Goat Friends

We met some of Lincoln's friends at the zoo and we made a few new goat friends too. I thought he would be afraid of them, but he loved talking to them and petting them.

 

 Trish and I may have been encouraging the hand holding, but Lincoln walked Gwen around and pointed out the lions to her. It was adorable.

 

  Gwen apparently did not enjoy my picture taking during their time together. ;)

Chicago Wedding

The whole fam flew to Chicago last month to attend the wedding of an old family friend. We lived next door to the Krema family for 13+ years and as it turns out, my brother moved to near Chicago just a few months before. Double whammy- get to see the family and attend the wedding. And best of all- a baby sitter for Lincoln during the wedding festivities! Lincoln had more fun with his cousins that he would have with us anyway.

Jenny is the oldest Krema daughter and she got married last October. We were like sisters growing up and it was so much fun to see her!

 The wedding was at Loyola University and it was a beautiful setting right on the lake!

 The beautiful bride, Ali, and her new hubby Mike.

Lincoln and his cousins at the park enjoying a little sunshine before we headed off to the airport. I got to spend a little bit of the day with my dad on Father's day.

A quick trip to the city- what a fun town!

Minnesota Buddies

Zoey, Henry and Hayes eating some lunch

I uploaded these pictures from August, but never posted them. Makes me excited for December and getting to see all of them again!

Lincoln got to meet Kellen for lunch. Too bad Erin was out of town. Hopefully we'll catch her next time around.

Lincoln got to meet Jack for the first time too! They are only 2 months apart and it was fun to listen to them babble to eachother.

My besties and our babies (minus Annabelle who was home with daddy).

Lincoln loves Gramma and Papa!

Adam and the kiddos came to Rochester for the weekend as well. Connor is becoming such a little man, not a little kid anymore!

Lincoln met his aunt and uncle for the first time during this trip as well. Lincoln even stayed at their house.

Lincoln was enjoying some man time (no he didn't actually smoke a cigar, just a photo prop).

Lincoln looks so little in these pictures! He is going to look so different when the family sees him next.

California! Day 3

On Saturday, we left the baby with his actual aunt and uncle and drove north to Sonoma for some wine tasting! The mini van was packed full of fun, friends and snacks of course. Our sober driver for the day was Sarah since she is preggo with baby #2 (facebook official as of today!). Worked out well although I'm sure she was less than thrilled to be the only sober one of all of us.



First we went to Fritz and had a mini tour of their facility, but mostly we just sat on their patio, drank the free samples and enjoyed the view!

We stopped for lunch at the cutest little market. There was a bike race or tri of some sort going on so we got our picture with the fun fans.

I can't even remember the name of the second vineyard we stopped at. Ali and Dan are members so we got a special reserved table, a cutie server and more yummy samples. I also believe we bought a few bottles at this point. There were some pigs at some point. A nature hike, cartwheels and so many laughs.

We honestly only made it to two vineyards because we just weren't in a rush to get anywhere.

What a fun day!

California! Day 1 & 2

Last month, I flew to California for a girls' trip to San Francisco. It was my first time leaving Lincoln over night! It was wonderful and refreshing and makes me miss my girlfriends even more. Two flew from MSP, two from Des Moines and me from Virginia. We all landed within a few hours of each other, picked up our minivan and drove to Ali's house in San Rafael. Thursday consisted of lounging, catching up and dinner out. It had been five years since all of us had been in the same place at the same time. Since then, we have all had kiddos (some of them have had two). Times have changed, but so many things have not. I love these girls.

What sparked our little reunion, was this little guy, Lucas. A miracle of science and love. He was a great little baby and I think he thoroughly enjoyed being loved on by his six visiting aunties.

We spent Friday afternoon drinking, playing bocce ball and passing around baby Lucas. I am in love with California weather now. Sunny, cool, no humidity. Glenn, when can we get orders to California??

The weekend went way too fast, but not before a little wine tasting in wine country! More pics of that later. This week is recruitment week for the sorority where we all met and it is making me so nostalgic for our college days. If I could go back and tell my college self one thing, it would be to savor every single day. Oh and to dump that guy I dated for entirely too long.

Thanks for hosting a house full of crazy for the weekend, Ali! Love you gals! When is our next reunion??

Happy Birthday Ali!

Happy Birthday! I can't wait to see you and YOUR little man in just two weeks. I love you for letting us all come visit the same weekend so that we can love on your little man together and all of us girls can be in the same place for the first time in FIVE years. That's right, this mama is going on a vacation to visit that new mama. Along with 4 of my closest friends. We're renting a mini van. On the opposite coast! Without Lincoln. I get giddy excited thinking about and then terrified two seconds later. Daddy will do great. I can't wait to see you! Have a wonderful birthday, Ali! SEE YOU SOON!

More babies!

Miss Clara Lynn Johnson was born in to this world this morning at 11:11 am. My BFF has a second little girl to teach how to be an amazing woman! I can't wait to meet her in just about a month. 

Love you and congrats Laura, Nate and big sister Annabelle!

Baby Amelia's Baby Shower

At the beginning of May, myself and 3 other fabulous ladies hosted a baby shower for little Amelia Moran, Chris and Gizelle's baby that is now due in just a few weeks!

We had a pink and blue nautical theme and the other ladies were awesome to host with! So many good ideas!

 Gizelle has been obsessed with waffles her entire pregnancy so we had fried chicken and waffles to eat!

 A message in a bottle for baby Amelia.

We played one trivia game with Chris, but the only other "game" was an ABC book where everyone chose a letter and drew a picture. I found the idea online and used my Criket to cut out all the letters. It turned out super cute and less raunchy that I had anticipated with all the guys/keg/drinking. :)

Is this their future family? Lots of babies at the shower!

H is for Hand!

All of the hostesses and Gizelle!

 She's going to be here before you know it! Enjoy your last few weeks!