I know the snowsuit is a bit of an overkill for a nice walk on this perfect fall day.
But seriously, it is WAY easier than wrangling her into a coat, getting a hat on her head, trying to keep booties on her busy feet, and wrap a blanket around her legs so it doesn't come off. Can I get an A-men?
Thanks Gran. It's perfect.
Last weekend my niece Molly came over to help watch Daisy. I was busy speaking at camp (4 talks, which went well, thanks for asking) and Daisy LOVED having her cousin's full attention.
I only took 1 picture during the weekend, a Saturday afternoon snack at Daisy's table.
(And Daisy really loves playing with her beans. Lately it's all about pretend cooking. Two weeks ago we got a steal of a play kitchen on Craigslist and I can't wait to give it to her and her sister for Christmas. You can add play food or dishes to your Christmas list if you're the gift-buying-for-Daisy-type readers here.)
Thank you to everyone who helped contribute to our purchasing of this lovely double stroller. With about 8 gift cards and a 15% off coupon, we were able to purchase this lovely at Babies R Us just before vacation.
I really wanted a side-by-side, even though it's pretty wide, I could envision countless fights about who would get to ride in front of the sit & stand models. But, there will probably be lots of fights over "MO-OM, she's on my side!" with this model.
See? Daisy's already trying to hold her sister's hand for the picture!
We also love that the seats go up and down so easily, allowing us to use it with both the toddler and the baby, as well as be able to use it for quite a while.
Here, Miss Dani is hanging out while the rest of the family was swimming.
Oh, she's so cute, we must need a closeup!
All summer long when we'd walk to the dining hall for meals, Daisy would choose to walk over riding in her stroller. Now that we've got this guy, she always picks stroller.
Thanks again!
LOTS of things have been keeping me from this blog lately. Problem is, the more I do the more stuff I have to blog about and the less time I have to blog.
Some of the crew, pausing for a picture break:
Oh yeah, and typepad takes FOREVER to load photos. That doesn't help this lack-of-blogging thing either!
After naps on Labor Day, we loaded up the children and headed out for a walk around camp. We had just purchased our fabulous new double stroller (more on that later) and thankfully hadn't yet parted with the single jogger.
So the twins got the inaugural ride in the double:
And Sam took the single:
And the big kids had to walk. Poor guys were trying desperately to get turns in the strollers, until they realized that walking could have its perks too: like berries!
Or pushing the strollers!
(Can you even see Daisy back there? Trying her hand at pushing too.)
Before we left, we had to load the girls up with some milk, and put their sweatshirts on. Look at this dynamic duo taking care of the second generation duo!
(Jen later borrowed our camera and captured some nice shots of my rear in response to this photo. Too bad those pictures were on my camera and this is my blog, and I don't have to share them here!)
Jen did take the following shot, a nice candid of the walk.
We stopped by the barn for a bit to terrorize the baby kittens.
And stopped by the game room to show our friends our favorite game of roll the pool balls into the holes.
Poor mister Sam wanted in on the action too.
On the way home we found a couple hula hoops left behind in the big field,
and Darin turned them into a choo-choo train to encourage the tired kiddos to walk the rest of the way home.
Man, sometimes I really love living here.
...a playground in our backyard!
And Daisy is a big fan.
And so is her mama, who can plop her big belly in a chair and enjoy watching her little one run around and narate her adventures.
And on our hot days we can stick that blue slide into the pool for even more summer fun! (In fact, it's got a hose attachment so you can really turn it into a waterslide.)
The first day we had it in the pool Daisy wasn't so sure about it. So she enjoyed climbing up from the bottom and doing a little belly-sliding down the bottom half.
One thing I'm learning as the mother of a nervous toddler is that sometimes she needs a little pushing, and other times I just need to back off. This was a back off time. And the next day, sure enough, she had a bit more confidence. Down the slide she went. She LOVED it, giggled as she climbed back out of the pool and shouted at me "again, again, again!"
This slide has quite a bit of oomph and looks like a lot of fun. I wish I could try it myself, but I'd probably break it and me trying.
And one more, just for fun. Not the greatest shot but yes, those are horses going by in the background. One of our new favorite parts of summer: hollaring "HEY-YO" to the riders as they pass by.
And, really, lastly, a video of my wild daughter going down the slide. (Click the link below if the embedded version doesn't show up.)
down the slide from Deanna Gemmer on Vimeo.
We had a great day: camp staff, games, and treats at the beach in the morning. A long afternoon nap. And a great BBQ at my sister's house in the evening. We skipped the fireworks, but did see some being shot at the Purdy beach as we drove home.
Hope your day was just as fun!
(I'll share more photos later this week, but this was quick and fun.)
I was reminded this morning that we have many people to thank for the freedoms we enjoy, but as a Christian there is no greater freedom than the freedom found in Christ through his sacrifice for us. And for that, I am truly grateful.
Have you heard of this sport? It's basically gymnastics on horseback and it's something taught as an activity class at camp. So last week during staff training, our horsemanship coordinator Josh (who also happens to be MJ's dad) had a vaulting team to camp to demonstrate techniques to our wranglers. And he invited us to come watch.
It is pretty impressive what these girls can do. The younger ones do their moves while the horse is at a walk or trot, and the most experienced of the girls work with their horse at a canter. The top girl on the team even showed us how she could do a jump split on the horse while it was moving at a canter. We were all impressed.
Here's a younger member of the team.
When Daisy heard we were going to the barn she just had to bring along an apple for the horses. Of course, once she had it in her hands she needed a bite and, well, she ate at least half the thing before any horse got some.
Here she is with her apple watching the demonstration.
After the demo, the team let the wranglers have a try. Here's one girl trying to stand up.
Josh came over at one point and asked if Daisy could give it a try. Believe it or not, this was the first time Daisy's been on a horse at camp. While the horse was pretty big, I wasn't too worried with the other girl holding on to my kiddo.
Look at that grin! Someone's enjoying herself.
And look! She even got talked into standing up!
I was very impessed by how willing and brave she was.
Everyone was telling me that I'm now in trouble. But hey, if they're right next to our house and someone else is paying to feed and house them, I'm not in that much trouble! Right?
Thanks Dad for taking these pics.
