The Best Babysitter

Grandma Judy rocks and got Calla to sleep last night (without Mom and Dad, who were celebrating Adrian and Suzy's wedding)! You're the best babysitter, Grandma! XOXO

Here are a few of Calla's favorite pictures with Grandma...and now Calla gets to see Grandma just about every day at school - Grandma is teaching her how to play the piano, run carpool line and do lunch duty, hah!

Three generations at Calla's Baptism

Gigi and Uncle Tim came in to celebrate Grandma's 60th birthday this summer. Calla loved meeting the aunt who is spoiling her silly.

Pretend jet-setters - silly times at the flight museum!

Second Family Vacation - Minnesooooota

In late July, we headed up north for the 2009 Browne Family Reunion. It had been 20 years since our last extended-family get-together, so everyone was excited.

The reunion was awesome: happy hours, lake-side dinners, a Browne Family Golf Scramble, Browne family trivia, pot-luck breakfasts and lots of yard games.

And Baby Calla loved meeting her second aunts, uncles and cousins....and her family once removed (or whatever their official title is!). Everyone was so good with her, especially Michael Browne - he wins for making the best/most googley faces at her and making her giggle, haha!

She was good about letting others hold her (although she is getting more attached to mama these days).

Calla was a great traverler. She loved it when Daddy held her up in the air so she could see the people behind her on the plane.

Here's some of our favorite memories:

- Mall of America...and our first carousel ride with Miss Calla
- The huge balcony on our hotel room and the flood from the thunderstorm
- Seeing Angie at Lord Fletcher's in the rain
- Learning baby tricks from Aunt Sheila at Maynard's
- Our first trip to the zoo....Como Park in St. Paul
- Figuring out how everyone was related
- Seeing Uncle Jack and thinking how much he looks like Grandpa
- Feeling very pale compared to the super tan cousies!
- Playing with the golden retrievers
- Special K bars!!!!
- Todd playing one-on-one golf with Kris
- Todd losing to Kris and taking second place in the golf tournament...the fabulous green Browne trophy
- Exploring the barn and petting the horses at Joe's house
- Looking at old and new pictures of family
- A huge breakfast at Aunt Sheila and Uncle Tom's house
- Learning how to play "Beersbee"
- Watching Calla practice crawling and playing with new toys at Auntie Sheila's house
- Long talks at night
- The rental car and its "faulty" passenger seat-heater
- Hearing that Calla "made their day" from an elderly couple at the airport

Browne family - we love you! We wished we lived closer to see each other more often. Thanks for a wonderful time!

First Family Vacation - To the Mountains

Calla was a wonderful first-time traveler to Breckenridge, Colorado, to see Gammie and Papa for the 4th of July.

Some vacation highlights:

-- Much-needed playtime with Gammie and Papa (feeding time, reading books, walking through town, napping with you)!
-- Shopping downtown (the hat store, the Rasta Pasta photo cut-out, buying the overly expensive hat for the baby girl)
-- The art show and gorgeous canvas photos of Italy
-- Listening to the Blue River rush by at night with the windows open
-- The beautiful hanging flower baskets everywhere, especially outside the Steak & Rib
-- The July 4th parade in downtown Breck
-- Seeing the Budweiser Clydesdales and the dalmation, which stole the show
-- A patriotic salute from the National Repretory Orchestra
-- Fireworks in the foothills (Calla was interested for the first five minutes, then became more fascinated by the mini flag the toddler next to us was waving...we thought Calla was going to steal it a few times)
-- The surprise hail storm on the chair lift and hiking up to 12K feet on Peak 8
-- Seeing leftover snow in the shape of a lobster on the side of the mountain (I still don't see it)
-- The shortest swim known to man before the rain storm
-- A good, old-fashioned mountain drive - saw deer, a hawk, raging rapids, old railroads and cascading waterfalls
-- Wathing movies at night with the fam
-- Meeting a dog named Todd
-- Daylight Donuts...enough said!
-- Endless discussions over techtonic plates
-- Meeting Jennifer and Toy, the most wonderful flight attendants on our AA flight home

Enjoy some of our favorite moments:

Baby Calla gets a high chair!

Baby Calla finally gets to use her high chair...and girl she likes it!Then she got to eat....FOOD!

The Verdict:

I liked the carrots!

But I do not like the rice cereal!

Calla goes swimming

Calla get her first taste of swimming at the Nadeau's house on Saturday...and she loves it!

Baby Calla turns 6....Months!

Baby Calla turned 6 months old on June 3rd. We celebrated by reading the new cinderella books we received and eating solid foods for the first time. We had mashed carrotts....yum yum. She loved them and can't wait to try other vegetables.

Memorial Day Weekend

Gammie, Papa, Aunt Lisa, Uncle Greg and cousin Josh came to see me for the holiday weekend! They enjoyed seeing how much I've grown. They also loved having their own rooms in our new house!