Labor Day at the amusement park

Natalie and I went to the amusement park for Labor Day - sort of a "Last Hurray" of the summer. It was a great day:

The rides were great - these cars made Natalie smile - so cute...

We had a picnic lunch there:

This lunch is THIS good!

Natalie even wanted to ride on the horsies. She did great, much better than last year:

Look, Mommy!

We're two cool gals!

This should now end the series of "posts that should have been posted a couple of months ago"... Hopefully I'll get a couple of October / Halloween posts up before Christmas...

Company picnic 2010

My company had a picnic this August. It was a nice, warm summer day, perfect for being at the amusement park. Natalie was really impressed with the magician that did some kid's entertainment - of course, the icecream bar was a hit, too...

Hmm, how did he do that?

So much to see, what should we do next?

The ladybugs are awesome!

The playground was a big hit!

Daddy and Natalie, swinging together.

The helicopters are also great. Look-it, Mommy, we're going up and down!

The trainride was exiting...

Oh, we need to do the helicopters again, so Mommy can get a turn!

All in all, it was a great time.

The watch

Look who's got a new watch!!!

And it even has Dora The Explorer on it.

Now, we just have to teach Natalie how to tell time...

(Picture from August 12th)

Daycare summer party

Daycare had their yearly summer party in August. This year, it had a carnival theme, complete with lots of carnival games:

Toss the ball and make the cans fall!

Bean bag toss, of course!

And a great photo op...

Hmm, that's a tough choice...

...I think I'd like THAT one...

... Right here on my leg

Of course, there was icecream.

And Natalie got a chance to be inside a giant soap bubble!

But the best part - there was music. And of course, music is for dancing!

Party time is dancing time!

You see, Natalie can dance any time, anywhere, and be completely in her own world:

Playing school?

When it'll be time to go to school, this girl is ready:

She needs at least two backpacks to carry all her knowledge...

This picture is from early August, perfect time for school start - though it will be another year before she starts 4K...

You know fall is coming when...

... you have to dress up like this to go for a walk:

Brr...

And this picture was taken on September fourth...

More outside playtime

Here are a few pictures from one of the last days that Grandma was here. Both Grandma and myself were trying to take pictures of Natalie - who, of course, doesn't stand still for long...

I'll run this way now, away from the camera...

I did get a few shots in, though, like this one:

 Look, Mommy, a dandelion...

This concludes the series of posts from the time when Grandma was here. We'll now return to the regular scheduled program of posts I didnt' get around to posting when they were in season...

Inside playtime

While we did spend a lot of time outside, we also had time to play inside with Grandma.

Natalie and Grandma got along great:

Natalie reading a book for Grandma.

Being silly and playing with Ms. Potatohead.

And of course, a current favorite: Dress-up!

Peek-a-boo...

Dressing up is fun!

Fast food

While Grandma was here, we went to a fast food restaurant - something we don't do very often. Natalie didn't really care for the food - yay for healthy eating habits, or maybe she just wasn't too hungry that day... Anyway, she did like the playland a lot:

Look, Mommy, I'm inside the tractor!

And of course, Natalie wanted to sit next to her new best friend:

Say cheese!

A rainy day

We had some rain while Grandma was here. But that was okay, because it made for some great puddles to play in:

Mixing it up a bit...

Vroom, vroom, here comes the truck!

The picnic

When Grandma was here, we played a lot outside. One evening, Natalie decided we should have a picnic.

So she went inside to get the blanket:

Blanket-monster!

She also got snacks for us, and plates, and water to drink, and "friends" (stuffed animals) for us to share.

After the picnic she was bringing the friends inside again, and she thought it was the funniest thing that her elephant got stuck to the bottom of the umbrella:

 Hang on, elephant!

I took the chance to take some portrait-like pictures of Natalie. I got a lot of different ones. Some where she looks thoughtful:

Hmm, I wonder...

And some where she was just having a blast:

That's silly!

But here's my new favorite:

This is Natalie.

At the park

Natalie, Grandma, and myself spent a great day together. Even though the rain was threatening to come in, we still went to the park. It was a really great time:



Ready for adventure!

It rained for maybe five minutes, and we just waited it out under a tree.

Afterwards, we went for a "bike-ride": 

It's always nice to get a little push...

Some of the paths lead us down towards the river:

Enjoying the view

More Grandma stories and pictures to follow...

Hi, Grandma!

And the reason for blogging so little lately: Grandma came to visit!

We spent two weeks having a great time together.

So instead of blogging, we spent the evenings drinking cofee and hanging out. It made for a lot of pictures, though, which I'm sure you'll see over the next many days...

Just hanging out

Grandma can always make Natalie laugh



Natalie loved having someone to push her on the swings!

To be continued...

She's an American girl

The Pledge of Allegiance!

The best day ever...

Things we didn’t do today:

- We didn’t go anywhere, even though we had sort of planned to go “somewhere fun”
- We didn’t go outside except for a few minutes after it was already dark
- We didn’t hurry with anything
- We didn’t spend much time cooking or cleaning

Things we did today:

- Had a jammie day.
- Watched Miss Spider for breakfast, Natalie sitting in my lap.
- Played “mailbox” – a game where toys were put in the mailbox which was the part between the ballpit and the slide
- Had "circle time", where Natalie read a lot of books to me
- Made a mess in the living room with toys all over the place
- Watched a good part of Frosty the Snowman
- Changed bedlinen while dressed up as Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf
- Played hide and seek
- Played games on the computer (Freshbeat band, Max and Ruby, Go Diego Go, etc.)
- Danced
- Played baseball while watching the stars and the airplanes, and talking about planets

In other words, this was just a lazy Sunday, with nothing special at all to talk about. We just relaxed and enjoyed being home.

At nighttime, after I finished flossing Natalie’s teeth, she padded me on the arm. I asked her why she was doing that, and she said “I want to tell you something”. She reached up, put an arm around my neck, pulled me tight, and whispered in my ear ”I love you”. I gave her a big hug and whispered in her ear “I love you too”. She pulled me tight again and whispered “Even when you get mad at me, I still love you”. I confirmed the same back to her. Then, she pulled me in one more time, whispering “I will love you forever and ever, with all my heart, and all the way up to the sky”.

I’m pretty sure this counts as one of the best days ever.