Bubbies

I love pushing the bubbies on Mommy's computer. Mommy doesn't like it so much. The other day she wouldn't let me push the bubbies, so I decided I would get my own computer that Aunt Kari gave me and push my own bubbies.

I made sure I got nice and comfy in my bed,


and then I pushed all the bubbies I wanted.


That'll teach Mommy not share her computer with me.

Where's the grass?

The dirt is in and daddy says it's time for the grass to grow.

I don't see a lot of growing.


I can't wait for rain, so that I can play in all the mud.


My cousins (or second cousins, or first cousins once removed--not quite sure).....My relatives Maureen, Keith, Lisa, and Kimberley put some money together so that we could buy a memorial tree for Cooper. We bought a Japanese Maple and Daddy planted it in our new bed in the front yard.




Daddy also made a new rock garden for me to play in. Do you know that throwing rocks is one of my favorite things to do?

It sure was nice of Daddy to give me a large supply to choose from!

The Table

Grandma and Grandpa de Jong have such a fun table at their house. They also have a bucket of little cars.



So this is what I spent a lot of my time doing while we were there. I could push the cars around and around the table. And it was just the right size for me to stand up as I pushed them.


Then I discovered something that made the table even cooler. It opens!!!



I could stand inside the open table and snag the milk Mommy was drinking with Grandpa's famous omelet.



Thanks for sharing, Mommy.

Eternal Work in Progress Part 5

Daddy put the finishing touches on my new walls. He's been working really hard. I can't wait to run across the top of them.


This one has to be good for at least one broken arm. Mommy says I have to wait until January when I have my next annual visit to the emergency room.



Once the walls were in, Daddy bought lots of dirt for me to play in. He's the best Daddy ever!


The truck even shot the dirt 60 feet through the air.

Here I am compaction testing it. Yup, this is good quality dirt. I approve!


Daddy also hired some people to dig trenches for me to play in.


He said they are for sprinklers. I love playing in the sprinkler.

The Living Desert

Near Granmda and Grandpa is a place called The Living Desert. It's basically a desert zoo. But the best part about it was the model train they had there. It was HUGE! And there were little houses and cars and roads and people that all looked real. Mommy and Gma finally had to plop me in the stroller and push me away from it. I could have stood there and stared at the moving trains all day.

But besides the train, there were actually animals there. Here I am pointing at a giraffe. I'm on the right and the giraffe is moving behind the tree on the left.

We also got to see zebras. I'm pointing to a picture of one here, but we saw some real ones running around too.

There were also warthogs, tortoises, ostriches, and gazelles. I got to see some animal bones and watch an animal show. It was totally fun.

Cooling off

So with the temperature being 100 degrees everyday, I had plenty of fun playing in the water. Grandpa set up this little pool for me.



I love the water, but I hate having Mommy put sunscreen all over me.


The water was really cold in the morning, but I got used to it. And when I felt it in the afternoon, it was almost as warm as bath water. I didn't even bother putting my swimsuit on that time.


Mommy and Grandpa and I got to go to the park. They have a huge shade over all of the toys so they don't get hot. But I didn't bother with the toys. The sprinklers were on when we got there.

Then I got to play at this other water toy. It shoots water up from little holes in the ground while a yellow bucket is filled with water. Once the bucket fills up, it tips over. I wasn't brave enough to stand under the bucket, but I had fun running in the other streams of water and watching the bucket dump on other kids.

Later that night, I got to play with Grandpa while Mommy and Grandma went to see some guy named David Copperfield. Of course I was still awake when they got home and they were all excited because this guy made a car appear out of nowhere on the stage and he made 13 people disappear while they were sitting on a platform in the air. I guess Mommy and Gma had a really good time, but I'm glad I got to hang out with Gpa.

California Fun

Mommy and I have been in California visiting Grandma and Grandpa de Jong for the past four days. It has been really hot (around 100 degrees) but really fun. Mommy has enjoyed being pampered by Grandma and Grandpa (me too) but she's glad that I'll be sleeping in my own bed again tonight. I don't like napping or sleeping through the night on vacation. And since I know how to climb IN and OUT of the pack n play, I can just get up and out if I don't feel like napping--awesome!

Our first day in California, Aunt Kari was there too. Grandma, Mommy, Kari, and I went to the Children's Discovery Museum.

Trying on a fireman's hat:



Aunt Kari trying desperately to get a picture with me, as always:

We found some fun dress up clothes that Aunt Kari had fun trying on:

A real police motorcycle! Mommy was worried that I would fall off while she took the picture, so Aunt Kari was my safety net.

They had a mini grocery store with shopping carts just my size! I had fun pushing them around in and out of the store until a controlling employee of the museum said all the kids had to keep the carts in the store "for safety reasons." Whatever that means.

But that's okay, because the cash register was fun too.

Mommy, Aunt Kari, and I had fun making cool art creations.

Peek-a-boo!

Aunt Kari and I playing with magnets. As you can tell, even though it was a "children's" museum, Kari seemed to find it just as exciting as I did.

It turns out I'm not a magnet. I didn't stick to the metal table.

One of the most fun parts of the museum was running up

and down the huge ramp.

They also had this cool magnetic wall that tins stuck to.

And of course, back at home, I didn't waste any time making friend with my favorite buddy Cujo.

We did tons more, but Mommy has to pack since we're leaving for the airport in half an hour. Hopefully it won't be totally raining and cold when we get back to Washington. I've been spoiled with four days in the sun.