4th of July!

 Every year, my uncle Mark and aunt Christa kick off the festivities with a party on July 3rd. Tony, Charlie and I were in attendance this year. Tony took Charlie home for bedtime, and I stayed for some quality family time.

Here I am with my mom, godmother/aunt Diane and cousin Jacque! I stayed out WAY later than I'm used to, so I was pretty tired the next morning.

4th of July has always been a big deal in my Smidt family. My grandma Jeannette absolutely loved the 4th! Since my Grandma has passed away, it has been a little bittersweet. This 4th was filled with TONS of cousin time, and it was the happiest one since Grandma left us.

Tony somehow snagged an EA (excused absence) from work yesterday, so he could join us! After morning nap, we headed to Florence Park to check out the fun Arts in the Park, kiddie carnival and fair food! Uncle Will came down early and went to the park with us too. While we were there, we ran into even more family! My mom walked down with my cousin Jacque. Jacque snapped this cute picture of us at the park. Charlie LOVED the petting zoo and he so badly wanted to ride the rides. Maybe next year!

After we were at the park, we headed to my Oma Kathe's for a picnic. Charlie ate like a champ! I don't think I've ever seen him eat this much before! He actually ate more than I did! After a big lunch, Tony took him home for a nap. It was nice that Tony offered to do that, so I could spend some quality time with my cousins. He's such a good hubby :)

While Tony and Charlie were napping, I headed back to the park with my female cousins. We had to do a little picture taking...

The boy scouts made some fun cutouts for pictures!

 The girls!

We all gathered at Grandpa's for a bit of a snacky supper before heading over to watch the parade together. Just like last year, Jon, Mindy, Natalie and Harvey were able to join us. Poor Harvey was guarding his candy from me the whole time so I wouldn't steal his Tootsie Rolls! The parade started at 6:30pm, but we sit way at the end of the parade route. I think it was after 7 before the parade actually reached us. Charlie usually is in bed at that time, but he did such a great job! He stayed until the end and was such a good boy! I wish I would've gotten a picture of the kids together, but I did snag a few other pictures at the parade.

Looking pretty tired here!

But he perked right up when freeze pops were thrown our way! 

All smiles after the parade. 

Tony again was such a loving husband and took Charlie home to bed so I could stay at Grandpa's and watch the fireworks with my cousins like I always do. Here are the female cousins doing our infamous elbow train. We went in order of youngest to oldest. You may be wondering who the brown haired girl on the end is, and that's my cousin Matt's girlfriend. She's absolutely wonderful, so we just had to include her in our shot!

The cousins in attendance minus Matt. He went MIA right before pictures.  Tyler and Nathan left after lunch, so they are also not pictured.

Just to let you know how dedicated we cousins are to our mini donuts and cheese curds, we waited in line for over 45 minutes to get some! Here's our selfie! It was some excellent cousin bonding! 

We ended our big 4th by renting the Stewartville pool today from 12-1. Since I was single momming it while Tony worked, I didn't capture any pictures. Charlie had a blast swimming with Grandma Becky and Grandpa Buck! He dove under twice and wasn't so sure about that, but no tears!

Phone Follow Up

As I've posted countless times, I take a ton of pictures of Charlie and our every day life on my phone. No, they're not the highest quality pictures, but it's quick and easy to snap a shot! Sorry, but this is a long post with lots of Charlie pics! I hope you enjoy!

Ok this first one does not have Charlie in it, but it's the only picture I took at the Cheese Fest parade. YUCK A CLOWN! Luckily my niece and nephew saved me from him.

Uncle Will was showing Charlie how to use a hammock. 

 

This kid sure does love his sleep. I refused to turn the air conditioner on for a very long time, so he got to sleep like Daddy. 

Charlie is pointing at a mother goose and her little goslings at Quarry Hill. 

 Walking the trails at Quarry Hill.

Great Grandpa Bob showing Charlie how the lamp works. 

Family walk at Bear Cave Park. 

