Bluegrass Cousins

Trip to the Bluegrass State Conquered!

Twice a year we get all the kiddos together and boy is it wild! Eight kids 4 & under is a seriously busy non-stop party. Once again this was a "we did it" trip, Wigwam and I flew with a layover, delayed flight and canceled flight.

Grandpops playing in the pool

 

The oldest playing dress up with the younger ones!

My niece. Birthday Buddy, is she not adorable??! I could eat her up.

Baby Michael III, cutie pie! Entertained by his wild cousins.

It's good to be 4!

Red Rover, Red Rover. And who is the only 2 year playing this game? Wigwam. It's the running joke in our family that thinks she's 4 along with the others. But it's not a joke, she does think she's 4.

Grandpops! (and Susie)

See, this is what most 2 year olds do...play, but not too far from mom.

To sum up the fun: Wigwam slept for 13 hours when we got home and then took a 2 hour nap. Whew!

D.C. Conquered

Oh yea. We did it. 

Photos are proof.

Start: stoller visits White House 

 Next: Stroller visits Washington Monument. Wigwam is thrilled to be at the nation's capitol. or not.

And then we found fun, Smithsonian jumping:

 

And then we found carousel: bliss.

 One.Happy.Kiddo.

And then we find water to play in: wet bliss.

Then we put on our shoes to go. My heart melts. I miss him.

Toddler meets D.C.

We are headed to D.C. for the weekend to hang out with Noah and explore the city!

Excitied? yes
Nervous? yes
More nervous than excited? yes

Why? A 6 hr drive by myself with a toddler in the back and of course the 6 hr drive home; staying in a hotel; no place to nap while out and about; and the list goes on...

Hopefully, I can chill out and have some fun. Hopefully, Wigwam will be in good spirits and flexible with her routine. In efforts to plan for a success, I just ran to the Dollar Tree and got new and exciting toys & snacks to bribe Wigwam with.
Ashamed? no

Our activities may (or may not) include:
National Zoo
Museum of Natural Science
The Mall
Capitol City Brewing Company

Anyone been to these places? Suggestions for taking a 2 year old to these or other places?
Think the Pres can handle a 2 year old?

In the words of Wigwam "LET'S DO THIS!"

*follow up post to come!*

Downtown Photo Fun

the usual subject and a family photo (rare)..

sisterly love

There she is...my big sister, confidant, mother-of-the-year award winner, friend. (and Wigwam two hours past normal nap time)

What would I do without her? Seriously, she's that good.

She's the only one in this world who "knows" what it was like to grow up in our family, to win Junior Miss in a small town (ha!), to have conversations about your aging parents with, to proof my english papers in college, to ask mommy-type questions to.

I think about how important it is to have someone like that in your life for support and how I want Wigwam to have a sibling. (especially if there was another baby girl!) And then I quickly think of that first year and how hard it is, how I didn't have time for makeup or fixing my hair. But what's life really about? surely not makeup and hair gel.

So now you know....we're debating #2.

Spring Garden Part 2

And there she grows...

In fact with the extremely hot summer and drought the garden has not fared so well. All my squash and zucchini died, along with the cilanto, and the cantelope, and the basil......need I keep going?

What I do have is tomatoes and peppers! whoo hoo, hello salsa. At this point I'm not sure my produce will equal the amount of money I put into the garden, but I guess that's the risk you take.

And so I continue to water it while I get attacked my monster mosquitos and drown it in Miracle Grow (good bye organic, just gimme somethin)!

Spring Garden Part 1

we are growing a vegtable garden for the 2nd year. I love doing this, having perfectly ripe veggies to cook & eat, knowing what has been put on them (or not in my case) for pesticides.

Wigwam loves helping me water the garden after work every day and also running out to check if there is anything ready to pick. Girl loves some cherry tomatoes right off the vine. As a mom, any veggie she's eating is a good one. She usually either takes one bite and throws it on the ground or stuffs the whole thing in her mouth....juice running down the face and staining her shirt. Oh well.

This year we bought our plants and I'm hoping that I can get an earlier start next year and grow from seeds....much cheaper.

So here's what's growin':  roma tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, zuchinni, squash, green peppers, jalapeno peppers, basil, cilantro, cantelop, cucumbers and banana peppers....we'll see which ones make it!