Kissing

One of Addison's (and apparently one of Noah's) favorite past times.

Pool Party

Our neighbors (the ones I speak of the most because A) they live right next door and B) they are Addison's best friends in the 'hood) invited Addison to swim in their freshly blown up pool. She was napping at the time and the 3 of us were planning on going to our pool later, but after over hearing them whine, "This isn't very much fun without Addison", I just knew we couldn't let them down. I had a feeling Addison would take some time getting used to the frigid water (our pool is heated to bath water temperatures), but thought she would have fun with the kids. It was a good chance for Dustin and I to get some yard work done, too.

Of course, as chance would have it, Addison took an extra long nap that afternoon and the kids were on pins and needles just waiting for her arrival.

Once she came to the pool party, the fun began.

They called this came "4 corners".

The 6 year old and I invented a game called "Water Soccer-Lacrosse-Pong". Addison saw us playing and wanted to give it a shot herself.


No one was brave enough to stand in as her competitor. We all know how tough she is. Just look at that face!


The girls swam themselves hungry and enjoyed a nice snack. (Addison borrowed one of the girls sunglasses. She is obsessed with sunglasses!)




They had a really good time together (for nearly 3 hours) and my Petunias thanked me for the TLC.

The 4th of July Parade

Our township starts the 4th of July with a 4 mile race, followed by a parade and ending with a concert. We were on vacation last year and were happy to be in town this year to check out the festivities. We arrived to the parade (which went through an intersection 1/2 mile down the road from our house) equipped with a stroller for Addison, her baby, plenty of 4th of July bling, beverages, sunscreen, snacks, etc. We immediately felt like amateurs when we realized that 99% of the parade-goers were lounging streetside in chairs. They all looked so comfortable and I was jealous. Addison didn't seem the care, either way. She was just enjoying saying hi to everyone and waving her American Flags.



We had some time before the parade was going to get to our area, so Dustin went home for some chairs while Addison and I stayed.

Addison eventually wanted out of her stroller so she could go be the little social butterfly that she is. She loved watching all the people.

Daddy came back with our chairs (thank you, Daddy!) and we heard from people up the street that the parade was coming our way! We took some photos while we waited.

You can see the front of the parade, led by a police car, behind us.

Addison had so much fun. She clapped so much, I'm surprised her little palms weren't bright red!

There was a lot of candy being pelleted gently thrown at us, especially by the younger children in the parade who thought it would be fun to hurl ever-so-kindly hand hard pieces of candy to a young toddler. We encouraged Addison to give away her candy and she gladly obliged. I must say, she is the sweetest, most generous 19 month old I've ever seen when it comes to sharing.

(Notice that in lieu of candy, Addison munched on Veggie Chips). That's my girl!

No, I take that back. This is my girl! She loved the Hooters stickers that the friendly, barely-dressed Hooters girls gave her. Classy.

4h of July Party

Later that day, we headed to our neighbor's house for a party. These are Addison's favorite neighbors. Their kids are so great with her and love playing with her. I love it, too, because while they are keeping her occupied, I am able to sneak in a few chores around the house.

This particular day was even better, because our neighbor girls had friends at the party. Friends that wooed over Addison just as much as the girls. Addison was in heaven! It's funny (and scary) watching her try to keep up with the "big girls" (12 year olds).

I love this picture because it really exemplifies Addison's huge, excitable personality. She is a true party girl!

And I love this picture because....well, I don't really think an explanation is necessary. I'm not sure I've ever captured such a tender moment between my daughter and husband (or my husbands knee, at least).

And finally, the evolution of blowing up a balloon (that was already blown up and tied in a knot, but she still thought she was doing it all by herself).

You huff...

And you puff...

And you bear down with all your might...

And you blow that dang, stubborn balloon up!

Happy 4th of July!

More pictures from our 4th to come! We hope everyone had a very safe and happy day celebrating the Independence of our beautiful country!

Music Class

We attend music class every Friday morning. We've been doing this since Addison was 6 months old and it's always been one of the highlights of our week. The entire 15 minute drive there is spent singing in preparation for class. As soon as the car goes into park, Addison chants "Music class! Music class!" We walk up the stairs of the preschool where class is held and she runs into the room, waves and smiles at the other children, and sits down.

