Gilcrease Nature Sanctuary

One boring morning I decided to do something different, something outside because the weather was just right and something with animals and birds because they can make a boring day turn into an interesting one, so we loaded up in the car and headed to the Gilcrease Nature Sanctuary.

The Gilcrease Nature Sanctuary is about 15 minutes north of us. They have a big piece of land that they turned into a nice home for birds and other animals. Papa came with us and Rachel and Carissa met us there. We started looking around and saw birds. A lot of birds. All kinds of birds. I didn't get any pictures of the birds because the birds were all behind mesh wire so I never had a very clear shot, but trust me this place had a ton of birds.

Oh - actually I did get a picture of a bird, I forgot about this bird!


They had other animals too, like the goats, which were my favorite part. Summer, however, did not like the goats at all. We were allowed in the pen with the goats and I would guess there had around 10 or 15 goats. These goats were very friendly and maybe a bit intimidating to Summer, but there were some babies and they were cute and so soft!


They also had donkeys and those large donkey looking creatures that spit, I forgot the name but we never got spit on anyway so - who cares about them. One of the donkey's had just had a baby the day before, it was cute, being pushed around by the mom who I guess was trying to get it to keep walking for practice.


Right next to the donkey cage was the emu cage, you know those really large birds that don't fly? Guess what, if they bite you, you won't bleed, ask Summer, she would know. She also got bit by a really big goose. It just wasn't her day I guess. Or, it was her day to get bit. Anyway, she wasn't too traumatized and we continued looking around. It was fun, a nice break from the normal boring day we could have had.

10 Days Ago

10 days ago, on February 14th, also known as Valentine's Day, I took a bunch of photos of - guess who - Summer! I know, I am a little behind on blogging and I have no good excuses either. So, before I show you these darling photos, let's take a moment and talk a little bit about Summer, you know, my daughter who is super awesome.

Piece of cake - her new saying. I think she knows what it means. Daddy says it all the time and now she says it too. Things are a piece of cake for her.

Get out of my grill - another new saying, thanks again to daddy, who enjoys putting his face up into her face and then asking if he should get out of her grill. I asked her last night if she knew what a grill was, she said yes, then she said no. I tried to explain it to her but not really sure she completely understood.

Happy mommy sleeping in each morning, that would be me! About a week ago, and for the past few weeks randomly, Summer would wake up crying around 5:30ish. We would go all the way up the 14 stairs to get to the upper floor, ya at 5:30 those stairs are brutal, and calm her down and tell her to go back to sleep, but it didn't always work, so one night last week right before bedtime I looked into Summer's eyes and explained to her that she needed to stay asleep until she could see the sun, and once she saw the sun then it was time to get up and she could call for us. If it was still dark she just needed to go back to sleep. I really didn't expect it to work, but darn if that was that. Sometimes it just seems too easy.

Yesterday was not Summer's day, sometimes she is more sensitive than other days, which is ok, we just adjust how we act and do what we can to make the day easier. I impress myself with the amount of patience that I somehow have. I didn't always have it and I don't know where it came from but I am glad it is here, and just in time. Today is a much better day, Summer is happy and laughing, napping right now so not laughing at the moment, but she was laughing all morning. She is in a good mood and I expect it to continue.

Finally, the photos I wanted to share, you know the Valentine's Photos, the ones I should have posted like 10 days ago, here there are, she is so beautiful, enjoy!


She really does make it too easy, look at her, she is a natural! Well maybe not natural, she has had a lot of practice :o) And below is my favorite photo of the day, taken near the end of our 20 minute photo session. She wasn't that upset, and I don't even remember why she was upset, but look at how sweet she is!


I am really glad I bought that red rose clip, so worth it!

Summer & Ana

Summer met Ana while both girls were still baking. I think Casey and I were around 15 weeks when we first met, I know it was before we knew what we were having so it could have been earlier. We met over lunch with another pregnant mommy. Unfortunately the other mommy, Angie, moved away right after she had her daughter but Casey and I are still in Vegas and we kept in touch and 3 years later the girls are still playing together and making each other laugh.

Here are the girls meeting for the first time. They were just a little over 4 months old.


and here they are now, can you believe it?


One thing for sure, they aren't babies anymore, they are both little girls now, complete with hair, bows, little cute toes and fingernails, and fun little attitudes.

