Bumps and cuts

This has been a BUSY week for the Finke family! We started off the week celebrating Dan's 34th birthday. We had a nice dinner out at a restaurant together, and then opened presents and had cake at home.
A picture of Dan with his kiddos on this birthday. Willow even got in this one!
Ellie helping Daddy with his presents.
Dan liked his new shirt from Momo!


The rest of the week was busy for other reasons. Erinn had a long overdue procedure on her foot, which is going to take an unexpectedly long time to recover from. Ugh. She also had to go to Pittsburgh to present at a conference this week. Dan also traveled this week, spending Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in San Diego, CA. Such a long trip for such a short period of time. Needless to say, we've been playing catch-up from all the travel all week long. I've taken a ton of pictures, somehow, though, so at least we've had some fun too.
Have you ever seen a cuter smile?
Ellie "helping" Jack play with the music table.
Momma and Jackie snuggling.
Daddy built a couch fort, which Ellie LOVED - until...
Jack the destructinator came an pulled the roof down.
Another beautiful smile from the boy!
And one from my girl.

This afternoon we decided, since the temperatures were in the 60s, to take a family walk. We had a good time, and liked being able to see a little more of our new neighorhood.
Ellie walking down the sidewalk.
Where's Jack?
There he is!!
Ellie got a "bump bump" (shoulder ride) from Daddy.

After the walk we made our way down to the neighborhood park to play for awhile.
Jack-Jack amazed us with how strong he is. He can hold on all by himself - of course we don't let him actually do that for very long.
Pleased as punch with hanging on the monkey bars. Almost seemed right at home...Hmmm...
Ellie on the twisty slide - pre-incident. The next trip down the slide she fell and split her lip open. It was bleeding everywhere, but she didn't want to go home.
Instead, she decided to "cook" me some lunch on the grills in the picnic area. Here we have a hamburger, an apple and some pancakes. It was delicious.
"Mom, the potatoes are ready!" (Can you see that sweet fat lip?)
Jack played the role of the sous chef, and helped Ellie by prepping the food for the grill.
It was a very elaborate menu.
Feeling a little grumpy - almost time to head home for naps.
Before we left, Ellie got back on the saddle and went down the slide a few more times. It always helps when the promise of Chris scaring you is there. She loves this simple game, and never fails to have a reaction. It's really cute.
Jack-Jack went down the slide too - though not all the way from the top.

Overall, it was a great week. Not that we aren't ready for it to be a bit calmer, but we had a good time nonetheless. Hopefully you all had a nice week too. We love and miss you all!