Memorial Day Weekend: "The Best Weekend Ever!"

"This is the best day ever!" said Gwen, as she picked the dirt from under her finger nails and snuggled her new moose, Nala. I agreed.

We spent Memorial Day weekend riding bikes, jumping on a trampoline, meeting new friends, going on adventures with Grandma Julia and Grandpa Pete, and getting dirty! Corey's mom and step-dad were so gracious to have us in Prairie Du Chien this past weekend, and it was an incredible trip. It was the first weekend in a long time that we got to relax and catch up on our rest. Gwen stayed with Grandma and Grandpa in their camper (she made sure to let us know that was the plan every night-- "I'm staying with Grandma and Grandpa!"), so we got to sleep in a little more than normal. Corey got to ride in the big hills and beautiful landscape that Prairie Du Chien offers, and we even got a little sun and shopping in! We arrived around dinner time on Friday afternoon, huddled around the fire and roasted smores, and retired to bed so we could have an early day. Saturday was extremely sunny and warm (I even got some new freckles! A big feat), so Corey got up early and went on a bike ride while Gwen, Grandma and Grandpa and I hung around outside playing, making new friends, and riding bikes. We kicked a ball, played with dolls, jumped on a big trampoline (that was Gwen's favorite part of the weekend), and later went on a boat ride and did a little fishing. Gwen asked Grandpa many times if we could go fishing, so he made a point to take us on the boat. Gwen even touched a worm! If you know Gwen, that's pretty impressive for her! I touched a worm, too. It was gross.

We had smores again after dinner that night, and headed to bed sun-kissed and exhausted. The next morning it was raining, so Corey skipped his bike ride, and we headed over to the other camper a little later than normal since Gwen was still zonked out! Julia made pancakes, which were delicious, and we ended up heading into town to do a few things. First, we went to the Cannery, which is a really great little shop with a ton of goodies. Gwen ended up getting a moose she named Nala (thanks, Grandpa!) because she'd been so good. She really was awesome all weekend--she had great manners, a good attitude, no melt-downs, didn't whine at all, and was just awesome. We've worked really hard on a lot of these behaviors, and we are so proud of her! Nala was well deserved. Here are a few fun pictures from the Cannery.

Oh! We also went to the CUTEST fabric store! Julia had some awesome fabrics all picked out already for our baby quilt, but we needed a few more, so Julia and I hit up the fabric store and found a few awesome additions. I am so excited! I think it's going to be incredibly cute and it also helps give me more of a vision for the nursery. We're going between green and yellow for the walls, and are mixing maps/traveling, books (we have a cute old book mobile for above the crib and some cute book prints for the walls), and biking. This first picture is a picture of the front of the quilt (well, roughly some idea of it) and the second shows a dark, feather material that we're going to use for the back of it!

We love it so much! I'll post more pictures of it at a later time. After the Cannery, Julia, Gwen and I went to the cutest book store that had some really unique books. Corey and Pete went across the street to Old Man River brewery/restaurant. At the book store, I let Gwen pick out a book for herself, and she chose a big book with little stories for girls. When she first saw it, she opened to a page and saw a Mermaid. She was sold. Then, she picked out a book for the baby, a little Pig bath time book that came with little plastic pigs to play with. She was positive the baby would like it. I also found two other books for the kids. One is called "The Beard Book" and each page has a different beard (from the nose down) and a little rhyme that accompanies it. There's a little spot on the spine that lets you hold the book up to your nose so it looks like you're wearing the beard--Gwen loved it! We also got a book called, "DO NOT READ THIS BOOK!" (I think--something along those lines.) She loved that one, too. It starts off with a King who has his scribe tell him a story, but the scribe has lost the pages to the story, so they go on a quest to find it. The King gets mad at the reader a few times for continuing to read even though he told them to stop since it wasn't done. By the end of the story, we hear the tale of the Princess and the Pea (which Gwen loves). She really loves the page where the King gets mad at yells at us :) There's also a little Gingerbread Man in it who says something like, "This is so crumby." I tried to teach her the meaning of "double entendre," but I'm not sure it stuck ;) We'll work on it. We had a late lunch, and headed home, and before we knew it, it was time for bed again. We left around lunch time on Monday, but not until Gwen jumped once more on the trampoline and said goodbye to her "new best friend!" (She met a little girl named Kiley and they played SO well together on Sunday and Monday morning.) Corey and I grabbed a Pete's burger for lunch on the way out, and Gwen and Corey found two geo-caches before we drove home! Here Gwen is looking ragged and exhausted, but very happy :) She crashed on the ride home, thankfully, and went to bed pretty early so she could be ready to go for school yesterday.

She was sluggish a little bit when she woke up yesterday morning, but had another great day at school (we've been working on a few behaviors and have a rewards/consequences system set up, and she's doing very well with it). She has had six good days in a row! Last week, after she had five (that's been our goal for a while), she got to pick a prize from the Dollar Store. She chose a weave. Atta girl, Gwen. :)

I also had a doctor's appointment yesterday, and that went really well. Baby and I are both measuring on track, and everything looks good! We had two ultrasounds in a row because last time she wasn't able to get all the images she needed, so we got a few extras and captured this one yesterday. We're dying over the cuteness :)

Corey and I are still working on framing/hanging Gwen's pictures in her room, so we'll still post that once it's done. We're out of town a lot, so it's taken us longer than we'd like. We're headed to Kansas City this weekend, and then to Cedar Rapids next weekend for Aunt Ashley's baby Sprinkle! School is winding down and we only have 5 more days total. I'm in a fury of grading and getting in final grades. I'll have several trainings this summer, including an AP week-long training in Iowa City, and a few trainings for a new position I have for next year (I'm still teaching, just also taking on another role), so we should be on the go a lot. We are so thankful for what life has given us at this point-- an incredible family, a GROWING family, the means to enjoy our hobbies and fun, and a wonderful support system of friends. We are very lucky!