Full Labor Day Weekend

It has been difficult for us to say goodbye to our carefree summer, so we decided to fill Labor Day weekend as full as we could get it.

It started with a trip to Ames to watch the Iowa State Football Game. We are not huge Iowa State fans, but couldn't pass up free tickets, popcorn, and 70 degree football weather. Marie spent most of the time climbing the bleachers.

On Friday night we enjoyed a BBQ with some friends. Marie got to play with a 9 month old little girl. I think she really enjoyed being the "older" one. She made sure "the baby" knew where her toys were and played very nicely until Brooklyn decided to sit on Mom's lap - then Marie decided she better keep on an eye her.

Saturday was a beautiful day with a cool & crisp morning. We decided to take the bikes out again and stop at a park along the trail.

Marie was having a particularly "independent" morning, but she enjoyed the stop at the park.
As you can see, we have already started the battle of "No, you go down the slide, you can't climb up the slide." I don't think it helped that Mom got to climb up the slide...

Sunday was Mom & Dad's day...we were treated to babysitting by Grandpa, Grammy, & Aunt Liz plus a night in hotel alone! Almost too good to be true. We were kicked out of the house at 2:00 in the afternoon and we didn't see Marie until the next morning at 10:30. She and her gang came to the hotel pool for a quick swim before dinner.

Although we enjoyed taking our time through dinner, we REALLY missed our little Marie. After only a few hours we were ready to go see her. She is so much fun right now - we are always giggling at her newest tricks. We know she had a great time with her babysitting team.
Thanks again!

So now we are back at work, school, and daycare - ready for what this week will bring!
Welcome Fall!

Grandma came to visit!

It was time for a visit from Grandma Nel. Marie was ready to play with someone other than Mom or Dad - she had seen all our tricks and games - time for someone new. She must have known that Grandma was on her way across I-80 because Marie decided to stay up past 9:00
on Friday night.

Saturday morning we took Sadie and Charlie to the dog park in West Des Moines.While the dogs were running around and smelling other dogs' you-know-whats, Marie and Grandma got to play in the sand, swing, and go down the slides.

Back at home, Grandma played with Marie while Dad got some studying done and Mom got a much needed snooze.

Saturday night we ate out at "The Machine Shed." A few blocked arteries and one picture on pig later, Grandma & Mom went to see "Eat Pray Love" while Dad & Marie went home for bath and bedtime. As you can see, Marie wasn't as into this night as we were. She has been getting 4 molars at once and it was really affecting her during dinner.

Thanks for visiting Grandma Nel - we had so much fun!

1 year going on 16

"I'll do it myself"
********************

After the last few mornings, I find it necessary to discuss some of Marie's latest habits. Some are definitely more enjoyable than others, but all are entertaining.

1. Baby dolls - she loves to cuddle, kiss, scold, rock them.
She will hand them to Mom & Dad to do the same.

2. Stuffed animals - all of the above apply here as well.
Every morning she hands us her stuffed lamb, "Baa",
so we can kiss him good morning.

Here she is with Boston, her little black lab.

3. Hair Combing/styling - oh boy. This is not an enjoyable
part of the day for Mom or Marie. However, it is necessary -
she wakes up with all this body in her hair and it is
all over the place. Thick & curly hair, here we come!

4. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse - the "hot dog" dance is her favorite song!
This has made some of the hair combing a touch easier.

5. Yogurt - this girlie would eat a large bowl

at every meal if possible.

6. Pretending Charlie is chasing her - Char just simply gets up and walks
into another room and she becomes giddy and runs away.
Meanwhile, Charlie hasn't even noticed he was a part of the chase.

7. Swinging - especially when Daddy twists the ropes
and lets her go fast.

8. Getting Dressed - this is always an experience that usually ends
up with one of us, if not both, in a sweat.

(notice - still in p.j.'s and she is insisting that she climbs the stairs by herself)

9. Ravioli - spaghetti sauce, mmm.
Marie could live off spaghetti sauce alone.
However the wiping off/cleaning up part of dinner - not as enjoyable!

