July 7, 2013: BM!

 

This evening Charlotte donned a celebratory dress and enjoyed a Superman ice cream cone at the neighborhood ice cream parlor to commemorate her first real BM in the toilet! She has gone BM before but only after we notice it is already happening and throw her on the toilet. Tonight she surprised us and just did it! It was about a year go when she had her "first" BM in the toilet, but we hope that this time it is for real!

Celebratory ice cream was a sweet way to wrap up a wonderful long weekend. We started our weekend with a Fourth of July Parade in Edina, MN.

Here is Charlotte waiting for the parade to start. We arrived 1.5 hours before the parade start time and were able to squeeze our chairs into the last available spot along the street. Turns out experienced Edina parade goers put their chairs out the night before - yikes! We better step up our game next year. 

We then enjoyed a lovely lunch with Patrick's family, including part of the Alaska contingency: Megan, Al, and baby Aubrey. There were some cute photos taken that are currently posted to Facebook. Following that fun we took Charlotte home to swim in her pool with some friends before her first fireworks! We watched from a parking ramp without the greatest view, but she mostly enjoyed riding her scooter around on the pavement. 

She spent much of the weekend in her pool, and actually spent all of Friday in her swimming suit. In addition to playing in the pool on Friday I took her to the beach at Lake Nokomis. 

Here she is loving the beach!

 

And the water, too! Her feeding tube was removed last July, so it has still been less than a year. This means that last year I would not have been able to take her to the lake as there was increased risk of infection from lake water around the tube site. We are all happy the tube is gone.

In order to keep the weekend of fun rolling through Saturday Patrick ran the 25K Afton Trail Race and we visited Como Park with Aunt Kelly and Molly. 

Charlotte walked a grand total of 2 miles to watch Patrick's race. We rarely go sans stroller, but I only brought our umbrella stroller and it would not have been helpful on the trails. She was quite the trooper but was happy to stop for a photo as we walked over a creek. 

Drawing in the sand while waiting to give Daddy his bottle. 

Go Patrick! I like this photo because Patrick is looking to me for his water bottle but Charlotte is a bit closer to the ground with an outstretched arm (not photoed). It turned out Patrick had to turn around and reach backward to get his water bottle (Charlotte will work on her crewing skills), but everyone in the crowd talked about what a great dad he is. True, all true. Though I think they missed that it was mom who coaxed Charlotte to walk 2 miles. 

Patrick ran a great race, finishing in a respectable time for third place. It was hist first race of the season, so it was nice to see him running again. After a quick nap for Charlotte and Patrick we were off to Como Zoo!

Patrick may be mid-blink or else he is making eyes at the Giraffes. Regardless, it is a cute picture. 

If you ask Charlotte about the zoo she will first tell you that we didn't see the Polar Bears. They must have been hiding out in the back of their exhibit. We did see the new gorilla exhibit, and Charlotte gave us a great gorilla impression for her photo with her new gorilla friends.  

Our trip to the zoo ended with a traditional ride on the carousel.

Well, I'm tired just summarizing our weekend for the blog post, but wait, that's not all! Today Grandma and Grandpa Distad visited from Kasson. 

We visited Minnehaha Falls to take in the rushing rapids after a very rainy spring. 

Charlotte did some rock climbing along the creek.

And Patrick bravely stood in the rushing waters with Charlotte.  

Thanks to Grandma for taking a rare photo of the 3 of us!

Prior to this weekend we've been up to other fun things as well!

Charlotte gets excited with every new flower that blooms in our yard. We are so appreciative that a gardener previously owned our home. The flower gardens are beautiful. 

We celebrated Father's Day at a petting zoo in Chippewa Falls, WI. Charlotte is starting to pick up on family associations. Today she was asking me if Grandma and Grandpa Distad were my mommy and daddy.

Great Dad's!

Sweet girls!

Love her!

And him! Look at that awesome dad pushing the Merry Go Round.

Whew! Time to prepare for a Monday full of work (Patrick and Katie) and school (Charlotte). She has big news to tell her teachers! They will fully share our excitement for what is potentially a corner turned in our toilet training saga.