A Day at the Zoo with Morgan

Morgan was able to join CeCe at the Minnesota Zoo during her break from school. We had a lot of fun checking out the monkeys and goofing off. Here are some great pics from the day. The picture with Ce and Morgan on the wolf was followed by CeCe falling off the wolf and wailing in pain. She is a tough little cookie!

Christmas with the Elliotts

Lisa and Chris were great hosts this year for the big crowd. Time flies between these great gatherings. Here are some fun pics from the day.

Christmas Eve at Grandma Pat and Grandpa Bob's

We had a great Christmas eve with Grandma and Grandpa and Aunt Elizabeth and Uncle Scottie. CeCe seemed to really lover her new work bench. She hasn't really gotten into princesses or dress up. It's more about cars, workbenches and babies too.

Holidazzle with the Millers

We had a fun evening getting in the holiday spirit with the Millers. We took the train downtown and enjoyed the (relatively) warm evening with the girls. Here is a great pic from the evening of the kissing cousins.

CeCe's Third Birthday Bash

We had a lot of fun at CeCe's third birthday. She wanted a Santa party, so we got a Santa cake and balloons to celebrate the day. Her favorite present may have been a ring pop (basically a sucker), but she had a blast playing with Morgan and other family and friends. Here are some great pics from Aunt Elizabeth and a couple from my camera too.

Getting in the Holiday Spirit

CeCe and her folks decided to head out one evening early in December to have a nice dinner out and check out the holiday lights in various neighborhoods. We drove through our old stomping grounds in West Saint Paul and were happy to see that the couple who dressed up like Mr. and Mrs. Claus were still greeting travelers at their curb with candy canes and even a teddy bear for CeCe. She was really thrilled - a great way to set the mood for the holiday season. Throughout the season CeCe was heard to say, "This will be the best Christmas Ever!".

Picking out a Christmas Tree

CeCe is really excited for Christmas this year. She has spoken with Santa on a couple of occasions and was really excited to pick out her tree at the local tree farm. Aunt Lisa, Uncle Chris and Morgan all came down for the day to help us pick out the tree. Here are the two girls staying warm and goofing off on a horse-drawn wagon ride.

Holiday Stroll in Red Wing

Thanksgiving blew past this year - a busy time of year with some great visits from far-flung Herders. Uncle Mark and Uncle Tony and his family all made it into town for some fun. We made a trip down to Red Wing to see Santa and Mrs. Claus on the day after Thanksgiving. Here are some fun pics from the day. The two girls with Mrs. Claus are CeCe and her cousin Martha.

Thanksgiving 2010

Here are some cute pics from Thanksgiving with CeCe and her cousins from Geneva. They are all growing up so fast!

Helping Out Around the House

CeCe has really been working hard at helping her Dad with projects around the house. We just renovated the laundry room (including a new laundry room sink). Here she is doing some plumbing on her own sink.

Halloween Book Club

CeCe's friend Isabelle joined her mom Holli and the other ladies for Halloween book club on Sunday night. The Kitty and the Monkey had a great time goofing off. We have quite a few concerns these days about monsters in the closet, but are really hanging in there well with the fun of Halloween. The parade and Halloween party are on Friday night, so the Monkey outfit will get a lot of use for this Halloween. It should be a good choice for the chilly weather - and it is not too spooky either.

A short Visit from Grandma and Granda Elliott

The weather is cooler and there have been a lot of not-so-nice days lately, but CeCe doesn't let it slow her down. There is plenty of fun in the house too. We even had a visit from Nana and Grandpa Roger on Sunday morning who were in town for a wedding. Here are some cute pics from a few different days.

Happy 40th Mark!

We celebrated Mark and Roger's birthday with a pig roast. It was a cool but sunny fall day with a nice crowd of folks to cellebrate the day. It was great to catch up with some of Mark's friends who we have not seen for years. Happy Birthday Mark!

A Visit to the Pumpkin Patch

We headed off to Mazeppa again this year for apple and pumpkin picking. We kept waiting for a nice day, but one never came, so we ignored the gray drizzly weather and goofed off in the corn maze and apple orchard. One fun thing about this age range is that everything is brand new, even if we did it last year too! CeCe had a great time on the tractor ride and in the corn maze. They have a kid maze that has only one loop and then you make it right out in about 5 minutes. We have a new favorite too - carmel apples. Fall is really fun!

Cousin Wendy's Wedding

CeCe and her Mom (Dad had to work) had a great time dancing the night away at Cousin Wendy's wedding. The fall day was beautiful - and so was the bride. CeCe asked many folks to dance - would get them out on the dance floor and then leave there to get another dance partner. She had to be dragged out at the end of the night as she was screaming, "I NEED TO DANCE!".

Barak Obama is the President

CeCe, her Auntie Beth and her Mom all went down to the Target Center on a beautiful early fall day to see the president. He was coming to town to speak about healthcare. We took the train to Big City Downtown Minneapolis, were ushered into some great seats, and got to do the wave with the huge crowd while we waited for the president to arrive. The picture looks like she is not too impressed with his speach, but she really hung in there and enjoyed her brush with history. If you are curious, CeCe can tell you who Barak Obama is and will tell you about how much fun an adventure trip to the city can be.

Playing in the New Playhouse

I got some cute pics of CeCe goofing off in the playhouse we were given by Mark's cousin Karen (thank you again!). She loves the house, but was not too thrilled to have her picture taken.

Fun With Morgan

Having Morgan closer is already paying off with extra fun. We made it to the State Fair on Tuesday and yesterday she was over with Grandma and Grandpa Elliott for fun at the park and goofing off around the house too. Speaking of goofing off, here are some great pics of the silly girls.

A Quick Visit from Kelly Girl

Kelly Girl came into town to meet up with family and friends after their round the world trip. She has been gone four years, so it was fun to introduce her to Cecelia - the two got along just great. We had a lot of fun with a dinner in her honor on Wednesday and got a chance to go for a fun boat ride on Thursday. It was a short but fun visit.

Yogi Bear Campground with Morgan

We had a great time camping with Morgan while her folks worked on moving to Apple Valley (yeah! Much closer!). We went to a Jellystone Park near Austin and swam, danced, played in the playgrounds, panned for valuable stones and pet animals. The girls were exhausted by Saturday night - Morgan fell asleep in the middle of prayers and Cecelia wouldn't wake up on Sunday morning even when Morgan was tickling her feet. Here are some pics from the weekend.

A Day at the Fair

CeCe and I spent the day at the Dakota County Fair. it was Kid's Day at the fair with plenty of free gifts for the kids and a lot of fun stuff to do. She loved the Big Machine Petting Zoo put on by the county where you can crawl around on all kinds of big equipment. She was into anything with a horn. Her Dad joined us after work and we got a chance to check out a rabbit obsticle course - very cool. Here are some pics from our day.