curtains

Well, it doesn't look like I'm going to make anything for the baby before his/her arrival, but I did manage to make some curtains for Maggie's room with the help of my mom. They are the same style curtains we have in the baby's room with a different, more colorful fabric. Complements her room nicely, we think. Thanks for all the help, Mom!

hammered

Lowe's offers classes to kids twice a month and occasionally I have signed Maggie up for them. My mom took her to the first one where they made wooden ice cream trucks. We both took her to the second where she (mostly me) made a wooden bomber airplane. Chad was the lucky recipient of the airplane--father's day gift--and Maggie thinks it's pretty cool. She's a little young to follow the directions for the kits, but she enjoys being there with the other kids, wearing her apron, and taking something home at the end. If you haven't been, sign your kids up for the next Saturday/Sunday workshop and see what it's all about.

Undies!

 

Back in May we started potty training Maggie. She, unlike the previous times I'd tried, took to it immediately and did an amazingly great job. My parents started putting her in undies for a couple afternoons while they watched her (thank you!) and when Chad and I picked her up from a weekend away we decided to fully go for it. And she totally rocked it and she even stays dry at night. Yay Maggie!

Keri's shower

At the beginning of June our family gave Keri (my cousin) a bridal shower at a restaurant in Lodi. While I was setting up Maggie watched the cupcakes for us. She picked out her favorites (all of them) as we stopped her from touching them all. Once the guest of honor arrived we played games, ate lunch, snacked up cupcakes and watched her open her gifts. It was a nice afternoon just three weeks before her big day.

new car

My parents bought Maggie (and Chad) a new yellow sports car. Radio-controlled, of course. Initially Maggie preferred chasing it but eventually decided driving it would be pretty fun too. I see lots of RC car days in our future. 

Easter 2012

We had a nice Easter weekend at my parents' house. It was a short overnight trip, but we got to spend time with my parents, GG and our cousin Bailey and we all enjoyed ourselves. My mom organized a little egg hunt for Maggie, GG gave her a fuzzy Easter bunny, Bailey taught Maggie how to play the slots, my dad played quite a bit with Maggie and read her Corduroy, her newest favorite book, and Chad showed how limber he is by riding Maggie's trike after she pooped out at the park.

sledding

A couple weekends ago went spent the weekend at the cabin. That Saturday the weather was beautiful. We were able to take Maggie sledding (which she loved--especially going down hills by herself...yikes!) and she helped make snowballs and a snowman. We tried to find a great new hill for sledding, but it turns out the best one is in the empty lot next to the cabin. Go figure. 

bugs

Recently my mom bought Maggie a bug catcher. Maggie saw it in Michaels, had to have it, and, of course, who is my mom to say no to her? So off we went to find a bug to trap. It was harder than we thought it would be. The net worked well, we just couldn't find any bugs! So a few days later Chad and Maggie tried again. Maggie shouted, "here buggy buggy!" and eventually they caught an ant. Hooray! We gave the ant some fresh lettuce. As expected, unfortunately, the poor ant didn't last long. Needless to say we're going to hold off on pets for awhile.

Bird Feeders

A little over a week ago my parents took Maggie to the cabin for the night. One of the things they did with her was make peanut-butter-pine-cone-birdseed bird feeders. Apparently Maggie was more interested in eating the peanut butter than actually covering the pine cones (really though, can you blame her?). They brought the feeders back to our house and Maggie, Chad and I hung them together. She was more interested in doing that and now we can watch out our window for hungry little birds.

fun visit

Last week Maggie and I spent the day with my grandma (GG) and my mom. We went shopping, had lunch, and Maggie got to show GG some of her new and favorite toys. Always a good time when the four of us are together.

Holiday Baking

Last week my mom came up for the night so we could do our annual holiday baking. This year we made lemon cookies, ginger snaps, oatmeal bars and rocky road.

