Addie and Dakota - Best Buds!

Dakota is crazy and wild sometimes, but Addie loves him so much. They hang out together a lot, and she affectionately refers to him as the "big white beast."

Here they are the morning after we returned home from our week in South Dakota for Christmas. Dakota snuck up on the bed while I was out of the room, and I found them sleeping all snuggled up together. So sweet!



That same day, although Addie had dozens of new toys to play with, I found her in the office playing with paper cut-out popsicle stick puppets. She lined them all up on Dakota's belly, and then they all got to ride down "the slide."

Here is Addie, Dakota, and Shannon hanging out together on Dakota's bed.

Most mornings while Jay and I get ready for work we find Addie and Dakota snuggled up together watching TV. He is the perfect pillow!



Christmas 2011 in South Dakota

Addie had been talking about and looking forward to Christmas in South Dakota for months. When the big trip finally arrived all she could talk about was seeing Grandma Kristi and Skeeter. She also was really excited to see and play in the snow. She was pretty disappointed that there was absolutely no snow for the entire eight days we were there!

We still had a wonderful trip, and it actually was really nice to not have to worry about bad winter weather. We spent a lot of time with all the Schoenfelder, Munger, and Baumberger relatives. Addie really enjoyed seeing everyone, playing with her cousins (well, second and third cousins), and petting Grandma Kristi's horses.

We arrived a couple days before Christmas. On Christmas Eve, we met Grandpa Pat, Jennie, Marc, Adam, and Jordan at Minerva's for brunch. The Minerva's salad bar is still my favorite whenever we go back to Sioux Falls! We exchanged gifts and were given a riddle gift from Mom and Dad. It involved Morse code, charitable donations, and a letter scramble. Long story short - we are going on a cruise in April for our Christmas gift! After figuring out our riddle (while Addie was eating ice cream), we shopped at Zambroz and then headed back to Kristi's to get ready for Christmas Eve dinner. She invited Grandma and Grandpa Munger, Kevin, and Marissa for dinner. Addie had a great time playing with Marissa.

Christmas morning was so much fun. Watching Addie's face as she discovered her stocking and opened each gift was just priceless. She loved all of her gifts so much it took her five days to open them all (and there were a lot!). After opening one, she just wanted to play with it, so the unwrapping took awhile. It was really nice as she had a couple of new things to play with each day. I probably will not be able to remember all of the gifts she received, but I will list a few so that someday when she looks back to read this she knows what type of gifts she received: a marble game, a set of eight Disney princess dolls (Barbie size), books, Disney princess art set, pots, pans, and kitchen utensils, magnetic ballerina dolls, Critter Clinic, finger puppets, basketball, harmonica, big Elmo coloring book, clay, play-doh set, baby doll, Legos, "bouncy puppets," and a Snow White dress.

We went to Grandma Baumberger's house for Christmas dinner. All of the Baumberger siblings and grandchildren were there, and Addie had a great time playing with them. The house can be a little chaotic with 50+ people, but Addie had a blast and wasn't shy at all - except when Santa showed up. She didn't want to sit on his lap, but she let me take her up to get her gift from Santa. It is a very fun tradition to have Santa show up at Grandma's house!

Later in the week we visited Grandpa Bob at the VA hospital, had dinner at Clay and Darci's house, visited some of my college girlfriends, and went to Iowa to visit with the Munger grandparents a bit more. Addie loves their lion cookie jar. She also had a really fun time playing with Ivy and Paisley at their house.

It was a wonderful trip, but it is always good to return home. Addie really missed Dakota and her Grandma Julie while we were gone. Hopefully the next time we go to South Dakota Addie will get to see some snow!



Thanksgiving Weekend 2011

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday this year with several Baumberger family relatives. Addie's Grandpa Pat came to town for a long weekend, and her Auntie Jennie flew in the day after Thanksgiving. Throughout the weekend we visited the Farmer's Market, went out to dinner, spent a night on the town (well, until 10 pm) for our wedding anniversary, and had a wonderful Thanksgiving meal. Addie sure loves it when her Auntie Jen and Grandpa Pat come to visit!

The Monday after Thanksgiving Addie, Jennie, Grandma Julie, and I headed to Orlando for a quick girls trip. I had a conference to attend, so we stayed at a nice hotel not too far from Disney. We spent some time in the pool and went to Magic Kingdom - Addie's second time in a month, lucky girl!

She went on all of her favorite rides again - Dumbo, Astro Orbiter, It's a Small World, and the Carousel. She insisted that she still thought Peter Pan and Winnie-the-Pooh were too scary. She tried a couple of new rides on this trip - Aladdin's Magic Carpets (loved it!) and Jungle Cruise (not so much!). She again really enjoyed the parade and was able to meet and hug several characters. On this visit she met a couple of new characters - Ariel, Alice (in Wonderland), and the White Rabbit. When Alice asked Addie how old she was, Addie responded, "I'm two and a half" loud and clear as a bell. Everyone in line got a kick out of that.

It was fun to take Addie to Disney with Grandma Julie and Jennie. They were a bit more enthusiastic than Jay :)

Addie's First Trip to Disney's Magic Kingdom

We finally gave in and took Addie on her first trip to Disney this fall. She absolutely loved it!! We spent a long weekend at Disney's Caribbean Beach Club Resort, including a couple days of relaxation and one fun filled day at Magic Kingdom. Addie was in awe of all of the characters, especially the princesses, Mickey, and Minnie. She absolutely loved the parade and pointed out all the characters she recognized. She went on most of the rides in Fantasyland including Peter Pan's Flight, It's a Small World, Dumbo, Winnie-the-Pooh, Magic Carousel, and the Spinning Teacups. As she tells us now, she doesn't like Peter Pan or Winnie-the-Pooh - they're too scary. She also went on the Astro Orbiter - loved it, even thought it's fast and so high.

She was able to meet Mickey, Minnie, Cinderella, Aurora, Belle, Pluto, Goofy, Tigger, and Pooh. She hugged all of them - the characters were definitely the highlight of her day. She is now obsessed with princesses. We also spent some time at Downtown Disney where Addie had fun at the Lego store, riding the train, and eating at Rainforest Cafe.