Renaissance Festival

Today was a beautiful day outside, so Grammy and Mom decided it would be fun to head to the Renaissance Festival! Dad was at work, and Gramps didn't want to go, so off we went. We were greeted by Princess Margaret with her surf and harpist. (oh the stroller looks funny because Mom cheated and put Jude laying down behind me! It's not a double stroller, but we are both small enough it works!) I wanted to be a princess, so Mom bought me a Magic Wand! It has a white and purple butterfly on the end! I waved it in the air all day long!!And then Mom thought it would be fun to get my face painted... Um, are you kidding? I freaked out. So the painter thought they would try my arm... No way Jose!! I didn't want him to put that cold paint on me!!! So all he got done were a few paint strokes...

I loved people watching! I smiled and talked to everyone I passed. And I think Jude was enjoying watching my Butterfly wand waving about!
And since I was enjoying my Butterfly Wand so much, Grammy thought I needed to become a Fairy Butterfly Princess! So she bought me wings!!!!! I wonder if I could fly across the English Channel like that one guy on National Geographic Channel...
I loved my wings! I was showing them off to everyone, and of course every single person said how adorable I looked. I was so proud of myself!!!
My mom saw these little ears and she just had to buy them. She's a weirdo... She said now she looked like Princess Fiona. She told that to Dad when we got home, but he said they looked more like Donkey than Shrek's wife. Here we are with our funny ears and pretty wings!
Hey Look! I'm a Mermaid!!!!
Hahahaha! Jude has been crowned King Cries A Lot!
And did you know my dog owns a shop??????? I best teach Miss Ophelia how to spell!
All in all, we had a fun day! It was hot and I got a little sunburned on my face, but it was worth it! I can't wait to show everyone my wings!!!

Lunch with Eric

During our short weekend roadtrip with Uncle Eric, we stopped to have lunch at a little diner. I'm not sure about my Uncle Eric, so to try to get on my good side he did what all good Uncle's do best - picked on me! I just loved it!!!
He was blowing on me and it tickled!!
I want to tell Miss Angie thank you for the Chiefs dress!

Nixa Trip

I took my brother on a trip to Nixa so that he could meet our Great Grandpa Randall! Actually, Uncle Eric had come to Nixa for a wedding and we hitched a ride down South with him. I'm sure that is exactly what he wanted - eight hours in the car with a 20 month old and a two month old. But we were really good and hardly fussed at all! So while Eric went to the wedding, I played with some cousins! Here is Kendra, she's my second cousin - I think. Her and my mom are first cousins. I liked her because she got down on the floor and played with me!

And here I am introducing Great Grandpa to Jude!
And then we took a photo with a bunch of my 3rd (?) cousins? Karly is in the pink shirt, and she's the big sister of Emma - the one with curly red hair. They are Kendra's daughters. Then Wes and Jordan are down front, they are my the sons of my mom's cousin Heather. Wes has the curly hair and Jordan is making the cute face. They're twins! Missing are Lydia's boys and Sarah's daughter and son.

Funny Nap

If I am really tired, I can fall asleep in about any position........

Then and Now

Back in September of 2007 my parents took me to the Zoo, and as if it was planned I went again to the Zoo in September of 2008! So I thought I'd post some "Then and Now" photos taken in the same spots to show you how much I've grown in the last year!

Watching for Elephant Then (note the mesh bag) Watching for Elephant Now (note the sippy cup)
Crashed Plane in Africa Then

Crashed Plane in Africa Now

Standing in Africa Gate Then (note I can barely stand)

Standing in Africa Gate Now (note the model over the shoulder stand)

Day at the Zoo

Soon Mom will be returning to work, so we planned all sorts of fun events on her last week and one of those things was a trip to the Zoo!! We went with our friends Laura and Oliver! Check out this photo of Oliver and I... Oliver is six months old and his mom got him all positioned. Mom just told me to look through the hole - whoops - I'm not lined up perfect, but it's still cute!Here's Mom and Laura! It was a perfect day for the zoo - temp was around 78-80 degrees, so all the animals were playful! We saw a cheetah run even!
I like Oliver, I kept trying to hold his hand!
In honor of the giraffe, I wore my new giraffe dress that Mom bought for me like six months ago and I'm just now tall enough for it! And what do you know, I'm looking at a giraffe!
Mom!!! Laura!!! Don't look up!!!! There is a jaguar up above you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We had a lot of fun at the zoo! Mom was going to take Jude, but I begged for her to take me instead, so she did!!!!

Duncan Ranch

After spending a full day around my parent's old college campus, on our way back home we stopped off at Duncan Ranch! My parents work with a wonderful lady named Laurie who together with her husband run a ranch full of horses, longhorn cattle, tons of barn cats and best of all - BUFFALO!

