The Daintys

Ryan is coaching golf alllll day long, so I decided that Leah, Lucy, and I were going to have some quality girl's time. We packed up our backpack with water, snacks, and rain gear and headed out for a local county park. The weather forecast said 10% chance of rain. It of course began raining just as we pulled into the parking lot. But it wasn't raining very hard, and fortunately, Leah has and adventurous spirit. So we set off down the trail anyway, because who doesn't like an occasional adventure in the rain? And because if I had turned around at that point the dog would have certainly become mutinous. Lucy was very excited about a hike at the park. Leah was screaming, "I love hiking!" in this picture... We stopped at a little shelter for a while to snack, have a water break, and play around. Leah found a dragon nest near by, so we left some acorns. That's what baby dragons eat. Who knew? "Hey - can I go in that backpack? I'm getting tired!...

Leah is singing, singing, singing these days... Some nights we hear her singing all kinds of songs to herself after we put her to bed. One of her new favorites is "Twinkie Doodle." We tried to teach her how to say "Yankee" for a while and then figured, why bother? We like this Twinkie Doodle character better. The other video is her very first knock knock "joke." Often while I am cooking dinner she hangs out in the kitchen with me, being my helper and entertainment in one.

Today was Leah's first tumbling class at the YMCA. Leah said her favorite part was "the jumpy jumpy," otherwise known as the trampoline. She is in the class with one of her very best friends, and the girls had so much fun, though at times caused a bit of mischief together! Here they are jumping with excitement: I find it comforting that gymnastics leotards haven't changed much since I wore them in the '90s... When Ryan first saw this picture he thought she was jumping off the high beam, but she's actually hopping off the low one just beneath her right foot!

We took a wonderful vacation to Tennessee at the end of our summer. (We've only been in school a week and a half...but vacation already seems so long ago!) We visited Ryan's parents and got to hang out with them for about half a week. Both Leah and Lucy had tons of fun in the swimming pool. Lucy is going through "rehab" after being hit by a car earlier this summer, so the swimming was great for her. (Lucy is doing very well these days...we go for two 45 minute walks a day to exercise her hip and legs and she is loving all the extra attention and walks! I have grown to quite appreciate my early morning treks with her.) After visiting Grammy and Papa, we went to stay in Pigeon Forge right near the Smoky Mountains with friends of ours. There was again, more swimming involved, as well as hiking, mini-golf, picnicking, and other fun adventures. Leah was a real dare devil at the waterpark and went on some HUGE waterslides with us. ("Let's do it AGAIN!...

I know I write a lot about Leah on here. Mostly about Leah. But, let's be honest...that's why most of you are checking this blog anyway, and she just brings us so much joy everyday! Here are some of the things we love about her these days: She is becoming a very responsible dog owner. She tells Lucy to stay when we open the gate in the back yard. She brushes Lucy's hair. She gives her a treat when we leave home. When we were heading home from vacation she brought me her very own special blanket and said, "Here mama, we need to put this in the car right next to me because Lucy has to lay down and take a nap. She can have it." She has her own little Leaptop (laptop) toy that she fondly refers to as her "pootager." She uses her "pootager" to "do her work," "look up recipes," and "check her email." I'm waiting for the day she says, "Just one minute mom, I have to check the Red Sox score on ESPN.com...

At our cottage in Wisconsin growing up, my mom had the idea to begin a "rock garden," which was full of rocks painted by all of us over the course of many summers spent there. Our rock garden was a source of entertainment and a keeper of memories at the same time. We have been reading the Ladybug Girl books with Leah, which are fantastic childrens' books that encourage creative play, being outdoors, and facing kid issues with bravery and courage. Ladybug Girl and her friends paint rocks in one of the books, and I asked Leah if she'd like to paint some rocks this morning. Words can't really describe her reaction...you'd have to hear the enthusiasm for yourself. So, first, we hunted for the perfect rocks outside. Then Leah picked out three colors to start with. (Pink, purple, and blue.) I love the intensity and focus she has when doing art... After painting the rocks we originally found, Leah made a decision. She wanted a big rock. Her words were, "a...

We had so much fun visiting with Emily and Greg this weekend. During the day the boys went golfing, and then we all went to the beach. We had a fun adult evening out at a new restaurant in town that serves delicious food that is locally-grown and organic. Everything we ate was amazing! In the picture of Ryan and I below you can see Ryan's entree...it was called "the sword of John Adams." Hunks of steak and veggies served on an actual sword! Once the food was off the skewer, the sword kept swinging on its hinge and several of us were nearly injured. It was pretty amusing... Later we visited our favorite Irish pub downtown and heard live music and stayed up much later than what we're used to! So fun. Thanks for visiting Emily and Greg!