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.

My Girl

We are trying SO HARD to instill manners into her. When do "please" and "thank you" become habit???

I'm losing hope that she'll ever be able to look at the camera, smile a normal smile, and say, "cheese!"

She loves her little brother. And her whole family for that matter. She's informed us that she's going to marry Lexi.

She's been really into our wedding photos lately, but doesn't seem to get that she wasn't around for our wedding. Her most recent theory is that she was with Grandma when we got married (I think she's comparing it to when I had Miles and my parents watched her for a couple of days). I told her not to start any rumors.

Her memory for and interest in music is pretty amazing to me. I'm hoping to get her in some kind of music class in the fall.

I don't know when it happened, but I feel like she's become a little girl. It's so fun to have conversations with her and to see her working through things in her head. Of course we also get the occasional stubborn-streak, but I know that's just her asserting her independence, right?

She's super-observant. She's aware of the directions to the places that we go most often.

She saw a picture recently and said, "There's the mommy koala and the baby koala. The daddy koala is playing golf."

A recent conversation with Matt:
Brooke: "When I'm a Daddy I can drink beer."
Matt: "You won't be a Daddy, you'll be a Mommy."
Brooke: "When I'm a Mommy, I'll drink wine."
Hmmm...judge us if you must.

She and Miles make our lives infinitely more fun!

3 Months

Miles was 3 months old yesterday (and 13 weeks on Friday, but I think we're going to be talking in months from here on out). We finally got up the nerve to put him in his own room a couple of nights ago and he did great. He's also been napping in there. He's starting to develop a morning and afternoon nap, which is a blessing and a curse. It's a blessing when we're home, but when we're out and about, it's not great. Now I remember why I was so psycho about Brooke's schedule.

He still gets after his thumb.

He's also developed what is apparently an Alley-kid trademark, the wind-up frown. I'm hoping to do a blog post soon comparing photos of the two of them. It's kind of crazy how much they look alike to me sometimes.

 

He's getting better at tummy time and controlling his head, although we still have the occasional head flop. He's a pretty big boy. He's officially out of his 0-3 month clothes and at least weekly I'll have a stranger guess that he's a couple of months older than he is. He's a special little guy and we're so blessed to have him as part of our family.

Cham-bana

So, after we'd been home from Culver for about 36 hours, we got back on the road and headed down to meet my family in Champaign, IL (or Cham-bana, as my Dad likes to call it). It's a good midway point and we were only there for a few days so we found plenty for the kids to do. Brooke was very excited to go to a hotel with her "friend" Lexi. Tim and Krissi let Brooke sleep over in their room both nights which was a highlight of the trip for her. Of course she also got plenty of junk food, too.

 

Luke ADORES Miles. He will do anything to get to him if he's nearby. Miles is a little freaked out by it now, but I'm sure they'll be best friends, too.

 

We checked out a few of Champaign's parks. One of them has a pretty great little water park in it. There were some tears shed over the fact that the girls were too short to ride the enclosed slides by themselves, but they got over it.  

  

Miles chilled in the shade all day with either Grandma or Papa T (permission was obtained for this bathing suit shot).

 

We went to a putt-putt place on the last day (naturally, the day that it was over 100 degrees). The girls were into it for about 2 holes, then they quit and it became a battle of pride for Tim and Matt. Tim won.

 

They had a trampoline basketball game that they had fun playing...or at least jumping on the trampoline.

We had a lot of fun and as always, it was over too soon. As Brooke says, "We very love our family!"