10. Hugs & Kisses - she is really into giving good, tight,
almost break-your-neck, hugs right now.
Followed by an open-mouth kiss of course.

We have definitely noticed the transformation from baby to toddler.
Moods are changing minute to minute.
On the other hand, Marie is so much fun right now.
She notices everything, comments on everything,
and is forming an opinion on everything!
All this and she is only 14 months?

oh boy...

Fair Time

Well it was that time of year again - we could drive through town and smell the grease frying- Iowa State Fair! We have to admit that we really like eating all that food on a stick and this year Marie got to join in. Things are so busy with school starting so we decided to just do an evening at the fair.

We started at the petting zoo where Marie was very friendly to the goats.


One bottle of hand sanitizer later, we stopped for our first entree' of cheese curds - delicious.

Next we went to the animal barns where we saw cows, ducks, sheep and horses. Marie was pretty quiet during this as she was taking it all in. While we were petting a lamb, it started to "baa" at her. She got so excited and began "baaing" back and attempted to give it a kiss.

So how do we top the conversation with the lamb? A blooming onion and cotton candy of course! Marie wasn't as crazy about the onion as Dad was, but she definitely enjoyed the sugary goodness of the cotton candy. Who wouldn't?
While we were eating we decided to sit on a park bench and let Marie run around. A nice older couple was watching Marie and enjoying her silliness. The husband made a comment, we made a comment, and the wife smiled showing us her 1 tooth! That was definitely a fair experience!

It was short and sweet but definitely a successful evening at the fair.
See you next year cheese curds and cotton candy!

One Last Getaway

As our summer is quickly winding down, we packed up and headed up to Northwest Iowa for one more quick trip. We started in Spencer with Grammy, Grandpa, & Aunt Liz. Although we only had a short amount of time - we packed in quite a bit! First, Grandpa knew just how to welcome us home with Marie's name mowed into the lawn! It was hard to capture it completely, but hopefully you get the idea.

Grammy & Marie also spent a lot of time playing outside, especially in the
dirt and rocks by the street.

Next we went to Sheldon to see the Van Beek side. We had a wedding on Saturday night. Marie loved playing with the older kids. She tried and tried to keep up with them.

Marie has this fascination with the dog dish at Grandma's house. This time she was washing her baby's feet in the water bowl. This just proves she is a smarty pants because earlier that morning Grammy Mueting washed Marie's feet in the sink. This girl is always thinking...

Sunday was such nice day with no humidity so we played outside at the park. Grandma spent a lot of time pushing that swing.

It was a short trip but we had a lot of fun. Now it is back to reality with Andy starting on rotations this year, Kelly back at work fixing those 'r' and 's' sounds, Marie moving on to full-time in the Ladybug room at daycare, and Charlie back to his 8 hour nap while we are all away.

Fall is definitely on it's way!

Those Summer Nights

Some of the things we love to do during our summer nights...

run with Charlie at the dog park

play at the playgroundenjoy the breeze

ice cream treats from Snookies - one of our favorite places.
Snookies even gives Charlie a puppy cone!

relax with my good friend

Ring Around the Rosie...

Marie has been attending a library circle time this summer. We basically sit in a circle with other babies and mommies, sing songs, clap and say "yeah" over every little thing :), and read books. She has taken this weekly 20 minutes very seriously. It is her time to watch other children, learn new songs with actions, and of course, express her independence. Most of the other kids sit on their mom's lap and do the actions together - I said most....not our Marie. She wanders around smiling and saying 'hi,' giving hugs and kisses even when they are not well received by the other kids, trying really hard to run on the carpet, and doing her best to get past Miss Suzie so she can take that bear puppet, Dewey, who is always waving at her. Meanwhile, mom sits on her carpet square and does her actions independently.

I don't have any pictures of her in the story time, but I do have video of the little girlie figuring out how to "all fall down" during "ring around the rosie."