Last Week of One: She Thinks We're Just Fishin'

Wednesday we ran some birthday party planning errands amidst a lightning storm sprinkled with a little bit of rain.  After arriving home, we put Lily down for a short, late nap and George and Reagan headed to a local park with a pond for fishing.  Lily and I followed after her brief nap.

As soon as Lily and I arrived, it started to rain, of course. But, lightly enough that we stayed.

Upon getting out of the car, there were a bunch of geese hanging around and Lily immediately started shouting, "Chicken! Chicken! bock bock!"  and off she went to get them.

The child has no fear. Except of the vacuum cleaner.

Off we went to find Daddy and Reag, where Lily wanted to run and then get down where her daddy was and literally walk into the water. It was wet and slippery and as I said, the kid has no fear, so she is entertainment in her own right.

Reagan caught a teeny little fish and George showed it to Lily.  "No fear" Lily grabbed it to see the "feesh" and wanted it off the hook so she could hold it.



She ran up and down the steps and picked up anything she could find to throw it in the water~ mostly leaves and sticks, but then she decided her water sippy cup was good too.

She wanted to be with her daddy...

And then she wanted to be back up again with Reagan.

{yes, we fish in dresses}

The rain got a little bit heavier and Lily got a little bit squirmier with the back and forth up and down which was slippery because of the rain and mud, so Lily and I decided it was time to head home.

She's happy to do anything. Especially if it involves running. So leaving was perfectly fine with her too since the car was pretty far.





 "Bye bye Mama! Runnin!"

Last Week of One: Donut Day

While I'm catching up on the other summer activities and posts, I'm going to be celebrating

Lily's Last Week of One! 

I'm still in shock that we're here. Alas, there are a mere 7 days until her 2nd birthday.

This morning, we headed to the grocery store for milk. She took her purse with us which cracked me up because as we got to the front door to go out, she turned around and went back in saying, "phone. phone," going off to look for her phone she'd forgotten.  Little mimic.

Purses and phones in hand we headed off.

I decided we'd have donuts for her last Tuesday of being one.

She was happy with the choice as well.

A Day at the Water Steps

One of the best parts of our summer has been getting together with my mom friends and their babies. Well, and our other kids too. ;)

One steamy, super hot day, a few of us headed downtown to the North Shore Water Steps to cool the kids off.  It's always a hit with the kids since it's a fun way to cool off and a hit with the moms because right in the middle of our gorgeous city and it's free!

We'd gone last year when Lily was not walking yet. 

june 22, 2011

Almost a year to the day later, we went again where Lily walked, climbed, shouted, splashed and played with friends.  Two of the Amys in our group {there are two Stephanies too} and their kids were a part of today, which was perfect because Reagan and Amy's oldest are close in age as well. The other Amy and her Victoria were as happy to be exploring the steps. Well, truthfully it's not exploring so much as, Amy running interference with V's climbing to keep her safe. :) 

june 21, 2012



We all brought lunch, had a little water steps picnic and kept on playing. Lily wasn't really in the mood for posed photos because she just wanted to be down and playing.

Victoria wasn't up for it much more than Lily was. haha  One of my favorite things about Amy is her sense of humor and her ability to laugh! I love it and was cracking up so hard when taking these!

Reagan was happy to be home with us this week to go, as she remembers last year too! She ran into a few friends from school and also one of her friends from our old neighborhood.  She was super excited to see them and had a good time playing with some unexpected playmates! 

Lily was happy to be playing with V's wiffle ball and Amy's son entertained her by tossing it back everytime and chasing it for her. You can definitely tell he's got a baby sister. ;)

Lily really had a great time this year! I love that she wants to play with her sister, friends and is content to explore on her own. 

We played for a few hours and then it was time to head home for naps. Even Reagan fell asleep in the car on the way home. Lily slept for about 3 1/2 hours after we'd gotten home!

Bye bye!

'til next time...

Great day, great city, great friends.

Summer Photo Contest!

