We went to the Mall of America!

Last weekend Jon, Kennedy and I took a road trip to the Mall of America. We drove up on Friday morning and left on Saturday morning. Just a quick trip, but it was very nice! Kennedy was sooo good at the mall, they had this huge Nickelodeon Universe in the center, which had a sorts of different Nickelodeon rides and games, all of her favorite characters! She didn't realize that she could actually ride on the rides, which was good b/c she was actually too short for most of them. She very much like to look at everything:) And of course, we did have to get a stuffed Ho Ho monkey from Ni-Hao Ki-Lan!, a Wonder Pets cape and a Dora tshirt. I am surprised we didn't have to leave with more, but she was satisfied with all of that (and her bubble gum ice cream)...

Dora and Boots - HUGE FERRIS WHEEL!Daddy and Kennedy, taking it all in:)

That is the Diego Rescue Rider:)

Kennedy and I:) Here is a purple elephant at Rainforest Cafe! And, you may have to look very hard at this one, but it is a crocodile. Mechanical, yes, still very scary. It would sit very still, making no sign of life, when out of no where, lights come on and the thing raises from the water, mouth open with this evil growl. If that doesn't scare a 2 year old, idk what will! Testing out our Wonder Pets cape. Kennedy got to "choose" this one. I held out a Linny, Tuck and Ming Ming cape and she said, "Let me choooooosssssse." As you can see, she chose Linny. And she LOVES it!

Watching TV w/ Daddy in the hotel. Looks comfy! Lastly, they were filming a movie in our hotel! That truck says A Mark Scott Company. The movie is called The Convincer w/ Greg Kinnear. We got to see Greg, but we didn't see the other actors; there were some other big names like Billy Crudup and Leah Thompson. So that was kind of neat!!!

Spring. Welcome!!

The weather is turning around! Minus the snow that we came home to on Saturday, the weather has been very Spring-y this past week. Kennedy had a great time jumping on the trampoline. She liked to lay on it and "sleep" more than she did jump, but she thought it was pretty cool!


Here she is having a tea party outside! It was a teensy chilly in the shade, but she still wanted the tea party.

This is about the coolest thing ever! Barb made these IHOP menus and Kennedy can play restaurant with. She loves to set up her tea parties; giving each person tea and soup and a piece of fake food. Except herself. She requires real food on her tea party plate. She has recently started to set up a "restaurant" by sitting behind her stool on a chair and peeking through the stool, asking, "What you want?" Now she can pass out her IHOP menus and customers can place their orders! LOVE IT! This was the first day she played with them, we were at Grandma Julie and Papa's house, so she didn't have her stool restaurant, but not to worry, she still knew to lay them out for everyone to order....

Shake you butt!

So. Our friend Addie is one of the best little dancers we know. Boy, can she move! I'm not talking about jumping in place and waving her arms, but she can wiggle her little hips and shake her booty! We have "dance parties" in our kitchen (think, 1993, where you all circle round and have dance offs in the center. Those forming the circle chant, "Go ____, Go ____, Go ____ Go!"). I am always trying to get Kennedy to shake her booty.

Well. At our surprise 30th birthday party (yes, 30, I know...) for our bff Darci, Kennedy had a ball with the touch tunes juke box. Here she is, saying, "Mom, shake you butt!" as she crouches down bending her knees and waving her arms. It is adorable!

Playing dress up in her costume. Not complete without the boots.

A new favorite - the clipboard! Who would have ever thought this thing would be sooo cool. She loves to carry it around saying, "What you want?" She is taking your food order, in case you were wondering... So, if you see her w/ clipboard in hand, you had better get your order ready!

She LOVES to dance.

Thanks to Jen and Audrey, Kennedy got this amazing red tu tu. She immediately had to try it on and dance. First song up? Quad City DJ's -C'mon and Ride it (the Train). I hear this little voice, "Choooo, Choooo!" and turn to look at her dancing all over the house. LOVE IT!

Telling me what is next.

She had to be a ballerina ("rina") and lean on something to raise her leg. Very poised, right? :)

Happy Late Valentine's Day.

Our friend, Jen, made these pig cookies first, so I must give her credit. Lorie said all the daycare kiddos loved them! Aren't they so cute??? Kennedy helped with the eyes, and yes, they are red hots and no, she does NOT like them. She thought she did, though. Stuffed about 3 in her mouth and crunched them up, then spit them out... ahhhhh.

Here is our first attempt at a Valentine's Day picture. She didn't want any part of it...until I pretended I was a monster and was going to get her...the rest turned out ok.

One thing that Kennedy loves most is dancing! She hears music and instantly needs her "tap shoes" - they are just black shoes, but she thinks they are tap shoes. They are required for dancing. Then she needs her "costume" and her "princess hat". She thinks she is a "rina" (ballerina). We even had to buy her a couple of cd's to dance to - and we found an awesome dance CD, which I love b/c it allows me to rock out to C&C Music Factory, MC Hammer and all sorts of goodies... and we also found a Dora CD. I didn't realize HOW much she would love it. We have to listen to it all of the time. Her favorite song on it is the Chicken Dance. We did get us a new swimmin suit. We are really wishing that the warm weather will hurry up and get here. Usually when we see something in the store and Kennedy is with us, she insists that she is "too big" for the item - she does not like to try things on, but when I held this suit up, she said, "I NEED it" and she insisted on holding on to it in her stroller. Then we had to wear it when we got home:) I can't wait for the weather to warm up so we can go swimming!!!

2 Cuties.

Kennedy got a stool for Christmas so that she can help cook. She LOVES to help cook, no matter what is going on - I could be reading the mail and she will push her little stool over and say, "Mom, I help you? PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEESE?!" So, I let her help me read the mail. Her version of reading goes like this, "Once upon a time there was a big story. The end"......... here she is making cake; notice the little chocolate all over her face:)

Daddy went to Florida for the Orange Bowl, so we went to Papa and Grandma Julie's to watch. Kennedy loves to drink out of shot glasses. They are the perfect size for her little hands. She is so funny though and always says, "Don't worry, Mom. I be careful. 2 hands!" on this little tiny shot glass!!!!!

Lastly, we have Maggie in her Snuggie. Actually, it is Kennedy's Snuggie, but it was soooo cold in our house last week that I thought Maggie needed it. I think she may have been in some sort of disagreement about this because she didn't move from this spot until I took the Snuggie off:)

2010 HERE WE COME!!!

We went to see Dellis & Michelle's new house on New Years and there were so many kiddos there! We stayed until almost 11pm!! Here are Kennedy and Addie at the end of the night - not a bit tired, can't you tell?