A birthday redo

While Fred's mom was here we decided to have a redo birthday party for Cordelia. Grandma Norma had come up for Cordelia's first birthday last October, but only got to see her very shortly as we passed through Fargo on our way to Minneapolis for Cordelia's surgery. I guess I hadn't thought about it until just before Grandma Norma arrived, but I realized that both grandmas would be here and it would be the perfect opportunity to get birthday pictures with the grandmas. Both boys have pictures with their grandmas on their first birthdays so I wanted Cordelia to have some too.I did not want to be in the picture. I just wanted the grandmas to be in the picture with Cordelia. But that's the difference between a 12 month old and a 19 month old. The only way I could get Cordelia to be half way decent is if I was in the picture too. And I had to be the one holding her.

A very nice family picture. I should have taken some pictures of the cake too. Cordelia got her fingers in there a few times so there were finger marks. After everyone had a piece of cake we let her dig around in it. She did get a cake to herself on her actual birthday to dig into so I didn't make an extra cake this time around. GG, Auntie Vicki, Nathan and AJ also came for the redo party and we all had a good time. Torii kept us entertained. He had a fairy wand and was putting spells on everyone, but of course the spells did not work on him.

Weekend trip to the farm

Fred's mom was here last week. The first couple of days were really nice and we got to spend time outside. Then the weekend came and it was cold and rainy. We had planned on spending time at Fort Lincoln and Buggies and Blues, but that plan was scrapped with the ugly weather. We did still go trick or treating at Fort Lincoln for Halloween in June and it really did feel like Halloween. Soccer also started last week and it was cold during practice. Thankfully by the weekend the weather warmed up and we enjoyed a nice weekend on the farm. The boys spent two days at the farm with Grandma Norma before Fred, Cordelia and I joined them on Saturday. An unusual picture with me in it. We spent most of Saturday outside and the kids were wearing me out. The kids liked to play in this hammock, but I finally spotted it empty and claimed it for a long break.
There were so many cousins at the farm on Saturday that they could easily field a baseball team. There were a lot more playing earlier, but I wasn't able to get a picture until later when only a few were left playing. It was nice that everyone could get together because it's so hard to coordinate every one's schedules. I was amazed at how much all of the cousins have grown. I think the boys really liked playing with their cousins.
Cordelia took a nap just before we had lunch. Lucky for her there was one more cheeseburger left when she got up. She sat in the grass, watched the baseball game and enjoyed her burger. She spent most of the day barefoot even though she got new shoes in Fargo.
Torii enjoying some watermelon near the barn.

On Saturday we headed into Grafton for a movie. The boys were at each other's throats and after spending a full day with ultra-clingy Cordelia, we all needed a break. I was hoping one of the nearby theatres was playing something kid friendly and thankfully Grafton had "Up". I liked the old theatre and the old ticket booth outside. They have two theatres and "Up" was playing in the theatre upstairs, which was unique. The theatre and screen were small, but we really enjoyed it. It was way cheaper than the theatres here and the popcorn was awesome. By the way, "Up" is a fantastic movie and everyone should see it.

We enjoyed all of our time with Grandma Norma while she was here. There is still a ton of pictures to post from the past week. We had so much fun so lots more to come....