Belated BIRTHDAY!

Rose is very much a three-year-old now, and while it certainly has its challenges, Mike and I are loving her more and more every day. Unfortunately my parents weren't able to attend Rose's birthday due to my dad's first illness in over 20 years (no exaggeration), but we still had lots of other family members to celebrate with!

Happy belated third birthday, Rose!!

week/weekend in Appleton

Last week Rose had a "grandparents week" with my parents. They left on Monday morning, and she got to go to a city concert on Tuesday, visit a new park and zoo on Wednesday, and pick up Gigi on Thursday. Meanwhile, Mike and I went to a movie (for the first time since my 20-week ultrasound in December of 2011!) and had lots of quiet time at home. On Thursday I drove out to Appleton, leaving about 5 hours earlier than I had told everyone in order to surprise them. Rose was thrilled to see me, and I was even more thrilled to see her! On Friday we went to my cousin Alice's wedding, on Saturday we went to Bay Beach and Kroll's in Green Bay, and on Sunday Rose and I drove home (but stopped at a cheese factory en route!). I had a lovely time, and I'm pretty sure Rose did as well!!

Mmm...cheese...

First Ferris Wheel ride

I was scared of how high it went!!

Putting her on a B-52 (with gun!!!!) offended all my liberal sensibilities.

Thankfully she preferred this type of ride instead!

It drizzled off and on all morning, which made for very short lines!

Her father's daughter.

Ninja and PopPop even got in on the action!

my date!

Congrats again to Alice and Mike!

zoo trip (old)

We went to the zoo basically EONS ago for the "farm babies" special exhibit that runs through the month of April. Since I'm so far behind in blogging (and since our new ISP takes forever and a day to upload anything) I'm going to cop out and do another post mostly sans captions - enjoy the photos!

Owl in the middle.

Notice Mike's reflection?

"Simba!!"

Enthralled by "Pumba"

Rose-isms

Now that she is 3 (and very clearly trying to make sense of the world, as in what is "right" and what is "wrong," and also pressing the limits even more), she is coming up with some pretty cute Rose-isms! Here are two of my favorites from the past couple weeks.

1. en route from Appleton to Minneapolis, we stopped at a gas station to get some snacks and to go potty...
Rose:  Mommy, you hold me on the potty?
Me: Are you afraid you might fall in? Of course I'll hold you.
Rose: Hold me tight!
a few minutes later, when it was then my turn to go potty...
Rose: Mommy, you have a big bottom.
Me: Uh...
Rose: My bottom is little. Your bottom is big. You won't fall in.
(Yep, I definitely don't have to worry about falling in!)

2. recounted from Mike about a conversation they had the other day...
Mike: What do you want to do today Rose? We could go to the park, or to the library, or on a nature walk, or for a bike ride.
Rose: Give me another option, Daddy.
Mike: Uh...
Rose: I want another option. Like watching [Finding] Nemo.
(Yep, any way she can find to try to watch a movie!)


In other news, we are taking Rose backpacking in a couple weeks, so we decided to set up two trial nights of camping to get ready.  Tonight, she and Mike are attempting to sleep in the backyard - and I can't decide if this was a brilliant idea (to prepare her) or a disaster waiting to happen!  Here she was getting ready for the big night in the tent:

Because what else would you wear to camp in other than an apron, a princess dress, a headband, and a crown? Oh, and she is "talking on the phone" too.

On Saturday we head to a state park for more camping. Hopefully Rose, who is used to sleeping with black-out curtains on her windows, won't be too affected by the looooooong solstice day! 

Wish us luck.

Easter

Better late than never!   :)