Moving - Part I

Back in June, we sold our townhouse. This meant it was time to box everything up and load it in the moving van for storage.

Here Mallory and Dad discuss strategy as to where this box is going to go on the van.

It was a tough call as to what Mallory enjoyed more about moving: standing on the fragile boxes or playing with the Sharpie.

But she had strict instructions from Mom as to how the boxes were to be labeled.

Mallory even got into some hard physical labor. Here she is helping to make sure the beer fridge is securely on the trailer.

But like any good union worker, she found time to take a couple of breaks throughout the course of the day.

Sherburn - June 09

Back in June, the Helds took a quick weekend trip down to Sherburn, MN to visit Steve's grandparents. Mallory packed a lot of excitement into the trip.

She went for a walk along the road. Or more like a march, from the looks of it.

She went out to the dock and played around. She was getting some tips from Grandpa on how to catch the big fish.

But she still had time to stop and smell the flowers.

But before we knew it, it was time to say goodbye and head back to the Cities. Mallory stayed still long enough to get a picture with Grandpa Ig...

...and even Grandma Betty got to join in the fun.

Wagon Ride

While we were staying at the Flaherty's one of Mallory's favorite activities was to have her dad give her wagon rides on Robinwood Terrace.

Up and down...up and down.

Remember kids, safety first.

Sometimes, Mallory was nice enough to return the favor to her dad.

Judging by Steve's face, something tells me the rides didn't go quite as smoothly with Mallory at the helm.

Memorial Day

The long holiday weekend brought us up to Lutsen to enjoy some bone chilling temperatures in the end of May. One of Mallory's favorite activities up north is to go into Grand Marais and throw rocks into Lake Superior. She hasn't quite gotten the skipping down yet, but she is good just the same.

Jamie was smiling because she had just talked Steve into letting her go shopping at her favorite store, Ben Franklin.

Another good up north activity is to take relaxing family walks down to the local lakes. Here Mallory and Dad have seemed to fall behind the rest of the group.

The cold temps didn't keep Mallory from testing out White Pine Lake.

And We're Back

Sorry for the delay folks. As most of you know, we sold our house in June. That meant we were nomads for the better part of June, July and August without access to our photos. Now we are moved in (mostly) and ready to get back at it. Hopefully we will get you caught back up in short order.

Minnesota Zoo (cont.)

We found a nice spot in the grass to enjoy a picnic lunch.

Mom and Dad enjoyed the relaxing break, but Mallory was ready to explore more of the zoo.

We wandered through the tropics exhibit.

And then found the fish. Mallory was absolutely in awe.

She sat and stared at those fish for quite some time. It was absolutely amazing to watch her discovering a whole world she had never seen before.

Minnesota Zoo

We made our first family trip to the Minnesota Zoo. We headed to the farm exhibit first.

Mallory was in awe in the cow barn at how large the animals were. She wasn't so sure about being so close to them but she sure did practice her "mooo"-ing.

Next we visited with the goats. Mallory was a little hesitant to get too close.

But she sure told mom which ones needed a little snack and deserved our attention.

After seeing the big momma pig and her little piglets (only 6 weeks old at the time), Mallory was ready to move on. Dad could barely keep up ...