Go Climb a Tree

As I was getting a few last minute items for Addie's party...

(side note: as some of you know, we had to go out of town unexpectedly last week, so I promise a birthday party post is in the works and almost complete. the best laid plans, right?) now back to our regularly scheduled post...

I found a huge pink polka-dotted ball and a small green and small purple ball. The girls, all 3 of them, have had so much fun with them! {Some of} the best $5 we've spent.

So it didn't surprise me that Addie and Paul played and played and played with the balls in the days leading up to her party.

It did, however, surprise me to walk outside the day before Addie's party to find my husband two thirds of the way up our huge magnolia tree in the backyard attempting to shake loose not one,

not two,

but three balls  

and a broomstick that were stuck in our tree!

When questioned, he explained that he and Addie had been kicking the ball.

Clearly Addie could not and did not kick the first ball that high.

And she certainly did not throw 2 additional balls and a broomstick (minus the broom part) up in the tree in an initial attempt to free the first one.

Right?

I turned around and walked back inside all the while mumbling under my breath: if he falls out of that tree, he's taking himself to the emergency room!

Thankfully, Paul did not fall out of the tree.

Unfortunately, the balls remained in the tree the day of Addie's party (defeating one of the main purposes of getting them...so kids could play with them at her party)!

Fortunately our good friend's Diane (aka Didi) and Tim's nine year old son along with his family came to Addie's party.

Apparently 9 year old boys have an easier time retrieving objects from a tree than grown men.

And Tyler was quite successful!

I'm pretty sure Addie Paul won't be kicking balls up in our magnolia tree anytime soon.

At least I hope not! :)

If you climb up a tree, you must climb down the same tree.

African Proverb

*thank you to either Paul, Erin, or Diane for taking these pictures. One of the 3 of them had my camera at one point or another during the party (now that's trust, isnt it!). love these pictures! thanks y'all!

Tyler's Soccer Game

Addie and I finally made it to one of Tyler's soccer games. It was indoor soccer, so Addie was a tad more contained (less chasing for me) than if we were outside on a field.

Ellie was so sweet to Addie!

She played ball or chase with her almost the whole time!

Tyler's game was actually a playoff game. They did awesome! He is quite the little soccer player! It was fun to watch him!

And of course she was way excited to see Di and Tim too!

Flashback Friday

The minute Tyler got the pumpkin patch, he told me we just had to get a picture like we did last year! He even remembered who went where! I love that kid!

Look at how much they've changed! Bigger smiles! Missing teeth! Grown up faces!

And all 3 just as cute!

Pseudo Siblings

Tyler and Ellie's mom and dad (our best friends, Diane and Tim) went on a much deserved trip for their 10th anniversary...to Cancun! It's hard for me to believe they've been married for 10 years...which puts us at 9!

The kids have spent days with grandparents and nights with aunts and cousins. They've had a blast but are clearly ready for mom and dad to be home! I got to spend the day with them on Thursday though!

After Addie's morning nap, we headed to the Chick-fil-a drive-thru to pick up lunch and then onward and upward...to the zoo! Now mind you, the temperature here was projected at 92 degrees. 92 is the temperature, not the heat index combined with close to 100% humidity.

However, this is what my car thermometer finally landed on when we loaded up to head home, courtesy of my Bl@ckberry phone:

But no lie, this is where it registered when I started up the car, and it definitely felt like!

Can you read that through the thick humidity...? I couldn't even get my good camera to focus on it! That says 103! 103!!!

...it was H.O.T!!!

But that's not the point of this post. It's just to give you an idea as to the conditions in which we were functioning existing.

We loaded up Addie's stroller with:

3 Chick-fil-a kids meals,

4 drinks,

2 sippy cups,

diaper bag fully loaded with all items necessary for a wide variety of emergencies or unexpected needs,

my camera (the big one),

extra hat,

oh...and Addie!

How did I forget the sunscreen in the car...

...in the H.O.T. 97+ degree weather?

We actually made it into the zoo, with all 3 children, all in one piece with me on the phone with the bank about possibly refinancing our land. What timing!

Before I could hardly sit down, Ty and Ellie had their food out, condiments open, and half way consumed. So I proceeded to cut tear up food for Addie. But before I knew what was going on, there were three (not one) hands shoveling food into Addie's mouth. Well...I took full advantage of Addie's helpful pseudo siblings, including a sweet face wiping big brother...and I actually got to eat my lunch.

Our 1st stop? Addie's new favorite animal: birds! (everything else that exists with four (or two or no) legs is now a dog, accompanied by a barking sound...except for the lion, and it growls but is quickly followed by the word dog and a bark)

There were also turtles in little ponds! Check out the tiny baby turtle!

Then it was off to find some cats! But before I knew it, Addie's hat had disappeared off the top of the stroller. My favorite hat from the G@p eb@y! We retraced our steps and found nothing. So sad! Well by the time we did that, Ellie's legs were killing her. I pulled encouraged her along for a few more exhibits. Tyler was pushing the stroller driving the stroller at high speeds (camera in my hand but baby on board!) with Addie having a blast! So with Addie taken care of, who could resist pleas from this:

...to relieve her aching legs? So Ellie hopped on my back and off we went...to see the reptiles.

All in the H.O.T. 97+ degree weather...

