Sorry to crowd the "baby blog" with non-Charlotte pictures (and repeats at that!) but I entered these in a BWCAW photo contest and I needed a place on the web to store the full quality pics. You can check them out at http://bwcaboard.com/board/viewtopic.php?p=2001#2001
You may need to sign in (free) to view them, but then you will benefit from all the other great BWCA info on the site. Adios!

Happy 1st Birthday Charlotte Neema!

If you haven't checked the blog in awhile, don't worry you haven't been missing out... I just posted three times today so scroll down and read all three and catch up on whats new with the Floreks!

Charlotte had her first birthday on July 5. She had a party at Grandma and Grandpa Florek's house with Grandma and Grandpa Brodhun, Aunt Laura, and even Uncle Charlie and Aunt Olivia came all the way from New Jersey! Charlotte had told us that for her birthday she really wanted to go strawberry picking, so we went to Apple Jack Orchards in Delano. Charlotte was eating berries faster than her mom & dad could pick 'em!

For her birthday her mom and dad got her a huge watermelon and are planning a trip to the MN Zoo. And Mom made her a puppy-cake! She also got a Little-People farm set and a grocery cart from the grandparents. She loves to play with both every day. She also got 2 (yes TWO) cell phones of her very own. She thinks she is so funny because she likes to put the phone up to her ear and talk jibberish just like she sees her parents doing! She is also loving her first Lego set from Uncle Charlie and Aunt Olivia. And on to the pictures...

Charlotte wanted to ride the "cow train," 10 barrel cows linked up and pulled by a Gator tractor!

"I'll take that"

Yum, Berry face!

"More please!"

Char and Grandpa Randy

Char with Grandma Carol Ann

I wish she had her new cell phone in this picture. Then she'd be a real yuppie!



The puppy cake. Charlotte got her own little cake to demolish

"First I'll just pick at it a bit..."

"Then a little more..."

"Then I'll just dive in!"

"Did I do that?"

The classic first birthday photo.

Happy 80th Birthday Great-Grandma Lois!

We spent the weekend of June 27-29 at Sturgeon Lake's Edelweiss Campground (45 min south of Duluth) where Charlotte's Great-Grandma Lois lives and celebrated with many of Kristi's side of the family from as far away as California and Georgia! The weather was great and we played lots of yard games at the campground, went fishing, caught up with family, and trekked to Duluth to play and eat at Blackwoods (yum). We were so busy we forgot to take pictures all weekend at the campground! But here are a few...

Char admiring Great-Gma-Lois' flowers

Getting a ride with Grandpa at the campground

Travis imparting deep truth to Charlotte

Pickles!!!

Gramma Cindy and Char at Blackwoods

Aunt Lisa, Momma and the little gosling going for a walk in Duluth

Aunt Laura and Char on the pier in Duluth

It felt great to be back in Duluth again!

Another BWCA trip!? Sawbill Lake to Karl Lake

Pictures from our trip to the BWCAW on June 22-26. We put into Sawbill and went north through Cherokee Lake all the way up to Karl Lake. On the way back down we went to Cherokee and then east and south through some horribly long and rugged portages down to Baker Lake where we exited. Then Karl, Luke and Matt hitchhiked back over to Sawbill to collect the cars, and get the girls, and enjoy some creature comforts. Warm showers and a beer have never before been so refreshing!


Sunrise the first morning over Cherokee Lake


Kristi is a superstar carrying her pack and the boat

Moose sighting! We actually say two, one on Gordon Lake and the second on North Temperance River. This one is from the Temperance and he was feeding on veggies from the river, plunging his huge head in and out of the water.


Luke and Shannon, our Chicago friends

Karl and Mikkin, our Denver friends (soon to be our China friends)

Who are these clowns?

Just a little update

We'll post some more pictures soon, but I wanted to jot down a couple of new things Charlotte is doing these days before I forget.

While we were in the Boundary Waters for a week, Charlotte was hanging out with Grandpa Mark and Grandma Cindy (Kristi's parents). She had a great time, and I think the grandparents did too. In Grandpa Mark's words, "We're not giving her back." :) During this short time away, Charlotte grew up and is now ready for college. Her big accomplishment? Standing up without needing to hold on to anything! Apparently she started doing this right away at the beginning of the week at their house, and can stand up like a champ now. She also learned the answer to one of life's biggest questions, "How big is Charlotte?" Charlotte's resounding answer, "SO BIG!!!" Grandma Cindy said she only worked on that a couple of times, and Charlotte wouldn't really do it for her. She must have been waiting to show it off to mom and dad.

She seems to really be understanding so much more these days. One of the funniest is if we ask her "Charlotte, do you want some milk?" She will look directly at the milk source (aka mom) and pull on mom's shirt to get better visualization. Obviously we do not encourage this in public. Another sign of understanding is that in the morning or after naps when we pick her up from her crib we tell her to drop her nippy (her pacifier) into her crib. She used to just look at us blankly while we pulled it out of her mouth and put it in the crib, but now she will pull it out and drip it in herself! I know it's not exactly rocket science, but she's really making progress in her mental abilities!

Charlotte is turning one year old on Saturday (can you believe it?!), so we will certainly be posting some pictures of her family birthday party after that. I'll try to post some other pictures before that if I have time.