Birthday Bash, Pt. 2

The second party went very well. What a great day here in Corvallis: ~80 degrees, no clouds, and just a slight breeze.

Thanks to everyone who came: Pete and Meredith (all the way down from PDX!); Willie, Kellee and Zane (all the way up from Eugene!); Dee, Steph, Hirut, and Amani; Kirsten, Scott, and Jess; Kristin and Forrest; Jillian, Kirsi, and Mika; and my parents.

It was your standard birthday party. The babies played while the parents talked:

From 1st birthday

From 1st birthday

From 1st birthday

From 1st birthday

Annikka and Jess swapped pacifiers multiple times, willingly and unwillingly:

From 1st birthday

Zane showed off his full head of hair:

From 1st birthday

The birthday girl opened her presents. Forrest introduced us to Annikka's new books:

From 1st birthday

Annikka received lots of great gifts, including these crazy shades from Aunt Rachel:

From 1st birthday

From 1st birthday

From 1st birthday

From 1st birthday

(Crazy kid.)

We ate some alien baby cake (designed by David Howe):

From 1st birthday

From 1st birthday

Then everyone went home.

Mom, dad, Grandpa, Pete, and Meredith cleaned up while Grandma and Annikka spent some time together on the swings.

From 1st birthday

Thanks again to everyone who came.

PS: Apropos of nothing, we bought this hilarious poncho thing for Annikka. Cute, huh?

From 1st birthday

Video's Working Now

Not sure what happened there.

Birthday Bash, Pt. 1

Corvallis was PartyTown, USA (with a capital "T"), this past Thursday. As you may know, there was a huge party at Reser Stadium where some 40,000 people celebrated the un-ranked Beavers' upset of No. 1 ranked USC.

But there was also a more exclusive party being held only a couple of miles away: Annikka's first birthday party. The attendees were: yours truly, Mom, Grandpa, Grandma, and Annikka.

Annikka received a baby doll (which she loves):

From 1st birthday

... and a stroller for the doll:

From 1st birthday

We ate a scrumptious dinner, the highlight of which was Annikka's first cupcake (or taste of sugar for that matter):



Happy Birthday, Annikka!

From Oregon coast, August 2008

What an incredible year it's been.

Tomorrow is Annikka's second, first birthday party. If you're in town around 2:00, stop by Cloverland Park for the bash!

Toy Car: Success

Annikka Eats with Spoon

Got four minutes to kill?

Thought so.

Here's a video of Annikka eating yogurt with a spoon:

Shhhh . . .

As you may know, Annikka's birthday is only a week away. Tomorrow we're going to give her this as an early birthday present:

From 1st birthday

From 1st birthday

We'll let you know what she thinks.

Charlie Gibson: What is the Bush Doctrine?

Joel: Ooh! Me! Me! Call on me, Mr. Gibson!

Charlie Gibson: Ms. Palin?



Yikes.

Annikka with the Tappe's and Larsen's

Annikka out to eat with the Tappe's and Larsen's for Aunt Kristin's birthday:

From Minnesota Shots 9/8/08 7:47 PM

Dana and Rachel:

From Minnesota Shots 9/8/08 7:47 PM

Aunt Kirsten and Annikka:

From Minnesota Shots 9/8/08 7:47 PM

Annikka and the Tappe's dogs:

From Minnesota Shots 9/8/08 7:47 PM

From Minnesota Shots 9/8/08 7:47 PM

Other pics:

From Minnesota Shots 9/8/08 7:47 PM

From Minnesota Shots 9/8/08 7:47 PM

From Minnesota Shots 9/8/08 7:47 PM

Annikka and her cousins, Emilie and Rachel:

From Minnesota Shots 9/8/08 7:47 PM

Annikka, Great Aunt Cori (Dana's Aunt on her mother's side) and Uncle Joe:

From Minnesota Shots 9/8/08 7:47 PM

Annikka and Uncle Aaron:

From Minnesota Shots 9/8/08 7:47 PM

From Minnesota Shots 9/8/08 7:47 PM

The fam, sharing a boat ride and a dilly bar:

From Minnesota Shots 9/8/08 7:47 PM

From Minnesota Shots 9/8/08 7:47 PM

From Minnesota Shots 9/8/08 7:47 PM

Not shown: Annikka smiling at Michael Tappe, which is strange, because it sure happened a lot.

Thanks to Uncle Aaron for the pics.

Annikka at the Coast

As promised, here are some pictures of Annikka at the beach a couple of weekends ago:

From Oregon coast, August 2008

From Oregon coast, August 2008

From Oregon coast, August 2008

Annikka sucking on a seashell:

From Oregon coast, August 2008

From Oregon coast, August 2008

From Oregon coast, August 2008

Even thought the water was absolutely freezing, we did dip her feet in the water. Strangely, she didn't seem to mind.

Tip of the hat to Meredith for the pics.

People will do anything for Annikka

During our trip to Minnesota, we stayed at the Tappe's house in Buffalo. One day, cousins Rachel and Emilie entertained Annikka by running outside in middle of a downpour. Annikka was captivated.

It's hard to tell from the video, but the rain is really coming down.

Enjoy:



Thanks to Uncle Aaron for catching it all on video and putting it on youtube.

August

It's been a busy August. We've been away from Corvallis the last four weekends. The first two were in Minnesota and Wisconsin. The next weekend we made the drive down to beautiful Ashland, Oregon, for Garrett and Lynette's wedding. We had a great time.

We didn't know anyone else, but we did have Annikka who is an instant friend-maker. She attracted Lynette's friends from Santa Cruz, California, who couldn't put Annikka down. Annikka wouldn't have wanted them to anyway.

From wedding

From wedding

She loved the attention. By the time dinner was done, Annikka had ditched her dress and was playing in the courtyard sans everything but the diaper.

From wedding

From wedding

From wedding

From wedding

From wedding

From wedding

From wedding

From wedding

From wedding

From wedding

From wedding

From wedding

From wedding

From wedding

Annikka was a real trooper. We kept her up waaay past her bedtime, but she didn't stop smiling and flirting.

This past weekend we hung out at the Oregon coast, in Waldport, with Pete and Meredith. We lucked into staying at a house right on the beach owned by Pete's mother's boyfriend, John. We squeezed in some sleep, games, conversation (mostly about babies and pregnancy; Meredith's pregnant, yo), and a short hike or two. We should have some pictures soon.