Back North

We are excited to be heading back up to PA tomorrow. Hopefully the weather will be a little cooler than it has been here lately! Our fingers are crossed that Juliette has another great ride up like last time and sleeps the whole way. It was so peaceful. The guys were supposed to come today and finish the bathroom...it's almost 2 and still no guys.

Swim Partner

We came out to the pool to find this little guy taking a dip. EW EW EW EW

Cooking Lessons!!

I've found it's a lot easier now to have Juliette in the kitchen with me while I make dinner than have her crying at the gate (which she has already broken). I just put some water in a pot, give her a spoon, and she's happy for a good chunk of time! She loves her fake food!

Cuddle time with Mommy

All of a sudden Juliette likes to hold a blanket or something while she cuddles. Her favorite is a fuzzy one that a parent of one of Josh's kids made for her when she was born that has her name and birth info on it. But as you can see here, any old thing will do- like a folded bed sheet!

Summer!!

The best part of Summer?? Bare feet in the grass of course!!

Babysitter

Today we brought Juliette to Miss Cindy's for a trial run. As we drove there Josh was getting a little nervous about leaving her. I was fine! we had packed her lunch and she had her puppy pillow pal with her- she still loves that thing! When we got there Cindy had two other kids for her to play with and she went up to the little girl and hugged her! Cindy had her toes painted so she checked those out- Juliette loves painted nails for some reason! Then she walked into the playroom like she owned the place! She wasn't clingy or anything and when I left to get her drink, I came back and she was sitting on Cindy's lap showing her puppy. We gave her some instructions about Juliette's lunch and left without a problem. Josh kept checking his watch to see when we could go back and get her and wanted to pick her up early. I just told him she needed a good bit of time just to interact with everyone. We picked her up and she ran giggling to us. They had played, had some story time, and lunch. The first thing Cindy said to me was how great an eater she was. Those of you who have seen her eat know just how true that is!! I'd say it was a good day had by all.

Thanks for the lunch bag Nana!!!

Mine!!

Here's a look at what we are in for with Juliette's sharing skills!

It's the Wiggles!!!

Juliette bounces with excitement at the sight of her favorite foursome; Greg, Anthony, Murray, and Jeff.

Snack VS Grandpa

Juliette doesn't appreciate having snacks hidden from her and that whole concept of out of sight out of mind has left her. She knows exactly how to find hidden things!

First carnival game

Here we are at the Dalton Carnival up in PA and Grandpa gave Juliette some game money. She needed a little help reaching the ducks, but no help picking them out! She got a pack of crayons and some bubbles :).

Fireworks 10

Fireworks 09

Oops

Ok so I haven't put anything on the blog in a looooong time. We've been very busy trying to stay cool. This has been the hottest July I've ever known in Virginia and we haven't dipped below 90 in weeks. I'm going to be uploading a whole bunch of pictures and video soon so keep checking back in. So anywho...updates. Juliette is becoming her own little person and has developed a wicked sense of humor. As you will see on an upcoming video, when she is eating, she'll take a handful of food, move to put it in your mouth and when her hand is right by your mouth, she takes it away and puts it in her mouth--laughing the entire time. Josh also taught her that if she wants you to read a book over and over again she has to give a kiss first. It's the cutest thing I've ever seen. She is starting to point to things if we ask where something is. Walking has been mastered. She had a blast during our time in Pennsylvania and did fairly well on the car rides- God bless the portable DVD player! Our bathroom still is not finished. I've been to my school and dropped off my materials and tomorrow I think we are doing a trail run at leaving her with the babysitter. We've left her several times this month with my friend's daughter and she's been great so we'll see how it goes with Cindy.

National Zoo

For the record, I'd like to say that it was Josh's idea to go to the zoo yesterday. I was shocked he would ever want to set foot in D.C. again after the whole cherry blossom fiasco, but he wanted to take the baby up--she loves looking at animals. Everyone told us to just drive into the zoo because the Metro stop was about 6 blocks away so off we went. We got to the zoo and found thep arking lot---with a big sign that said Parking Lots Are Full. Hmmm. So we drove through hoping that someone would leave....nope. Josh is freaking out, the baby is awake and happily watching Mickey on the portable DVD player, and I'm thinking that Josh is never going to take us anywhere again. The parking on the side streets were 1 hour limits and there were NO parking garages anywhere near the place. Finally we drove up a side street and found a poilice officer who told us to park, ignore the time limits, and enjoy the day because the worst ticket we would get would cost 30 bucks which is what it cost to park in the zoo anyway. We ended up about 7 blocks away from the zoo anyway so it would have just been better to take the metro. Juliette's favorites were the little mokeys, the meerkats, and the armadillo. She tried to grab it through the glass! She didn't want to leave the meerkat part and kept straining her head to see them as we walked away. I really wanted her to see the water animals, but we wanted to get out of there before the traffic hit so we left around 3....and hit traffic. We got home around 6:30 and the last hour Juliette was not a happy camper. So now we know for next time to go earlier and Josh wants to go in the cold weather to see the animals...a lot of them were in their little houses to escape the heat, but we did get to see the panda which was pretty cool.

We made it!! You had to stand in a line to get a picture here!

Our first animals of the day- the gazelles.

Checking out the elephants with Daddy- their house is being rebuilt, so they were outside.

In the small mammal house, mesmorized by the meerkats.

Of all the animals for her to like- the armadillo! They really are ugly little things!

Giant anaconda--the head is up front on the rocks.

A mommy and her baby :)

She did not appreciate having people look at her baby.

an annoying group of kids was trying to get the tiger to roar. I was hoping it would jump the fence and take a few out as appetizers.