Thursday, September 13, 2007

The Grandparents Tour 2007

Thursday, September 13, 2007 by Dawn B
Peek-oo!
It's me, Althea (or as I pronounce it "Ai-ya!").

Mommy asked if I wouldn't fill you all in on our trip to Michigan this summer.

We rode on airplanes again! I love airplanes! Somehow, mommy and daddy don't seem to get as much fun out of it. Something called "flight delays" made them sad. But I quickly cheered them up by running around the airports at full speed. I cheered up many other people there in the process.



Well, we finally got to Michigan, and I got to see Grandma Cyndi, my Aunties and cousins. I had lots of fun with Olivia and Sarah and Vivian climbing all over some weird plastic stuff at the mall. I look less than thrilled in the picture because we had to stop playing to pose and take it!


Later we met up with even more cousins at the park. We ate hot dogs and strawberries. Yummy!







Then we played on the playground. My cousin Ethan shares my forward-moving perspective on life! Woo-hoo!






I also had a very nice visit with Grandma Cyndi. We had a terrific tea party together. In this picture, I just told her a really good joke. It goes like this, "3 toddlers walk into a bar; the 4th one just fell down on her bum."








I also had a terrific visit with Grandmama Rose. It's so nice to be with people who haven't seen all your material already!

We also got to swim in Grandmama Rose's pool.
I love swimming!







On one of our visits to Papa and Nana, we went to feed the ducks. I love the song about the five little ducklings. That "one little duck" who decided to boss all the others around--now that's someone I can relate to!








Finally, it was time for us to ride off into the sunset.
Love you!
Althea

Summer Memories

Thursday, September 13, 2007 by Dawn B
Ahhh . . .summer. It's probably a good thing that there's a sticky, too hot, bother these bugs! sort of side to it, or we could never bear to let it go.
Here are a few of our favorite memories from this summer (not including our trip to MI--which gets its own entry).


***Just which state are we in really?
We had a lovely time visiting our dear Theologiggle friends--this year at Jana & Phil's crib in Cincinnati.
Here is Althea catching bubbles with Jerusha. Is there anything more magical than the sight and sound of children laughing as they chase the magical popping little spherical rainbows?
Then we all toured a bakery (note the stylin' head gear). This had a wonderful Mr. Rogers-esque feel to it, not only because of the "here is where donuts are made" factor, but also because the gentleman giving our tour was a gentle, soft-spoken grandfather type. It would been fun even if he hadn't handed us a huge box and said "just fill this up as we go." Yum! Here is most of the crew devouring . . . I mean sampling the results of our tour.
We also went to a ball game and water park, but the best part was just hanging out with friends.


***driving Miss Althea?
I'm glad to say we often made it out to our nearby park and the wonderful wading pool there. We usually took the stroller, but usually more to convey our gear than our daughter. Guess who likes to drive?


***born to ride
I think we met more neighbors this summer than in all the previous years we've lived here combined. Althea could endlessly zoom up and down the sidewalks and the alley. She loved taking detours up people's driveways and walkways to their homes. It was often difficult for our girl to decide whether she preferred the feel of powering the tricycle herself or the velocity she could feel when mommy or daddy pushed. Usually, we would alternate for the best of both--the desire for control and the need for speed.

***good for the grass and girl
Althea loves running through sprinklers. On the first day they brought out the sprinkler at her school, the other kids stood back and watched it shyly, but our girl ran right over and put her head into the middle of the spray with a shriek of delight! This is usually her approach to sprinklers, as well as her approach to life.

***"I was led to expect 101 of these."
We got to go over and visit some brand new puppies this summer too. Puppies and a baby . . . if you want cuter than that, you're just asking too much.


***Slip sliding away
Our summer memories would not be complete without mentioning how much we all love to splash about at pools and slide down the water slides! Althea even enjoyed just watching mommy and daddy go down the BIG slides. Of course, it was hard to explain why she couldn't do the same. I hope this little movie feed works for all of you.

blessings for the fall,
Dawn