BBQ

The Tulare County Historical Society, an organization that my parents are heavily involved in, held their annual summer BBQ on last Sunday evening. Instead of hosting it on the museum grounds, this year we all went to a member's house for the fundraiser. She lives on a farm in the country with a huge area for tables, horses, musicians, a catering company, a dessert company (who made dutch oven peach cobbler on-site) and over 250 people. Maggie danced a bit, pet a horse, ran around, played with rocks, rode on a vintage toy horse (and subsequently smacked herself in the face with it and lightly busted her lip), met a handsome young cowboy, and looked cute in her little pink dress.

Grandparents Day

Sunday was Grandparents Day. Chad's station was co-sponsoring an event at the zoo that day so we decided to take my parents for the morning. It was a sprinkly, humid morning but we all had a nice time regardless. We fit in the bird show, made the rounds at the booth area, had lunch, and saw most of the animals at the zoo. Additionally Maggie fed a giraffe, skinned her knees (both knees, twice), gave money to a raven, and acted all cool like a pirate.

Boating

As I said last week, we rented a boat on Labor Day weekend. Maggie wasn't digging it for the first hour and we all wondered how long we were going to actually enjoy our time on the lake. After lunch, however, and after we took off her life jacket, her mood changed and she enjoyed herself. She also loved playing in the water so we made sure she got time to do that. The rest of, and the majority of, the afternoon on the boat was great.

Cabin

For Labor Day weekend we went to the cabin. It was nice to be back in the mountains for three nights--but this time with a kitchen, bed and shower. Ahhh. We relaxed, played darts, Scrabble, went to the swing, watched a movie and walked through a craft fair. On Sunday we rented a pontoon boat and spent the afternoon on Shaver Lake. More about the lake on the next post. Overall, a fun weekend. Hard to believe summer is almost over...

Wild Water Adventures

This month my mom, Maggie and I went to Wild Water Adventures twice. My dad came with us once. All summer my friends have been taking their kids there and I wasn't convinced it was an age-appropriate place to take Maggie. In high school (when it was called Clovis Lakes) I went a number of times and then Chad and I hit it up once pre-Maggie. I didn't remember it being particularly toddler-friendly. Wrong! The park has a huge section of water slides and play areas for the toddler and younger kid set, complete with a shallow 1-foot deep pool. Lots of squirty, bubbly, wet entertainment for the kids. To say that Maggie has a blast there is an understatement--I think right now it's her favorite place to be. Too bad her mom didn't realize this earlier in the summer...

Yosemite, part 2

While Chad was hiking to/from Half Dome, the rest of us explored Yosemite Valley. I took a billion photos of waterfalls and I'm not going to bore you with those, so here are a few of the people shots. It was a fun trip and we all had a great time.

Thrills

One morning in Park City we went to a recreation area called Park City Mountain Resort. There they have a carousel (which Maggie LOVED) and a couple things the rest of us loved: the Alpine Slide and the Alpine Coaster. If you ever find yourself in Park City in the summer: Go. On. Both. Rides. They were a blast! The Alpine Slide is like a water-slide without water and much much faster. The Alpine Coaster is a single-car, single-passenger coaster that goes 30 mph through the trees down the mountain. Oh my, so fun. Why can't we have something that awesome in California? Seriously.

Park City

About two weeks ago we flew to Park City, Utah for a vacation. We stayed in a condo in The Canyons and found that there is a lot of summertime stuff to do in the area. We made an attempt to fit a fair amount in and I'd say we did a good job of doing just that. The weather was great so that helped motivate us to get out and see the sights.

Church Party

Last weekend my parents' church (and my childhood church) celebrated its 50th anniversary. To honor the milestone the church held a carnival last Saturday with games, bounce houses, food and music. We had fun and Maggie did too.

In related news, this past year my dad has been busy researching the history, conducting member interviews, and writing the facts down in a book to give the church members for the big anniversary. My mom had a big hand in the book too--she designed the layout, typed the manuscript, and performed the final editing before sending it to print. It's a comprehensive, special book and members and leaders of the church are lucky to have such a well-documented published history.