Labor Day Weekend 2010

My family--Po-po, Ye-ye, Aunt Stephy, Uncle David, & their dog Cori--came to visit us this Labor Day weekend.  Bless Aunt Stephy & Uncle David!  They drove 8 hours from Memphis to Cincinnati & then drove 12 hours from Cincy to Minne the next day.  I suppose they are young so they can handle it.  :P  If I had to make that drive with the girls, I would probably kill myself!  Some days I can't get out of the driveway without one of them melting down.

Anyway, they were here from Friday afternoon to Sunday early evening.  Baylee was so excited to see them!  Another weekend of undivided attention.  It didn't hurt that Po-po won B over with a new singing Cinderella.  :P  How quickly the "old" Cinderella was cast aside.  Po-po spent lots of time coloring with Baylee while Stephy & David assembled paper crafts (princess crowns) for Baylee.  Ye-ye held Livy a lot since baby girl HATES to be set down.  Livy either wants to be held or she wants to be on the move.

On Saturday morning, we went out to Apple Jack Orchards in Delano.  This was our favorite orchard from last year.  Baylee wasn't so much into it last year, but this year she had a blast picking apples, eating raspberries off the bush, walking in the orchard, getting pulled in the wagon by Uncle David, & checking out the petting zoo.  Livy was content being held by Ye-ye.  :P  Aunt Stephy & Uncle David made a delicious apple tart from the apples we picked.  Yum!

Baylee & Livy peeking out of the apple cutout

Baylee testing an apple for quality assurance

One of the reasons Po-po & Ye-ye came down was so Mike & I could go out to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary Saturday evening.  Love free babysitting!  We went to El Meson, a Spanish/Caribbean restaurant in Uptown.  The chef/owner has another restaurant, Cafe Ena, that's a similar concept, but more pricey & in an okay part of town.  Our meal was pretty tasty & didn't break the bank.  We got 2 of everything--appetizers, entrees, glasses of wine, desserts, & coffees.  The paella looked really good, but we opted not to get it.  We've been spoiled by some good paella in Chicago & hate to get disappointed.  We would definitely go back there again some time.

On Sunday, we took the girls to a dim sum buffet.  Baylee is pretty good at a restaurant these days if you remember to bring enough things that she will eat (easy at a buffet) & bring coloring stuff.  Livy is a little eating machine, so she's happy to eat solids while we're eating our meal.  Livy devoured 2 jars of food while we were out!  She's also figured out how to feed herself.  I gave her a Mum-mum (rice cracker) & she can maneuver the cracker to her mouth.  As soon as she masters the pincer grip, we'll start on puffs.  On top of feeding herself, Livy can balance for a good 20 seconds most days, & is already saying "mama" (mostly in times of distress).  I can't believe how quickly she's growing up!