Another Year to Grow On!

AMELIA GRACE HAMILTON

Age: 2

I am not a savvy as Heather by linking this post to the post from last year of Amelia in my wedding dress when she turned one, so if you would like to see the growth please look it up in the archives.

(Those silly cows were far across the pasture when my Dad and I were dressing Amelia up in my dress and by the time he took the picture, they were all ready to strike a pose!)

Happy Birthday "Big Girl"!

Mama loves you!

We're Going on a Treasure Hunt

Daddy's Sunday class was cancelled, so he thought today would be a perfect day to spend outside in the woods and go on a treasure hunt!

(Geo caching is the correct term!)

Awww, so cute! Actually, Daddy is putting on a great smile even though Amelia is holding to fists full of his hair! Ouch!!!

I am so bummed that this picture didn't capture the innocence of James trying to bat the falling leaves along the trail. It really was a beautiful moment!

"Hey, boys wait for us!!!"

"So, where do you think we need to turn to find the treasure?!"

"I found it!!! It was hiding in the tree!"

"Daddy, please open it!"

James decided to take the purple, plastic "Top Gun" jet (Yes, that movie has been on TV a couple of times and James loves the jet scenes!!!) and placed a Galyan's key chain card into the little bottle. The other cache was a much bigger box. The kiddos both took wooden train whistles and one matchbox car. We left two Happy Meal toys from Ice Age the movie and one baby Happy Meal toy, too! The kiddos really got into the "take and replace" spirit of geo caching.

It was such a beautiful Fall day to spend in the woods! James and I talked about mushrooms and where they like to grow. We saw mushrooms growing on the ground, on the sides and tops of logs, and on tree bark. This was by far the largest and coolest mushroom we found that day, it was huge and puffy!!! It is called a Puffball Mushroom.

Thanks Daddy for taking us on such fun treasure hunts this morning! We need to do this again, real soon!

Hair Bows and Hair Styles!!!

Amelia Grace sure loves her hair bows!!!

Today, we set an all new record...
21 bows and 2 rubber bands!!!

We Grew a Fruit!

"Knock, knock."

"Who's there?"

"Cantaloupe."

"Cantaloupe, who?"

"Cant-a-lope tonight, my father's got the car!"

That joke was dedicated to Grandma Judy, this is one of her two famous jokes she likes to tell!

We are mighty proud of our one and only cantaloupe!

We also have two mini-honeydew melons to try next!!!

The Tree House

Today, our Nana took us to a brand new play center called The Tree House. This looked like place that needed to be explored, so of course we did!!! (*note* a sweet random child wanted to join the photo op!)
You can have your birthday party here and wear this crazy balloon hat. Thanks for modeling the silly hat for us, Nana!

There are bridges connecting to the tree house and to other fun areas like slides, rolling logs, and other things to crawl under and over on.

They serve yummy lunch choices. We had Mickey Mouse chicken nuggets and homemade mac and cheese. Auntie Annie joined us for lunch and some fun!

James tried very hard to reach the rings while stepping on the "stones" in the frog pond area. He did a wonderful job swinging and grabbing the rings!!! He is such a big boy!!
Mommy lifted me up, so I could hand on the rings, but I got tired very quickly so I yelled "Down! MOMMY!!! Down!"

They had a "baby" area for us little ones. It has a slide, some soft rocking horse type toys, book, toys and sparkly balls. I loved the sparkly ball, in fact Nana and I were playing catch in this picture.
They also have a really cool Thomas the Train table, with tons of trains and really neat track options! Oh, and you must stop for a bathroom break, to check out the cool paintings on the walls!

This is a very fun place to explore, climb, slide, eat at, and play with new friends! We can't wait to come back and play again! Thanks Nana for taking us to such a fun place!

A Mini-Makeover!

This morning while Mommy was putting on some make-up, I was closely watching her. I was very curious and I thought I would give it a try...

So, what do you think?

The Big DAY!!!

Uncle Jim and Aunt Jill's Wedding Day!!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

DETAILS TO FOLLOW!!!!

Amelia's Ladybug Party

Ladybugs!

(I'm not sure why this is so small)

Thanks Uncle Luke for catching the innocense of the young birthday party guests.

More pics to come!

Last Swim Day

Here is our last Swim Day and lunch shared with Liz, Lauren, Ryan, April, Brooke and Baby Cody.

Thanks everyone for sharing another summer filled with great Swim days!

Thanks again Papa and Grandma Judy for opening your pool to our swim group! We really enjoyed each and every time spent in the 90+ degree water! It's the best!!!

Uncle Peter is ...

OK, not quite over the hill, but old nonetheless!

Sorry, I was told I would be getting more pics to post since my camera only had one pic left!

We had a nice time surprising him at one of his favorite places to eat pizza and play volleyball!

Happy 30th Birthday, Uncle Peter!!!

Happy 1st Birthday, Makayla!

We had a great time at Makayla's birthday party this afternoon. We ate a yummy lunch and then ran around the playground that was right behind the party room. Amelia ate some yummy ladybug cake and I had a delicious bubble bee cupcake that Makayla's Mommy made.

We hope you had a wonderful first birthday, Makayla!!!

(Sorry the picture is so dark.)

Papa Bob Has Landed!

Here he comes!

This is Papa Bob's new airplane. This type of plane is called a Mooney

Once the plane is turned off, everyone helped to push it in to Papa Bob's hanger, aka an airplane garage.

So, where are you taking us, James?

Amelia Earhart?


We brought a special lunch to celebrate Papa Bob's big day!

"Cheers to you Papa Bob! May your flights be wonderful!"

Lisa anad Rich's Wedding

Congrats Lisa and Rich!

It's Labor Day, So Let's...

Yay, for Ladybugs!!!

Making new friends.

Train ride #1...


Train ride #2!

"Um, James are you sure we know how to drive this train???"

Here come the pirates! Let's get them!!!

We arrived at Great America at 11:15am and we stayed until it closed! We were actually the last to ride the Sky Trek! Today, was the last day to use the food coupons that Uncle Jim gave us, so we went a little crazy! Here's what we got:

A bucket/s of cotton and popcorn (free refills for both all day long)

Souvenir cup (Free coke all day long, made Mommy very happy!)

Dippin' Dots Icecream

Chicken Nuggets and French Fries

Super Ropes

Soft Pretzel

(We packed a lunch, so there was some good food intake during the day!)

It was our first time eating cotton candy, we loved it!

Now, don't worry. This the first time we ate that and probably the last...

TUMMY ACHE!!!!

Fly, Fly Away...Ladybug!

Today, we decided to release our temporary pet ladybugs to a bigger and better place to live. Mommy told us that the Ladybugs have a very important job, to help eat the harmful insects that hurt our flower and plants. But, first we wanted to observe them one more time...

"Eye see you!"

"I see them playing with each other."

"They have six legs."

"It tickles, Daddy!"

"Bye-bye Ladybugs!!!

We hope you enjoy your new home!"

Our Little Baby is...

is turning into a Lady!!!

Today, we celebrated Miss Amelia's birthday by having a Ladybug themed party on a beautiful summer day at our home. We celebrated her 2nd birthday with dear friends, family and 300 little ladybugs!

More pictures to follow!