Just for fun

Yeah, we have fun around here.

According to my blackberry...

Well I don't have a fancy iphone (seems like I'm the only person left on the planet) so I don't have instagram or a nice camera phone. But what I do have are lots of random and fun pictures of Colette and life over these few months. Enjoy!

 

In Providence. Picnic in the park. Three little boys, ages 4-6, saw her and decided she would be more fun to play with than their basketball.  So for 1/2 hour they would hold her hand and walk her around, and try to give her hugs. It was pretty sweet.

 

She went through a phase where she loved to sleep with the blanket over her face (just like her daddy)

 

Here is Colette with her last 'trick' in Providence. She could see the mini marshmallows so she would climb up to the top shelf to get them. Pretty amazing for 11-12 months...

  

One of my April Fools jokes I played on Nick. A little blue food colouring in the middle of his toothbrush. He didn't even notice! Second April's Fools trick I played was when I asked him to bring me a glass of Kool-Aid in the fridge. When he tried to pour it, it didn't pour. It was Jello! The brief second where he shook the pitcher to try and get it out was the best!

  

She has learned to get her own treats...(see previous and future post)

 

 At our new house. This this shrub is the latest member of our family! Hopefully I can keep it alive in this 100 degree weather.

 She fell and split her lip and the little thing that connects your lip to your gums...? It bled threw two t-shirts of mine! And she barely cried over the pain. Only wanted to snuggle.

 Cutie patootie

 Colette and August (the little boy I babysit) trying to share. It's a learning process for both of these 'only' children.

 And again, Colette tries to get her own snack.

 She LOVES to put socks on her hands and underwear on her head, and any sort of string item over her shoulder as a purse. I have a girly girl on my hands I believe.

 She loves ranch...she must have been born in Utah :)

 Any takers on Ranch lotion?

 Picnic day again with these precious two. This was a nightmare time! Cole just wanted to run around in the park...sometimes TOO far, and August just wanted to get into Cole's food. I was sweating trying to keep up with these two curious critters. I'll wait until they both are a little older before we go again.

 Trying to play catch with our week long cat, Van Gough.

 My most favourite little girl ever!

Washington D.C.

 

 This week we had some dear friends from Providence come for a visit! On Thursday we all went down to D.C. to walk around some of the museums. Here is Nick with the first Muppets, a cherished childhood memory :), and below is Cole and I with Dorthy's ruby slippers. 

We went to the American History museum to see the American flag the Star Spangled banner was written about, some fun pop culture artifacts, and behold, it came to pass that we happened upon a LDS section about the Mormons and the Nauvoo temple! Crazy seeing it right there, in the Smithsonian, as part of American history. I thought that was neat-o.

We had lunch at this place, which the name has escaped me, but I had the BEST sandwich of my life, which is saying a lot because I don't like sandwiches very much...After that we did the Air and Space museum where Nick did his best to get Colette to take a nap. And then we hit up the carousel! She was scared of it this time...So Nick rode the horse with her. haha. That little horse was hanging on for dear life with this 6'4" man on it!

 Colette loves bracelets, necklaces, earrings, any kind of jewelry. So we bit the bullet and spent $2 on a bracelet for her. (so she'd stop losing mine) She loved it, and put it on, pulled it off, chewed on it, and stared at it intensely, until she threw a fit and tossed it somewhere...Never to be found again. Next time I'll just tie $1 on her wrist and call it a bracelet and save 50%.

 That was our great day in D.C.! The weather was good, the company was great, and we all had a great night sleep! There are many things I miss about Providence, and the Resch family is one of them!

Port Discovery

 This week I have not been babysitting, so Colette and I took the time to go to the children's museum here in Baltimore. She played soccer with the other kids, dug through stones to find some bones, walked through a 'pond' with some fishies, played in a sandbox, splashed in water just her height, and mommy and her were able to stand together in the large soap bubble we made together!  We had a great time running around, playing with Mr. Potato head dolls, tumbling on the mats, and playing with pretend food in the diner. It was a really fun children's museum! But it would have been more fun for her if she was two years older. There was an arts and crafts room where she could have played with paint and art supplies, and a three story jungle gym (!) and other things that older kids love, but she just didn't understand them. We had a very fun time though, as you can see.

July 4th

 Our July 4th started out with a little hometown parade. The RS president in our ward was in the parade, so she told us about it. And yes, it was a small town parade. Along the lines of Mapleton's parade, but with no LDS Ward floats. They threw candy and handed out water bottles and we found a spot in the shade, so we were very happy, and Colette loved seeing all the fun marching bands and animals! (and yes, Cole has discovered she has a nostril)

After the parade we went home for nap time. It was such a hot day, we all needed a holiday nap.  Then we got ready and went downtown. There were all sorts of fun stands up, a band was playing cover songs, and everyone was walking around enjoying the fun times. On our way home we grabbed some crab macaroni and cheese hot dogs (I know, right?!) And fried oreo's and put Colette down to bed.  When the fireworks were about to start we woke her up, made some Del's lemonade from RI and walked over to the park. Colette loved seeing the fireworks and being with all the people! She even rolled down the hill due to her excitement! Next year Washington D.C. here we come!!!

Found Cat...

This is Van Gough (which we nicknamed him due to his ear). He was meowing outside our house on a VERY hot 101 degree day, so I let him in to cool down. He turned out to be a very nice cat and stayed with us for 1 week. During this week I posted a FOUND CAT ad on Craigslist, and put up posters around the park hoping someone would call, but knowing that I would have to take him to the SPCA. I didn't want to do that because he was great with Colette, litter box trained, very clean and well groomed...but I am not wanting a pet right now so there was no way he could stay with us. 

So today I got an email from a lady saying it was her cat and his name was Sylvester! She stopped by our house, called his name, and he came running into her arms! He has been missing for over 1 MONTH!!! Isn't that crazy? I would have given up, but she didn't. Anyways, he was our pet for 1 week and I'm glad he is with his owner.

Canada Day!

 Above: New friends Jenna and 3 month old Wyatt, with April and 15 month old McKay. 

Below: Stephanie and 18 month old Lily

 This is Alice (A-lease). She lives two doors down with her husband Charlie and son Kip. Her family comes over everyday and they just sit on the steps and hang out. We just love her!

July 1 was Canada Day 2012! I was excited to celebrate it this year and  invited some new found friends over for a treat and some sparklers. I had a little game of 'Name the Provinces' (sad to say Nick didn't do too hot at), some Canadian facts (like basketball was invited by a Canadian...look it up!), and even broke out Colette's Canada tutu that my dear friend Sarah from Surrey made for her! It was a fun time. Oh, and the large sparklers, well I got them for free from a Firework stand that blew over in a recent storm. The guy just gave them to me and said his insurance is covering everything. What a fun day...now on to the 4th of July.