Maymont Park and Friends

Of course we would pick THE hottest day to go to the park...naturally, that's how we roll;) We arrived a little after 9am and the temperature already showed around 101...yikes! We took our little hot adventure with Alley's best friend and her parents. We all had a great time despite the extreme heat!

Andy and Alley in the Japanese gardens walking around the waterfall...It looked so inviting that I wanted to go stand under it!

Alley crossing the rocks

Pausing for a snack break...I took so many shots of them eating their snacks and this was as close as I got to them both looking at the camera at the same time (I gave up on them smiling together as well!)

Alley and "Ava's mommy" getting ready for a little adventure walk in the bamboo

The many faces of Kendall on this hot hot trip:

"ooooo, water....ooooo, fish....oooo, bottle"

"look at me, look at me"

"hmmm, it's slightly hot out here so can you push my stroller faster so I can feel a breeze?!"

plotting their next move

sharing snacks - whaaaat?! I didn't know "food sharing" was in their vocab;)

running off to the water (nasty looking water at that)

I swear I thought Alley was going to pull me into the water! I'm not so sure it was a smooth idea to walk across stones in the water...it was a stretch for her little legs

looking at the fish

taking a break from the heat

um, yeah, enough said...round them up, it's time to go!

Despite the heat, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. It was a great outing with great friends! I only wish Alley would have fallen asleep on the hour and a half drive home....:/

Philly 2010

We have been blessed to be able to travel each summer to the NATA (National Athletic Trainers Association) conference. In the years we've been married, we've gone to Indianapolis, IN; Atlanta, GA; St. Louis, MO; San Antonio, TX; and this year we traveled to Philadelphia, PA. We were brave this year and brought along both girls for a week in a hotel...maybe brave isn't the right word...crazy??!! Actually, it turned out a lot better than I was expecting:) We had some nap issues, mainly a lot of boycotting of naps going on, but we survived! We got to do some sight-seeing as well as take in some good philly food. The first full day that we had in Philly, we decided to visit the Liberty Bell. I will confess, I didn't get to read ANY of the history on the bell or find out what most of the historic buildings were, but it was good to expose Alley to new places that had some history. I did try and give her a small history lesson...and I will let you take a wild guess on how well that went with a 2.5 year old;) I decided that since the NATA can only be held in 7 locations (due to the size of the conference - HUGE!!!), we'll be back in a few years when the girls are bigger and can learn a little bit more...that's what homeschooling is for, right?;) Here are some pictures from the bell and the historic buildings around the bell:

little Miss Kendall enjoying her ride in the stroller - such a content little girl

The bell and the historic building behind...maybe the old congress building??! It was important because people were getting tours of it:)

Alley posing in front of the bell - she insisted on kneeling down...crazy thing

that building again...man we sure took a lot of pictures of it;)

Andy and Alley in the garden

Me and Alley

the smiley one just hanging out in the heat

Alley having fun in a wall that had a cove in it...she kept trying to sit in it and prop her feet up...silly girl kept falling and cracking herself up

Alley on a statue with that building again;)

We also spent some time at the hotel pool. I honestly thought we'd spend a lot more time in the pool but amazingly we only went one afternoon.

Alley sunbathing

Kendall's form of sunbathing;)

We got to meet up with Andy's roommate from graduate school, Aaron Tomlinson (who lives in Maine, 15 miles from Canada!). We were sad that his wife and their 9 month old daughter couldn't make it down, but we loved getting to catch up with Aaron!

Kendall and Aaron loving on each other

the roomies and Kendall

We have never taken Alley to a zoo, partly because of our crazy schedules and the fact one isn't close by. So, when we saw Philly had a zoo we decided it was time to take Alley. Side note, zoo's are EXPENSIVE!!! Anyway, we found out that this was the oldest zoo in America, kind of cool. So we got there when the zoo opened and Alley just couldn't stop talking about the animals she wanted to see. On the top of the list were turtles, monkey's/gorilla's and daddy long legs (sorry Alley, the zoo doesn't have daddy long legs!! bummer!). We saw the turtles in a section with snakes...yuck...Alley kept telling us she didn't want to touch the snakes. Me either Alley, I'll pass on that! A little bit later on we visited the monkey house. Okay, they kind of creep me out. There was an exhibit of gorilla's...lots of them. They were all walking around and staring at us out of the corner of their eyes (creepy!!). We happen to be the only one's there, thanks to getting there early:). All of a sudden, a gorilla charged the glass and threw herself into the glass right in front of us!!! It freaked us out!!!!! I think we all needed a diaper change after that one. Alley then decided she didn't need to see the monkey's anymore, so we decided to leave that exhibit. Yikes! Wow, what an experience...

