Just Pictures

We went to the park in Montevideo on one of our recent trips home.   The kids really love going here!

 My mom bought the girls these little folding chairs.  They are so stink'n cute.  They have a little compartment under the chair which has a plate, cup & silverware.  Thank heavens that the girls have their own chair because they would be fighting over it big time.  

 My dad bought the girls this big Power Wheels car.  They love going up and down everyone's driveway and around the cul-de-sac.  Emmy has mastered forward and reverse.  It's pretty cute, if she gets stuck, she just whips it into reverse and backs up.  

Erin's a good passenger!

India

Last month Brad travelled to India for work and was there for about eight days.  He had an 18 hour flight with one stop in Amsterdam.  The purpose of his trip was to meet the team in India and also instruct the team on a new project that he is leading.
He arrived in Mumbai close to midnight and stayed one night before his two hour trip to Pune, India, (where his office is located) the next day.  He said that his hotel in Mumbai was the nicest hotel he's ever stayed in.  His company hired a driver for him all week.  Thank God because the driving over there is absolutely ridiculous.  There are no lanes on the roads.  It's basically a "whoever gets there first" mentality.
I asked Brad to explain what it was like over there and he said, it's exactly like the movie Slumdog Millionaire.
It took him about three or four days to get used to everything.  He said that everyone was really nice and they all went out of their way to make him comfortable.  Every time he got up from his chair, someone would put a new bottle of coke on his desk.  He brought a huge variety bag of candy from America to share with his coworkers.  They all liked the Skittles.  
He didn't eat the Indian food though.  He said it smelled terrible which turned him off right away.  He tried to order pizza from Domino's one night and said that it was really gross.  The McDonald's has their own versions (regular & spicy).  Most of the locals all order "spicy."  Brad ordered the regular and said it tasted different than here in America but was edible.  He mostly ate McDonald's while he was there.  If you know Brad, he HATES McDonald's...so he must have been hungry! he he.

One day the whole team traveled back to Mumbai for a Cricket match.  He said it was really fun, but hard to follow.  After the game, they all went out to a local bar.  Brad was on edge because of all the rabid dogs running loose on the streets.  One of the guys asked Brad if he had any pets.  Brad said that we have one cat and then Brad asked him if he had any pets.  The guy replied, "Not anymore, I gave my dog to the neighborhood."
All in all he had a really good time on his trip.  I feel very fortunate to live in America though.  Now seeing how that part of the world lives, I feel like we take a lot of things for granted in our day to day lives.   I'm blessed to have a wonderful home, an awesome and healthy family & the freedom to do whatever the heck I want.

Hotel in Mumbai...

Streets of Pune, India

 These were stores outside of Brad's hotel.

 More stores...

 Slums...

 Can't tell if this is construction or destruction.  Brad said that this was everywhere.

 The whole team in India...

 His office...

The Sun'll Come Out Tomorrow

Okay...so the sun is finally out in full force, but last Sunday Emmy and I went to see Annie at The Children's Theater in Minneapolis.  We found our seats near the front and they couldn't have been any better.  Emmy was sitting in her seat when the lights went dim.  She started to cry a little bit and said, "Turn the lights on!"  So I picked her up, sat her in my lap and told her the girls were going to come out soon and that there was a puppy.  She calmed down and then got excited when she saw all the little girls coming out on stage. (Thank God)
The play was wonderful and Emmy did pretty good throughout the whole two hour play despite the darn Santa Claus that was dancing on stage at one point.  She still doesn't like Santa.
I tried to get Emmy to sing along to some of the popular songs, but she didn't want to do it. 
After the play was done Emmy said, "That was fun!!!"  She's been telling everyone about it all week.
They didn't allow pictures inside the theater, but I was able to snap a couple of quick ones before the show started. 

15 Month Stats

Ladies & Gentlemen...Making her way to the ring, from Maple Grove, Minnesota, weighing 22 lbs 4 oz, standing 30 inches tall & wearing Size 3 Pampers Cruisers.  She is the current 40th Percentile Champion of the world...Erin Krusemark!   Let’s get ready to rrrrrrrumble! 

Erin's Developments:

• Walks forward & backward and is starting to run
• Only likes to feed herself (which can get quite messy)
• Says, Mama, Dada, Uh-Oh & at daycare she mumbled ABC yesterday
• Makes animals noises such as Lion, Elephant, Snake, Monkey & Puppy
• Uses sign language for: More, All Done, Eat & Milk
• Brought home her first scribble drawing from daycare yesterday
• Understands simple commands
• Loves to read books & pats to a picture
• Indicates wants by pulling, pointing, grunting or screaming
• Stacks blocks
• Gives & takes toys
• Loves to give hugs & kisses
• Loves to go for rides on the swing, horse, wagon & little 4-wheeler
• Loves to throw a fit when she doesn't get her way
• Loves her dolls
• She's now strictly on sippy cups...NO MORE BOTTLES.  She was getting sippy cups during the day and one bottle at bedtime, but no more! :)
• Goes to bed around 8:00 pm and sleeps until 7:30 or 8:00 am with one nap a day

Minnesota Zoo

Last Sunday we made a trip to the Minnesota Zoo.  It's about a 45-50 minute drive from our house.  Emmy was excited to see all the animals.  It was a nice family day and the zoo was not crowded at all...which is always a plus as I hate crowds.

