"El-Nor"

We got to visit Eleanor again!

It's been about 2 months since we last saw Eleanor, Marilyn, Alan and met baby Wesley for the first time. We all went out to dinner with them last Thursday and got to visit and chase the girls around for a couple hours.

The girls get along great and had fun playing peek-a-boo with each other. The adults got to catch up on the latest happenings and we had a great meal together. We will be planning another get-together sometime in the next few weeks to go out to the lake for the day and let the girls play.

Eleanor loves her little brother Wesley and they are both growing like weeds, just like Olivia. We are all going to attend the summer picnic in August that the adoption agency we used puts on every year. None of us were able to make it last year for various reasons so we should have fun seeing the people we worked with through the adoption process and show them how well our girls are doing.

It's always fun to meet with Marilyn, Alan and the kids and we are looking forward to our next visit.

Stay tuned for more updates.....

Camping Fun

We spent four days and three nights camping at Governor Dodge State Park this past weekend. We went with my sisters and their families. Their kids are teenagers or older now so some of them had to work but still made the trip over there for part of the weekend. At one point there were fifteen of us all together. My sisters have campers but our family still uses tents. I'm sure someday we will grow tired of the extra work "tenting it" creates but for now I still enjoy using them. I think it is a good experience for Olivia too. She actually seems to enjoy sleeping in the tent and does very well.

The weather was perfect the entire weekend (considering the forecast called for rain all weekend). We had some rain and thunder Saturday night but the rest of the time was warm, sunny and beautiful. Not even any mosquitoes!!

Saturday the 19th was our 5 year wedding anniversary so we had that to celebrate also. I brought a cake along and just remembered to take a picture after I cut it. 5 years ago we were married on my parents lawn and everyone camped out there to celebrate the entire weekend so I guess the camping part is turning into a yearly tradition to celebrate..

We hiked the beautiful trails, swam in the lake, watched the sun set on the lake, went boating, some went fishing and we also found time to relax in between eating too much great campfire food.

The backpack child carrier I bought through e-bay came in handy to carry Olivia onthe trails. She seemed to really like it and even fell asleep on the longer hike we took on Sunday. At the campsites she...as usual...socialized and flirted with everyone. She loves everybody and it helps me out a lot that everyone seems to take their turn playing with her or watching her so we can get a little free time also. It could not have been a better weekend. I sure hope everyone had as much fun as I did!!

We should do it again soon!

A Night At The Races

Olivia saw her first car race on Sunday, July 13th at Slinger Speedway. Steve's company is part owner of one of the race cars. The driver is the other owner so Lagina Plumbing was the sponsor for the race this day. We got be the privileged ones in the pavilion area for the party with food and drinks. We could stay inside and watch through the windows if you didn't want to hear so much noise from the cars or we could sit outside on the bleachers with an excellent view of all the races. The driver of our car even took the time to come up and sign autographs for the kids. Olivia was very interested in his pen but got pretty shy when I wanted her to stand by him for a picture.

It was a busy day and Olivia missed her nap but she was a trouper and did really well anyway. She did her usual flirting and socializing. She also likes to try to keep up with the boss's son Joseph. He has a lot of energy but I was able to get him to sit still for a picture with Olivia. Maybe next year she will be able to keep up with him. She was not at all afraid of all the noise even when Steve took her down close to the race track. We took turns running after her and keeping her occupied while still keeping her from grabbing everything off of the food tables. Even though she was so tired she never had any kind of meltdown or anything. But she was ready to get to bed when we finally got home.

Too Much "Paaarty"

This is what happens after a 2 year old has way too much fun on a four day camping trip. Olivia used up every last ounce of her energy in four days of flirting, playing, socializing and as she says "paaarty".

We got home on Sunday afternoon and I gave her a nice long bath, a clean outfit and some dinner. She still seemed energetic and was running around outside........until Dad decided the lawn needed mowing. Of course, she loves to ride along but this time only made it about 2 1/2 times around the lawn and just couldn't anymore. She just zonked out from exhaustion. It was so cute. She never woke up while I took her off Steve's lap, changed her diaper and put her in bed. This was only 6:45 pm and she slept through the rest of the night. She woke up happy the next morning but it still took a day or two to get caught up. She's now ready for our next outing with everyone next week.

Olivia is talking more everyday, repeating what we say and putting small sentences together. This means she is starting to tell me what to do!! Like when I'm watering the flowers and she wants my help with something else she says "Momma, wa-wa down!" or when she wants to go outside "Momma, shoe on!"

More Camping Pictures

Happy 4th of July 2008!

What better way to spend the 4th of July than eating sweet watermelon at Grandma and Grandpa's house, so juicy the sticky juice runs right down your arms.....what fun!

We all camped out on our annual Manning camp out at Grandma and Grandpa's. The best campground around!

We camped from Thursday through Sunday and had a great time. The weather could not have been better and we ate like royalty. On Friday night we grilled two huge beef tenderloins. Steve was in charge of these and did an excellent job. He sliced it up for everyone and had medium and medium rare pieces to please everyone. The steaks were so tender and soooo good. We also feasted on baked potatoes, fruit, veggies and desserts. We spoiled ourselves the next morning with the leftover steak and potatoes. At night we sat around the campfire talking smart and enjoying the starry skies until 1:30 am. The entire weekend was so much fun but very exhausting. Olivia had a great time and slept well in our tent at night and for naps during the day. She is well prepared for our next camping trip to Governor Dodge in a couple weeks. Her favorite thing, besides showing off and flirting, is to go around with a spray bottle squirting everyone and getting a laugh. She keeps it even by spraying herself every little while too.

It takes a while to upload pictures to the blog so I will add more from our camping trip in a day or two. Thanks Grandpa and Grandma for another fun weekend!!

When Good Dogs Smell Bad

Olivia got to help give Blazer a bath for the first time. I think she had fun but was pretty serious the whole time. I think she was a little concerned about what was happening to her "Bazur".
Since Smokey has been gone Blazer has become very spoiled by being a part-time house dog (or most-time house dog). But, he also likes to tour around the perimeter of our lot and sometimes wander into the ditch behind our house. Well, he must have found an old carp or something dead and decided to roll in it. He smelled soooo bad so we gave him a good bath with good smelling dog shampoo and he can come back in the house now. Olivia loves to get wet so she got right in there to help with the bath.



In the end, I think Blazer enjoyed it too and even had to give me a big sloppy kiss when we were done.