Pinetop

We had the pleasure of going to Pinetop the other week and it felt like we were in Minnesota with trees and lakes and it was absolutely beautiful. Did I mention it is 30 degrees cooler there than Phoenix? We went hiking and it was gorgeous and made s'mores and Carsten rode a horse named Hatchett. He loved the horse, but learned you can't hold on and suck your thumb at the same time. Also, Carsten is officially 18 months old and is 95% for height and 50% for weight. I guess he is just like Mitch. He moved up in weight, so we are happy he is getting a little bigger.

Feeding the giraffes

We went to the zoo again and had a fabulous experience feeding the giraffes. It was quite an experience and I loved being able to see the giraffes up close. We were lucky that it wasn't so hot outside and were able to enjoy being outside and seeing the animals. I also included some additional pictures of Carsten over the last couple of weeks.

They went bye bye

I took this video a couple of weeks ago and it was our breakfast conversation about his nana, papa, daddy and grandma dee dee. Grandma Diane was too difficult to say, so she has become grandma dee dee. He sure likes to test us and see what he can get away with. He loves Boedy and tries to give him hugs, but sometimes those hugs become hits and poor Boedy hides under the bed. He is starting to talk more and more and likes to look at animals and say their sounds. We are working on saying moo for cow and not boo. I guess in Carsten's world his cows are hecklers. Mitch and I were able to have a nice afternoon date today and went to Harry Potter and out to lunch. It is nice to have time spent with my husband as a couple.

Minnesota Fun & Starry Safari

Carsten and I were able to enjoy Minnesota for a couple of weeks. We went to Park Rapids and stayed at my parent's lake home for a week, which was great. It was a little chilly at first, but warmed up. We went to Walmart and had to buy some shoes besides sandals. It was great to see all of his cousins and he learned he loves green tea and juice boxes. It was also nice to see the Hasbrouck family and meet sweet baby Carter. Carsten was ecspecially lucky because he was able to be with the Ellingson family side too and meet Kayla, Kyren and Kayden. The Miller family, the Rich family, Mitch's mom and grandma all were together. Carsten was able to see what is in store when he gets older and learn how to play as many games as possible. We went on lake Minnetonka on an absolutely perfect day. It couldn't have been more beautiful out and it was so nice to see water and boats. Thanks to everyone that let us stay at their home. We had so much fun and I am lucky Carsten is such a great traveler. Well, the flight home wasn't so good, but he was great the rest of the time. It was been so hot here, so we can't spend too mcuh time outside. Last weekend we went to the zoo and did their starry safari, which is at night. It is a little cooler at that time and we saw some animals, jumped on the bouncer and Carsten played in the water splash park. But, his favorite part was the carousel with daddy.