Patriotic Lucy

This has been a wonderful Memorial Day weekend. The weather was great all weekend, which we found pretty amusing since it seemed to rain most of the weekend when we used to go to the beach. Anyway, we enjoyed the sun and great breezes all weekend long. On Saturday we went to a party in the neighborhood at the Freehart's house. It seemed like the whole neighborhood was there - what fun! Lucy loved playing with the kids and was quite wet between the sprinkler and kiddie pool. She was still nervous about the bounce house, one of these days she will be excited about it.

On Sunday we headed over to Chrissie and Frank Davis' new house. Lucy was excited to see Aubrianna, but a little shy with all the new people there, so she spent most of the time with us. The kids all got to plant a flower in their own pot and take it home. It was a celebration for Aubrianna's birthday too - so there were plenty of games and fun treats for Lulu to enjoy.

Today was more low key. Much of the day was spent outside on the patio, which was nice and relaxing. Lucy played with her sandbox, her slide, her house and got wet in the kiddie pool. She was busy watering plants and hopping around her new hula hoops. What a fun day!

Here are a few pictures of Lucy donning her patriotic dresses to celebrate the day properly. Though she doesn't yet know the significance of the Memorial Day, she can still get in the spirit and pay homage to our flag in style!

Making Honey

I usually leave for work in the morning before Lucy & Brian leave. If she gets upset that I am going, Brian tells her that "Momma has to go to work to make money for her honey." Tonight, as we passed by office building on the way home, Lucy said "Momma works there." I asked if she knew what I did at work. Her response: "Momma makes honey for ME!" So cute. Glad she knows that I am a busy bee at work.

Lucy and Creatures of the Night

We went to the Delaware Museum of Natural History earlier today to see the new Nature Nook and the Bats and Other Creatures of the Night exhibit. Lucy got to make some crafts - a clothespin bat and a possum stick puppet. We all checked out the fun new things in the Nature Nook. Lucy sat in an Eagle's Nest with a momma and baby eagle. She got to pet a real live snake and turtle! They also have a cool cave that you can carry lanterns in as you enter. Lucy was a little nervous about this cave (as you can tell from the pictures). She didn't really want to join me, but we coaxed her into it. I thought it was cool though. Lucy also saw a hissing cockroach, small dragon, toad and a tarantula. Luckily, these were out of their cages for petting. What a fun outing for Halloween weekend!

Lucy Girl Tid-Bits

Lucy has a really cute and funny personality. She is vibrant and full of energy - and so much fun to watch! Lucy now understands a little about smiling for the camera. If the spirit moves her she will look at you when you are taking a picture and say "cheese." The end result is the, and I have no other word to describe it, cheesy grin you see in this picture. So funny.

As toddlers typically are (at least that is what I keep reading), Lucy is quite particular about things. She does not like it if Brian sits in my seat at the table, or vice-versa, and she is sure to remind us where we are supposed to sit... Momma's seat! Daddy sit right here, said while pointing to Brian's regular seat. Trying to explain that the chairs aren't really assigned is completely lost on a 22 month old...

One day when we were getting ready to leave the house, I told Lucy she was cute. Her response: Momma's cute too. So sweet!

Lucy has become quite talkative now that she has a sufficient vocabulary to share what she is thinking. She loves to say It's right there, we don't always know what it is, so this often results in a guessing game where we guess until we get it right. The other day when I picked Lucy up from school she used this famous line while pointing to her pocket. I assumed she was showing me her pocket and letting me know about "it." Ms. Debbie then mentioned (luckily!) that I should be careful with her shirt because of all the rocks in her pocket. I then peer into this little shirt pocket and find at least twenty little stones! Apparently, Lucy enjoys collecting rockies when the children are outside playing. We gave the stones back to Ms. Debbie for next time. Lucy seemed reasonable to Lucy.

As we leave Bright Horizons and on the way home I always ask Lucy about her day. I usually get vague answers or just yes and no responses. When I picked Lucy up from school today we had a real conversation! She was wearing a different shirt than this morning. I asked her what happened to her shirt. Her response: yogurt on shirt, lee lee shirt off. So I confirmed what I thought she was telling me - You got yogurt on your shirt and Miss LeeLee changed it? Yes, that was it. If there was any doubt remaining, it disappeared when I pulled the yogurt covered shirt out of the bag when we got home. I am so excited to have gotten such a great response to my question! Lucy sure has grown!

Viva Las Vegas!

I was lucky enough to enjoy a fun get-away to Las Vegas with my mom. It is really an amazing place - no where else quite like it! This was the first time that I have left Lucy for so many days (early Saturday morning through late Wednesday evening), so I was a little worried about how I would do. Knowing Lucy was with Brian made all the difference though and I was able to just relax and have fun!

We gambled, of course, my mom a bit more than me. I did win a little our last day at Planet Hollywood and Harrah's, so I went home not too far down from what I brought with me. That was nice. We saw two great shows - Rita Rudner and The Legends show at Harrah's. Legends is really neat because they have impersonators on stage performing as great singers while they show real concert footage and videos of the actual performer. It was great - especially "Michael Jackson!"