She loves the 30 minutes we spend singing and playing with different instruments more than I ever would have imagined. I get so much satisfaction from seeing how much enjoyment she gets from the class.

Dustin had the day off Friday and was able to come see for himself just how much she loves the class. Addison was so proud to have him on "her turf"!

The very, very best part of class is the end when Addison gets her "la la stamps". She shows everyone, strangers included, her stamps the whole rest of the day. She points to her hand and says "la la". She also gets stamps at Gym class and calls those "la la stamps", too!

Playgroup

Fairly recently, we joined a new playgroup on Thursdays. We love it, but it is rather crazy! There are often upwards of 20 kids running around the home of the brave soul hosting that particular week. (This will change in the fall as we revamp things a bit).

Today was our day to host and as you can imagine, I was scared! I decided to give my house a little break and host at a park. Unfortunately, Mother Nature didn't cooperate and we ended up gathering at my house. Lucky for us, our playgroup was much, much smaller than usual with only 6 little ones. There were actually a couple of times that you could hear a cricket chirp (you know, if I had crickets living in my house). It was a nice change and once everyone left, I was down on hands and knees admiring my still clean house and praising the playgroup Gods for the smaller group today!

We have a little crush going on in playgroup!

Little hams, these 3!

Houseguests

You've probably noticed that we've had A LOT of house guests lately....8 out of 9 days actually! We love having visitors and welcome people at any time. Our latest was my good friend, Kylie, who is enjoying her summer break and drove from Cleveland to spend some time with us.

Addison learned how to say "Kylie" very well. Her dog's name is Mina (pronounced MEE-NA). Addison pronounces it MY-NA. And she loves her some MY-NA, as does Bubba. Mina is his one and only..has been since Mina was just a young pup!

Thanks for visiting!

Very ripe avocado + Daddy supervising dinner =

Zoo with Daddy

Dustin hadn't a chance to go to the Zoo with us yet this year, so we took a couple hours to go as a family last Sunday after he rested up from the triathlon.

It's my goal to post a picture of every type of animal at the Zoo by the end of the year. It's not really going to happen, but it sounds like a good plan.

I have to post 2 pictures of the otters because they are just so darn cute! I think my next pet will be an otter.

The Orangutan's are interesting. They always look so sad and annoyed.

Oh my gosh, I am totally joking with that last picture. It was one of the images that came up on Google when I was checking the spelling of Orangutan. And I wouldn't have been surprised if our Orangutan's actually did that! I mean, I really appreciate the zoo, but can't help to feel like it is a little inhumane to keep animals like this in such small quarters. It makes my heart break a little.

Addison bonded with this guy as he played with his brown paper bags. Maybe she cheered him up a bit.

We never stop at the Komodo Dragon because, well, we don't care for reptiles. But, I think it's a neat concept that dragons actually do exist and wanted to get proof for all you skeptics!

Triathlon

Dustin and his brother participated in a sprint triathlon (.5 mile swim, 12.4m bike and 3.1m run) last weekend, starting at the lake just a couple minutes from our house.

They are the pair of swimmers closest to the bottom of the picture - Dustin is on the right, Damon on the left.

After the swim, came the bike. Damon is in the front, Dustin in the back.

The run concluded the race. Damon on left, Dustin on right.

Aaron and Addison played with bells as they cheered for the racers.

And Noah ate his breakfast.

The two competitors with the kids. A job well done!

Daddy and Addison.

Addison giving Daddy "five".

Addison giving her Uncle Damon "five".

Congratulations to the guys for completing the race with great times!

Pool with Noah

Julie and Noah came back for the weekend and my brother-in-law, Josh, came down from Cleveland to join them. The guys went golfing on Saturday. We headed to the pool in the afternoon and met up with them once they finished their round of golf for some swimming and poolside dinner.


Don't you love the sunglasses? They came with the outfit that Kristin brought for Addison on her visit. She wears them all the time and when she doesn't have them on, she is asking for her "glasses".