Memorial Day Weekend Dinner

We're so fortunate to have a daughter that isn't a picky eater. Alivia doesn't like everything we give her, but she'll always try something before she writes it off completely. Some days (like today), she'll eat anything you give her.

Tonight for dinner she ate:

1/2 Turkey dog
Cold pasta salad
Corn on the cob
Fresh fruit salad
1.5 meatballs
bread with marinara sauce
1/2 banana popsicle

Como Zoo

My favorite thing to do is take Alivia to the zoo. Each visit is different and it's fun to see how much she learns in between each visit.

The sippy cup was initially cooler than the seals.

There they are!

With Sparky and Mom

Alivia's favorite animal is currently lions. When you ask what a lion says, she responds, "Raaaaar!" We told her we were approaching the lion at the zoo and she Raaar'd the whole way. Bystanders were laughing at us. It was pretty funny. Since it's her favorite, Alivia got to make a wax lion figurine.

Unfortunately, both lions were sleeping.

Monkey

This little guy and his buddies were obsessed with standing in front of Alivia. Love the beards!

A day with Auntie Kristine

On Saturday Alivia had a long over due play date with Aunt Kristine. First off was "shopping" in downtown RF. Afterward we had lunch at Bo's N' Mine:

Lunch at Bo's N' Mine. Alivia read the menu carefully before making a decision.

Found the winner!

Yummy Chicken Tenders.

Bloody nose after a bar fight. Oh wait, that's ketchup! This was Alivia's first introduction to the condiment.


Kristine kept Alivia's attention during lunch by waving to her in the mirror above our table. Bless her for having the patience to continuously wave during our meal. I was pretty sure one of their hands would break off by the end of it.

By the time we finished lunch it was nap time. This was followed by Alivia's first introduction to The St. Croix River.....which didn't go as well as planned.


Alivia likes water. She loves baths and playing in kiddie pools. Today we learned Alivia does not like waves. She cried when we waded into the river.


Good thing we brought back up toys.


Alivia was most intrigued by collecting rocks along the beach.


After filling the bottom of the pail, she carried it all the way up the hill to Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Playdate with Jordan and Lila

Video Catch Up

We've had a lot going on lately, so I haven't been able to update much. Here are some cute videos from the last few weeks.

Animal Sounds




Strawberry Experience

Broccoli Experience


Lately Alivia has been really into helping with chores around the house. These include putting things in and out of the fridge for meals and snacks, dusting the fronts of the appliances, and as you'll see in the video below: vacuuming.

The best part of her love of vacuuming is when I take out our Dyson and plug it in, Alivia immediately puts her vacuum on the couch so it's not in the way. I've tried to explain she can vacuum along side of me, but she waits until I'm done instead.

Vacuuming with Mommy's shoes

Reading to Puppy

Mother's Day 2010

Growing up in the Downey family, we had a tradition where my brother and I would have our photo taken in in/on or by the crab apple tree every Memorial Day. Last year I decided to start this tradition in our family every Mother's Day.

In the 2nd year of this tradition I've learned a couple of things.

1) You can't guarantee the tree will be at its prime. Two weeks ago the tree was gorgeous, however we had a windstorm last week that robbed it of all the flowers.

2) You can't guarantee a toddler wants to do anything you want to do. This includes getting a photo with her on Mother's Day.

Here are last year's shots and this year's. Notice how cooperative the 5 month Alivia is compared to the 16 month Alivia.

Mother's Day 2009

Mother's Day 2010

Mother's Day 2009

Mother's Day 2010