Tannenbaums

Birthday Parties

Summer Fun

We had a free Saturday and decided to get in some summer fun while we still could and while the kids museum was still free to military families :-).

The public garden here in Dayton has a great children's area complete with splash stream and waterfall.

We also visited the local children's museum...

Evelyn escaped from jail.

She slid down a slide that went from the upper floor to the main floor, and she wasn't scared!

PT

Evelyn helps daddy with his push ups.

Opera!

Turns out that Evelyn loves opera. She regularly gives us renditions of her favorite songs in "opah" as she calls it.

The warm-up



The aria!

Fourth of July in Birmingham

We drove down to Birmingham for the Fourth. Paul had to get back to classes in Dayton, but Evelyn and I got to stay for a few extra days. The weather was warm, but we ventured out and took in the sights and found lots of ways to stay cool!

Grammy found a great shark pool for me at Aldi!

Kisses!

Notice how Evelyn starts her crazy dance when she sees her reflection in the glass door off- camera. Please try to ignore my HORRIBLE singing!

We're goin' to the zoo, zoo, zoo....

We visited the zoo!

You can't tell it from this picture, but the train ride was the highlight of the visit to the zoo for Evelyn. She liked some of the monkeys and seeing the seal show, but riding on the choo choo train was thrilling!

Looking at kangaroos with Aunt Priscilla.

Birmingham Botanical Gardens

Poppy found a place for me to dip my feet in the water!

Grammy, Poppy and Evelyn near the Zen Garden. Evelyn liked the idea of a garden of rocks. She was sad that she couldn't go in and pick them up (a favorite pastime).

I really like fountains!

Poppy let me ring the bell!

Summer Vacation

During Paul's June break we went to Lake Michigan with his family. We had a very relaxing trip with great weather! The highlights for Evelyn were...riding down to the lake in the baby backpack, playing in the sand, and running into the cold water! She still talks about going to "Lake Michigan" every time she sees the baby backpack in the garage.

Jesus loves me... and doodles

Mothers' Day, Grammy's visit

Boo Boo Bunny

While we were grilling on our patio Evelyn got her first big boo boo. She fell on the patio and smacked her forehead. It sounded terrible! Her alertness and the lack of blood put my emergency room fears to rest. We quickly pulled out the "boo boo bunny" that a friend recently made for Evelyn and stuck in a piece of ice. Evelyn was much more interested in sucking on the ice than reducing the swelling on her head. Boo Boo Bunny was a comfort to her even if she didn't use it quite as intended. As soon as she finished the ice she was up playing again, running around, giving the garden gnome a drink of water from her sippy, etc. :-)

Grillin' and Chillin'

Sharecropping

We have a garden spot in our back yard. Last year it gave us a bountiful harvest of tomatoes. However, we planted green beans, peppers and okra as well. Since only the tomatoes produced a good yield, we decided to plant our garden full of tomatoes and hire ourselves out to some friends at church in exchange for produce from thier large garden. So far they have done much more sharing than we have done cropping. We have enjoyed some delicious asparagus from the garden along with fresh eggs from their laying hens. Evelyn loves going to play at Aunt Barby's house. She goes to the barn to visit the chickens and the kittys. She pets Jagsy the horse and she even got to sit on Chico the donkey. She also loves to play ball with Pippin their dog. She asks almost daily to go see Aunt Barby and Pippin.

Easter

We had a lovely Easter in Wheaton.

We stopped at a beautiful park near church to get some pictures with the daffodils. Evelyn is looking smart in the coat and hat that Grammy made her.

Pictures by Grandpa's pond. Evelyn loved going out to see the ducks and the geese!

Grandpa and Jonah are so funny! Evelyn loved seeing "Nonah" and "Menamin" again.

Paul has a pair of goggles that Evelyn plays with in the bath. When I saw a little pink pair in the $1 bin at Target I couldn't pass them up!

Out-side!

When warm weather first arrived, we ventured out into the back yard. Evelyn quickly identified this trough as her favorite "seat" in the backyard.

crazy hair

Evelyn's hair after a nap one day :)

So Strong!

A-choo!

Valentine Rewind

Evelyn's super-cute Valentine outfit.

Second Annual Valentine-Making Fun. These sweet friends braved a snow storm to come.

Evelyn played with her friend William while we made Valentine's. She was sporting the double "Who-do" that day.

On the farm

Baby steps

Amen

Matching daughter/doll day.

We're teaching Evelyn early about the best place to read.

We both have bed-head in this picture, but... I say hers is worse.