Visiting Indiana and Other Stuff!

Indiana 

~Road Trip 2013~ 

      After Keenan and I arrived late to Marion the night before the trip, I hoped that wouldn't set the tone for the rest of the vacation. The following morning everyone was in good spirits.  We were all up, showered and ready to leave almost on time.  Mickey and Minnie were well organized, which made for a lovely trip.  I was happy at how well all of the kids did on the ride. I was also shocked because it didn't feel like I was in the car for 8 hours - but I was in Minnie, the chatty car.  It was nice to be welcomed by so many people and to get to see where Jim and Marge live. I really enjoyed getting to swim in the pool and to watch Riley experience that for the first time. She looked tired but really seemed to enjoy all the people and the splashing. 

       Side note - Riley is at my feet right now and she is carrying her blanket around and dropping it to lay down on. I have never seen her do that before. She is also improving on learning body parts. She can point out her nose and ear now.

 

The zoo was a really great place to visit and had a lot of fun exhibits. I really enjoyed seeing the giraffes and watching the otters.  The sea lions had a lot of attitude about getting their reward for the tricks they were performing which of course made them all the more entertaining.

 Family Photo Shoot

We all made it back in one piece. Thank you to Jim and Marge for hosting us and to everyone who helped to organize it.

This is Riley the Tuesday after the trip learning to color with Grandma.

  

Spaghetti Night

There is just something funny about a kid covered in spaghetti! I really enjoy seeing how the boys have changed each week. I can't believe Pete and Dawn are going to have a 2 year old soon. That's amazing!

 

 

A Lazy Saturday Morning

I love the mornings where we don't have anywhere to be, so naturally I made scones. These are raspberry, blueberry with lemon zest and just a little white chocolate. I was going to make just raspberry scones but turns out I didn't have enough of them. Riley loved hers! They are so fun and so easy, someday she will be helping me to make them. Can you see the blueberry smudges on her forehead. Haha. I keep trying to teach her to keep her hands down but it just hasn't stuck.

The Tale of the Busy 1 Year Old

 Riley is always on the move and 

exploring everything around her. She started walking well right around a year and it took off really quickly from there. I have had to watch to make sure the baby gate is closed at all times because she moves fast. I love when she is just wandering around playing because she will just babble on and on. It sounds like nothing to me but I wonder what she is thinking when she is doing it. Her favorite toys are the blocks. She can make a small tower on her own. She gets such joy out of doing it herself. I could see that independent streak early on. 
Sometimes you just have to do it yourself!
 

 Riley has also really taken to bringing you books to read or just for the sake of bringing them to you. Either way it is really cute. I do enjoy snuggling up with her and reading. She also does this thing where she will initiate snuggling and kisses by pushing her cheek into my face and smiling. Then I kiss attack her and laughter follows. I am really excited to get her in the pool soon because she really enjoys splashing around at her evening bath time.

I feel like she is really doing well with a sippy now. There was a period of time where I just felt like she wasn't taking in enough fluids but once I stopped asking her to take a drink every 2 seconds and gave her a break she came around. There is that independent streak again. She just had to decide that she wanted to. Thankfully she has always been a really great eater. Sometimes I feel like she eats so much I dont know where she is putting it.

  
Riley just loves playing in the dirt.  Ha! That's a point for my team - Keenan's not usually much in the mood for dirt ... or generally being outside. I really hoped Riley would enjoy playing outside. She is finally doing a little better at walking in the grass. She used to fall down every other step.  It was weird since she was doing so well inside.





She has had two colds in the span of a few weeks. Just little ones. Stuffy nose, cough but no fever. Weird. She has more trouble sleeping through the nights because she is congested or coughs out her pacifier. I think she is getting better from this one and should be pretty good to travel.

 The garden is doing really well so far. A few of the tomato plants are quite large already.  I am so excited about getting some summer fresh tomatoes. I learn something new every year that I have had a garden. Its so fun to grow your own food. We always had one growing up and I hope Riley gets a lot out of being around it. Tomatoes are so great just as a simple tomato salad or on a margarita pizza. I could probably go on as long as Bubba (Forest Gump's friend) about all of the things that I like tomatoes in. yum! I also have hot peppers, sweet peppers, eggplant, peas, beans, cucumbers, squash and herbs.  Thanks to Jon for building those lovely A frames for vertical gardening as I wouldn't have the space for most of it otherwise.  My fences are holding up well to the army of bunnies that run around the neighborhood. The chipmunks although cute are crafty and can scale the fence without breaking a sweat to take a bite out of each tomato. I can tell they are getting organized for the harvest.

Summer fun!

Pipers 1st Birthday Party

It was a lot of fun visiting Maquoketa for the first time and getting to visit for such a special occasion.  It just made me wish that Keenan and I were closer to the rest of the family because I would love to spend time with Kristen on a regular basis.  Shes just so crafty! Its fun to see how creative she is and swap ideas, I always learn something new.  The Indiana trip is coming soon and I am excited to see everyone again and just trying to prepare for it.  Riley got a practice run with the wedding we went to last weekend. That was a five hour drive and she did pretty well but she did have a whole back seat free of distractions and that will not be the case for the next trip. 

 Just goofing around at home

 We enjoyed a fire the other night and did the traditional hot dogs and smores. It's one of the great things about summer. Riley and I play outside a lot and the ground is still so moist that she always ends up covered in dirt and sometimes eats some of it too. Haha.  Good thing I have a lot of stain remover in the house. I am really enjoying the flowers that are blooming right now. The peonys smell amazing and are really beautiful

 Since Keenan's Birthday is when we leave for Indiana I went ahead and made cupcakes early.  Tried another new frosting. Yum! Same cake and filling as Riley's party but with a raspberry swiss meringue buttercream.  Took them to Peter and Dawns last night and Pete tried to eat half the pan and ended up in a sugar coma for the rest of the night. Guess we will just have to monitor his intake next time. Haha

Bye everyone. Really excited to see you soon!