So here is how I spent my last day off. (Not counting today, Sunday.Though by the time I finish this it might technically be Monday. I got a nap today so sleeping is out of the question at this particular moment.) We started out the day with a Primary activity at the church. It was a birthday party for the whole primary. We stayed outside the whole time, and luckily the weather was very cooperative. The kids and leaders all had a blast!
What kid doesn't like bubbles? Chelsea is hanging out here with her favorite Nursery buddy, Enoch. They also had a good time tossing bean bags, playing croquet, and, of course, jumping in the bouncy castle!
Chelsea is not quite old enough to be in Primary, but we brought her along and Daddy was very accommodating in keeping his eyes on her. While the bigger kids were having bubble gum bubble blowing contests and gunny sack races and water balloon tosses, Chelsea got to hang out with Daddy and do some extra jumping. They are talking to each other at this point. I thought it was a cute moment, despite the lack of cheesy grins.
Surprisingly, our shy little Chelsea chose a seat amongst all the other kids, who decided they'd like to sit on this table for whatever reason. Oh well. What did she want to eat? Chips and cupcakes of course. Forget the hotdog when there is sweet stuff! She was very good about keeping the area clean and throwing every bit of trash into the trash can for all of us.
After the Primary activity, we headed over to G. Heit's to drop off Chelsea. We chatted for a bit and whisked off to the mall to see Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince! I liked it. I knew of some of the "additional" scenes that weren't in the book, so I wasn't caught off guard. I'm a big Harry Potter fan and the book far outweighs the movie, but I still enjoyed it a lot.
Next on the docket was dinner with the Vande Hoef family and the Pre Air Show with the Vande Hoefs and Hyzers. Chelsea LOVED the Vande Hoef's place. They had all sorts of things to play with and a big back yard and a park right out back also. And dogs! She was thrilled and terrified at the same time of those dogs. They were fun to look at but if they got too close she was climbing into our arms but quick! For dinner we had grilled pork chops, pototoes, asparagus, and watermelon. Mmmmm mmmm it was good! Chelsea of course ate a banana and peanut butter bread. Figures.
Ooh baby! More jumping! Yay for trampolines. I always loved jumping on tramplines myself. Nowadays I'm happy to have them wear out my child for me. :)
Oh such fun! Chelsea claims to like trampolines better than the jumpy castles. I don't know if that's just because she was on the tramp most recently or if she really likes them better. Eh. Who knows?
When we got to the air show, the parachuters were on their way down.
Chelsea and Zoey are watching the parachuters on their downward path. They were all on target when they landed. Very impressive.
An F-16 or sometype plane flew by unexpectedly. It was LOUD. None of us knew it was coming. Poor Chelsea was really caught off guard. She had been digging in her stroller for something. When the plane flew over, she just turned around slowly with a horrified expression. No tears, but we did become cuddle buddies for most of the rest of the show.
Daddy made a great cuddle buddy, too. She tried to get to Daddy's lap a couple times, but just as she was about to make her move another plane would go by and she stayed rooted to my lap for another couple minutes. Poor girl was scared, but she took it well.
After the planes were done flying we were allowed to look around at the planes on display. Daddy pointed out one that was like the noisy plane. So Chelsea put her head down and covered her ears again. Poor traumatized girl, hehe.
Can you tell that it's past bedtime by this point?
Here is the plane that Chelsea gets to sit in.
Did I mention it was the engine that she got to sit in? She looked nervous and like she didn't want to get out of her stroller, but the instant she was placed on the plane, her face lit up! She loved it! I was surprised because she didnt' seem overly impressed by the whole experience. Kids'll surprise ya sometimes.
It was a very busy, but very fun day. It was nice to take a day and just play. I wish all my days off were this fun! Chelsea has been requesting to go to Zoey's house all day. She obviously loved it!
I'm upside-up! Things are either upside-down or upside-up to Chelsea. It's not always accurate, hehe.
Piggy Piggy! Chelsea was climbing up on Daddy in anticipation of a piggy back ride. She wasn't disappointed in the ride!
Ahh the joys of 3D glasses. At least if these break, we aren't out a lot of money. One pair IS broken and the other has survived...for now.
What kid doesn't like bubbles? Chelsea is hanging out here with her favorite Nursery buddy, Enoch. They also had a good time tossing bean bags, playing croquet, and, of course, jumping in the bouncy castle!
Chelsea is not quite old enough to be in Primary, but we brought her along and Daddy was very accommodating in keeping his eyes on her. While the bigger kids were having bubble gum bubble blowing contests and gunny sack races and water balloon tosses, Chelsea got to hang out with Daddy and do some extra jumping. They are talking to each other at this point. I thought it was a cute moment, despite the lack of cheesy grins.
Surprisingly, our shy little Chelsea chose a seat amongst all the other kids, who decided they'd like to sit on this table for whatever reason. Oh well. What did she want to eat? Chips and cupcakes of course. Forget the hotdog when there is sweet stuff! She was very good about keeping the area clean and throwing every bit of trash into the trash can for all of us.
