ducks galore

We started off the day with Mia's first swimming class of the Summer session. She has a great new teacher, Chantal, and some very fun mates. A Sydney from her Little Gym class was there, too. I like that they continue where they left off if they were in a previous session. There two new kids, who were beginners, Mia who was under the water for 3 full seconds ( we actually count 'one thousand one, one thousand two...slowly) because this is her second session, and a little girl that had taken the previous two sessions who could go under for 9 seconds! These kids are all under 2 years old!!! There were the usual fun games and stations. A great start for the Summer! There was this little boy, maybe about 4 years old, who was taking swim classes for the first time in the section of the pool next to us. He had a VERY hard time...crying the whole time. The instructors were great...didn't force or anything. I overheard his mom saying later that she wished she'd put him in classes when he was younger. Poor kid, poor mama.

Then Mia and I took Daddy out for lunch. He hasn't been feeling well this week, so it was wonderful to add some sunshine to his day, and to ours :) After dropping him off, we went in search of some elusive OTC medicine that he hasn't been able to find. Jackpot! Along with more ducks, bubbles and a piano! Like I said, Jackpot!! We quickly zoomed back to the office to drop of the medicine and got more kisses from the Daddy.

After a good hard nap, Mia played with her ducks and piano...at the same time :)

Oh, last night, Mia was apparently too hungry to wait for dinner. While I was cooking, she was caught red handed as she snuck into Niles' dog food bag, and ate some tasty morsels. I can't say much...I ate cat food when I was a kid and Daryl ate some rolly polly bugs and some other 'creative' stuff :)

not so stealth pantry sneaker

willing to share dog food

on second thought

digging her piano

a phone AND a duck!!

check out the technique

gotta wear ducky shades

one of her MANY ducks wears shades, too

Party at the Little Gym

Today was the last day of this session, so we had a party and Daddy's (and others) were invited! We did our regular cool stuff to show off for Daddy. This was his first time EVER to come, so it was extra special. He participated quite a bit. Mia and Daddy warmed up with the class then did wheelbarrows (um, he needs to practice). It was nice and very surreal to have him there. I guess he'd feel like that if we sat in on one of his meetings at the office :) Then there was an awards ceremony at the end. The kids went up when their names were called, and received a class picture and a ribbon from Miss Monica!

Good times with Daddy

Need to work on your wheelbarrow, Daddy

Mia's straddle roll

up and over!

ribbon ceremony with Miss Monica

Memorable Memorial Weekend

It started Saturday when Daryl, Mia and I headed out to Nana & Pa Pa's house. Mia was having another sleepover. She really enjoys her time out there with them, and she's building such amazing memories. After Mia was all settled, Daryl and I went out to dinner. Afterwards, we contemplated having a big night on the town, but opted to go home and snuggle :)

Sunday, Joe, Melissa & Gwen were very gracious and had us over for lunch. We meet up with the gang from Dripping Springs...including Mia. She had so much fun climbing up and down the stairs, dancing and spinning like a top. Apparently she learned some new dance moves from her Nana & Pa Pa the night before. Ok, let me tell you about Gwen. She's AMAZING! She was sitting and parallel playing with Mia. Mia is VERY aware that Gwen is off limits, so it was up to Gwen to make the first move. Speaking of moving, Gwen is on the move with her army crawling. She'll set her eyes on something and wiggle till she gets it. Melissa brought out some balls for the girls to play with. That was a hit. The absolute best moment of the whole day (even better than beating Joe at pool!) was when Gwen, standing with her Mama, reached out to me, took my fingers in her hands and walk towards me with a bright, big, beautiful smile on her face. It truly was a magical moment. She got a little wobbly, so I promptly returned the sweetie back to Melissa. It was the best day :)

Yesterday, Memorial Day, Daryl only worked half a day! We took dinner over to a friend that had her 2nd baby last week. Her little boy, Jack, was so little. I forgot how little they come. It was time for him to eat, so I skedaddled out of there. Then the crew hopped over to the Higbee's for dinner and fun. Mia and Livie play so well together. They sat and read books, played with balls...yes, balls are that great, Suzy broke out the blocks, and I read to the girls. Livie fell in love with Mia's shoes and actually managed to put them on and prance around. It was so nice to sit around and be lazy with friends. We had to lay around because Suzy carb loaded us with her homemade bread bowl filled with spinach dip! :) The girls pretty much called it a night night at the same time, so we packed up the Snapper and headed home, exhausted.

