Walkin'

Yes, finally improvement!

The Intellectual and The Crybaby

Family Vacation!

I just got home today after a three day trip up into Michigan. The whole family trekked up to Saugatuck, Michigan for a little escape!

Here is me packed into the car. Since Obi was along too, the back was empty for him and the seat next to me was pretty full. I had a cooler and our bags alongside me. Of course that gave me something to play with!

Once we arrived at our cottage Obi claimed the futon as his favorite spot.

That first night we drove up to Grand Haven, about 40 minutes north of where we were staying. I had a great dinner with Mom and Dad and walked around the town. There was a beautiful pier and boardwalk area where we stayed and watched the sunset.
This pier was lit up at night and there was a lighthouse at the end. There was also a camp ground and beach area right next to the pier. It was very busy and made for fun people watching!

Mom and me hanging on the pier. Our one family pic taken by someone on the pier had Mom and Dad and then my head was cut off. Oops!

Really pretty sunset.... After that we ran over to the Grand Haven musical fountain. It was hard to take pictures but I really enjoyed the performance. I spent the thirty minutes oohing and aahing and clapping. Check out a sample - this video shows the Pirates of the Caribbean music and Save Me.

http://www.ghmfsoftware.com/video.php

While we had a lot of our meals out, I had some snacks and breakfasts at the cottage. Obi was very attentive in case I "dropped" some.
Saugatuck had a fun playground area. I liked the swings and even walked across some of the bridges and platforms.
This was Oval beach, about 10 minutes from where we were staying. The last time Mom and Dad came to this beach they walked up Mt. Baldy (282 steps - then run down the dunes to the beach). This time we drove in and parked!
The water was about 68 degrees, much warmer than my last open water experience. Still wasn't very excited to have my toes dipped in. Had more fun scooping sand around in my hands.
On our drives we looked at fancy homes...who knows where we will stay next time :)

This was right on the road looking out at Lake Michigan.

I enjoyed several good meals. This was me at the Mermaid Bar and Grill. I got to eat dockside and watch the boats and people go by. I was VERY exuberant most of the meal. Made lots of friends and just generally enjoyed myself.

Back at the park. Soon I'll be running on my own!

This was Mom's breakfast this morning. She didn't know that the cinnamon roll was going to take up the whole plate! I got a taste too, but mostly ate my eggs and fruit.
Then after breakfast we took a bike ride from Saugutuck to Douglas and then took something called the chain ferry back to Saugutuck (across the Kalamazoo River).

I rode in style!

Family photo op by a friendly jogger.

Goodbye cabin!

It was a whirlwind three days! I burned off some steam from our four hour drive home and ran around the house. This is my crazy eating hair. Then it was bath time and time to hit the crib. Home sweet home!

Ball Popper

Yes, you can use a ball popper even when you aren't walking...

Swinging is Cool!

At one of my favorite parks, Olander!

The Big 100!!!!!

Well, I've been procrastinating about doing this blog. Mostly because it's the 1ooth post and I wanted to have it be SPECTACULAR! But it turns out, most of the things that I do Mom and Dad find pretty cute and entertaining....

This picture is very bright, but I like it because you can see my molars. I now have twelve teeth, hard to believe! I went to the dentist this past week with Mom and Dad and had my first sit in the chair. By sit in the chair I mean sitting on Mom's lap. I liked the bright light and got to play with a blown up glove. I didn't really want to show them my pretty teeth, but after I got turned upside down I opened up really big and they took a very quick peek. Enough to get a Winnie the Pooh toothbrush out of the deal.
It's been great weather, although a little bit muggy. I usually end up with really curly hair in the back when I get hot.
Last Thursday I had a run in with my coat hook. I was walking around in my room and managed to pull it down right on my noggin. I took a pretty good scratch to my nose. Thanks to some A & D ointment I'm pretty much all healed up.
The offending object. After it was repaired...I knocked off a few letters and a flower.
Remember when I said my hair gets curly? Well, it also seems to happen during naps. No matter what temperature my room is, I get all hot during naps. A lot of times I get stripped down to this outfit....my sleeping shorts! No matter how hot, I still need to have a blankie and my little puppy along for naps and bed time.
I think I may have a future in organization. I love to put our popcorn from Costco in and out of the big cardboard box. I can do it for hours! Or at least 15 minutes...
I love bath time. This photo was made classier because it's in black and white. Don't mind my booty. Something new and exciting is that I try to climb into or out of the bath tub. It keeps Mom and Dad on their toes!

More sorting. I took the kleenex back and forth across the kitchen floor...

Dinner time at the Jackson household. I still use the spoon for decoration a lot of the time. Or I load it up and then take the food off with my fingers and eat it. It has increased my messy factor! I practice more with my spoon when it's bath night!!

Elephants and Babies Oh My!

Dad took me to see the big top raising last Friday. I got out of the car with Dad and was able to see the elephants up close and personal. We decided not to go to the circus this year, maybe next year I'll be able to sit through it better.

The elephant put up the tent in no time!

Me watching and taking notes...

On Saturday I went to the international festival with Mom and Dad. We forgot the camera, but I had a good time trying out new foods. I also met a really fun 3 year old that I loved to wave at and tried to hold her hand!

I think I was trying to give Lindsey a hug. I promise I was being nice and not going for her neck! Lindsey came over on Sunday night with her parents and grandparents. We had a fun time eating out on the patio and playing in my pool! Amazingly enough, all six adults and two babies managed to hang outside and eat at once!!

Lindsey did a good job sitting up on her own in the pool.

I did my best not to knock her down or splash (too much) in her face.

We tried the whale out in "spray mode." I think I liked it better than Lindsey!
The week has been fun. I'm trying out a new schedule...dropping my morning nap and just taking an afternoon nap for 2-3 hours. I still have plenty of time to play during the day and get some piano practice in! Mom or Dad has to usually sit behind me so I don't wiggle off the bench.
Bath time tonight! I have a new bath toy. I don't know how else to describe it...almost like a sprinkler for the bath tub. What were Mom and Dad thinking!?!?! I love it!

Crazy Driver?!?

Thanks for the ride Parker!

Parker's First Birthday Celebration!

I took a trip down to Columbus last weekend to help celebrate Parker's first birthday! We left after Mom got off work on Friday and I stayed up almost the whole drive down to Columbus. Parker stayed up too and made sure we played a little bit before we had to go to bed. She has a fun pool that has been turned into a ball pit. I wasn't quite sure what to do with it, but I was intrigued....

The birthday girl, always posing for the camera.

This was the schematic for Parker's big first birthday cake. Designed of course by my Dad.

Mom managed to hold both of us, just for the picture!

If you look at the cake plans you can see that there is a tall sky base. There are dowels in place to keep the tower!

Playing with fondant! Not an easy task...

Playing with Parker again. Her living room is a fun playroom! I got to push her around on her train.
Sunday, August 1st, was Parker's birthday! As you can see, she liked the bags but we all had fun with the gifts too!
Parker's puzzle looks like fun...maybe I can sneak in and try it out :)

Besides me and Parker, our friend Landon was there for the party too.

Parker got a wonderful coupe from Landon. The Dads put it together, but as you can see Parker couldn't wait!
As you can see, the Parker cake took a turn! The eight layers proved to be too much. So we had to settle for four layers and the top castle. I think that everyone had fun participating in the cake!
Parker only made a little bit of a mess with her cake....good thing space chair is so wipeable.
Yes, Mom caught that face. I loved being pushed in Parker's coupe! All in all a fun weekend!