A Memorable Memorial Day Weekend

To celebrate Memorial Day, Eli traveled northwest to the land of Twins baseball, outdoor fun, and grandparents.This time the trip included a stop in Eau Claire for hotel and swimming fun, an afternoon in the twin cities to cheer on the Twins, and a couple days at Grandma and Grandpa B's house.

Getting ready for game day

Maybe this big glove will keep us from getting rained on?!?

Three generations enjoying the game

Yum...ballpark food

The giveaway item was a cowboy hat!

 

Eli found Joe Mauer to personally escort us to our car.

Grandpa and Eli getting ready for the day

Base hit!

Grandpa sure has a lot of grass to mow...

Coloring with Grandma

Leading the way on our afternoon hike

Howdy, partner (thanks for the horse, Uncle Mike and Aunt Kim!)

Many Mothers and a Great Day

Eli celebrated Mother's Day with his mommy, his grandma, and his great-grandma. What a lucky boy to have all these ladies in his life and what lucky ladies to get to spend the day with this sweet little boy!

Giggles with Mommy

Daddy gets some kisses too

Digging with GG and Mimi

Talking to Aunt Jayne through the wonders of technology

Batting practice with Mimi and Daddy

Mesmerized by Grandpa's soccer skills

Play Ball!

Eli made it out to opening day for Daddy's softball team. He was very interested in all the softballs flying through the air, and liked to point at anyone on Daddy's team and say "dadda" (in his defense, they were all wearing the same shirt, and Daddy plays center field, which is pretty far away from the bleachers). Eli and Mommy had a picnic and cheered for the team, and Eli even got in some batting practice of his own.

 Picnic dinner

 Giving the team a pep talk

Batting practice

Ready for the wind-up

The bleachers are a great noisemaker

All that cheering makes me thirsty! How nice to have a cool beverage while watching a ballgame.

There's More Than Corn in Iowa...

...there is also the infamous Aunt C and Uncle P! Eli (and Mommy and Daddy) went to visit for a weekend. Unfortunately, Mommy did not charge the camera battery (or bring the charger), so there are very few photos to document this super-fun weekend. Eli enjoyed going for a hike to see big birds, playing ball in the yard, and trying out his future cousin's stroller. After the weekend, Eli has been talking about his aunt and uncle a ton and wants to know when we can go visit again!

Looking for butterflies with Aunt C

Helping Aunt C and Uncle P practice for the future

Looking at birds with Uncle P

Excited to Announce...

...that Baby Brasel #2 will be joining the family this fall (estimated arrival is November 11). Eli shared the news with some family members over Easter, while Mommy and Daddy had fun seeing how long it took each person to notice the message on Eli's shirt!

Big brother in training

Thus far, Eli has been a super big brother - he frequently points to Mommy's tummy and says, "baby" and he recently started giving kisses to Mommy's tummy as well. Hopefully this brotherly love will continue when baby is here!

Big Helper

Eli is always ready to help, from fixing and cleaning to helping Daddy stay fit.

Changing the train's battery

We swear, he got this out and did this himself!

Come on Daddy, five more!

April Flowers

Eli has taken an interest in the many brightly colored dandelions that have sprung up in our neighborhood (but not in our yard - way to go, Daddy!) Recently he presented Mommy with these lovely yellow flowers and then proceeded to "plant" the flowers in the front beds (where the "real" flowers should be coming up later this spring).

Hunting for the perfect flower with Daddy

 "Planting" the flowers

One More!

Eli's beautiful flowers

Lovely Little Ladies

Eli was lucky enough to get to hang out this month with some of his lovely little lady buddies.

 

Cute kiddos

 

Okay, we'll hold hands...just barely

 All aboard!