Balloons

Of course, what birthday would be complete without giant balloons, courtesy of Bobo and Brian.

Mallory loved playing with these balloons...

...for what seemed like an eternity. When they are that big, they don't lose air that quickly, unfortunately.

2nd Birthday Party

For Mallory's second birthday party, it was a much smaller affair at our house, with just immediate family.
She put on her pretty red China dress and helped Nama decorate the cake.

After she was done with all that hard work, it was time to open presents. First up, a set of dominoes.

Of course she had to play with them right away. Amazingly, I think we still have all 56 pieces.

Then Mallory got to show up the new skirt she got from Bobo and Brian that she uses when playing dress up (Dad's favorite activity).

Birthday Dessert

While Dad was off in Canada for work, Mom and Mallory went for a special birthday dinner with Bobo and Brian at Big Bowl. Of course they were quick to tell the waitress that it was Mallory's birthday in order to get the free dessert.

As you can tell, Mallory was luke warm about the whole dessert thing initially.

But after a while, she had no problem mowing it down.

Clean plate, not so clean hands and face...

Fire and Ice

Plymouth has a winter festival in early February known as "Fire and Ice". Since we have lived here over 5 years, we figured we should finally go check it out.

Mallory and Dad went for a ride around a frozen Parkers Lake behind an ATV.

It was a frosty afternoon, so everyone was bundled up to keep warm.

One thing that helped us keep warm was going over to the fire to make S'mores. Guess whose idea that was???

Target Shopper

Mallory loves going to Target with us for grocery shopping. But the deal is, if she is going to the store, she has to help put stuff away too.

So Dad usually unloads the car and brings the bags inside the door. That means Mallory has to go into the mud room and get the newest bag...

...then we walk it into the kitchen...

...and of course she needs to peek inside to see if there are any goodies for her.

Cowgirl

While in Texas back in December, Mom made a major purchase of some new cowboy boots.

Of course, this meant that the boots were fair game for Mallory as well.

Oftentimes while we are in are bathroom getting ready, Mallory will go into our closet and take the new boots for a spin.

She should be ready to grown into them in about 15 years...

NYE 2009

F0r New Year's Eve, we made another trip up to blustery Lutsen, with temperatures rarely getting above zero.

Since it was freezing outside, we brought lots of indoor activites, like Play Doh.

And we made brownies for Nancy's birthday, although I am not sure if all of it made it into the bowl.

For a brief time, we went outside for the annual sledding competition. Mom and Mallory pose for a picture while Dad tries not to break any snow tubes.