Friends

I love this shot. Jamie took it. I've offered her a position (non-paying, of course) as our full-time family photographer.

Back to the subject at hand - I like to think that Brooke is pretty good at playing with other kids. She's especially drawn to older girls, but she's getting better and better at engaging with kids her own age or even younger. The other day, we went over to play in the sprinkler with the girls that Jamie nannies for. The other girls spent a fair amount of the time fighting/pouting, but Brooke was all about the sprinkler.

 

Fun fact #1 - Brooke remembered the names of all three of the girls Jamie nannies for after meeting them only once at least a month ago. Fun fact #2 - Brooke is very hesitant to walk outside barefoot ever since stepping on a bee at my friend Joy's house...I guess that fact is a little more sad than it is fun.

Speaking of Joy, her son Tye and my friend Jen's daughter Grace are some of Brooke's besties.

There's a little more parallel play than engaging going on at this point, but we're working on it.

Two cute girls and a little stud-muffin. It has all the makings of a "90210" episode.

Comparisons

In looking through the most recent batch of photos that I uploaded, a couple that I had taken of Miles looked very similar to ones that I'd taken of Brooke.

 

 None of them are the best shots of the kids, but I think it's safe to say the two of them look alike.

Happy Birthday, Grandma Audie!

Matt's Grandma's 80th birthday was a couple of weeks ago and we went over to her house to celebrate. Brooke's always up for a party. Especially when there will be cake and ice cream, which was the first thing she asked for when we arrived.

It took a few shots to get both of the kids looking...and looking happy.

 Grandma Audie did her part and looks beautiful in all of the photos.

Seriously, Brooke? I shouldn't complain. It's sweet that she loves him so much.

Family shot.

Uncle Dave (one of Brooke's favorite people), Kevin and Emmie with the Birthday Girl.

Helping blow out the candles, natch.

The kids and their great-grandma. I don't think Brooke had heard Grandma Audie referred to as this before so when I was picking out her card and Brooke was decorating it, she kept having me repeat what it said. She seemed to find the title "great-grandma" very entertaining.

 
Happy birthday, Grandma Johnson!

Beating the Heat

There have been several days lately where we've had to get creative with how to spend our time. Normally, we'd be outside more (personally I LOVE the heat), but it's hard to keep Miles cool even in the shade. I can usually keep us occupied by shopping somewhere or just hanging out at the house, but Matt hates browsing and tends to get stir-crazy in the house. One of the afternoons that he was home, we decided to use an (expired over a year ago) coupon that I had from Living Social to a nearby place called Kidstown. Matt convinced them to let us use it. There's a reason he's in sales.

 

The place was pretty cute - they had all different rooms with different themes, like a grocery store, beauty shop, library, etc. There was also a little jungle gym. It wasn't crowded so Brooke was impressively independent. She was so proud of going down this slide by herself. Indoor play places are traumatic for all of us. I think her favorites were the grocery store and the dancing room where she was able to see herself dancing on a monitor.

We've also had to limit our time at the pool this summer. Brooke is still very cautious in the water and again, it's been hot for the baby even in the shade. I did get some photos on one of the few trips we've taken there this summer.

She wouldn't go under the mushroom last year. This year she enjoys it (as long as one of us are with her).

Miles being a trooper.

Look at those cheeks (his, not mine)!

Getaway

 

 Matt is really good about making sure that he and I get away for at least a few nights every once in awhile and usually around our anniversary (8 years on July 3!). Nursing exclusively doesn't lend itself to easy travel for prolonged periods, so we elected to head up north to the Michigan wine country.

 

After all the long drives we make to and from St. Louis, the couple hours up north was a breeze. We stayed in New Buffalo at the Harbor Grand. I didn't take a picture from our room, but here's a picture from the pool deck.

  

Even though we were in Michigan, we didn't escape the hot temperatures so we didn't spend a ton of time outside. We went to a couple of wineries each day. Matt really liked Lemon Creek Winery. I think it was a combination of his man-crush on Ralph, our sommelier, and his discovery of port which he deemed his new "thing".

I spent 9 months of the past year fantasizing about a good Bloody Mary.

At the Round Barn Winery/Brewery, we found this beer. My dad uses this saying on occasion and we all get a kick out of it, so of course we bought a six-pack for him.

  

We're so thankful to Matt's parents for watching the kids while we were away. We got lots of photos and videos to ease our (/MY) apprehensions about leaving them.

Miles' sleeping position of choice.

Cuddle time with Aunt Jamie.

It's always nice to get away and even nicer to come home.

Fourth of July

We had as much fun as you can have on the fourth of July when there are triple-digit temperatures and you have a three-month-old. Matt golfed in the morning, I met friends for lunch while the kids napped, then we headed out to Medinah for their family picnic after naps.

We had been building up the picnic to Brooke for a little while prior to the fourth, and thankfully it delivered. I'm assuming due to the hot temperatures, there weren't many kids there so Brooke got to do everything she wanted multiple times. Except the face painting. Turns out that ended an hour earlier than everything else. We have a bad track record of making her wait for things only to have them not be an option by the time we're ready to do them (i.e. Southpaw).

We DID get to the pony rides in time. Brooke and Zeus hit it off and took a few laps together.

She then moved on to the tiny, mildly creepy merry-go-round. That girl is a sucker for a carousel. Here she is riding with Grammie Deb.

An actual smile and wave!

This was one of the turns she took by herself. She eventually kicked her legs up on the seat and leaned back, couch-potato style.

They also had a little train that was circling the main drive. Like most things at this carnival, it was not going fast enough to produce any breeze. We were lucky enough to ride that several times, too.

 

There was a meal in between the fair and fireworks, but by that time Miles was DONE, so we all headed home. Matt, Brooke, Jamie and Will headed back out for the fireworks. I was sad to miss her first time seeing them and really "getting" it, but Matt said she wasn't that impressed, so I felt better whether that was the truth or not.

Brooke and Aunt Jamie.

It was a fun way to spend the day as a family right before Matt and I headed off on our own for a couple of days.

Looking for Us?

Due to a combination of internet problems and being extremely busy, this blog has been lying (laying? I always get them confused) in neglect.

I promise to get to it...at least updated to mid-July...before we go out of town AGAIN.

In the meantime, check out these cuties.