Great Aunt J - Day 94

How cute is that dress??

A baby doll from Aunt J!



Another shot of the dress. Cute!

That's my 2-year-old.




Those people sitting behind her gasped every time she reached into the water table. Guess they were afraid she'd get wet.

How sweet is that face?



Watching George in the hotel room.


Today we got up and had breakfast in the hotel. LSP enjoyed a make your own Belgian waffle while eating breakfast in her PJs. Reminds me of when she was a baby and we used to call her "Hef" because we'd leave her in her pajamas all day.

Then we went to visit Aunt J. LSP took to her right away and explored her home with great relish. Aunt J gave her her very first baby doll and LSP loves it. She rocks it and feeds it with the tiny bottle and talks to it. Most amusingly she makes the baby kick its legs and says it is time for swimming class.

After lunch we took her to the Children's Museum in town. It was pouring rain today and we were not the only ones who thought it was a good day for this particular activity. The place was packed, but LSP held her own, even with the bigger kids. At the water table a boy, probably about 7 or 8 years old tried to yank a toy right out of her hands. She gave him a dirty look and yanked right back - and pulled the toy right out of his hand and walked away. Good for you, little girl! She had a ton of fun running all over the museum and playing with everything. She had fun with Aunt J and gave her a kiss when we dropped her off at home. We'll be back to visit Aunt J again!

Tonight we went out to a wonderful dinner at the Macaroni Grill. I've only been there once before, but it was a nice place, and they treated LSP very well. She ignored her own dinner (pizza) and instead ate a whole pile of Grampy's pasta.

Road Trip - Day 93

Girls LOVE shoes!


Hotel rooms are fun!


Today we left on a couple of day trip to visit Great Aunt J. We drove a few hours to were she lives, and on the way we stopped in a legendary scrapbooking and paper crafting store. They had tons of cool stuff! Nana and I managed to spend over an hour looking around inside. Meanwhile Grampy and LSP played in the car. When we came out into a light misting rain LSP had the sunroof of the car open and she was standing on Grampy's lap, her little head poking out of the roof. She yelled loudly when she saw us and waved her arms and laughed and laughed. It's funny sticking your head out of the roof of a car!

It was still raining when we got here and we are visiting Great Aunt J tomorrow, so we took LSP to the local mall to run, run, run. Thank goodness for indoor malls!

I won't be updating photos for a couple of days. I will continue to blog then add the photos when we get back.

Howlin' at the Moon - Day 92

I told her you had to have a key to open these and get the candy out. (There is a key hole where they open it to fill them.) She said, "No key, you can't eat them."

The writing is a little crooked, but the roses look CUTE!


LSP was a wacked-out, bull-in-a-china-shop all day today. She was in a good mood, she just could not stop and was rough and destructive all day! I was really confused - why was she acting this way? Then I remembered that this has happened several times before. She is in a volatile, wacked, rough mood and I can't figure out why. And ever single time...I check my "Phases of the Moon" app on my iTouch, and every single time it is the day before a full moon. So I check and....tomorrow is the full moon. I can't say I was ever a real believer in the full moon thing before, but I'm becoming convinced. This has happened, oh, probably 5 or 6 times. And every time, the same thing. She's my little werewolf.

It was pouring rain here today so we took the little werewolf to the mall to play on the kiddie stuff there. We were not the only ones with this idea. She was funny, though, playing on the toy cars. She was yelling at the TOP of her lungs - "Come on kids!" Very cute.

I had my final cake decorating class today and learned to make 2 different kinds of roses and decorated a whole cake! It was so much fun and I do think it turned out great. Uncle M and Aunt L - this one's for you! It will be waiting here for you this week - Happy Anniversary!

More Party - Day 91

We gave her pieces of tomato, but she wanted the "big" tomato. She ate two.




LSP couldn't wait for dessert, so she got her piece first, as you can see.

Stacking her pickle chips into little pickle towers.


Grampy got to hold two of her favorite stuffies tonight.


Today we celebrated Nana's birthday! Uncle M and Aunt L came down and when LSP caught site of them, she did her happy dance. I really need to have the video camera ready next time. Aunt L made a really tasty quiche, and Uncle M and Aunt L together made a tomato and mozzarella salad. Mmmmm... Then I made a yummy cake and we all had a wonderful lunch together.

I missed the happy dance, but I did manage to catch some of her Curious George dance on video. She does this funny little foot jig when the theme song comes on. Hurrah! George! She is also learning the finer points of manipulation. She will now grab Grampy's face and put her nose on his and say in her sweetest little girl voice, "Watch Curious George?" She has a little to learn about being stealthy, though. If she is doing something she is not supposed to do, she will come find me and try to push me out of the room and say "No, Mama." Just my clue that something verboten is going on.

While Uncle M was here he helped me find some a photo that Soldier Boy had sent that go shuttled off into computer limbo when I downloaded them. So here it is, a few days late!

Fair Fun - Day 90

Not a really great photo, but I wanted to show the adorable sun dress she was wearing today. She was the cutest one at the fair!

Check out this goat! Is that not cool? It was huge (for a goat) and had the most interesting coat.

LSP got to pet a baby bison. The first thing she said when she saw it was "Hold it!" It was a pretty darn cute buffalo.

Nana got her a cone full of food which she fed to the goats. First she held it for them...

Then she set it down without realizing it was JUST out of the poor goat's reach...

So she pushed on his head to try and help him reach the food.


She saw the man leading the ponies at the pony ride and said, "Man pushing them!"

She loved the bunnies! She kept poking this little guy in the butt but he didn't seem to mind.


The bunnies are my favorite animals at the fair, too.

Really, really interested in the model train set.


The roosters crowing made her laugh right out loud.


Playing with the "how to milk a cow" exhibit.



Nana bought her this way cute hat which she wore while eating dye-free sno-cone #1.


One of her favorite things was this miniature model caboose to play in.

Bouncy castle!!!!


The woman running this "pick the duck" game was very understanding of what toddlers consider fun. The prizes were pretty nice, too.

Dye-free sno-cone #2.


The day started out with the last swim lesson. We missed the last two because of the family reunion and LSP's cold. Today she did great, blowing bubbles, kicking, and she did a really fabulous back float. I was very proud of her.

Then we took her to a local fair. It's a pretty big one, with the usual rides and food and also a whole bunch of 4-H animals. I spent many, many hours (and dollars) here in my youth playing the silly games and riding the loudest, fastest rides I could find. It was great to be able to bring LSP here, though now I don't think I'd get on any of those loud, fast rides assembled by two guys who are drinking their way through a case of Bud Light.

It started out a little shaky with LSP a bit scared of the loud music. "No fair! No fair!" she said before we even got through the front gate. Once inside the first things we encountered were a pony ride and a petting zoo, and she was hooked. From there we went to the 4-H exhibits and saw rabbits and chickens and goats and sheep and cows and some massive Clydesdale horses. We also saw a model train exhibit that she loved. Papa will be thrilled! We rode the carousel which made LSP happy and Mommy a little ill. We ate a bunch of tasty fair food. Nana tried some deep fried jelly beans. Don't bother. They were as nasty as they sound. LSP's favorite was her custom made dye-free sno-cone. (aka a cup of ice). She had two. On the way out Grampy and Nana bought her a Sesame Street bus balloon and her day was compete. Fun at the fair!