jayme's daughters - kaidance and madilyn - sat in the third seat. it wasn't too crowded, but then again, this was a day trip. we would definitely not be able to travel this way if we had more than our two diaper bags and one umbrella stroller. surprisingly, miles' carseat took up the most space! julie snell (a.k.a. mom) made a scrumptious lunch and we all sat around and chatted. after lunch, the girls went swimming. it appears that only anna and kaidance braved the pool and the rest caught some rays. miles and I stayed back with julie and relaxed out on the porch. we took time to pose for a quick group photo and then headed home. while stopped on 494 - I was reminded why I no longer live in the twin cities and then we all pondered why in the world it's called "rush hour" when obviously nobody is rushing anywhere! oye.

fourth of july fun

we had a fun-filled weekend! on thursday night, we went to the honkers baseball game with the shevik family. it was great to be out on the deck enjoying the beautiful weather, yummy food, cold brews, and awesome company. kyle was especially glad to devour his signature double brat with bacon! this was the first time we were able to be away from miles for more than three hours...grandma was lucky enough to give him his very first bottle. yep folks, we will now be able to take you all up on your offers of free babysitting! I bet you're reconsidering that right about now. kyle tested this bottle feeding out the next morning. as you can see, miles is a-ok with the whole idea...as long as there is milk involved, this baby is happy!

on friday we went to my mom & dad's for a birthday celebration for my grandma. she's fortunate to have a big fireworks display in her honor every year on her birthday :) my dad grilled steaks and we played a few games in the backyard before the night's fireworks began.

miles celebrated his first fourth of july by snoozing the night away with auntie nykkole. the two of them hid out in nykki's room while the rest of us watched the fireworks in my parent's front yard. we decided that we would be pushing our luck with a big ol' trip down to silver lake to watch the city fireworks. miles appreciated the more laid back approach.

saturday was a lazy day - kyle decided to veg out at home while miles and I went over to my sister, beth's, to scrapbook. as you can see - miles was thrilled to be scrappin'. later that evening I took him to a cookout at the friedt's (seth's parents) and we finished off the night by picking kyle up and indulging in a little thin mint blizzard from dairy queen. miles was tuckered out by the end of the day.

we wrapped up the weekend with yet another cookout...I'm never opposed to a good bbq! this time we went out to kyle's dad's house for bbq chicken. it was great to see everyone and miles enjoyed showing off his talking skills with grandpa.

milestones

this past saturday, june 29th, was a big day in the life of little miles. he woke up in the big crib in his own room. a milestone as he had spent every night until that point in the pack n play in our room. I have to admit that it was a bit sad for me to lay him down friday night...but he slept great and I can now recommend our baby monitor to others with confidence! during his early morning feeding, he was talking and smiling at me...one of my favorite moments of everyday....when I received an even greater gift from miles...his first giggle! a few hours later he giggled for his daddy too! I guess I figured that since we were on a roll with new adventures that day we keep it going. so, miles took a bath in the big bath tub for the first time! he's getting a little long for the sink and, as you can see from the pictures, he thoroughly enjoyed himself...thanks to his awesome duck washcloth that we got as a gift from uncle matt's parents! well, just when we thought that we couldn't squeeze anymore excitement into our day...miles did one more new thing...he found his fists! that's right...he is now able to get his fist into his mouth. ok, so it's still a bit jerky...but hey...he is only 5 weeks old! our little baby is growing too fast. I'm just trying to soak it all in and I feel very fortunate to be able to spend all summer with him. my new goal is to update our blog more often so you all can continue to share in the daily happenings of mr. miles!

I got caught up with postings...so be sure to scroll down...WAY down!!

found my fists

growing boy

LOVE this ducky cover-up

good times

here are some miscellaneous photos from our trip. we had such a great time relaxing and hanging out. we are so lucky to be able to take a week out of every year and spend it as a family. miles had fun with all of his aunts & uncles...and of course grandma & grandpa! we are looking forward to our week next year!!

uncle brian, uncle marc, & auntie beth talking to mr. miles

daddy & mileslaughing at silly uncle marcshocked he just danced with uncle marc to madonna's "like a virgin"...daddy was so proud!daddy teaching miles all about baseball
nykkole & brianfire hazard? notice the lack of concern on everyone's facesour first campfire pie...slightly overcooked!assembling hobo/tinfoil dinners...yummy!
ready for my first campfire!