So much to see and so much to learn! I was amazed at Tyler's knowledge and reasoning skills. This kid loves learning, especially about animals and nature. I mean, what kid recognizes a macaw and alligator lizard before I even have time to read the signs and then reads the signs to you?

This one:

We made our way through jaguars, ant eaters and otters, lynx and cheetahs, zebras and lions, (none of which were housed together, mind you) and finally found the chimps basking in...

...the H.O.T. 97+ degree weather!

The chimps all of a sudden went berserk, making all their crazy, scary chimp noises.

{Oooo, ooo, ahhh, ahhh, ooo, ooo, ooo}

But this Little Bit wasn't afraid in the least. In fact, she started doing pull ups on the fence so she could see better!

Not to worry. There is a moat (& electric fence) around the island where the chimps live. Apparently, chimps can't swim. Did you know that...? Me neither!

Addie had officially had enough of her stroller (back at the lions), so this was more what things looked like by then:

Yes, that's the newly turned 5 year old riding in the stroller. When we were on the move, I pushed with one hand and held Addie in the other arm, and the big brother made Addie laugh by jumping and doing silly dances up ahead of us.

That is, until a beetle made it's way into his shirt! I don't have a picture of this because
1.) Addie was in one arm and I was helping him strip his shirt off with the other hand.
2.) Ellie jumped up out of the stroller, to squash the bug of course, resulting in the stroller (and my camera) tumping to the ground.

I got the shirt off, and went to pick up the stroller commenting that I really hoped my camera lens wasn't broken. Tyler's reply..."Who cares about the camera, I have a bug in my shirt!" Ahhh...it's all about perspective!

I'm relieved to report, however, that the camera only suffered a few scratches to the hood, the beetle was squashed dead, and we all survived. Whew!

All in H.O.T. 97+ degree weather...

We made it to the playground and to some ice cold water at $2 each...worth every penny!

Then it was past the bengal tigers, my favorite! Click on this one to enlarge it.

And onto the train.

Thankfully, there was a fan hooked to a hose underneath the train depot, and we all enjoyed a cool breeze! Check out that sweaty hair!

I attempted to get a picture of the 3 of them, but this is what Addie thought of having to actually sit, unrestrained, and have her picture taken!

This is what our train looked like (again, more challenging to take pictures sitting 3 across on a 2 seater bench with a wiggling one year old doing everything in her power to escape to freedom all while on a moving train!)

You guessed it, we had the train all to ourselves! I'll let you deduct the reasoning behind that! And it had nothing to do with us and everything to do with...

...the H.O.T. 97+ degree weather!

If you made it to the end of this post, you are a totally dedicated reader. The hat you ask? Someone picked it up and brought it to the train depot where we quickly lay claim to it! Hot wash cycle coming right up!

We had so much fun! Tyler and Ellie are great pseudo siblings! I'm so thankful we got to spend the day with them!

...but how many months do we have before things cool off?

One of Many: Part 2

So back to the Big Birthday Day! After a good nap, Addie and I headed to meet some friends at the park for a playdate and lunch. Addie loves to swing:

But she had even more fun swinging with her little friend Anna!

We enjoyed seeing Diane, Tyler, and Ellie too! Ellie's such a good helper! She even held Addie while I prevented the stroller from tipping over!

{Mmmm...dirt and woodchips!)

After the park, we all went back to their house to see Tyler and Ellie's beautifully redone rooms! We were so happy to get to see them on Addie's Big Day!

Presents, Play, and Puppy Dog Tails

I'm SO far behind on my blog posts. As you can see, I've been slightly focused on redesigning our blog layout and header, and I've practically forgotten to post! Well, last weekend we got to spend some time with our sweet friends the Castros. We had fun exchanging slightly delayed Christmas presents, playing games, and eating yummy homemade macaroni and cheese that Paul made! Here are some pictures from the the night:

Addie loves tissue paper...but plastic paper is way more fun!

watching Tyler

Tyler and Walter (they were dogsitting)

watching Ellie, who was furiously running back and forth from one side of the living room to the other, entertaining Addie. As you can see though, Addie was almost frantic that she's couldnt even begin to keep up with Ellie! She will one day...too soon I'm afraid!

Ellie being a sweet helper.

Apples to Apples anyone?

And of course I couldnt resist taking pictures of Walter, who is a 6 week old American Mastiff puppy

sweet puppy eyes!

getting sleepy...

sacked out!

...and so was Addie by the time we got home!

Flashback Friday

I've been avoiding starting this...you know with "Not Me!" Monday and Wordless Wednesday and all. Besides...Addie hasn't been around long enough to have that much to "flashback" on, but she's getting there! I was "gathering" pictures together to do a video for 2008 (but have decided to wait until her birthday), and this required looking through thousands (and I'm not exaggerating!) of pictures.

The Castros are some of our dear friends, and Di and her son Tyler were some of our 1st visitors at the hospital. Addie truly adores Tyler and Ellie, but she's got a thing for Tyler! When she sees him, she starts jumping out of our arms towards him, gently rubbing furiously trying to hit his head, and talking up a storm.

This has always been one of my favorite first pictures. It was taken less than 45 minutes after Addie was born. I love how my mom's showing Addie to Tyler; but I especially love Tyler's expression of sheer awe, amazement, and wonder with his hands tucked quietly up underneath his chin not daring to touch her!

New Years

Although I'm a little late posting these, here are some pictures from New Years Eve and Day.