Sunshine State

Maggie made her first visit to the Sunshine State! Which also meant her first trip in an airplane. We had fun playing in these little rocking chairs in the airport waiting for the flight. Maggie did just o.k. during the flight. She had a little trouble getting cozy, but did manage to take a nap on Daddy. She seemed to just want to eat and had TWO bottles during the flight!
We found lots of sunshine in the Sunshine State, and immediately went swimming. We spent every day in the pool, beating the heat and humidity, having fun and relaxing.

What a cute little penguin!

I love this picture of Daddy and Daughter. She was laughing hysterically as he was making his tummy bounce up and down.

A new swimsuit - a size bigger to last her through the rest of the year and maybe even into next year (hopefully!) And such cute tushy ruffles to boot

Maggie took well to relaxing in the pool

Papa took Henry fishing and they caught a fish "soooo big, Mommy". A true fisherman already.

Some tummy time on the beach, just watching the waves come in

All buried up in the sand

I love holding my little one while she sleeps - and I'm getting to do it less and less these days. Savoring every moment.

Henry also saw his first movie (and Maggie too I guess!) - Winnie the Pooh. It was a great first movie theater experience for him. He sat perched on the edge of his seat, enjoyed his movie "popcorns" and even sang along to the songs.

Outside of the children's museum, there is a big park for running and splashing in the fountains. A great way for us to cool off on our last day in Florida.

We came back to more heat in Indiana, just like around the rest of the country. First thing Henry asked when we got home was ask if we could go in the pool. We'll have to make do with the baby pool and hose.

We had a lot of fun visiting family and Maggie got to meet some of her relatives for the first time - great grandparents, great aunt and uncle, and see both grandparents. I was able to see lots of my friends from growing up and they were able to meet Maggie as well. All in all, a great trip to Florida and lots of fun. After all this travel though, we're tired. We're staying home and spending time playing at the house and local places. Well, inevitably we'll stay busy, but that's what summer is for!

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Blueberries for Henry and Maggie

One day, Little Henry went with his mother to Blueberry Hill to pick blueberries. Little Henry brought along his small tin pain and his mother brought her large tin pail to put berries in.

Little Henry picked three berries and dropped them in his little tin pail ...

kuplink, kuplank, kuplunk!

He picked three more berries and ate them. Then he picked more berries and dropped one in the pail - kuplink! And the rest he ate.

His mother walked slowly through the bushes, picking blueberries as she went and putting them in her pail. Little Henry struggled along behind, picking blueberries and eating every single one.

Little Henry hurried ahead and dropped a blueberry in his mother's pail. It didn't sound kuplink! because the bottom of the pail was already covered with berries.

His mother stopped picking and said, "Now Henry, you run along and pick your own berries. Mother wants to take her berries home and can them for next winter."

His mother went back to picking,

but Little Henry, because his feet were tired of standing and walking, sat down in the middle of a large clump of bushes and ate blueberries.

On the other side of Blueberry Hill, Little Bear came with her father to eat blueberries.

"Little Bear," he said, "eat lots of berries and grow big and fat. We must store up food for the long, cold winter."

Over on the other side of the hill, Little Henry ate all of the berries he could reach from where he was sitting, then he started out to find his mother.

Little Bear and her father went home down one side of Blueberry Hill, eating blueberries all the way, and full of food stored up for next winter.

And Little Henry and his mother went down the other side of Blueberry Hill, picking berries all the way

and drove home with food to can for next winter - a whole bag full of blueberries and three more besides.

The End.

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July 4th

Cause baby you're a firework!

Come on let your colors burst!

Okay, I might have been singing this song to Maggie all day on the Fourth of July. Having just been back from a whirlwind trip to DC (more of that to come soon), we hung out around the house for the morning and just relaxed. We would have been okay relaxing in the afternoon too, but dollar days at the 4H fair were calling our name. We knew Henry would love the rides - and he did! Best $10 spent on an evening of fun :)

of course, our boy found a train to ride, and liked sitting in the conductor's seat

He was really funny driving these boats - when he got on, he was in his own little world just turning the wheel and talking to himself. It wasn't for quite awhile later that he realized you could "bonk" other kids

Maggie was a bit perplexed at all the excitement, lights and sounds.

She also seems to be a bit perplexed at the camera because she makes this face every time I pull it out.