We ventured through the indoor tropical building first.  I snapped a few pictures before my battery decided to die.  Ugh!
We had a nice time strolling through the zoo.  We spent about five hours walking and walking and walking.  We walked all the way back to the farm to see the baby animals.  Emmy & Erin had fun petting the little goats & pigs.  Emmy fed the goats and started to giggle. :)  It was pretty funny watching her reaction.

She didn't like the bears or the tigers.  We got an up close and personal view as the tigers & bears walked right by us - behind glass, of course.  Emmy got afraid and ran away.  She said, "I don't like those bears!"  We got a really great show when one of the bears decided to take a leisurely swim in the pool.  That was awesome!  The bird show was pretty interesting as well.  It's amazing what they can get birds to do.

Emmy was such a mover all day.  Each time we came upon a new animal, she would say..."Okay, next!"

Funny Story Shopping for a Swing Set

We are in the market for buying a swing set.  Which one should we buy?  There's so many to choose from. 

So, the other night we ventured out with the girls in search of the perfect one.  It's funny, when you are not looking for something, you see it everywhere and then when you really want/need an item, you can't find it anywhere.  Make sense?  We had a hard time finding swing sets.  No one has them set up anymore.  We found that most places just had a catalog to look through and then you purchase your hardware individually. 
We did find a store that had a few set up, but they were closed by the time we got there so we just peeked through the windows.
I know all about those "Rainbow" play sets.  But I'm afraid they are WAY out of our price range.

As we were walking around Home Depot looking for the swing set aisle, we strolled past the toilet section.  All of a sudden I turn around and see Emmy with her pants down and about to jump up on the toilet.  Good thing I caught her in time or she really would have used it.  I tried to explain to her that it wasn't real.  Poor thing didn't really understand why she couldn't use that potty.  I pulled her pants up and brought her to the restroom.  There was a cashier nearby who saw the whole thing happen.  She started laughing and said, "That was really funny!"  I was a little embarrassed, but did get a good chuckle out of it. 

Mama

Erin started saying Mama around the first part of May.  We were all sitting in the living room when all of a sudden this little word came out of her mouth. We all got really excited because we've been waiting a long time to hear it!  Emmy was the most excited and she said, "Erin said Mama, Erin said Mama!  She's talking!!!"  It was so cute!
Erin should have a few more words in her vocabulary and we are working on getting her to talk more, but she just isn't ready yet.  She understands simple commands such as "Bring me your shoes/ball/book," or "Put the book down." She also understands the meanings of phrases such as "No," "Come here," and "Look."

Erin also loves making animal sounds just like Emmy did and still does.  She makes the following animal sounds:  Lion, snake, elephant, monkey & puppy.  Car rides are very entertaining.  It's like a zoo inside our car at times!

Easter 2011

We celebrated Easter weekend in Hoffman with Brad's side of the family.  On Saturday morning, us girls went shopping in Alexandria.  It was nice to just get away and shop around for a bit without Emmy & Erin and I enjoyed my time with my mother-in-law & sister-in-law. 

Grandma & Grandpa helped all of the girls dye Easter eggs Saturday afternoon.  Saturday evening we went out to eat with Tony and Christy to an amazing restaurant near Brandon called The Peak.  Our food was absolutely wonderful.  I ordered the prime rib and it was honestly one of the best prime ribs I've ever eaten.  We will definitely be making a trip back to this place in the near future.  YUM!

The kids had an Easter egg hunt outside the church on Sunday.  Emmy had fun filling up her bag.  She was excited to open up all of her eggs.  She loved the eggs with monies inside.  After church we headed back to Grandma & Grandpa's house to find more Easter baskets.  Emmy & Erin had a hay day with all of their goodies.  The "Easter Money" (as Emmy calls it) brought flash cards, candy, a Dora shirt, some undershirts, & a bubble machine for Emmy.  Erin's basket was filled with M&Ms, a bath toy, a wind up chickie that does flips, a dolly, sidewalk chalk, & some snacks.  Both the girls got matching sun dresses for this summer too.

Grandma & Grandpa gave all of the girls toys for their sandbox along with a bag of M&Ms. 

Deb prepared a nice hearty meal as usual.  All the food was so yummy, but each and every one of us needed naps after stuffing ourselves.