It is really neat to watch them grow up together and they really enjoy spending time together. They were born 13 days apart and genuinely like being around each other. Casey and I took the girls to the Springs Preserve and took a few pictures while the girls played, it was a nice day and we all had a great time.

Summer got a sticker in her hand and Ana was trying to help her get it out, we didn't realize Ana was helping until I saw the pictures.


Both girls spent lots of time in the sand. In the picture below something funny happened and the girls were cracking up. Summer really tries hard to make Ana laugh, which doesn't take much.


Chase, a favorite game amongst 2 year olds, or just running in general. Both girls ended up falling because the steps were sort of hidden, but they only fell once each, then they learned to be more careful. I bet they spent a good 10-15 minutes running after each other.


Posing for pictures on my favorite wall. I love that wall, the color is amazing on camera, and with two cute little girls sitting in front of it, well, what more could you ask for?


And no, the fact that both girls are wearing striped pants was purely coincidental, I guess great mommy minds think alike.

Tickle Spot

Summer has a tickle spot. Yup. It is really ticklish. If you tickle it - she will laugh. Daddy knows where this tickle spot is. I do too. Can you guess where it might be?


Summer is ticklish mostly everywhere but on this night it was under her chin that seemed to be quite sensitive and the most fun.

Good thing daddy knows about all of these spots, and good thing Summer knows that daddy knows about all of these spots, it makes life so much more fun for a kid!

Valentine's Party

This year Summer and I were invited to a Valentine's party at our friend April & Noah's house. Donna & Christa and Rachel and Carissa showed up to help us party hardy! Even though Summer had no idea what to expect, I was super excited. I bought all kinds of fun little gifts for the 4 kids. We even dressed the kids the same, jeans and a white shirt, in preparation for the photo shoot that we had planned. We actually got a lot of cute pictures too!


After the photo shoot the kids decorated sugar cookies.


They had fun with the sprinkles and the cookies weren't bad either.



After cookies they had a cupcake - well Summer had a cupcake, and I had one with her :o) And did I mention where she got the really cute chef's hat and apron from? Look how cute it is - thanks to April who made it all by herself! I love it!


The party was a big hit, all the kids had fun, they are, posed, played, and Summer fell asleep as soon as we got in the car.

We are going to have a St. Partick's day party now because the Valentine's party was such a hit we have to do it again and I am so excited, I can't wait!

Grandpa's

I loved my pop, my mother's dad, he was the best grandpa in the whole world. He loved me, he called my his baby girl, and he had the best hugs and kisses. His birthday was February 4th and he hasn't been around to celebrate them for the past 2 years but I still think about him a lot. I remember how he looked at me and how he smelled and how much he loved football, especially those Dallas Cowboys. I cried when I saw the new Star Trek movie in the theater because I knew he would have wanted to see it too. He got to meet Summer when she was just a tiny little baby and I am so glad he did. But enough about my grandpa, I want to talk more about Summer's.

Summer has an advantage that I didn't have when I was growing up because Summer's grandpa, or as she calls him, papa, happens to live with us. Who knew how much he would love my little girl, I don't think he had a clue what hit him. Two peas in a pod, he has watched her grow up and has been able to almost single handedly stock her room full of toys. He loves to buy her things and take her to the park. She loves that he buys her things and takes her to the park. If she sees a new toy on a commercial she says "I hope papa will buy me that" - and he will if he sees it in the store. They have a very special relationship that I love to watch grow.


Grandparents are very special people, somehow they are magical. They know exactly what to say to make you feel better. I wish we lived closer to the rest of the grandparents but at least Summer has papa close to her.

Bowling

Summer is now skilled in the art of bowling!

Well, the art of trying to bowl, and by trying, I mean trying to push the ball hard enough so that it rolls down the long slippery lane to hit a pin, or two.

And, the art of trying to understand the concept of taking turns. And not crying because it isn't your turn. There wasn't much crying really but there was some that included a bit of whining about it not being her turn.

But still, bowling, looking cute. Especially while wearing that awesome colorful sweater I got off the sales rack at Children's Place for like $3, not to mention it is a size 4T.


Look how cute she is looking back at us while we are praying that her ball makes it all the way down to the end of the lane.


