Friday, June 13, 2008

Life's a Beach

We just returned from a little less than a week in Orlando, FL. We traveled there for a family reunion and had a great time. Coee met a lot of cousins that she hadn't met and Trey and Dillon were very happy to get to spend time with all of them. We were able to spend two days at a beach condo (Thanks Todd and Meghan!) so Coee has now swam in the ocean as well. She loved it and surprisingly didn't mind the sand. Here a few pictures from our trip:


Too cute in Mommy's hat.


Trey and "Little Cousin Ethan"


Checking the sand out for the first time.

Who are these boys and why are they growing up so fast?! I've resorted to methodically patting Dillon on the head several times a day in effort to curb the growth! :))

Cameron, Dillon, Morgan and Trey
"Morgan's Posse"

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Day at The Zoo: More Pictures

Monkey see. Monkey do.


Meme & Tristan





Three Amigos.


The Hippos put on the best show of the day.
The four of them were very active and fun to watch!

Going to the Zoo Zoo Zoo

We took advantage of the great spring weather and the kids being out of school for election day to head to St. Louis for an overnight in a hotel and then spend the day at the zoo. Meme, Ethan and Tristan joined us. We had a great day!!

Coee loved swimming in the hotel pool, although it was pretty cold. Then, there were lots of things for her to love at the zoo!!:


She loved being with her brothers and cousins.


She loved the monkeys. (all four pictured)


She especially loved the carousel. She just got this heavenly smile on her face and it stayed during the whole ride.


She loved petting the goats.


I believe her favorite was the splash park!!

First Camping Trip

Coee had her first camping experience this past weekend. We had planned on going up to the lake to celebrate my Dad's birthday with everyone and then come home, but we decided around noon to spend the night. We rushed around in a frenzy and packed everything for it and headed to the lake. It was great weather for her first camping outing and we had a great time!!


Coee's first morning of camping included Granddaddy Mike delivering breakfast-in-bed/tent: powdered donuts and bananas. What's not to like?!


On Saturday night, we had a huge gathering around an awesome campfire. My Uncle Will even brought his guitar and sang a long and varied list of requests. Coee LOVES music and LOVED "helping" Great Uncle Will play. He even let her hold a collection of pics!


This is Coee getting her first look at this thing called a tent. "We're sleeping in here?"


"I'm not so sure, but I'm just going to go with you on this...."

Monday, May 12, 2008

Spring Makes Us Happy!

It has been too long since I posted new pictures of Coee, so went outside today specifically to take some pictures. Coee is enjoying her "first" spring, especially loves doing anything Trey and Dillon are doing; walking in the creek, jumping on the trampoline, playing basketball, going down the slide, swinging and just being outside!

She is learning new words as fast as we can think of them to teach her. Some of her repertoire is: Daddy, Mama, D (Dillon), Trey, puppy, Dynamite, Momo, Bop Bop, Meme, eat, drink, truck, dirty, cookie, candy, night night, bappy (paci), hot, duck, aya (said forcefully with a kick, product of watching Trey and Dillon's Tae Kwon Do class), and go. Speaking of go, she thinks she is ready to go. Whenever the grandparents come to visit, she accompanies them to their car when they are leaving and tugs on the door handle, saying go.!

She is growing by leaps and bounds, as she should be with all that she eats. Her Bop Bop says he has never seen any kid eat as much and enjoy it as much as she does. She is passionate about most any fruit as well as the egg drop soup from a local Chinese restaurant. Going to eat there with her is more entertainment for us than anything else. Remember when Dillon was worried about her hitting her head on the bath tub faucet, which she fit underneath when we first came home? Well, she can no longer fit underneath said faucet! Enjoy the pictures!!





Monday, April 7, 2008

What they say about kids and boxes...

It's true. I've always know it's true. I knew that kids love boxes way back during Trey and Dillon's first Christmases and birthdays. They would cull the toy and play with the boxes. I knew it when we moved so many times and they would LOVE playing with and in the moving boxes. I knew it when they slept IN a couple of decorated - complete with windows- moving boxes for an entire summer when they were six. But four nine year olds on spring break...


Who knew they would fit and the infatuation doesn't end by 3rd grade? That's Landon, Dillon, Kyle and Trey. Just so you will know that Trey is not throwing an obscene gesture here, I have included a sub-par picture below to show that he is really saying....



"Peace" with the four of us here in this box! That's a 36" x 20" box.

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Chocolate Bunny, Reading spot and an aha!

We have a "sweets" corner of our kitchen. I usually have some type of baked goods there; cookies, cupcakes, muffins, cakes, and recently Hershey kisses. Coee has figured out where the good stuff stays and goes to that part of the counter and reaches. Her chocolate Easter bunny was residing there until she got to bite its' ears off over the weekend!!

Yum!!


She crawled under the buffet to take in some 3rd grade science.


What would you like to know about? The Solar System? Soil? Plants?
And here is our AHA!! She has been fussy, whiny and clingy; had a fever and runny nose; has been slobbering and HAS NOT BEEN SLEEPING SOUNDLY! I found it!! The tooth! The tooth! See? Your left. Coming in at several different places now. Ouch! At least we now can have some idea of what we are dealing with.


In case you are wondering, the method here is to put her upside down on my legs and tickle her under the chin; all the while holding the camera at the ready in my right hand.