Another Mash Up of Photos

We have been having some pretty crazy storms lately! Here is the sky one evening here in Rochester when the storm clouds were really pronounced! 

For Father's Day we went out to breakfast and then we took Ellasen to the park. Tim got to golf too! 

Ellasen's friend Sydney turned two recently and had an outdoor art party! Between the cupcakes, the paints and the sprinkler most of the kids ended up in diapers or underwear (depending on their current state of potty training). It was pretty cute, and it was fun to celebrate another friend's birthday. 

At our last Thursday's on First I snapped a couple of pictures of the festival. It is hard to see from these, but there are two full streets of crafts and food. It has been an ortho wives tradition for many summers, and I will miss it! 

Ellasen and I have the greatest friends! My friends have been offering to watch Ellasen so that I can get packed up and ready to leave for Michigan. Ellasen has been having so much fun hanging out with her friends. We are really going to miss all these ladies and all their kids! 

Speaking of goodbyes we had another hard one the other day. The Hartzlers left town recently, and it was a tough goodbye for me and for Ellasen. I had to say goodbye to Sari and Ellasen had to say goodbye to Helen and Witt. They have been great friends for us. It is hard to believe I remember before Witt was even born! It has been a long five years! 

Emily invited Ellasen and I out to her grandparents farm the other day. We got to meet the farmer, see cows, ride on a 4 wheeler, see tractors and see cats. We even got a home cooked lunch. It was delicious and a really fun way to spend a morning! 

The Rochesterfest parade was the other day. It had been threatening rain all day, and even rained right before we left to walk to the parade, but then it cleared up so we decided to risk it. We weren't at the parade too long before it started to sprinkle. We got about 25 minutes in before it really started to pour! The girls (Ellasen and Kylie) had so much fun waving and collecting candy before the rain really hit. They got about 6 pieces total. They were super cute. They especially liked the gymnastics team that put on a little show right in front of us. Both girls take gymnastics, and they both asked it they could go out and do a somersault! We did have to walk about 1/2 mile back in the rain, but the kids were safe and covered in strollers so they didn't mind too much. 

It has been another fun few weeks here in Rochester. Our next post will be coming to you from Michigan! We have fun adventures planned for July including, the beach, Dora and Diego school, flower planting, gymnastics, bonfires and much more!

Seriously?!

This is how we found Ellasen the other night when we checked on her before going to bed. We cannot imagine what must have transpired for this to be the way she fell asleep! What the heck!?

Finally! Summer!

I think it is safe to say that summer in Rochester has arrived (possibly). We have had at least one and a half days of sunshine where we managed to get in some park and picnic dates. The warmer weather arrived just in time too...we were going a little stir crazy:

Ellasen decided to put on "makeup" (read Chapstick) all over her face and shirt...

and her lamp...

and her piggy bank...

When her aspirations of becoming a beautification consultant didn't pan out she tried her hand at becoming a barber:

We are still discussing why scissors should only be used on paper. We are also discovering new levels of the comb over. We are planning a teaching seminar at the local retirement home. 

We also tried our hand at drawing people! This was a rousing success for which she was praised endlessly!

Tim also had some career success these past couple of weeks. We officially celebrated his graduation from residency even though he has two more weeks of work left. Dr. Berry and Dr. Hawkins both spoke, and each resident got up to say a little thank you to their spouse because there is no celebration for us, but really REALLY there should be! 

We managed to get an all girl photo too. These girls have helped ME survive residency, motherhood and tundra life in general. So thankful for each of them! 

The next day the guys had to each present a paper, then it was off to a golf tournament followed by an annual ortho tradition of roasting the 5th years. The guys were busy hitting up the bar, but here is a photo of the girls! 

Someone managed to snap one of the two of us during dinner! 

We have been attending these roasts for five years now, and they are always very funny. We were happy it was our turn! Everyone's roast was great and so was the food! We even went out afterward to a hip (for Rochester) rooftop bar and stayed until midnight! 

Tim and some of the other graduating residents

During that same weekend we managed to squeeze in a photo session of some of the ortho children who have been born during the last five years. When we started out none of us had children, and look where we are today:

Here is our little self made army! In case you didn't know it is impossible to get a good photo with a bunch of babies and toddlers. I have about 40, and in every one 50% of the children are looking away/crying/running away/climbing the statue/dropping a brother etc. Oh well, the Mayo Brothers didn't seem to mind too much. 

In an attempt to get a better photo of some of the kids we separated out the toddlers and the babies. Here is the best photo of the toddlers. Nailed it. 

Ellasen loves babies. She was trying to hard to hang on to both of them and smile! 

Of course I had to capture a few of this kid! 

Oh the bangs...such a tragedy

We also made some time to say goodbye to one of the original Ortho Wives Club members. Melissa's last day in Rochester was Sunday after graduation festivities so we had a little brunch at one of our favorite local spots. 

We were so sad to see her go, and it is so hard knowing we basically have to say goodbye to a friend a week until they are all gone! 

Thursdays on First (a downtown food and craft festival) started again a few Thursdays ago, and the weather this past Thursday was perfect! I even got a little sunburn on my shoulders! Seriously...I am excited about sunburn...

The girls had a great time playing in the fountain. We gave them our cups and water bottles from lunch and they got soaked!

 It was great! Ellasen rode home in the car seat naked which is her preferred state of dress (much to her daddy's dismay) so she was happy as a clam! 

All in all it is turning out to be a great June. We are finally having some decent weather that is making way for some decent outdoor adventures! Here's to summer! Finally!