Sparklers

Somehow, I forgot to add these to the 4th of July post!  After the kids went to bed and it was finally dark, Ben and I went and lit off the rest of the sparklers. I played with the shutter speed on my camera some to try and get some cool pictures.  We aren't talented enough to write actual words yet.  Maybe next  year!

4th Weekend Fun

We began the holiday weekend by heading up to the cabin on July 2nd.  I had worked the night before (as usual) and then went home, gathered the fam, ran some errands, then made it to the lake around lunch time.  After I quit meal, I hit the sack to sleep for a few hours.  Grandma and Grandpa watched the kiddos while Ben also napped. 

Isla's favorite trick of the weekend was climbing up on the bricks surrounding the wood stove.  She could get up, but not back down!  She also started pulling up on things (table, couch, etc).  She'll be walking before she knows what's good for her!  She also mastered the crawling on hands and feet technique, which is funny to watch.  When her knees aren't covered, she doesn't like to put them on the ground to crawl, especially on hard or rough surfaces...can't blame the girl.

This picture made me laugh.  Poor girl.  Miles had "caught" her with his butterfly/fishing net.  She was eating french fries...well trying to eat them through the net.  She has her trusty sock monkey friend by her side.  Don't worry, the net was removed right after this picture was snapped!

I signed up to work my second job on the night of the third (hello big money night!), but didn't realize at the time that I'd miss the fireworks since everyone else was headed  back to town on the 4th.  Bummer.  So, Ben and  I (after a fire and some s'mores) went down to the "beach" and set off a few Roman candles and one big 9 set mortar thingy that was like a big finale.

Sunday was pretty warm and nice and sunny.  I slept in while Ben went fishing with Tom and Sara watched the kids.  After  lunch, Sara, Ben and Miles went to town (Newport) and bought more fireworks, some sparklers, and snakes for that night.  Isla and I hung out and headed down to the water front for some Vitamin D :).  She loved  sitting in the grass.  It was warm and I didn't put sunscreen on her, so we only sat down there for about 20 min before climbing the 70+ stairs back to the cabin.

We went back up just before Sara and the boys got back with the fireworks.  We hung out under the deck, snapped some pics on the new swing, did some pop-its and some snakes.

This one just cracked me up:

Pop-its:

Snakes:

Around 5pm, I called to make sure I was working and then went back to town to head into work.  Isla came with me because the cabin was just too far away for my comfort and so I could feed her in the morning.  She stayed with my parents for the night.  On the 4th, I went to their house to feed Isla and sleep for a while before Sara drove Ben and Miles into town.  We met them at my parents house then drove home. 

 At home, we had some cheeseburgers and lit sparklers.  Miles like watching but wouldn't touch them!  Isla didn't have a cheeseburger, she ate a crayon :).


It was a wonderful, warm 4th of  July, despite the fact that I missed the "real" fireworks show on the 3rd.  Next year!

Let Summer Begin

Memorial Day weekend, we traveled up to the cabin for the first time this  year. While the weather was anything but summery, it was the kick-off weekend off summer in my mind.  It was also Isla's first trip to the cabin extra-uterinally.  She enjoyed herself exploring all the new things to see, feel, and taste.

Miles, Grandpa Tom, Ben and I wandered down to the lake to take a spin on Grandpa's new fishing boat.  He had to "park" it at the neighbors dock as the dock in their community broke with the extremely high water levels this year.  It was a bit of a walk away.  Miles had to bring "floppy fish" and fish off the side of the boat. 

 

Many of the trees that had previously been on dry land are now growing right out of the lake! 

We had a nice, peaceful tour of the lake :).

Isla loved all the new things to see and play with.  This sock monkey is her best friend at the cabin! 

Both kids joined us in our nightly routine of a camp fire and s'mores.  We also cooked hot dogs on this occasion. 

Mmmmm....s'mores!

Miles was a bit intimidated by the fire and stood way to far away to actually roast his marshmallow :). He had a hard time cooking his hot dog for the same reason.

Miles  like the idea of a  s'more...roasting smarshmallows, chocolate...

But wasn't sure he liked it in reality.  Who doesn't like a s'more?!?!  He preferred to eat the chocolate on it's own :)

We had a great first weekend of "summer" and plan to spend many weekends at the cabin inn the months to come!

Growing like a Weed!

 Isla is now EIGHT months old!!!  It is crazy to me how fast time is flying by.  I skipped a 6 month post, and a 7 month post.  I even forgot to take an "official" six month picture...whoops!  Easter was right after her half birthday, so those are her six month pictures  :). 

At six months, Isla weighed in at a dainty 14# 15oz (27th%) and was 27" (89th%)!  Long and skinny thing :).  Miles, by comparison, was 18# (50th%) and 29" (>95th%)!  Yikes.  I didn't realize he was that much bigger than her!

  She started sitting up right around 6 months.  She also started rolling all over the place and used that as her mode of transportation between six and seven months.  She could get anywhere she wanted by rolling! 

Here's Miss Isla at 7 months.

We started solids around 5 months, but it was a seriously slow start.  She has started loving her solid foods in recent months though.  When we first started feeding her solids, I tried pureed food.  She  wasn't a big fan.  After a bite or two, she'd refuse to open her mouth...who can blame her??? 

So, closer to 7 months, we  started giving her a lot of table foods that were soft.  A lot of "puffs", some fruit (watermelon, banana, peaches, cantaloupe, mango, etc).  She's had peas, corn, rice, chicken, mashed potatoes, steak, and many other things.  She LOVE her solids now!

This is her trying out some broccoli from Panda Express (after I rinsed the sauce off!).

Miles was in a picture taking mood that day.  Grandma Sara and Uncle Danny had come up (bringing lunch from Panda) and loaded up "the truck" for a dump run...we had cleaned out our back yard!

Isla also grew two teeth!  One popped through on Mother's Day and the second one popped through the beginning of June. She is a drooling machine, but no new teeth since then :). 

Now, little miss is Eight + months old.  Yikes!!!  Just after her seven month "birthday" she started crawling around...Miles crawled at 8 months.  She also recently started pulling herself up on furniture and climbing.  I think we may be in trouble soon!   When she pulls herself to a stand, she can't get back down, so she'll stand there and whine till someone helps her sit back down.  She also "talks" a ton and "dances" to a good beat.  She will get so excited about things that she wiggles and squirms her whole body.  It is the cutest thing!

Right before her eight month "birthday", she got sick with a nasty cold.  About 3 days into the cold, she spiked a fever that lasted 5days and peaked at 104.5.  On the fifth day, we went to the doctor for our FIRST EVER sick child visit (meaning since Miles was born)...we've  been truly blessed!  It turned out that her cold had turned ear infection causing the fever.  She was put on amoxicillin and was fever free within 48hrs.  She loved her medicine and is now all back to normal (minus some residual snottyness!).  At the doctor for her sick child visit, she weighed in at 16# 6oz (somewhere around 25th%?), and they didn't measure her...I should have :). She is still long and lean, despite her appetite!

For a quick flashback:

Miles at six months.

Miles' first solids.  He ate his purees like a champ!

Sportin' the ball cap for Grandpa O!

7 Months (ish)

8 months at Auntie Annie's High School College Graduation :).