We broke up the rides - thus making it last longer of course! - with some visits to the animals. Henry really liked the rabbits "mommy, they're so cute!"

This picture cracks me up. He told us he was telling some stories to the goats. "Now you listen here, goats!"

This kid was showing off his new kid of only 11 days old. He was full of goat knowledge that he shared with Henry, and Henry was fascinated by the older boy.

Star Spangled Baby

I love 4th of July - it is one of my favorite holidays, right up there with Christmas. And I love fireworks, so I was only a little disappointed we couldn't see any big show this year. With little kids, we just couldn't see keeping Henry up so late, even with a long, late nap. Maybe next year, but Maggie will probably be the bedtime conflict. Gabe and I were able to spend some quality time watching fireworks from the neighborhood on the end of our driveway, and did a few sparklers ourselves. Mind you, these sparklers were from three years ago, but they still worked! Who saves sparklers for three years, really? The funny thing is, we couldn't even use them all so they went right back down in the basement to be saved for next year. I'm not a hoarder, really. I promise. Just some practical tendencies to never throw away anything that I might someday want to use. That's Type A and a teacher for you. Here's to this year's (and next year's!) Fourth of July!

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Little Girl is 4 Months

Little girl is four months today. Maggie hasn't been feeling well due to her four months shots, had a fever and was crank-y. But she seems to be doing better now, thankfully. Most of the time, Maggie is smiling, laughing, and even a little ticklish on her sides. I know I will say this at every birthday or month-day, and every milestone, but she is growing and changing just so quickly.

She's really taken to munching on her fingers

Gabe brought down some of her things from the attic, and we've been giving them a try this week. The exersaucer was interesting for a minute...

but then she spent the rest of the time staring at it suspiciously!

The jumper, however, was a big hit

I was talking to Gabe on the phone the other day, and Maggie put her hand up to her head like she was holding a phone, I swear! Okay, so it probably wasn't anything, and was probably just leftover tonic neck reflex, but she's too funny.

Maggie mostly likes to sleep with her paci and lovey, and for awhile I was putting her down on her side after rocking her to sleep, but now she is definitely trying to fall asleep on her own. Some nights and naps she does great, but other times she's not quite there yet. We've tried a routine, but haven't really found our grove.

This past week Maggie spent time checking out museums and zoos from the front carrier with mom.

I love having her there while she is still light enough, although it won't be for much longer, as she weighed in at 13 lbs 3 ozs yesterday, and 25.5 inches. She is a half a pound heavier and two inches shorter than Henry at this age.

We love you more than you love your fingers, little girl!

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DC Museums

This past week we were DC bound for our first REALLY big road trip as a family. We loaded up the car, and hit the highway for a week in DC. We had so much fun and are so grateful to our friends the Floyds for hosting us and being able to spend time catching up with them. They showed us ALL around the city.

We packed up the three kids and headed downtown. Managing the Metro was a bit tricky with strollers and carseats and kids, but we made it. Henry did not like subway surfing, that's for sure. He was much more comfortable siting down and enjoyed riding the train.

First stop, Museum of Natural History to see the dinosaurs. And this really big elephant, which Henry spotted right away.

He liked looking at these dinosaurs, and he liked looking at the other skeletons as well.

Rocks and Minerals - I remember this exhibit from when I was a child. Henry found a big amethyst to sit on.

And we checked out the hope diamond. Pretty cool - even though Maggie slept through it. Grandad says that's good because if it was the first diamond she saw, she would get the wrong impression :)

The butterflies were free on the day we went, and they were beautiful! Henry was really gentle, and a couple even landed on Maggie in the front carrier. They were too quick to snap a picture, but I loved seeing the bright flowers, the warm lights and the beautiful butterfly colors.

Next up was the Air and Space Museum. We knew Henry would really love these big airplanes and rockets. He is really into outer space, and it definitely was fun to see them with him.

Henry really loved driving this airplane! Such focus and concentration!

Pretending to be rockets

In front of the Wright Brother's exhibit

I remember this museum too from my childhood and it was great to be able to bring my children to all these places in DC. I know they won't have too many memories of this trip, but we will go back someday and we can remember taking them when they were young. We had a blast and it was such a fun family vacation! Thanks a million Catherine and Tony and Patrick! :)

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