Fifty Weeks

Kate is much more confident standing now.  She is constantly pulling herself up, and nothing is safe on low tables or shelves anymore.

She has started to play peek-a-boo.  It looks a lot like blowing kisses, although sometimes she puts her hands over her eyes instead of her mouth, and she says something that sounds like peek-a-boo (kind of sounds like "pa boo").  I have tried and tried to capture it on video, but as soon as she sees the video camera, she tries to grab it and climb on me.

Katelyn has become very interested in Reagan's baby dolls the past few days.  She likes to point to their eyes, noses, and mouths.

Buttonwood Park Zoo

I love the Buttonwood Park Zoo.  It is the perfect size for very young children, and Mondays are extra special because the Toe Jam Puppet Band performs.

Today was Katelyn's first zoo visit.  She stared at the animals, but did not really seem to care much about them.  She LOVED riding the train though.

She also enjoyed watching Collin and Reagan ride the carousel.

Reagan always loves to milk the fake cow!

Collin couldn't resist trying it himself.

I don't usually take pictures of the animals because no one really wants to look at them, but the zoo has baby beavers right now and they were so sweet.

We watched some of the Toe Jam Puppet Band performance, but it was so hot without any shade in that area, that we decided to leave a little early.

Collin has a soft pretzel or a piece of popcorn in his mouth!

It was a fun trip to the zoo!

The Neves' Annual Cookout

Yesterday, we went to the Neves' cookout.  I think this is our third year celebrating the end of summer with the Neves.  I didn't bring my camera, but Collin and Reagan had so much fun that I wanted to capture a few moments with my cell phone.

This is the view from their house; it is beautiful.

Collin and Reagan spent a lot of time collecting little treasures.  Unfortunately, they forgot to take their treasures when we left.  At least we got pictures.

This is Reagan's collection.

Collin collected a lot of lobster pieces!  I think those hands and feet in the corner belong to Uncle Jimmy.

The best part of the day for Collin and Reagan was definitely the annual boat ride.  They always get to drive a little, and they love going fast.  They went on the boat with Dad and Mike Neves, Jr.  

Tyler didn't come this year because he had a cold and decided to stay home and rest.  Katelyn was there, but I didn't really get any pictures of her.  She was very good the whole day.  Everyone had a great time.

Summer Days

Summer is winding down.  Tyler started football practice, Collin and Reagan had their last tennis lesson, and soccer season is underway.

We spent a good amount of time this week just relaxing.

Collin had $105 in gift cards for Toys R Us, so we went there this week.

He bought Ninjago Lego sets (and of course, he assembled them immediately) and gave Reagan $25 to spend on whatever she wanted.  He did that on his own; I thought it was sweet.  She bought a penguin.

We made solar oven s'mores this week.  Instead of traditional s'mores, we made ours with peanut butter cups and peppermint patties.

We all preferred the peanut butter cup s'mores and thought about trying Rolo or Milky Way s'mores someday.  We also decided that we all prefer classic s'mores over any other variety.

Collin and Reagan went mini golfing with Grandma.

They got ice cream/popsicles from the ice cream truck three times!

Finally, Collin had his first soccer game of the season.  What a difference a year makes; he did great out there!

Forty-nine Weeks

Kate doesn't have a toy phone, but she likes to take other little toys, household items, even articles of clothing like socks and hold them up to her ear and babble.  It makes me laugh out loud every time I see her do it.

"Can I get a little privacy here, I am on an important call!"

"I'm standing and it's scary!"

Kate has started to pull up more.  Just a few days ago she would cry every time she realized she was standing, but she is a little more confident now and doesn't cry as much.  She is very unstable though, and I constantly worry about her banging her teeth. 

Kate says "uh oh" now and I can't help but laugh every time.  She says it when she throws something to the floor or when she steals my sunglasses.  

Kate is still a very happy nurser.  When I thought about her nursing schedule this morning, I realized that I should probably stop nursing on demand.  The other three children did not nurse as frequently as Kate at this age and I have definitely been relying on nursing to soothe Kate.  So, I am cutting back on the frequency of nursing sessions.  Kate is a great eater, so it should not be too much of a problem.  My goal for now is to nurse four times a day (morning, early afternoon, dinner time, and bedtime).  I think weaning will be harder on me than it will be on Kate.  

Disney World 1974

I found some old pictures of me in Disney World when I was about a year and a half.  

That is my mother holding me in front of Cinderella's castle.

Here I am with my father and some odd orange head character.

I am the blonde!  The other three children are my cousins - Jeffrey, Jill, and Sandra.

I am not in this picture.  Goofy is covering my grandmother's mouth.

I love old pictures like this.  I thought my kids would get a kick out of seeing me as a tot, but they were more intrigued by the pictures of my parents - "Ha ha, Papa has long hair!"

Our Week in Pictures

Collin spent another week (9-3 Monday through Friday) at the Audubon Society for Nature Detectives Camp.  It was similar to the last camp - a lot of hiking, learning about nature and animals, and a few crafts.

Collin made a leaf print tee shirt during his last camp, so he asked the director if he could make one for Katelyn this time - the director was nice enough to let Collin make two shirts.  Collin was so happy!

Collin made another melted crayon wax candle.  I love this one.  

He attached felt handles to the other side of this butterfly.

I made Daphne Oz's coconut milk fudgsicles earlier this week, and I am the only one who likes them!  I have been happily enjoying one each afternoon - they are ALL MINE - ha ha haha ha!

Collin's face says it all - this is gross, Mom!  Reagan said she liked it, but she only had a few licks before she covered it and left it in the freezer where it still sits days later.

 Miranda came over to play with Reagan on Tuesday, and they made melted bead sun catchers.

Reagan gave one of hers to Ellie next door, so she has completed her goal of doing something nice for a neighbor.

Collin and Reagan had a tennis lesson this morning, and Tyler came with us.  I wish we had Tyler there every week - he was a huge help teaching the lesson and a REALLY HUGE help picking up all of the tennis balls at the end of the lesson.  

We weren't even going to go to tennis this morning because Collin had camp at 9 (tennis is at 8), but we started and finished tennis a little early to make it to camp on time.  I am so happy we went.

Tyler has a tennis tournament tomorrow morning and we all plan on going.  I will try to post pictures tomorrow.

This was one of those weeks that I seemed to be driving someone somewhere constantly.  On paper, it doesn't look like I overscheduled any one of the kids this summer, but collectively they have been SO busy that I feel like all I have done is drive all summer.  I am happy that the next few weeks are not as hectic so that we can spend some time relaxing (ha, like I do that) at the pool and enjoying the end of summer.