Next on the docket was dinner with the Vande Hoef family and the Pre Air Show with the Vande Hoefs and Hyzers. Chelsea LOVED the Vande Hoef's place. They had all sorts of things to play with and a big back yard and a park right out back also. And dogs! She was thrilled and terrified at the same time of those dogs. They were fun to look at but if they got too close she was climbing into our arms but quick! For dinner we had grilled pork chops, pototoes, asparagus, and watermelon. Mmmmm mmmm it was good! Chelsea of course ate a banana and peanut butter bread. Figures.
Ooh baby! More jumping! Yay for trampolines. I always loved jumping on tramplines myself. Nowadays I'm happy to have them wear out my child for me. :)
Oh such fun! Chelsea claims to like trampolines better than the jumpy castles. I don't know if that's just because she was on the tramp most recently or if she really likes them better. Eh. Who knows?
When we got to the air show, the parachuters were on their way down.
Chelsea and Zoey are watching the parachuters on their downward path. They were all on target when they landed. Very impressive.
An F-16 or sometype plane flew by unexpectedly. It was LOUD. None of us knew it was coming. Poor Chelsea was really caught off guard. She had been digging in her stroller for something. When the plane flew over, she just turned around slowly with a horrified expression. No tears, but we did become cuddle buddies for most of the rest of the show.
Daddy made a great cuddle buddy, too. She tried to get to Daddy's lap a couple times, but just as she was about to make her move another plane would go by and she stayed rooted to my lap for another couple minutes. Poor girl was scared, but she took it well.
After the planes were done flying we were allowed to look around at the planes on display. Daddy pointed out one that was like the noisy plane. So Chelsea put her head down and covered her ears again. Poor traumatized girl, hehe.
Can you tell that it's past bedtime by this point?
Here is the plane that Chelsea gets to sit in.
Did I mention it was the engine that she got to sit in? She looked nervous and like she didn't want to get out of her stroller, but the instant she was placed on the plane, her face lit up! She loved it! I was surprised because she didnt' seem overly impressed by the whole experience. Kids'll surprise ya sometimes.
I know everyone wants belly shots! So here I am at the 4th of July breakfast at church. I was feeling pretty cute so I had Beth take my picture. I'm 24 1/2 weeks at this point. Yeah, much bigger than I was with Chelsea at this point. They say you get bigger faster with each kid, and they were right! But I feel good and things are going well, so it's ok with me.
Here we are at last year's Fourth of July breakfast.
Look how much she's grown in just one year! Ahhh!
Daddy's version of Ring Around the Rosies is a little more exciting than just walking in a circle, especially when in a big open space like the gym at church! This is the low part of the swing, he can get her up there pretty high. I just can't get the timing right to take a picture.
We all fall down!
After the breakfast at church, we headed over to the zoo! First stop, ducks! Not quite tall enough to see over the top yet. Maybe next year.
Chelsea talked about being a turtle a few times throughout the day. This is what she was talking about!
Another dark family photo next to the penguins. Chelsea got to have her picture taken as a penguin too, but the shadows were really bad. I'll have to try to fix them before I print the photos.
Still in the "I wanna do it myself" phase. She's not quite tall enough to push it with the handle, but that doesn't mean she won't try anyway!
When we asked her what her favorite part of the zoo was, she said chickens first. Mommy's favorite part is the otters and Daddy is a big fan of the penguins.
Chelsea is tired. Very tired. She must have decided she needed to walk in order to stay awake. Or else she got tired of climbing in and out and in and out of the stroller. She got her feet run over once when she slid out the front while we were walking! No damage done, don't worry.
Walking with Auntie Jennifer and Auntie Beth. They are two of the best aunties ever!
Here we are in the gift shop at the zoo, right before leaving. Chelsea found many toys/books/items to her liking. She had just given this monkey a big kiss MUAHHH! Sorry for the blurriness. I was hoping to capture the smooch itself, but this is just as cute, I think.
We went to Oak Park in the evening for more food and fun. I didn't get to stay long because I had to get to work, but at least I only had a half day to work instead of all day!
It takes so much effort to get up to the top, but the big slide down is worth it every time!
Chelsea decided one day that she wanted to play in the water. It wasn't a wonderful day for it and we had other things going on. But later in the evening it turned pretty nice, so we decided to make it our family home evening activity. Given the lateness of the day and the lowering of temperatures, it was a short activity. But it was fun nonetheless.
Such determination! She makes me a little bit nervous when she runs sometimes. She'll run full-on as fast as she can, but she looks down at the ground as she does so! She's only taken a couple of minor spills so far, but one of these days....
After running through the sprinklers we did some weeding of the grass/rocks. Chelsea did her best to help out. You can see us holding some of the spoils of that part of the evening. Ah, summer fun with the family. ;)