Family Style

We decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and a "free birthday dinner" coupon and have dinner out as a family this past weekend. Our table was smack in the sun for the first half hour or so, so Brooke got to rock this stylish hat/dress combo.

Nothing too exciting to report about this meal, except that maybe Matt thought that he could outsmart the restaurant and use the coupon for his expensive steak rather than my fish. I was okay with going along with it until the waitress asked, "Oh! Whose birthday is it?!?" and I panicked and fessed up. Matt went with a smaller steak than he had originally planned.


It was a little windy...

Later, I opened my gifts from Matt. He got me this AWESOME bottle of wine, Rombauer Chardonnay. I first tried it when we were in Tahoe and I guess I had been talking about it a lot. Oops. And he also took my hints about wanting a cute little bag to go with my new neon outift that I've been saving for the first day of school. Not really. He bought the purse as a joke to avoid his picking one out and my returning it the next week. He knows me so well.

If I Ran the Zoo...

So, this title doesn't really fit the post, but I try to keep the post titles creative and this is the only thing that was coming to me related to zoos (that and Zumanity, the Cirque du Soleil show that's pretty risque and inappropriate to reference in a blog about my child).

ANYWAY. Brooke's been to a couple of zoos in the last few weeks. First, we checked out the St. Louis Zoo with my dad, brother and Lexi. Of course we picked one of the hottest days of the year and I was a little distracted so this is the only photo I got of that outing. I will say that visiting that zoo again made me realize how amazing (and FREE) it is. Brooke loved the penguin exhibit. The combo of cold air, water, and close proximity to animals is a no fail equation in my opinion.

Then yesterday we checked out Cosley Zoo in Wheaton with Grammie and Aunt Jamie. It was free for everyone but me (Non-resident...I even tried to flash my District 200 employee bling but they weren't impressed) and is a great place for younger kiddos. It's fun to see Brooke actually checking things out. She especially likes the exhibits where the animals are big and close up (duh). Of course, she was also just as entertained by the little girls running around, but I didn't get any shots of that.


There's really something about viewing the world through the eyes of a child that gives you a renewed appreciation for how amazing and creative God's creation is. It excites me to continue to rediscover the world through her eyes. Here's another example of my stellar photography skills. Sorry, Jamie!

I've never been one to want a lot of photos of myself, but I've decided that for posterity it might be nice if I'm in a few shots with The Girl, even if it means explaining to her why I sometimes look like I have 5 chins.

Twinkies

Grammie found this shirt that looks like Brooke's, so they donned matching ensembles for lunch the other day. We had to be selective about where we ate to ensure that they didn't blend in with the tables.

Back That Thing Up

Brooke is really beginning to get around - she just can't seem to figure out how to shift out of reverse. I haven't been able to capture it on video yet, but I hope to soon.

She'll have her eye on something ahead of her...then steadily back away from it. The good news is that true to her easygoing personality, she's content playing with whatever comes her way as she backs up. Unfortunately this is often dog hair or crumbs of dog food, thanks to Oz's neurotic eating habits and "no shed" coat.



The other day, she was on the floor on her purple blanket playing nicely with her toys. The next time I checked on her, I found her here. She wasn't yelling or crying - just chilling. I've decided that I'll enjoy this transition period before I have to fully babyproof.

Getaway

*Warning: no Brooke shots and lots of landscape shots in this post*

Each year, Matt and I have been able to take a trip for our anniversary. This year, we took a belated trip to Lake Tahoe, CA. I was not looking forward to leaving Brooke, but I knew that she was in good hands with my parents. Aside from choking up at the airport and spending at least 50% of the trip talking about her, I think that I did pretty well. I had forgotten what it's like to be able to read and sleep while on an airplane.

Matt's been to Lake Tahoe to ski a couple of times and told me how beautiful it was. I was eager to enjoy the beauty - minus the snow - in the summer. He did not undersell. It was gorgeous. I forget how FLAT the Midwest is.


After some debate on where we would stay along the lake, I won - I mean, we agreed - to stay on the northwest side instead of at a casino on the north shore like Matt wanted. We stayed at a beautiful, somewhat rustic B & B with beachfront access (thanks for the reference, Auntie Di!).

We went to dinner on the lake our first night there.


On our second day, we headed to Squaw Valley for some hiking. We decided to tackle Squaw Peak, the highest point at the resort.


It was only a 4.5 mile hike and we were feeling pretty good on the way down when we came to this sign:

(sidenote: the little boys behind the sign decided this was a good place for a bathroom break RIGHT after I took this photo)

Looks like you should be able to take a quick .8 mile hike down to the mountain lake, right? WRONG. We somehow got on the 2.7 mile STEEP trail down to the lake. Lake Shirley was beautiful, but by the time we got there, Captain Safety was so worried about the horrible climb back up that I barely had time to snap this shot.

Even with our detour, it was a great experience. That night, we headed to the casinos where we were up, went to dinner at the (gag) prime rib buffet, and proceeded to quickly lose our winnings after dinner. It was probably God punishing Matt for trying to ignore the 2-slice per trip maximum. Again, no photos so enjoy another one from our hike:

On Friday, we went white water rafting. I didn't get any pictures of this for obvious reasons, but it was a lot of fun. We rode some class 2 and class 3 rapids and our boat didn't flip over, despite the fact that the family on the raft with us were less athletic than I am (but very nice). You might think I'm exaggerating, but in the first 10 minutes of the ride, when we were just floating along not even paddling, Dad falls out of the raft and Junior loses his paddle. At that point, I was sure we were doomed. But, we got everyone back on the raft and while we definitely weren't the All Star boat, we had a great time. Here's another shot of Squaw Peak. Hey, with Brooke not around, it's amazing that I took any photos!

On our last night, we had dinner at Wolfdale's. I love restaurants where I feel like the dishes could be on Top Chef and this was one of those places. As usual, we had a ton of fun and it was great to get away with my hubby. Thanks for planning another great trip, Matt!

Flavor of the Week

Brooke's had the opportunity to expand her palate in the last couple of weeks. Last week, she tried prunes for the first time. Without getting graphic, prunes are NOT something that Brooke has needed in her diet, but my cousin's baby decided she was done with baby food, so she gave us her leftovers and I decided to try them. I think they were a hit!

When my parents came in town the week before last, we decided to try a place called Hackney's. Brooke didn't eat anything particularly exciting here, but I love this photo of her cracking up:


I was at my parents' last week and Brooke was being a little fussy before bed. I noticed that the whining had stopped as I headed in to get her. This is the scene that I came upon:

Wing Man

Brooke makes a pretty good little wing man on our long car rides. Even when she's not sleeping, she does a nice job of entertaining herself - or letting Ozzie entertain her. Typically when Ozzie's in the backseat with her, he lays down out of sight and when he pops up to look out the window, it cracks her up!


When I headed back to St. Louis with my parents awhile back, I got to sit next to her and do the entertaining.


She ended the ride happy, but not the most well-rested she's ever been. I'm trying to savor these days when I don't have to pull out all the stops for car ride entertainment!