New Sitter

Many of you know that I really do not handle change very well. As a matter of fact, I hate change. So when we learned that Colleen would not be watching Annika again this year I was devastated. Not just because of how much I like Colleen, because that was just a tiny part of it. It's pretty simple. Colleen is wonderful. She was the perfect person to watch Annika when I went back to work. The peace that you get when you can leave your child somewhere and never, not once, wonder if they are okay is an amazing feeling. That is how I felt everyday when we dropped Annika off with Colleen. I knew that Annika was not only well taken care of but she was loved. Not just by Colleen either. The whole family loved Annika. And Annika loved them. There were many mornings that I didn't get a second glance when I was leaving because Annika was too busy trying to find Brigit so they could play before she had to go to school. I loved picking her up and seeing her in the stroller with all of the kids surrounding her. She certainly loves being the center of attention! All summer I was pretty stressed about leaving Annika with a new person. I knew this person would be fine, but would she be great? I thought it would be fine, but there was so much unknown that made me uneasy. I was all prepared for Annika to kick and scream and cling to me begging me to not leave her on that first day. Yeah, not so much. Annika was fine. Happy even. She immediately found the dolls and was instantly happy. I think it helped that her friend Beckett was there too. I was so relieved walking out to the car that I felt a huge weight lift from my shoulders. Everything is fine. More than fine. Cyndi is great and Annika loves her. That being said, if Colleen were to call right now, Annika would be back the next day! Colleen, thank you for being a second mom to my kid. I love you for loving my child like your own. Thank you for opening your house, your heart, and your family to my little family. You will forever have a place in our hearts. You have a beautiful family and a beautiful heart. Brigit, Thomas, Jackson, and Dailey, thank you for welcoming Annika into your home and treating her like your little sister.

Wonderful Parents

Derek and I were cleaning one afternoon and put Annika's 4-wheeler in her chair so we would have less on the floor. While we were not looking (yes, we are greatl parents), Annika climbed onto her 4-wheeler so she could eat her snack. Since we are such wonderful parents, we went for the camera instead of getting Annika down safely. I'm really glad we did because she decided she would pose for us. Yes, after the photo shoot we made sure she got down without getting hurt. See, we are wonderful parents.

Playing

Annika playing with her Aunt Kristen. It was so fun watching this. I'm not sure who had more fun. Kristen or Annika.

Warrior Dash

Derek and Kristen signed up to do the Warrior Dash at the end of July. We got there, parked, got on the dirty bus, got to the site, walked through tons of mud, just to find out it had been cancelled. Even though they didn't get to participate we had a fun day with Kristen and Ashton.

Shoes

Our great friend Jody brought Annika a bunch of clothes and a huge sack of shoes. Most of the shoes are still too big for Annika, but she didn't seem to care. She brought me one Dora sandal and one Abby Cababby tennis shoe for me to put on her. Then she wanted to go outside to play, so we did. She played with the too big and two different kind of shoes on for about an hour.

Summer Fun

We went and spent some time at my sister's during the summer and while we were there we did some swimming. We bought Annika a life jacket hoping she could move around on her own a bit. Unfortunately it was a little big, so we ended up using what we had for her from last summer. She didn't care. She had fun jumping in to the pool with Derek and watching Zeke and Dagan jump off of the board.

Happy Birthday Grandma!

For my Mom's 50th Birthday, we went over to the Berg's and ate some pizza. Grandma Jan enjoyed spending time with her family. We sure enjoyed it!

Glow Golf

A few weeks ago we went to spend a few days with my mom and sister. We went to play Glow Golf with my mom and Zeke and Dagan. The boys had a great time actually playing. Annika had a great time throwing and chasing the golf ball.

Getting to play with Grandma was great!


A pretty good picutre of Dagan and Zeke. They REALLY did not want to stop playing to take a picture. But they were good sprots and even smiled!
Grandma trying to show Annika what to do with the golf ball.


She threw the ball and didn't know where it went. This is her new thing. I think it is cute.

So tired.

I have mentioned before that Annika loves to climb. She also isn't really afraid of anything. This explains the MANY bumps and bruises she gets on her head. So, when I walked around the corner and saw this, I can't say I was surprised. The thing that surprised me was that she was laying on the table instead of sitting, or standing, or jumping, or dancing. Apparently she was tired and ready for bed.

Hanging with Papa

Derek's dad, aka Papa, came to cheer Derek on during the Triathlon. Annika had a great time hanging with Papa, especially after she got Derek's medal to play with!

Triathlon

Derek participated in the Shawnee Mission Triathlon a few weeks ago and he did great! This was his second time competing in this race and he dropped 10 minutes from his previous time. Annika and I went to cheer him on and enjoyed ourselves even though the weather was hot! Derek did great and I am very proud of him!

Annika and Derek before the race. I'm sure she is thinking, why are we up so early and what are all of these people doing?

Not super impressed with what she is seeing. Luckily this is actually before the race began!

Derek is in the middle of all of those swimmers.

He came out of the water third in his group. The swim was 500 meters.

The start of the bike ride. This was 9 1/2 miles.
Did I mention how hilly the ride is?
Still not impressed but happy because she has a snack!
Towards the end of the run. He is running up towards the finish line. The run was 2.3 miles.
Almost there!

After the race. Annika didn't really care about seeing Derek, she just wanted to play with his medal.
Annika has had enough and is ready to go home!

Carousel Museum

We took Annika to the Carousel Museum and met up with some friends. The museum was kind of small and the carousel was super fast, but it was fun to hang out with friends and do something different. Annika wasn't sure at first, especially on the bigger horses. But, once we found her a smaller horse she had a great time. The pictures are kind of random, but we managed to get a few good ones.

Her first ride. She is not quite sure what is going on.

Second ride with Derek, Marlena and Logan. She is now on the smaller horse and likes it much better. They rode a couple times in a row!

Trying to get a picture with everyone looking is almost impossible. This is the best we got and Annika isn't even looking. The little girls are so cute! Now she is so comfortable she is standing up! No surprise that our child is trying to climb the horse!

Kind of a good family picture. It was the best one we could get! Better than nothing, right?

Balloon animal. She wasn't too impressed.

Seriously the best picture of the three of them we could get. It was actually very funny trying to get them all to sit still and look at the camera. McKenna has the water with the fun balloon hat. Logan just wanted to eat her Goldfish and didn't care what else was going on. Annika either wanted to stand up (surprise!) or steal Logan's Goldfish. Have I mentioned how much I love having friends with kids!