Week in pics 7/26

She wanted to try to cut the corn off the cob like I did for her.

She can get up and around pretty well these days.

Running around the flowers at ISU's concerts on the quad.

Giving her dad a flower she picked.

Concerts on the quad.

While visiting my brother, my mom passed along a this dress that was hers when she was a little girl. 

Baxter has taken to this spot recently.  It's not because of the wooden birds...

...but because of the bird feeder outside the window.

Harper and I went out to Moraine View State Park. 

She was intimidated for the first 10 minutes.  She eventually got down from my arms to explore the trees.

We're big fans of hats in this house. 

East Coast Trip: phone pic edition

There's fireworks there.  And NewYork City.  It was such a great perk to traveling on the 4th!

At the Chapel at Sandy Hook, NJ.

The water table became her personal swimming pool.

Far

Near

Taking great care (in this picture at least) in filling the water table.

I never asked why my brother has stilts, but they were a hit.

The water table, bubbles, playdoh, and crayons were used everyday we were there.

Harper escaping a water fight.

And then she follows the fight giggling.

Harper finally got to meet Janet!

She is mom to all and one of the reasons my bf Sarah turned out so great.  Harper was thrilled with her.

One of the great things about kids is when you get them together, they are less work.  Harper was content to do what they did most of the time.  This was a self directed coloring quiet time.

My brother found a table and chairs on craigslist for $10!  He already refinished the table (and it is awesome) and I started in sanding a chair. The wood is so pretty, but hidden under they type of finish it has. 

A project I was happy to help with was recovering the seat cushions.  This is the after.   Mom and I went on a goose chase for fabric after Joann's was closed unexpectedly, and found a great window panel that we cut up.

The before.

It was a gabillion degrees.  Here we're hiding in one of the rooms with AC and watching Sesame Street on my Nook.  It was great to snuggle.

This is the finished art work that Harper was making when she also painted herself (in the previous post).  It's framed and on the wall.  I love it!

East Coast Trip

 We were in New Jersey and Shrewsbury, MA for the past two weeks.  It was great.  A wedding, time with friends and family, and a change of scenery. 

 Harper did exceptionally well both traveling, and with all of the new people she met.  The wedding was a blast: outdoors at the Chapel at Sandy Hook, wonderful food and people.  Harper loved being able to wonder around in so much space, and to put her toes in the water. 

 We traveled up to my brother's house to visit for the remainder of out time.  Harper is 20 months, and her cousins are almost 4 and newly 6.  She LOVED playing with her cousins!  She thought both CC and Ben were magical. 

 The weather was super hot and humid.  We fought it was quite a bit of water time.  Which meant lots of water fights!

 Harper stuck pretty close to Cecilia.  She tried to do everything she did, and by the end of our visit, Harp has gained quite a few new skills. 

Like wrestling giant bears, otherwise known as Bear Yoga (explained because the bear can move into impossible positions to get out of an attack.)

 The bear is operated by a willing adult, so, since I was filming, the bear does not perform many feats of agility in these photos :)

And on a day the kids were elsewhere, Dan, Harper and I went to the coast to enjoy the beach.  It was wonderful.  Harper was not discouraged by the waves and we spent quite a bit of our time actually in the water!  It has been a very long time since I've been in the ocean.  I loved feeling the sand escape from beneath my feet with the leaving tides. 

 (Cameras and beaches don't mix very well, so only a few shots)

 One activity Harper latched onto was playing with playdoh.  She would roll it out, squish it, and her favorite thing was to push it through that blue & yellow press she's holding up. 

This I just love:  CC with June in the basket of clean laundry. 

 Miah's place has a huge yard, so we took advantage of it.  We were outside a lot, both to enjoy the water, but also all the great stuff he has!  Balls, stilts, bikes, bubbles, hockey sticks, and more.

She can almost ride on her own.  She needs about another inch of leg to really get some momentum.

The Fam!

Making Jello for the first time was also a great science project.  Ben and CC enjoyed the before, but especially the after!

The Jello conclusion

 And because we also got to spend time with my mom, who also came out at the same time, there was lots of crafts.

Harper really got into it.  Behold the progression of Harper's art experience:

 And sadly, I had to go home.  We went out to celebrate my brother's birthday (this coming weekend) and Harper finally let him pick her up!  Proof below :)