It made it, that time. We only had to push the "help" button once, no wait, we didn't push the "help" button when the ball didn't make it, instead Papa tried to use his ball to knock her ball in during his turn. He missed. The bowling alley guy was prepared to let him try again but we figured it would be better if he would just go down there and knock the ball in for us.


You wouln't think it would be hard to teach someone how to granny bowl, you know standing up and pushing the ball through the legs, but this is a lesson that will have to wait until later because the concept was lost on the age, or the strength, or skill. Luckily the 6 pound ball could and would roll for quite a way.


We still had fun, even if the ball didn't make it all the way down that one time, and even if taking turns was too much to ask of a 2 1/2 year old. The game went quick, Summer enjoyed spending time with us, we enjoyed experiencing something new with her, I got a bunch of cute pictures, I have something interesting to blog about ... life is good.

Summer & Christa

Summer loves to dance and Christa loves to dance and dancing is how Summer and Christa met. It was one Monday morning in October when I started teaching Mommy & Me dance classes again. Christa bounced into the class and never stopped! Christa is full of energy and loves to get Summer to follow her, dancing, going down the slide, to play with toys, Christa is not shy about having Summer around. Just two months younger than Summer the girls are good for each other. Summer is still a little shy but opens up around Christa eventually. Christa's fun energy can inspire Summer to explore and play, and the girls look really cute together!

We recently had a chance to spend some time at the park with Donna (Christa's wonderful mom) and Christa, the weather was just warm enough to have a picnic and play outside. The wind was annoyingly chilly but neither of the girls seemed to notice, instead they enjoyed running around the park chasing after each other. Of course I had to take some pictures, here are a few.


The park was a new park and had some neat rocks, Donna suggested we use the area to take a few pictures and I am glad she did because the pictures of the girls on the rock came out so nice, look how sweet they look together!


Yes they were leaning quite a bit on that first picture but what you can't see is Donna's arm holding onto the girls because I was able to crop that out, I love the magic of photo editing!

We are starting Mommy and Me dance back up, we quit due to lack of participation but it looks like some new mommies want to check it out, hopefully they like it because I know Summer and Christa enjoy it and I still haven't gotten any good tutu pictures yet.

Summer & Chloe

Summer has a bunch of cute little friends around the same age, one of her oldest friends is Chloe. Chloe and Summer met back in March 2008 at a park around Easter time. At the time Summer was only 8 months and Chloe was 11 months. The girls didn't really pay attention to each other then, they were more interested in putting eggs in their mouths, or at least that is all Summer wanted to do.

Here is the first picture I have of both girls, Chloe is in yellow on the left, Summer is in pink and green on the right.


Almost 2 years later and Chloe and Summer are still friends, still hanging out and acting silly. We took the girls to the mall the other day and let them play in the kid area. Here are a few pictures of the girls together.

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After the girls spent time running and climbing and sliding we headed up to the food court to have lunch. We ate and afterwards it was apparent they still had a bunch of energy because I caught them on video dancing. There was no music either ... check it out on my flickr - it was pretty darn cute.

Grandma had to leave

Having grandma visit was a lot of fun, Summer really enjoyed having someone else in the house to entertain. Grandma was scheduled to leave later in the afternoon so we took the opportunity to spend the morning at our favorite park, the one with the ducks, pigeons and other birds. Before we headed to the park we took a few pictures in the house, just the three of us girls. Do we all look the same? It looks like we all have the same color hair but grandma's isn't really natural /cough


We had to stop by the grocery store to pick up a big bag of bird seed before we ventured to the park. If you want to see birds, feel birds, feed birds out of your hand, then you need bird seed. We all took a big handful of birdseed and fed some of the wild, but very tame, pigeons. I am not sure if they are hungry birds or just use to people, they sure don't mind eating the seeds right out of your hands. The hard part is keeping the pesky birds off your head and back.


After we played around with the seeds and birds we took Summer to the park area where she went down the slide once and had fun on the swing for about 15 minutes. She really loves swinging, she puts her hands out like she is flying and never wants to get out. Luckily she started to get hungry and agreed to leave and get food.


Overall it was a great week with Grandma, it seemed short because we did so much the time went by fast. We will have to take a trip to Idaho next, when it is warm, Grandma had a 3 hour delay coming and a canceled and 1 hour delayed flight going home due to fog of all things.