Little Sparkler....

Hayden thoroughly enjoyed this year's 4th of July festivities in Garnavillo.  Even though the weather was scorching hot and almost unbearable for pregnant mommy and daddy we still made every event imaginable. The annual teddy bear parade, the Firecracker 5K, the 4th of July parade and Jason and Lesa's for fireworks.  It was a great time and her favorite part of the weekend was seeing the fireworks and doing sparklers with daddy.

"Consin Dells"

Hayden thoroughly enjoyed the trip to Wisconsin Dells this summer.  Grandpa Mike and Grandma Vicki celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary with their kids and grandkids by taking us all to Wisconsin Dells Kalahari Resort and Waterpark.  We rented a 6 bedroom villa for all of us to stay and completely enjoyed the HOT sunshine and fun waterpark.  Hayden loved every minute of it....from riding the shuttle bus, to the lazy river, to the cabana, to the indoor theme park, we all had a GREAT time as there was something to do for everyone.  It was great hanging with the cousins, grandma and grandpa and aunts and uncles.  One phrase she kept saying over the weekend...."This is the life." It will be a trip she will always remember.

 

The hair fairy came for a visit....

It was a good nap...after a day at Wisconsin Dells - Kalahari Resort's Waterpark.
We like to point out to Hayden her crazy hair any time after she wakes up.  We tell her the "Hair Fairy" visited her while she slept and messed up her hair.  She gets a kick out of it every time...and then lets us fix her hair in return.  This visit from the hair fairy was especially funny.

The Potty....

Hayden has been working hard at learning the basics of using a big girl potty.  By the end of May and some extra help of babysitter Laura Dempster, and her friend Kailey, Hayden learned the ropes fairly quickly.   However, she still is trying to figure out exactly how to put on her new underwear .....she seems to get confused on which end it needs to be.  SILLY HAYDEN....

Here chickie...chickie...

Grandpa Doug took mommy, daddy and Hayden to see baby chicks and geese at the Zittergruen farm.  Hayden was in amazement and was fearless to seeing and holding the baby birds.  She loved holding and petting them as Papa Doug and Daddy did their best to chase them in her direction.  She loves being Papa's little farm girl.

The BIG reveal.....

So around Christmas this year....we had a lot of things to be grateful for.  Grandpa Doug made it out of the Mayo Clinic after a week in the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit

Grandpa Doug's first night home from Mayo

AND

Mommy and Daddy found out they were expecting a new member to the family.  Hayden was going to be a big sister!

So on Good Friday of this year - Hayden not only was going to be a big sister, but the whole family found out she was going to have a little brother to play with.  We decided to share the news and reveal  to the whole family in Galena.  Mommy and Daddy decided to use one of Hayden's favorite sweets to share the great news.  We had cupcakes filled with blue frosting to reveal the gender of our newest addition.  It was a lot of fun to see everyone's reaction and enjoy the good news together.

Galena Easter

We spent another year in Galena for Easter.  G-G Phyllis, Grandma Kathy, Grandpa Doug, The Reades: Uncle Chris, Aunt Missy, Caeley and Keegan,  the Wenstrands: Megan, Reed, Great Aunt Karen,  Great Uncle Tom, and Marnie, Tony, and Baby Alex via Skype were there to enjoy the weekend of fun.    There were all sorts of activities to enjoy: kite flying, egg dying, making of the traditional bunny cake with Grandma Kathy, Easter Egg Hunt, adventure walks and so much more.  It was a great weekend and the Easter Bunny was able to find Hayden with no problems.  The Easter bunny brought all sorts of chocolate and goodies in a Tinkerbell Easter basket. Hayden was so excited to wake up Easter morning to find all the fun.

We're so happy the Easter Bunny found us!