Happy Birthday Dada!

Car Craft 2009

Five Favorites

Addie and I are finally getting into the groove of summer vacation after a busy start to the break. We have already been very busy and are having a lot of fun spending time together. These are five of her favorite things over the past few weeks:

Wearing her Backpack and Sunglasses

Addie seems to be wearing one of these items at all times. We play with them on, go to the store, and even eat dinner wearing a backpack or sunglasses.

Playing at the Park

Every time we go outside Addie starts pointing and walking towards the park. We can’t even drive out of our neighborhood without her pointing and shouting “ark!” from the backseat. Her favorite activities at the park are the slides and swings.

Playing with Friends

We have lots of friends that are home with their moms this summer. Each week we have had time to spend with them – it’s so fun to see Addie start making these friendships!

Animals

Addie has always had a love for animals. We recently added 9 animal friends to our home with the addition of a new aquarium. She enjoys feeding the fish each night and visiting with them periodically throughout the day. Also, on our last visit to the zoo, we were able to feed the giraffes, which we both thought was really cool!

Imitating Mama

Anything I am doing, Addie wants to do (and this desire is becoming stronger with all the time we are spending together). She has proven helpful while we are doing things like cleaning and doing yard work but have struggled during meal preparation. So this week we got Addie her own table and chairs with her own food and cutting board. She loves cutting her food and bringing me different items while I am preparing meals.

First Haircut!

Today we brought Addie to get her first haircut! We were so excited, but she was not. The second we set her in the chair she started screaming and arching her back and trying her hardest to wriggle out of the chair. Finally, Bonnie (a hair-cutting saint) suggested that we try having her sit on my lap. Addie did not like this option either, but finally decided to tolerate it. In the end we all survived - the sticker and sucker helped! After all that, we could hardly get Addie out of there, eventually we had to tear her away from the coloring table.




















It was funny because we thought the tears would be over once we left the salon, but they continued tonight! Every now and then, Addie would grab her hair and start crying... it's like she is sad that it's short now!

Tri Season 2009

Addie and Brian came to watch me compete in the LifeTime Triathlon today. According to Brian, Addie loved watching the bikers speed by and did a great job cheering them on.



Her cheers must have helped me too, as I improved my time! After the race, we joined in the celebration where Addie got to see her first Tim Mahoney concert. Summer is officially here!

The Big Easy

Brian and I were lucky to have our first get-away post Addie this week. Brian was sent to New Orleans for work, so I met him once he was done, and we spent an additional 3 days there. Some highlights of the trip were:


fabulous dinners with some of the best food I've ever had and wandering Bourbon street after dinner and listening to some jazz


cafe' au lait and beignets at Cafe Du Monde and learning some New Orleans history and seeing the changes post Katrina


and most importantly, just spending some quality time as a couple.

Thanks to our parents for making this possible - we really appreciate it!

Happy 4th of July!