Popcorn Parade!

Here we are gathered on my Aunt Lee's porch on parade day:

Walking from her house downtown to the parade:

Watching the parade with friends and family:

Claire totally crashed out in her stroller. One bad thing about umbrella strollers is that they don't recline. She asked to lay the back down on this one! Yay!

Funny Sayings

I am sure as time goes on I will have more and more funny things to share that Claire has said! Here are a few stories:

At the grocery store while picking out produce, the sprinklers came on. Claire excitedly exclaimed, "Mommy! It raining in here!!!"

I sometimes make rice for breakfast and put cinnamon and sugar on it, but Claire likes hers plain. She saw me sprinkle cinnamon on mine and said, "Mommy, I no want dirt on mine!"

I was in Claire's way. She wanted me to move. So she said, "Mommy! Move on back!" A little too much "Wheels on the Bus" perhaps? LOL!

Yesterday we visited Fair Oak Farms http://www.fofarms.com/ which really easy to find right of of I-65. We were able to watch a calf being born. It was amazing! When we got home, the first thing Claire said to Josh was, "Daddy! I saw baby cow come out mommy cow!" I would totally recommend going there! Check the hours to make sure you are able to take a bus tour as that is included in the museum price. I'd also advise going when it is nice out so you can take advantage of all the outdoor kiddy rides, which are included.

Claire has developed a sense of privacy. I still keep her in diapers/pull-ups but she goes on the potty several times a day (both #1 and #2). I am just too nervous about cleaning up accidents. Anyways, if she wants me to leave she will say something like, "No see me Mommy. Go away. Go in kitchen Mommy. Eat food. Turn around. Don't see me! No looking at me."

When I help her get dressed, she loves to say "Where Claire go? I hiding!" when the shirt covers her eyes. She has been able to put on her own sandals since we visited Holly and I got some Velcro one she can fasten. She will ask, "That foot Mommy? It go there?" to make sure she's putting it on the right one.

She LOVES going to the library story time. It's very exciting as we are now in the Toddler Group versus the Baby Mother Goose Group. It's a little longer and the kids get to make a craft. She has used a glue stick for the first time! When we pull in the parking lot, she goes "STORY TIME! READ BOOKS! SING SONGS! SEE FISHIES! PLAY TOYS! I WANT TO GO IN HOUSE MOMMY!" She loves the little play house and Lego table at the library, since those are a couple things we don't have at home. We definitely can't skip story time. She loves it way too much!!!

Her appetite has increased immensely. She can say "I'm hungry. I'm thirsty! I want more food please!" One of her favorite foods is corn-on-the-cob. I'm sure it's because corn is sweet. But it was really funny as she had corn this past Saturday night, and when we got back to my mom's house. She ASKED me to brush her teeth. She goes, "Mommy, brush teeth? I have corn teeth." She meant she had corn IN HER teeth, but it was funny the way it came out. She is starting to use more and more "little" words like prepositions (in, on, under, etc) and articles (the, a, an) which are really making the longer sentences flow.

We have shared about the baby with her, of course. She will say, "Mommy have baby in tummy. I be big sister soon!" She of course, is probably clueless as to what this really means, but we have several months to go!

She also will say "Good morning; Goodnight; Sweet Dreams!"

Swimming with the Sharks and Gators

Claire and I stopped by Yellow Creek Lake for a cookout and a swim.
She loves to splash around in the water!

Her suit says "I'm a star!"

Here she is swimming with Oma:

And a shark ;)

Henry Vilas Zoo

Claire was terrified of the merry-go-round...I'm not sure if it was the lights or loud music, but maybe she thought these animals were real.
She loved the train though! We enjoyed touring the zoo with my cousin Kami who knew the place well!

Claire loves to push her stroller around!

Look! My little rugrat is 3 feet tall! WOW!

And wow...I have quite the ape arms! I can reach almost 8 feet tall!

Crashed Out

In all of our recent travels, Claire has spent a lot of time sleeping in the car and/or stroller. Luckily, she can still fall asleep in these places! Knock on wood.

Thai Pavilion

The Thai Pavilion was a part of the Botanical Gardens, and it was incredibly gorgeous!

Claire can walk up and down steps super-well now! I don't feel like I need to hover 2 inches behind her on unfamiliar steps anymore!

Claire got a kick out of the Elephant that was in the Thai area.

This looks like it would be so much wade through! The stones would feel great!

Proof I was with!

There is real gold-leaf on the building. It seems like they should have it fenced off or at least roped off.

Claire was tired from running around!

Ahh yes...here she is spinning around with the pumpkin!

This is the ceiling in the Thai building:

And a profile shot:

Outdoors at Olbrich Gardens

The previous post all the pictures were inside. We had a nice day to walk around outside, very sunny!

There were a lot of water features in addition to the trees and flowers!

Claire enjoyed running ahead. They say that your child can REALLY run when he/she can outrun you. Yes, Claire can run. Fast. This was a pretty good place for her to run! No cars!

Here she is sitting to look at these bushes that have been sculpted into bears sitting at a picnic table. She loved them!

Farmer's Market in Madison

Last Tuesday, I drove to Madison, WI. I visited my cousin Kami. Here we are at a local Farmer's Market.
Claire fell in love with this mini-pumpkin and it became her lovey for the rest of the day!

I love having a stroller. It comes in great as a shopping cart sometimes. :)

This was a very big farmer's market! The local ones here are super tiny!

They had flowers, meat, cheeses, baked goods...and of course fruits and veggies!

MMM! Look at those raspberries! YUM!

Claire wouldn't cooperate, but here she is with me in front of the capitol building.

It looks really cool at night, as it's all lit up!

Indiana Beach Amusement Park

Last Sunday I headed out on road trip! Josh flew to San Francisco for a business trip. I started out by meeting my parents at Indiana Beach for a day of rides!
Claire got to try her hand on rides for the first time. You have to be 36 inches for most kiddy rides like this.

The cool thing about IN Beach was kids ages 2 and under are free to ride! YAY! Admission and parking were also free, so it's a very reasonable place to go.

Claire had fun riding these boats and ringing the bell. I remember riding these same boats when I was little and having fun sticking my fingers in the water.

Here I am watching her!

Claire was terrified of the big Ferris wheel. But it was very windy and almost cold! It was only about 60!

If you've been to IN Beach, you'll remember these nasty carp that will eat anything, small children probably included.

Here is Claire on the very open train! She had fun!

Her favorite kiddy ride was the cars. She rode on them at least 4 times!

Here is my dad watching her!

Black Light Mini-Golf

We went black-light mini-golfing with our friends Matt and Brooke. Claire wasn't such a great help. Notice she has taken all of our golf balls!

They had a cute little golf club that was just her size! Of course she is probably close to 37 inches by now!

Claire really enjoyed seeing all the fish and paintings in "That Fun Place." It's pretty close to a locally owned Chuckie Cheese, but they have laser tag, bumper cars, and some kiddy rides in addition to the golf, pizza, and typical skeeball type games you win tickets at. I have never actually been to a Chuckie Cheese in my adult life, but I hear the pizza there isn't bad either? This place tosses their own crusts! Awesome!

She so did not get the game concept, but we all had fun anyways!