A Bedtime Story by Elsie Rose (25 months)

Daddy and Kristin Friend go running.  Uncle G go with.  Elsie go running, too.  No stroller, Elsie go running.  Elsie put on socks and running shoes on tootsies.  Running shoes, FAST!  Daddy Kristin Friend Uncle G Elsie go running to Park.  Elsie swing so high!  Elsie fall down, get hurt- owwee!  Daddy give Elsie kisses, and feel all better.  Elsie all done with park.  Elsie run home.  Bedtime!   

A Bee-autiful Birthday Party!

Mama and I had the privilege of attending my dear friend Henry's 2nd Birthday Party today.  Boy, did I have a great time! We ate food, played at the park, talked and laughed, and then ate some cupcakes! Yum!

They had lots of frosting, and sugar cookies shaped like honeycomes 

and almond-n-jellybean little bees on them- so cute!

The park was very popular with me and my friends.  See me climbing so high on the ladder?  I told Mama she didn't need to stand there to help me, but she does worry so.

And there was plenty of shade for relaxing and eating!

Henry, the birthday boy!

And some shots of me being silly, too.  Thanks to Henry's Mama, Stella, for the gorgeous photos.  She is quite the photographer (and quite the hostess, too!).

Down on the Farm...the Petting Farm, that is!

Bottle feeding baby goats, hand feeding the billys, milking a nanny, holding the kitties, watering the garden (and sneaking some raspberries), climbing on the tractor, petting the sheep/horses/donkey/cows/pigs/chickens/ducks...and taking home fresh-from-the-farm watermelon? Perfect day!

My First Pigtails!

Building Houses

Lately I've been very busy building houses for my "puppies".  Each animal has to have their own room in the house- one for bunnies (with a hutch), one for kitties (with climbing trees), one for the owl (with a tall perch), etc.  Oh, and it has to be big enough for me, too!

Once the house is all complete, I usually have Mama or Daddy "blow the house down".  Then I have to pick up each animal and ask them if they are okay and give them each a kiss before I rebuild the house.  It's a lot of work taking care of so many "puppies"!

The Big Build- guest post from Mama

Elsie loves to play at the park.  Loves it.

For the last year, we have walked to a local park an average of two times a day (that's a average...some days it was more!).  Yes, all year.  In the middle of winter, we were out there sliding and swinging in the snow drifts.

When I saw a used swing set on Craigslist, we decided that getting a "park" in our backyard might be the perfect way to meet all of Elsie's swinging and climbing needs (and maybe, by wearing her out, get Andy and me a little more sleep in the process).  The only challenge was how to transport it from Verona to our backyard.

Last weekend, in record-breaking 105 degree heat, Uncle Greg graciously agreed to help us partially dismantle and move the play structure while Kristin generously watched Elsie at our house.  Three hours later, Elsie was ecstatic to see her Mama, Daddy, and Uncle G drive home in a huge truck filled with swing set parts.

Unfortunately, the heat, our diminishing strength, and a general lack of power tools meant that we gave up and left the majority of the swing set in our front yard to deal with later.  We were just not ready to tackle lifting it over our backyard fence in the heat.  As G so gently put it, "Well, I wouldn't exactly want to do that again just for fun...."

Which brings us here.  On Saturday, Papa Todd and Grandma Julie drove to Madison determined to help us get a little girl a swing set to play on.  They also came with a car full of power tools, which helped, too!  In a matter of a couple hours, Andy and Papa had almost completely reconstructed the play set.  The light was leaving and dinner was calling, though, so the project was abandoned for one more day.

On Sunday morning, all four of the adults headed outside to put the finishing touches on the structure.  Swings were installed, bolts greased, screws tightened, and boards rearranged for maximum fun.  While Elsie took a nap, Papa checked out her spy-scope to make sure it worked and verified that everything was safe.  

When Elsie finally woke up from a very long nap and was told her swing set was done, she was too happy to speak.  She approached the swing set slowly and with awe...

She immediately climbed up...to the top of the tower on her first try, without assistance!

A little peak at the view from her new kingdom...

And her first gleeful ride down the slide 

(which Andy had previously made sure was properly waxed for maximum speed).

Weee!

Back up again to check the spy-scope with Daddy.

And down.  Rinse.  Repeat.  A hundred times.

Trying out the rings with Daddy to help.

Driving "to Grandma's house" with Andy in the "back seat".

After lunch, Elsie decided to try the swing set in her Fairy Princess costume.

It wasn't long before we saw this, though.

After a little bit of naked bear time, Daddy decided to do a quick change in the tower.

 

Then we were all set to play again!

The proud builders and a very happy girl.

Daddy enjoyed relaxing on the slide...

...but Elsie had other ideas.

And one last picture of our very happy girl.

Last of all, we'd like to give a big shout-out to this guy, whose ox-like strength, determination, and general handiness made this possible.  Thanks, Papa, and happy birthday next week!

Jenny's 40th Celebration!

Just a few days after my 2nd birthday, my big cousin Jenny had a 40th birthday party and Mama and I drove to MN to help her celebrate.  First we went to my Great-Aunt Marcia's house to play with my cousins.  Her house is the COOLEST!

She has an amazing play house in her backyard!

And a swing set, too.  I really liked the slide after the long car trip!

Great-Grandma Dorothy helped me climb into the playhouse's "attic"... 

it was full of stuffed animals and had it's own window to outside!

I especially liked the little "me-sized" front door in the playhouse.

I watered Aunt Marcia's flowers for her.

Grandma RJ wanted to come in the play house, too, but she was too big
 for the front door (don't worry, there was an adult-sized back door).

Auntie Marcia even had a little bench and flowers on the front porch of the playhouse.

There were lots of fun toys, including a great tractor that played music.

My cousins Joyce, Jackie, and Tina played with Grandma and I in the play room.

Campbell liked to "dance" to the tractor's music.

Auntie Manda and Mama "switched" kids for awhile, and Mama and Campbell spent a long time scooping and shoveling in the sandbox.

When he was done scooping, Campbell "mowed" the lawn.

He liked the playhouse's little door, too!

My cousin Isaac and I played with Scooter the Cat.

Scooter was a lot more playful than my kitties at home.

He especially liked when I teased him with a stick of dried leaves.

Campbell and I enjoyed swinging together- I got to use the big kid swing!

While Mama got some dinner for herself inside, I made a tea party for Grandma, Auntie Manda, and Baby Campbell in the play house.

I liked to push Campbell on his tractor.

Campbell liked to dance when the tractor's music played,  but I wanted him to clap instead.  I tried to show him how, but he wasn't interested.

I liked to pat Campbell's head...it was fuzzy, just like Miss Ping's!

I got to take some rides on the tractor, too!

This is my cousin Baby Wyatt.  He's gotten so big!

All my favorite relatives hanging out at Marcia's.

Wyatt thought it was funny to watch the big kids play.

Admittedly, cousins Sevin and Isaac were pretty funny!

I showed Wyatt how to use the tractor, too.

There was a lot of work to do in the sandbox!

We worked up quite an appetite in the hot sun...luckily, there was lots of delicious food to eat!

After dinner, we all drove to the party. 

Mama gave me a cupcake, and Baby Campbell wanted one, too.

He liked his cupcake, but wasn't sure what to do when the frosting got on his fingers.

Mama showed him how to lick the frosting off his fingers...boy, was he excited!

Auntie Manda thought it was really funny to see how much Campbell liked the frosting on his fingers.  What a silly, silly boy my cousin is!

What a wonderful party.   I had so much fun...I can't wait until my next grown-up birthday party!