They currently have 22 of them, including Big Bob - the big 2,000 pound bull! They were sure fun to watch, even if I had no clue what they were.
But I was quite impressed with the cats! Laurie loved introducing me to all her favorite barn cats!
And then we went over to the fence and watched the Roping Team practice! I loved watching the horses race out and rope the steer with the long horns! I kept yelling out, "Whoa!" and pointing at them, making sure that everyone saw the action, too!
And then one of the kind ladies brought her horse over and let me ride!!!!!!! At first I wasn't too sure, and then we took a few steps and I thought it was funnest thing since I discovered swing sets!

Big Girl on Campus

I'm the big girl on campus! My family went to the campus of Northwest Missouri State University for a visit, and I enjoyed running around my parent's old stomping ground! This past winter a major ice storm took out a lot of trees across campus; so to make the most out of one of them just outside the Union, the stump was carved and painted to look like the mascot, Bobby Bearcat. I didn't know whether to be excited or scared!
We walked all around campus, and for some reason I found a big cement bench outside the library that I was using as my runway! I should be a model on the next Project Runway! I was walking up and down, up and down, up and down and showing off my cute dress and new shoes!
And then we went over towards the Kissing Bridge, and even though Mom kept pointing out the goldfish in the pond, I was more enthralled with picking up all the cherries that had fallen off the trees!

After we left the Kissing Bridge, we walked down the International Plaza past Bearcat Arena and crossed the street to the Christian Campus House! Dad lived in the upstairs apartment for a couple of years, and both of my parents spent lots of hours and made many many many friends here at this house! Both were impressed with the big new sign!
And my mom wanted me to post this photo of the Christian Campus House for all their CCH friends out there to show the changes! The driveway has been replaced by a paved lot and landscaping! The new Campus Minister (who we met but I accidentally forgot his name) and his family lives in the house portion now, and the back big room is where CCH meets.
Mom wanted me to post this photo, too. If you went to NW around the same time as my parents, then you probably don't recognize this building (or should I say set of buildings). It has the same name as it did back in 2000, but it looks completely different! This is the new and improved Perrin and Hudson Halls!!!!!
Something else that has majorly changed is the wide open space between North and South. It is now called Centennial Park and has several columns in honor of buildings that no longer stand on campus. It's beautifully sculpted with landscaping rocks, plants, flowers and even a large firepit that I have no doubt is filled with s'mores droppings after cold Maryville nights! I loved watching the fountains built into park, too! My mom said she sure wished this was built while she lived in North and South (she lived in North for two years and South for one year).

We went into the bookstore to buy Jude and myself some Bearcat gear, but only got this photo. My parents forgot how pricey items in the bookstore was. I really wanted this NW hat, but it cost more than a tank of gas!
So we quickly left the bookstore before I started to beg. Jude wanted a bottle, so Dad sat down in the Union to feed him. Mom and I went downstairs to check out any changes to the cafeteria. Since it wasn't a normal feeding time, the Union was pretty empty and I enjoyed running in and out of the tables and long walkways!
The mascot of NW is the Bearcat...but after spending a day on campus, I have decided they should change the mascot to the most common animal on campus...................................

But I guess the Northwest Squirrels doesn't have that same National Championship ring to it that Northwest Bearcats does...

Painted Nails

Grammy was painting her finger nails a very beautiful color and I wanted to see. So I climbed up next to her and held out my hand for her to paint my nails too! So Grammy lifted me up on the table and painted my fingers! It was the first time I had ever had my nails painted! I held out my hands and said, "Pretty!" to Grammy! I felt like a princess. But then a thought occured to me, why not paint my toes too? So I lifted my foot up to her! Grammy looked at me, and said, "You want me to paint your toenails too?" I said, "Yeah!" So then she painted my toes. Mom and Grammy were so shocked that I sat still for her to paint my fingers, then when it was my idea to paint my toes (and sat still for that, too)! I am a girl afterall. And now I feel all grown up with painted toes and fingernails!

Caught!

While my parents were busy upstairs making dinner, I discovered my mom's cell phone left abandoned on the coffee table. I'm not allowed to play with it (or the TV remotes or the Xbox controllers) so when I discovered her cell phone unattended, I pounced on the opportunity. I grabbed it and snuck down the front stairs to my favorite comfy couch downstairs. A few minutes later, I heard a "PSST!" at the back steps....I turned to look and CLICK! I was caught on camera playing with mom's cell phone!

Grandma's House!

During our whirlwind speedy Gonzalez trip to Iowa, we enjoyed a family dinner at Grandma's house. I'm not sure exactly now what Uncle Myles and I were looking at in this photo, but it's almost cute how we are both focused on something! And then I went inside to play with my cousin William. Awww....I love giving hugs!!
And how does he repay me? He tackles me with the strength of the Denver Bronco's defensive line!!!
But don't worry, I forgave him and gave him a kiss later!! But we were both shocked when it ended up being an open mouth kiss!!! My mom said she's going to save this photo and embarrass us both when we are 16 years old.
We had a blast up in Iowa and wished we could have seen more family and friends, but our time was too short. And I'm bummed, because the next time we go up will probably be the Holidays and William will be so big by then!!!