 When I came home after Bible School one day, I found Charlie in his cool fort constructed by his Daddy!

Someone found my headband and has seen me wear it enough to know how it works! 

Picnic in Kasson one night. 

New used shopping cart! 

Swimming at the pool! 

New used wagon! Love that eyebrow action! 

 Blowing kisses one morning to grandpa on my phone

 Water table fun! This is a favorite outside activity

 Fun big wheel!

We were leaving Shorewood to  go to Cherry Berry and Charlie had a bit of a plumber crack going on.

Someone is really enjoying coloring now. He got this neat crayon holder at Meagan and Peter's wedding. 

Today inbetween naps was a rough teething time. So, we hung out in the baby carrier for a while so I could make lunch. 

EMMA!

Becky and Emma came to visit for the day yesterday and half of today. It was fun to have those two around!

Charlie really enjoyed getting the baby toys back out!

Emma was enjoying (well not so much) some tummy time. 

Someone had a bit of a blowout and needed a sink bath! 

After the bath, our game of Farkle could continue! 

Just a goofy shot of Tony while we were all playing Farkle. Gotta love him. 

This morning I was reading to Emma, and Charlie felt like he needed to come join!

I'm bummed we don't live closer, but I hope we can see them again soon!

Some every day shots

In the summer, my cousins Connor and Megan are frequently at my house. Last week I was able to catch a few sweet shots of Connor and Charlie.

Connor and Charlie are driving around!

Connor made a trail for Charlie to follow.

 and they did lots of reading.

Charlie really likes phones right now. He likes to pretend to call Daddy on my phone. 

Just a delicious lunch together. 

Fun Around the House

Charlie and I have been having quite a fun time around our house this past weekend and this week.

Charlie loves the potato masher! He mashes away...

I belong to this Stuff for Sale in Rochester site on Facebook. I happened to come across a post from a guy that wanted to get rid of this tool bench with tools, little tikes table and chairs, toy mower with gas can, 3-wheeler, toy shopping cart, and two big shelves for $50! I couldn't pass it up. We have been doing lots of building in our house! 

Mugsy the puppy likes to help too. Charlie got him from Aunt Elinor for Christmas, and he goes just about everywhere with Charlie. 

I love this little look he gave me. 

Using the screwdriver. 

This sums up my day today: boogers and drool! Teething has done a number on our little boy and my sanity last night and today! Last night was 2 hours of screaming in the crib at bedtime (yes I continued to go in and sooth him...). He woke up at midnight and did a full hour of screaming. Then was fine until after his morning nap. Then he wanted to be held continuously and was very very whiny. The only time he was happy was when we were outside playing. Boy, I hope tonight goes a lot better! I'm used to getting a full 8 hours! 

Crazy Kitties!

I used to post endlessly about our little kitties, Luna and Sol. Ever since Charlie arrived, the focus has been on him. I wanted to share with the world that Luna and Sol are still running around like the crazy kitties they are!

Luna was attacking Tony's clothes while he was trying to fold them.

This is Sol's favorite spot! 

He's a walker!

Some of you have been asking and asking, and others of you have been waiting patiently for our little boy to realize that his boots (or Crocs) were made for walking. As of last Monday, he is an official walker. As Laur said today, he looks like he maybe had a few before walking, but he's figuring this out. It sounds like he's at about the same age his cousin Harvey was at when he started walking. Those two boys have a lot in common!

I haven't captured video yet, but I have a few pictures of him.

He's just about to take off!

Sorry about showing off Tony's natural sweater, but Charlie walked all the way across the room to get to Tony's oatmeal! He had already had a full breakfast, but it wasn't enough I guess!

Just a little smirk. 

We're having some issues with keeping eyes open when the flash is in use. I have about 30 pictures with closed eyes! Here's the little guy checking out the Chex Mix I made on Saturday morning. (please ignore the massive amounts of clothing in the background. Tony's laundry day!) 

I waited to post this until today because I didn't want to jinx it!