11 years

Yup we made it to the steel anniversary. Pretty darn cool. Happy Anniversary Danette!

We celebrated by buying a new stove.... steel indeed.

A perfect day for the zoo

Sara had the day off of school today, so I got to stay home and do something fun with her.... the weather cooperated to give an incredibly beautiful day... perfect for the Zoo! We got there right at was starting to open, got a good parking spot and went right in. Sara knew right away she wanted to see the elephants and flamingos... after that we had to work our way to the giraffes... every stop on the way, she was ready for the giraffes. so here is a picture for her.



We actually saw most of the zoo, if not all the indoor shelters. Just like last year she was particularly enamored of the gorillas. We also had a bit of a treat in that a new polar bear had literally just arrived and was being examined by the vets. A BIG polar bear. we even got to watch them paint his paw purple and take paw prints... he was definitely out for the count.

 

This one is actually a picture of our second stop to see the giraffes... for once the P&S camera was quick and got her expression. This is now one of my favorite pics.

 

We of course saw some camels too.

 


And played at the "park" at the top of the hill near the gorilla area... we were getting tired at this point and I actually went up and led her back down. Fortunately we had just had lunch... though she continued to snack all the way to the car (and a second stop at the flamingos)



Just another cute picture... Sara was very talkative to this little boy and his family as we were all looking at some deer from Asia.



And of course, being the good inquisitive kid that she is, she found lots of gravel outside the grizzly bear area that she was all too happy to share.

It was a pretty great trip to the zoo, somehow we even avoided any "two" moments, especially cool given that we had the stroller which she seems to rebel against more and more. Definitely a great day.

Some June pics

Here are just a few pics.... Sara is doing well and adjusting well to undergoing attention withdrawl now that her grandparents have gone home... though in about 10 days her other grandparents will be here :)



Sara has become fond of dresses lately and wore several last week when it was so hot out.



Enjoying a nice fruit smoothie!



How often is it that the 2-year old is the one ready for the camera? Say cheese grandma and grandpa



Walking back to the car after getting off her first round-trip train ride down to the farmer's market. Kind of the "scenic route" but a new experience for the little girl.

Things are well around here. The weather has cooled off this week, which is nice since my work A/C unit melted down (literally) and hasn't been replaced yet. Other than that we are just thinking happy thoughts for Sara's godmother who is getting her knee fixed tomorrow morning.

kitchen redux

So here are some pics of what we have been working on and the progression of the kitchen. This was a lot of walls and corners and edging, but it is done. The room is brighter like we hoped, though we are definitely appreciating the upsides of the previous reddish color now. There are some serious second thoughts on the shade of yellow here (Vanilla Custard for you Behr fans). This pics are actually a little better than we think it looks in person. It isn't bad, and as we add some accents around the windows and art on the walls it is looking better. The major issue we have is probably that it didn't solve the major issue of our kitchen, which is that it needs a serious lighting redo... we took the more inexpensive try at getting some more ambient light.... anyway, two days x four people (D's parents are here) x 6 coats of paint (2 primer + 2 topcoat on the walls, and 2 on the ceiling) = glad to be done (for now).



Kitchen at time of house inspection (and since)



Kitchen at time of house inspection (and since) #2



Primered #1



Primered #2



Final coat #1



Final coat #2

More birthday pics, etc.

Okay, so here are some more pics from Sara's second birthday and this past Monday.

Turns out that Sara's birthday kind of went down hill after I posted the last pic.... seems she was getting sick. The best signs *should* have been that after being so excited for Isaac and Julia to come over and play, that she didn't play with them but stayed with mom or dad, and not really eating much of her pasta dinner. There was a reason why she didn't eat much pasta, shall we say, and the pic below of her blowing out the candle was the last fun moment for a day or so.... mainly she just had a fever and was unhappy and not sleeping well. Sunday night/Monday morning the fever broke, but we kept her home so that she could rest up a bit more and she had her long-scheduled dr. checkup anyway. That last bit resulted in the knowledge of 31 lbs and 35 3/4" tall... all 90-95 percentile still... quite the growing girl.




Getting ready for some presents on my b-day!



How do you like my new hat?



A little out of focus, but two cute ones nevertheless.



That's right, I am two!




Yay, now I have my own sandbox at home...