The food was wonderful - we went to several buffets so got to choose from so many things. Everyplace had sushi - which I enjoyed. We also went to Paris and up the Eiffel Tower. There are two pictures below from the tower. One is of The Flamingo - our hotel & casino, as well as the first in Vegas - and the rest of the view of the strip from that angle. The other is the hotel at Paris.

I was completely in awe of the Bellagio and, especially, the fountain. It is quite amazing. I could have just watched the fountain shows over and over again. I guess I sort of did. Our room overlooked the fountains. I would turn the lights off during the night shows to enjoy the full effect. It was awesome! There is a picture below of the fountain during the day. There are also pictures from the Bellagio's conservatory, one with my mom & me, the other of the glass flower ceiling. Quite impressive. I must say, the Bellagio was the most luxurious and extravagant of the casinos we visited.

We also went to the spa. I was lucky enough to get treated to a massage, thanks to my mom, and enjoy the calm soothing atmosphere.

I did talk to Brian & Lucy every day. For those of you who have tried to carry on a phone conversation with a 21 month old, I am sure you know it is quite unsatisfying. I was glad to hear that Lucy really enjoyed her bonding time with Daddy. They did lots of fun things and got to play together much more than they generally do. I think it was great for both of them.

Brian & Lucy came to pick me up at the airport. They met us on the sky bridge between the terminal and baggage claim. Lucy was so cute walking toward me carrying a bouquet of flowers almost as big as she was! It was so nice to see my Lucy girl after being away from her for so long. I am glad I didn't drive myself to the airport.

Thanks mom for a wonderful trip!

All the World is a Playground!

We are so lucky to have such a happy little girl in our lives! Lucy is full of smiles and squeals and she makes us laugh all the time. Some of the cute things Lucy has been up to include:

1. Lucy likes to re-arrange all of our small rugs. This includes the rugs at the front door and in the laundry room, as well as, the mat in front of our kitchen sink. Lucy will drag these rugs around and either bring all of them into the kitchen or trade their places. When she is finished she sits on one with a very satisfied look on her face. Sometimes she will even lay down and pretend to take a nap on one of the rugs.

2. Lucy is really starting to enjoy playing with her baby dolls. She will place them tummy side down on the steps in the hallway and pat them on the back saying "night night" to each of them. I'm not really sure why they sleep on the stairs, I guess they must remind Lucy of her toddler bed, or maybe she just doesn't know where else to put them.

3. Lucy is very brave. Miss Lily at school writes this on her report almost every Tuesday (sprinkler day). We see this all the time when Lucy is running around and playing. If she falls, she usually just gets up, brushes herself off and continues playing. What a little tomboy! Lucy loves slides, so we recently took her to the playground down the street. She enjoyed all the slides, and even went down a few that I was afraid might be too high. She didn't seem to mind one bit though. Lucy even tried out the balance beam with a little help from her Daddy. Here are some pictures of our playground fun. Enjoy!

Lucy's Adventure in Dutch Wonderland

Uncle Bill, Aunt Amy & Quinn came to visit from Tampa. The girls had a great time playing with each other. They seemed to really enjoy running through the house, having tea parties and laughing together. We were glad to get some quality time with all three of them. Last Sunday we all went to see Aunt Amy, Uncle Paul, Zoe and Ella (Nana was there too!) to celebrate Aunt Amy's birthday. Monday we had a lazy day and a nice visit with Nana.

Tuesday was extra fun because we had an adventure in Dutch Wonderland! The girls had a great time. Quinn was very excited about the rides and she was very brave. Lucy was a little leery, which surprised me since she was all about the rides when we went to Magic Kingdom. She did go down the big slide with me, ride the airplane, spin in the turtle-a-whirl, float in the log boat and ride both the monorail and train.

Of course, my little water baby was all about the water park! Quinn loved it too. We got a bunch of great pictures. I have a lot here - probably too many - but it was so hard to choose which ones to share.

We are already looking forward to our next visit with Quinn and her daddy and mommy!

Quinn driving a motor car with Daddy

Lucy, Quinn and their two mommas on the big slide
Hi Kenzie and Amy!
Kenzie and Lucy are all ready for the turtle-a-whirl to start moving
Quinn is loving the water park!

Lucy loves the water park too - especially the slides!

Something is very funny...

Here are a couple of pictures of Quinn at our house - what a cutie pie!

Now Quinn thinks something is very funny...

Reading Time

Lucy loves books! (She gets that from me...) Lucy has a sling book shelf that clearly displays her books and they are easy for her to see pull one out. When Lucy is ready to hear a story, she will select a book, carry it over to me and hand it to me. Then Lucy climbs into my lap and turns herself around, sits down and she is ready for the story! Now mind you, sometimes we speed read the book because Lucy likes to turn the pages all by herself. I was especially excited this past Sunday. Nana Kathy was visiting us and Lucy was getting books for Nana to read. I suggested she get "One Duck Stuck." She went right to the shelf and got the exact right book. What a smart little girl! I hope this is just the start of years of bonding over wonderful stories!