Here we are visiting the "nice" animals...

she hung out like this for most of the zoo trip

checking out the rhino

wanting to go see the Polar bears

Later that day we had a horrible storm blow through. We were lucky that we had just gotten into our hotel room so we missed that disaster. We decided to have a movie afternoon since the cable had blown out as well. Alley was so excited!

My girls enjoying an evening watching Mickey Mouse:)

Here's Kendall trying to sit up. I put up pillows around her so she wouldn't fall all the way over:) Side note - she hasn't rolled over since the first time she did...she just had to prove she could and is now like, been there, done that;)

We had a great trip as a family and really enjoyed getting to visit with old friends and seeing a new area of the country. I look forward to next year - New Orleans, here we come;)

Haircut #2

Yesterday we decided to take Alley for a haircut. Her hair isn't extremely long, but it looks really straggly (if that's even a word!). It was right about this time last year that she embarked on her first haircut (more towards September). She loved the place last year so much that we decided to go again for this one. Again, she did a great job! Of course it could have a lot to do with the fact you get to sit in really cool cars and watch any movie you want while getting your haircut!

Here is a before picture of her hair.another before view - she has curly/wavy hair that is coming in in layers - ugh!

watching Dora - she asked who that was...whew!

snip-snip

all done and getting a pretty clip for her hair

check out my new do;)

Is it that time already?!

Little Miss Kendall has conquered another milestone today - she has now mastered rolling over! The funny part (or maybe more interesting than funny!) is that Alley rolled over at the exact same age - 4 months and 4 weeks:) The difference is that Alley rolled all the way over and pushed herself up, whereas Kendall rolled all the way over but then rolled all the way back on her back. Here is the progression:

She flipped her hips over (this is when I decided we needed the camera out so I could capture this milestone!) - still so intent on eating her hands/fists

pausing mid-flip to give our fists a little love - we would hate to leave them out of the fun;)

a little grinning and squealing to rope in the spectators

and here we go...she's like, mama, watch this

and here she is back on her back...forgot to take a picture of her on her tummy before she flipped back - I was too busy getting excited for her;) Hopefully she'll make this a habit so I can take some more pictures!

More from this week - Alley was insistent that she hold Kendall for a picture. I think Kendall is getting a little heavy for Alley. Alley's comment was, "All done, Kendall heby (heavy)". Kendall is close to sitting up (which should help with future pictures). She still tips over or leans so far forward her nose could touch the ground, but she is getting stronger every day. We could be in trouble soon! Especially if she continues to hit milestones like Alley did...we'll have a walker in less than 4 months...YIKES!!!

Sisters loving each other

Just an update from the potty-training front: we're taking a step back so as to not stress out Alley (or mommy!). I don't think she is quite ready. She was getting very frustrated and was refusing to sit on the potty and just wasn't in to the whole thing- not a good sign! So we've gone back to pull-ups and every hour or so we have her sit on the potty just in case! We will revisit potty training in another week or two...one day we'll master it!;)

Potty Training

Oh the dreaded word...don't get me wrong, I am looking forward to the financial freedom potty training will bring, but I am not looking forward to the process of getting there. If I could pay someone to potty train my child, I would do it! Potty training is all about letting go of control and lots of patience. Let's just face it, that's not my forte! Impatient control-freak?? ME?!! Ha...I think I will be learning just as much as Alley :)
We have just finished day 2 and it went slightly better than day 1 (I will rejoice in ANY progress!). I know this is a long process, I just hope I can be patient and enjoy the time I am getting to spend with Alley. Too bad I think she's already getting tired of me! It seems like every other sentence that comes out of my mouth is "Do yo need to go potty? Just tell mommy if you need to go"...man, I am already getting tired of hearing myself;) Truthfully though, Alley and I have had some wonderful moments together! I have really been able to enjoy her personality and sparkle on her a bit since we are in close quarters for the time-being. She is an amazing child and I am blessed to be her mommy...wet panties and all:)
Here are some photos from day 2:

Singing "baby Kendall" (her doll) to sleep while playing Old McDonald on her magnetic barn...not quite a soothing song hard at work on her magnetic barn

being cheesy - yes, she is my child, cheesiness and all:)

a potty picture - obsessed with stickers! She will take them off the page, put them on her arm or shirt, then put them back on the page for later...

full of concentration...for the stickers, not the potty;)

Day 3 will be tomorrow...pray for Mimi since she will be watching the girls so I can go to work!