Rutter's Cabin

Every summer, a bunch of us go up to our friend's cabin. Thanks again Mike for a great weekend and to Mom and Dad for watching Dec and Luca to give us a nice weekend away! As usual, we had a great time catching up with our friends, playing bean bags, boating, tubing (and wow, was I sore the next day!), grilling, going our for pizza, and just hanging out and relaxing!

I didn't remember to take pictures much of the weekend, but I did remember to take a couple...

The girls!

Annual Talbot

Every summer, our friend and his family put on the annual Talbot golf tournament. Everyone dresses in knickers and vests ... Scottish style! Declan and I went up there in the morning to check out everyone's outfits and to wish daddy good luck. We hope this tradition lives on so Declan can one day golf in the tournament too!

Good luck Dad!

Five Year Anniversary!

It's hard to believe that Tony and I have been married for five year! Thank you Julie and Ray for coming down so Tony and I could go on a little date to celebrate.

What did we do ... went golfing!

We had a blast. I hadn't gone since before Declan was born, and I forgot how fun it is. I'm not very good, but Tony was very patient with me.

Love you Ton!

First Haircut

A few weeks ago, we brought Declan in for his first haircut. We had a feeling it would be difficult because Declan wasn't his usual happy self that morning, but we decided to give it a try anyway and brought him to Kids Cuts. Sure enough, he was not a fan. Tony and I havent seen him cry that hard in a long time ... poor little thing! We were able to distract him with Dora, goldfish, bubbles, and his nook, but that only lasted for a few minutes. We were happy they were so patient and able to finish because his new haircut was much needed (and adorable!)

Good job bud!

4th of July

We had a great 4th of July weekend. It was a perfect balance of fun, relaxation, and productivity! My mom came out one night and babysat Declan so Tony and I could go out on a date. I can't even remember the last time Tony and I had a night out without the baby! It was a beautiful night, so we went down to Saint Anthony Main and had dinner on the patio at Pracna (with some great bloody mary's!) Then, we decided to see a movie at the cute little theatre next door, and Tony gave me my pick of the movie, so we saw My Sister's Keeper! For those of you who have also read the book, I was actually pretty impressed with the movie. I am usually disappointed after seeing movies from books I have read.

Anyways, the rest of the weekend was great. On the 4th, Tony and I decided to take Declan to the Eagan carnival and Declan had a blast. Tony brought Dec down one of those huge slides (where you sit on the carpet). They were so cute coming down the slide together....

Then, we went to the park where Declan continued to be all smiles!

Then, we ended the night with some Lakeville fireworks. We had to wake Declan up, but it was worth it because he thought they were just the coolest things in the world. From where we were sitting, we could see about five other fireworks displays, and Declan couldn't get enough.

Yay! That was fun!

Summer Chaos

I have been horrible at keeping up with my blog lately, so my apologies! Things have been very crazy to say the least. Let's see...we spent a few weekends (and when I say we, I mean Tony!) painting and tiling around the house to get it ready to put on the market once again. We are going to give it one more shot, and it is now officially on the market for round two! We're hoping the market is rebounding a little and the tax credit will help those first time home buyers looking for a townhouse. Cross your fingers! Here are a few pics....

Other stuff going with the Caswell fam is, DECLAN IS WALKING!! I feel awful that I don't have a cute video to post. We do have some cute ones on our blackberries, but I am not sure how to post them. If I figure it out, I will add them soon. It just happened so fast. He was on the brink for what felt like weeks, and then about three weeks ago, he started to take four to five steps at a time, and now he is all over the place. It's so much fun, and now I know what people mean when they say he gets even busier and harder to keep up with. We are getting some good laughs at how cute he teeters around, trying to run and realizing his feet are moving too fast for his body. Luca has also knocked him over a few times, but he gets right back up and tries again.

Declan has been so much fun and everyday we feel like we learn something new. He has such a funny personality, and even at times, a little attitude. He loves to make other people laugh, and knows when he is being funny, which just cracks me up. He continues to love to read and be outside. Daycare is going great and Melanie calls him her little daredevil. He always seems to make a beeline for places he knows he shouldn't be. Then, he will turn around and give you a little smirk. He is a smart little guy, and knows he's cute. It's a dangerous combo!

He is also asking us a million times a day, "Whas that?" He babbles all day long, and loves to make car noises. He is also starting to recognize certain words. If we ask Declan where Luca is, he will either point to her, or crawl over to her. It's so fun to be able to see things clicking in his little brain everyday. He is starting to cuddle with Luca instead of trying to poke her eye out (sometimes), lets me give him a kiss and loves to give us a high five. He also throws things in the air and laughs because he is so proud of himself, and knows to crawl down the stairs feet first. It's so rewarding to watch these tiny little milestones, and I can't believe how fast he is growing.

I promise I will get better at posting and loading pictures in the upcoming weeks. Things have been so busy with the house and Tony getting acclimated to his new job (which is going great!), but now hopefully things will slow down a tad.

Father's Day and a Twin's Game

For Father's Day, we took Declan to the Twin's game with some friends from college, and Declan did so good! We took him to a Saint's game last summer when he was really little, so we weren't sure how he would do, since the thought of sitting in someone's lap for two hours seemed impossible! However, he was so good. We stayed the whole game, he slept on Tony for 45 minutes, and Dec and I shared some dippin' dots!

Happy 2nd Father's Day Tony - We love you!

Hanging out before the game.

Go Twin's!

Declan sitting in the seat where Kirby Puckett's home run landed in game 6 of the '91 World Series. This made Tony's day!

Declan taking a short nap. If you look past Tony and Declan, you will notice two other parents with their child sleeping in their laps as well. I can't believe they were all able to sleep because it was so loud!

The Zoo

We took Declan to the zoo for the first time a few weeks ago, and he absolutely loved it. I think his favorites were the fish and monkeys.

Oh, and trying ice cream....

Checking out the birds....

And the Caribou...

He was a little goofball by the end!

I think we will for sure be taking him back to the zoo this summer!

Mommy's Little Helper

Such a good little helper....

Breakfast Tradition

Every morning, before daycare/work, Tony and Declan have a tradition. While Tony eats his cereal in the living room, Declan joins in with his cheerios. He loves to have breakfast with Daddy! (p.s. The head band was something we had from the Saints game last summer, and he likes to sport it every once in a while).