Y'all know I've been MIA a lot from here this summer, so I'm fixing it. :)

I have been taking a lot of pictures like I said, so I was super excited to find this gem!

I've been working on some photo books through Shutterfly~ Lily's first and second years!

Shutterfly is having a super photo contest this summer too! Each week there's a theme in which to submit your photo. I think the subjects they chose are perfect for summer!

What's in it for you, you ask??

The possibility of a trip for four to The Bahamas and a professional photo shoot as well as instant prizes when you submit a photo!

Get a gift from Shutterfly just for entering!

{You can enter at any point during the 5-week sweepstakes period.}

Get your photos submitted, friends! Easy peasy!

I submitted my 1st one~Americana and my instant prize was 2 free 8x10s!! Yippee! I love free prints!

The rest of the deets:  

Hit up Shutterfly's Facebook Page about the contest to submit and for further info:  http://bit.ly/sweepS

PHOTO THEMES

• Week 1(7/9): Americana

• Week 2 (7/16): Great Outdoors

• Week 3 (7/23): Water Fun

• Week 4 (7/30): Sports & Activities

• Week 5 (8/6): Parties & Celebrations

PRIZES

• Instant win prizes just for submitting a photo!

• Weekly prizes (contestants can enter one time/week)

• Weekly featured photos: up to 5 weekly entries will be selected from the gallery and featured on the Facebook fan page and awarded a $500 gift card on Shutterfly and a copy of the new Lonely Planet travel photography book.

• Grand prize: trip for 4 to Bahamas, 4 nights, family photo shoot

Ice Cream Date

Last night, George, Lily and I headed out for ice cream after supper.

We don't do it often, but I lovelovelove ice cream and after having been in a funk long enough this summer, I told my husband I really just wanted to go tonight.

You know, there's nothing two and a half scoops {and that's a small!} of deliciousness can't cure! This place is newer to us, has so many different flavors to choose from, and it's so reasonably priced. Can't beat it!  Lily loves ice cream! They have teeny baby cones {for free} and they're perfect for the Lilinator.

We got her a teeny chocolate cone. 

{i love her sweet little fingers holding onto it}

George sampled cotton candy and black raspberry. I sampled German chocolate cake and caramel salted pretzel. We both liked them all! He went with cotton candy and I went with the German chocolate cake this time.   Lily was, of course, thrilled with her chocolate.

She sat happily on the bench eating her "eye-keem."  

There was an older man~grandfather type~ sitting on the next bench over who started smiling at Lily. She smiled at him and then started closing her eyes at him like she does when she thinks someone can't see her.

She entertained he and his wife.

And us.

We'd ask her if she wanted help with her ice cream or needed a napkin and she'd sweetly say, "No, Mama. No Daddy."   So we let her have it her way. Down her arms, all over her face, dripping on her shirt, her shorts, her legs.

She also wanted to be down... so a picture with me was entertaining.

A teeny cone was all she needed.
An ice cream date with my love and my littlest love was all I needed.



Play that Funky Music

Hello??

*tap tap tap*

Is this thing on?

Remember me?

I've clearly been missing for some time.  Yes, we've been busy and it's been miserably hot this summer, but truth be told, I have been in a serious funk this summer.

The heat hasn't helped. At all.

Thanks to my mom friends and our playdates, I have managed to keep some of my funk at bay. {thank you, ladies~although I know you had no idea how much you were helping}

I've seen Andrew a total of four days this summer so far as I've mentioned he would be traveling to visit family and going to Scout camp.  I miss him.

George's work schedule changed from perfect to not-so-perfect and it's really gotten to me. It's been a lot harder of a change than I had expected. Like whoa. I miss him too.

Lily is nearly two~like 12 days left until she is. As much as I have loved spending these last weeks of one with her~largely one-on-one, it also makes me sad how quickly she's growing. Thank God she's truly hysterical with the things she says and keeps me laughing even when I'm in the funk that has been present this summer.

So, I'm working on getting myself pulled out of the funk and working on reconnecting. I have been taking a lot of pictures at least.

Hope you'll stick around.