The Baby Bakes!

 A couple days ago, Lorelei decided she was not going to take an afternoon nap, so we had to get pretty creative to keep our crab-apple busy until dinner. We went on a short outing to get some caffeine relief for Daddy and Mama and an ice cream cone to share. I think Lorelei really liked looking at her messy face in the car mirror more than the ice cream itself.

After we got home, we played outside for a bit, and she tried to call Luke through the fence to come play with her, but he wasn't home so she was stuck playing with us. We picked cherry tomatoes and rolled them down the slide on her water table for a while and then played with chalk on her easel. When Lorelei is tired, her attention span decreases and she starts to do naughty things, like playing with rocks under the deck, or trying to pick green tomatoes over the garden fence, or dropping handfuls of mulch down the sewer grate, or putting the chalk in the pool. After we did all of those things, Todd and I were getting pretty desperate for dinnertime to roll around, so I scooped her up and we baked banana muffins together. It was the perfect activity to keep her interested, happy, and contained, (and it got us to dinnertime with a lot less whining!) 

Baking will definitely be one of our go-to's when it's just "one of those days". Hopefully she will continue to enjoy it, especially because this crazy fall weather has made me realize we will be doing a lot more indoor activities in a few months when it starts to get darker earlier and the temperatures drop. In the meantime, I'm ready for the 80-degree temps to return... We have a lot more summer activities to enjoy before I go back to that-which-we-will-not-speak-of!

Not smiling.

Squishing bananas

Very serious business

Had to take a break to sample the bananas.

Great Grandma Kiki and PawPaw visit from New Mexico

We have been checking a lot of things off our summer bucket list so far. One thing I wasn't sure would work out was having Great Grandma Kiki and PawPaw visit us, but we were very happy they braved the long drive from New Mexico to spend a weekend with us before they continued on to visit some old friends. We spent Saturday afternoon with them at our house, and then Sunday we visited the Phillips Park Zoo before having dinner and saying good bye. It was a very quick trip, but I'm glad we all got to spend some time together and capture some great memories.

Looking at the owl with RaRa

Checking out the gators with PawPaw and RaRa

One last shot with Grandma Kiki and PawPaw before they head home.

Lake House Trip

Lorelei and I headed back up to the lake house last week to spend a couple days with my mom. It was a very quick trip, an extra day would have been great, but we still packed in lots of fun. The first day, we just played on the beach and went swimming. It was brutally hot, so we waited until the evening to visit Cameo at the barn. We didn't ride due to the heat, but sprayed Cameo down to cool her off.

The next day, I went on a beautiful morning run down the lake road and found a huge snapping turtle. I hurried him across the road so he wouldn't get squashed. I read and sunned on a float while Lorelei took her morning nap, and then we all headed to the county fair. It was really hot, but we toughed it out anyway. Lorelei loved all the animals, they even had camels! Somehow we missed the building with all of the rabbits, which Lorelei will definitely enjoy next year, but we saw all of the 4H cows, horses, pigs, sheep, and goats, and Lorelei fed some goats and llamas at the petting zoo. We also visited the "Birthing Barn" where pregnant cows were having their babies (not while we were there, but there were a couple calves that were just a few hours old) and Lorelei got to pet chicks, ducks, baby goats, and she was even on the news kissing a piglet! After the fair, we took Cameo for a ride. It was Lorelei's first time riding, and when we got home, she rode toys, baskets, even the suitcases saying, "Walk on Cami!" She'll love it when Cameo comes back to Illinois next month and we can ride as much as we want!

It was a great trip! Wish we had another opportunity to go up this summer, but it's seems to be slipping away and we still have a lot of activities on the calendar.   :(

Enjoying some kettle corn and the camels!

Girls Weekend!

My girlfriends and I finally headed up to the lake house to enjoy a girls getaway we put on the calendar back when there was snow on the ground. The weather was absolutely perfect! Jess and I drove up early Friday afternoon with the windows down and the music blasting. The drive alone was pretty refreshing. We relaxed on the pier and caught some sun and relaxation, then went to the farm to meet Cameo and take her for a ride. We also found a great new restaurant downtown Fond du Lac that's housed in an old catholic church. We sat outside near a fire pot and enjoyed a few minutes of live music before the musicians packed up for the night. The food and atmosphere were great! The rest of the ladies arrived late Friday night.

On Saturday, we went for a refreshing (but hot!) 3.5 mile run, ate breakfast, and then spent the rest of the day out on the boat soaking up the sun and catching up with each other. We kept up the lake house tradition by dining at Blanck's Supper Club for dinner. We all ordered awesome steaks and had tons of leftovers to bring home to the men! It was a fabulous, rejuvenating weekend that will definitely be an annual tradition!

Plates of MEAT!

Dog Days

Lorelei and I spent the day with Uncle Mitch at my parents' pool. It wasn't quite as relaxing as last year when Lorelei was happy to do anything as long as she was attached to me, which included floating in the pool for hours. This year, not so much. We were in the pool, out of the pool, on the float, on the steps, in her floatie, out of the floatie, in the yard, in the house, out of the house, etc. about every five minutes. Woah. 

Rara stopped by our house one evening. Lorelei was very excited to see him! 

Fourth of July

Happy Fourth of July! We took Lorelei to the Yorkville Fourth of July parade and it was so much fun! This will absolutely be a Bowers Family tradition for a long time. Their town square is adorable and we were able to park easily and close-by just in case we needed to make a quick exit! The parade had everything we knew Lorelei would love: Tractors, marching bands, motorcycles, lots of police and fire vehicles, and kids. They also tossed candy, but she had no idea what she was missing. We were, however, all very excited about the Jimmy Johns sandwich that bounced off the stroller into my hands! 

After lunch and a solid 3-hour nap, Lorelei played with her best buddy, "Lukie" in the yard while we hung out on the patio with Tom, Ashley, and Marisa who came out from the city for the night. We couldn't have asked for a better day! 

Here they come!

Tractors! 

Where's Lorelei??