So, when's the next Holiday?!?!

Sunday

Mia & Gwen take turns with their Nana

Mia's ready for action

so is Gwen

Thanks, Daddy

Gwen walks!!!

Gwen & Mia play while Unca Joe spots 'em

Some family video

Memorial DayMia & Livie building together

Keith supervises construction

Livie walks in Mia's shoes

Story time.... The End

Hangin' at Mia's Crib

Friday, the Bell & the Bug came over to visit the Snapper. They also brought along their Mamas to visit me :) It'd been a while since the girls came over here, and since we had so much fun, I'm sure they'll be back before ya know it.

First off, Isabel was stylin' with her A-line retro dress, peach sweater and cowgirl hat. Didn't get a decent pic that would do this outfit justice. We all talked about how the cutest shoes stop at size 4. What's up with that?!?! Livi had on some green sneaks that I would love to have for myself...a little bigger, though.

From fashion we hit food. I must say I had a pretty good spread of broccoli & cheese bites, bean & cheese rolls and fresh fruit for the little ones. Us big girls had some little pesto, tomato & feta pizzas and a brie & apple pastry that was soooo yummy. Ok, we had some of the kid food, too.

It was so nice to sit and talk while the girls played. They play so very well together. Everything was calm until Isabel and Livie decided it was time to take turns screaming. It scared the fire out of me. Ask Lori or Sarah about the freaked out face I made when Isabel let out her first high pitched squeal right behind me. Mia and I just looked at each other, not knowing what to think :) Then off to Mia's room to play. Isabel and Livie jumped in Mia's crib laughing and squealing while Mia snuggled with Sarah, eating Isabel's O's (like cheerios, but way healthier and probably organic)

When it was nap time and everyone was gathering their things, girls, girl's things...Mia sat in my arms waving and saying 'bye bye' like she was a Homecoming Queen. Poor Isabel left her cool hat behind, and Sarah was sweet enough to get another for Isabel and let Mia have the other. Yay! Another hat!!! Thanks so much Sarah and Isabel!!!

Close your eyes

Lucky Lori

Lunch Time

Sippy cup envy

Fashonista

Buddies

The Bell reads

Mellow Livie

Not so mellow Livie

Trip Part III ~ The Finale

Daryl & I woke up last Sunday morning in my old room, in my old house...it was a little surreal, but very nice. We took our time snuggling and getting ready for the day before heading downstairs. It was Uelita's watch and we knew all was well with the Snapper.

When we did finally make it downstairs, they were GONE! What was there was a little post-it indicating they had gone to El Patos's in search of breakfast tacos. Never heard of El Pato? It's a local owned restaurant chain that has the BEST fast food Mexican in the world. Taco Cabana actually 'tried' to make it down here, they were all packed up and gone within one year. I could pay homage to El Pato all day...maybe I'll make a list of Must Hits When You're in The Valley type thing...I'll do just that as soon as I have some free time... :)

Daryl and I lounged in the garden room waiting for our Snapper. Then we saw her as she came through the garden gate. It took her a while to see us, but then she quietly mouthed 'Mama' and hurried towards me as fast as her short chubby legs could take her. We all snuggled and ate. Mia spent some time on her uelita's lap playing Yankee Doodle (their favorite game...it's only theirs..I don't do it at home) Then I showed Mom how to work the digital camera, upload and share pics. We gave her our old one, 'cuz we got our fabulous new one. Her 'new' camera is about 4 years old, but it's easy to use, and takes some pretty decent pics.

