ball game

believe it or not, we have a minor league baseball team in town. last night was dollar admission so we took susannah out for her first game. she had a great time seeing all the sights and cheering with the fans. we lasted about two innings (long enough to see our team hit a home run) and made it home just an hour late for curfew (bedtime). the luxury of small town living . . .

maine highlights . . .

many nights of beautiful sunsets

time with grampy

and mimi

wearing her life jacket - even when she didn't need to : )

hanging out with new friend, beanie

boat ride

another Maine highlight . . . taking a boat ride to go pick up lobsters for dinner - yum!

Picnic in Maine

One of the highlights of our time in maine was going out to a picnic on an island. This has been a favorite summer activity all my life, so it was great fun to see susannah enjoying herself - eating hotdogs, playing in the tidal pools and swimming in the ocean.

visit with auntie

Aunt Michele came to visit in early July and boy did we have fun. Michele is an amazing cook and the Fresh Market happens to be one of her favorite places to shop - so every time she comes to Roanoke, she cooks us a wonderful meal. Here she is shopping with Susannah.

the swimmer

susannah has become quite the swimmer this summer. she loves the water and has even started jumping independently from the side of the pool. She would love to go off the diving board, but I think we'll save that one for next year.

dress-up

Susannah discovered some of her cousin's hand-me-down dress up clothes that were put away in her "big girl" room. Here she is dressed as Tinkerbell (she's not allowed to be cinderella until she is at least 3 years old!).

She found her halloween costume as we were cleaning out her old room and insisted on putting it on - despite the 90 degree weather.

fun in the sprinkler

going BPA Free

I just spent this morning at Toys R Us swapping out old baby bottles. With all the recent attention to the dangers of BPA in plastics, it might be worth the research to see if your child's bottles, sippy cups, pacifiers etc. are considered safe. there are a number of blogs on the topic, but I found the most accessible reference to be http://safemama.com/. This site provides lists of BPA free products.

Also worth noting is that Toys R Us and Babies R Us will take any bottles/sippy cups/eating utensils (they must carry the item to accept it) that contain BPA and let you pick out BPA free products up to the value of what you brought in. You do not need a receipt, and it does not matter how used the items are. If you decide to do this I would recommend calling first to be sure your store is participating.

saturday fun

we finally decided to get susannah a sandbox - and a peace has settled on our flower gardens - at least for the moment. she has focused all of her outdoor energy on transferring as much sand from the box to other parts of the yard. she has actually created a small beach in one spot.



another favorite outdoor activity is swimming. susannah woke up at 5:53 this morning and asked to go to the pool. How do you help a toddler understand that the pool doesn't open until 11:00? whoever decided that 11am is a good time for a pool to open, obviously doesn't have a toddler. needless to say, the pool is keeping us sane and cool in this crazy hot weather.

Icecream

on saturday we took susannah out for her first icecream cone. it was 96 degrees at 6:30 when we went! This first picture is susannah qualifying for her free baby cone and the rest speak for themselves. the cones melted fast, but we were all very satisfied customers.

making muffins

yesterday, susannah helped me make muffins. we decided on bran, which would make a healthy snack. don't worry about little hands getting caught in the mixer - it is unplugged and there is plenty of supervision during the actual mixing.


one of the requirements for being a toddler is that you have to touch EVERYTHING.

and taste . . .

having a snack so that mom can actually get something done (and add the eggs)

cleaning up.

all in all it was a good experience and we both learned a lot - including that susannah doesn't need anymore fiber in her diet. I will spare you the story. . .

another great saturday

Susie's Scoops - susannah likes to sell icecream at the park down the street. It is so good, but not filling, so you can eat lots of it!


we spent a good part of the day working on the house - there is always stuff to be done. one of the great benefits of toddlerhood is that they like to do whatever mom and dad are doing. here are some pictures of susannah helping out with cleaning the front porch.

a perfect saturday

this past saturday was a delightful day of doing things we love as a family. we started the day walking to our local coffee shop and getting coffee and muffins to take to the park. susannah loved this first picture of the car parked outside the coffee shop with the dog "driving."


next, we hung out at a local park and watched the start of the 5K race that was going through our neighborhood. susannah cheered the runners on, but then got back to the busy toddler business of play. like a good mommy, she let baby have the first turn on the slide.

then, she had her turns - many of them! she has overcome her fear of slides : )

enjoying the beautiful day, crisp breeze and beauty all around.

a perfect saturday . . . continued

grimes finished my mother's day present - a beautiful, hand-crafted adirondack chair! I just love that one of his hobbies is woodworking as we are slowing building a collection of family heirlooms. grimes reminds me that this is lawn furniture and not of heirloom quality, but I am blessed and impressed nonetheless!



looks like I have a little competition for my new chair - susannah likes it too! She actually helped grimes make it. I went outside one evening and she was holding her own piece of sandpaper and sanding alongside daddy. I love seeing her fondness for working alongside daddy as it brings back happy memories from my own childhood.

later in the afternoon we went out to the nursery to pick out some flowers and planted our window boxes - and various other projects around the yard.

and lastly, susannah enjoying her swing.