On our way out, we gave Mia a chance to explore her uelita's stairs. She flew up them, but wasn't sure how to get down. She very capable of coming down 'feet first'. That's on her tummy and, well, feet first. But, no, Mia wanted to be brave and prove to everyone that she wasn't a baby any more and she wanted to WALK down! Let me tell ya a little something about these stairs. They aren't regular normal stairs. The steps are tall and steep, tops are narrow..you pretty much have to go up on the ball of your foot, bc the steps aren't wide enough for your whole foot, much less wide enough for a Snapper butt. I taught her how to come down by bouncing on her butt, but then realized there wasn't enough room for her feet and then her butt when it hit that step, so to much of Mia's dismay, I had to unteach the butt bouncing and retrain in the feet first form. Wow she can be stubborn. Oh, one more thing, the banister rails aren't on every step...try every OTHER step. There was easily enough room for Mia to side back and fall through. So, feet first, towards the left side was my goal. After a couple of maneuvers that made my mom make strange noises and throw her hands up in the air while scurrying to the kitchen while saying something like 'not on MY watch is that little girl going to hurt herself', Mia got it and we were able to finish with the stairs on a good note.

Then we packed up, gave hugs and kisses, and pointed our car to the North. Mia was in actually very good spirits all the way home and was very happy to see her room, stuff, crib...when we got here.

Just wanting to WALK down the stairs!

Mia with Raquel

Yankee Doodle

more kid stuff

The other day...very behind in blogging...we hit Little Gym (rolls, bubbles & stuff) & then the park for a playdate (hung out with Esther & Noa, Melissa & Gwen and very friendly little squirrel). We really don't have trees in our back yard, so Mia's never seen a squirrel..shocking, I know! Well, there was a cute one at the park that wanted to play with Mia. Mia didn't know what he was, and her only point of reference was a cat. She she called him a 'mow'. Not mow like to mow your yard. Meow, but drop the 'e'. Toooooo cute!

We BBQ'd the other night, and while waiting we played with sidewalk chalk. Here's what came of that & some other pics from that day:

in Daddy's hands

So many slides....so little time

1st squirrel...up close & personal

on the balance beam...that's how she rolls (with her Miss Monica)

never tired of bubbles

have one helicopter propeller available (we were spinning)

This is THE Secret Garden

Mom's been working hard on Mia's Secret Garden since she found out we were preggers. It's funny how you have to wait sometimes for things to grow. She's been patient and loving with all aspects of design. As my mom has told me, this is a work in progress, (taller plants here, needs to move something there...)but I think that if she stops here, it'd be perfect. Her vision, I'm sure, will be even more amazing once it comes to full fruition. But still, it's magical.

Let me start by saying that her back yard is divided into two parts by a garden room that I'm sure you've seen in pics. The garden room comes out into the garden from the house like a peninsula and has 3 sides of floor to almost ceiling windows. It's the room with the blue & white sofas. Anyway, she has an East garden. Here, is where she has her brick patio, and tons of space to run around under trees. The other side is the West garden which has become Mia's Secret Garden. There are lush ferns, a huge pecan tree.... Mom has made some meandering trails to to walk leisurely through and stop and smell the ...everything :)

She has little figurines and fun things hidden amongst the flora and fauna. A sweet little white wrought iron table and chair set, perfect for Mia to have her snack. There are little areas for listening to wind chimes, places to pot plants and play in dirt, an area with natural wood instruments... There's even the old Radio Flyer Mae and I used when we were kids. Since then, mom's made good use of it buy hauling mulch around.

Mom also put in a couple of little ponds with fountains that are solar powered. She hooked us up with one. We just need to get it together. I love the many bird baths and bird houses she has...only one vacancy!

Show me your world, uelita

The good ole Radio Flyer

Smart Abuelitas use a found spark plug for pegs







Feed me x 2

back from getting tacos ~ just saw her Mama and is making a beeline towards me :)

what a succulent wreath

following her Daddy on the East side

sneaking away...Daddy underestimates her sneakiness