Park Playtime

Finley loves the park, because it is already getting so warm, we had playgroup in the park at 9am.  The Braeswood Park has a bunch of push toys and ride toys, it is a wonderful place to play with toddlers.  The best part of the park is that there is a fence all around, so Finley can run around to her heart's content and I don't have to chase her everywhere she runs.

I haven't figured out if Finley likes to swing or not.  Laurel loves to swing and Finley wants to be just like Laurel.  But sometimes, if she gets too high or goes to fast, I get and "OUT"

Playing in the Pool

It's Memorial Day weekend, so it is the perfect time for a pool party.  Samantha's house has such a lovely pool and there was even a baby pool for all the kids.  We spent most of the time in the big pool, which had been heated to the perfect temperature for lots of water time.  Finley was even brave enough to jump into the pool, she is getting so grown up.  She really loved the water.  Since our new house doesn't have a pool, I had decided to skip early swim lessons, but with as much as she loved it, I am going to have to sign her up for swim lessons this summer.  She had a blast floating around in her walrus float, but she most loved trying to swim all by herself (with some assistance from me).  It's great that our friends have pools to swim in this hot hot hot summer, especially since I am missing our old pool.

Sarah's!

Finley can say "Sarah."  I think for the entire drive to Sienna Plantation to visit Sarah, Ryan and Lilly she said "Sarah" about 100 times, at a minimum.  It sort of sounds like a cross between Syrup and Sarah, but it works! 

Finley had a great time playing in Ryan's super fantastic playroom, he had so many new and exciting toys to play with.  And he was really great about sharing them, something that Finley needs to learn from him.  Miss Lilly was content to hangout in the awesome Rainforest Bouncer, hearing the sounds and music it played really brought back memories of Finley's first few months.  She looks so different in the Rainforest Bouncer (click on the link if you haven't), well over a year ago.  I think she has really grown into her sweet nose.



Last visit to meet Lilly for the first time, Finley and Ryan shared the sweetest hug.  This was after they had each had their fair share of pushing.  Finley was the instigator, of course, we are still working on not pushing.  I think she might just have to grow out of it.  We tried to get Ryan and Finley to hug again, but they were not willing participants.  At least Finley wasn't, she had way too much house to explore. 

Colors with Daddy

Even with Clifton' best flower coloring skills, Finley still looks a little bored.  She is very selfish with her crayons, she really prefers to color everything herself, no assistance needed for such a master artist.

Peekaboo Giggles

Baking Brownies

Finley was a good brownie baker helper.  She helped stir the batter and licked the spoon.  I cannot wait for her to be older so that we can bake cakes and cutout cookies together.  Finley really enjoys helping, especially when the reward is brownie batter.  Finley is also loving sitting in the barstools.  We sometimes have breakfast together up there.  She is getting more and more frustrated with her high chair, tonight she was much happier eating dinner with us at the table.  Except that she only wanted to eat blueberries and not any of her real dinner, at least she has chosen a healthy thing to obsess over!

Sweet and Sassy

Go Astros!

Finley made it to her second Astros game of the season on Saturday night, thanks to cousin Faith's perfect attendance (free tickets!)  The Astros were taking on the best team in baseball, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.  I know that they are just "The Rays" now, but it is a habit.  They are having an amazing season, the exact opposite of the Astros year.  The Astros scored first, but went on to lose the game.  Finley did good in her chair for a bit, but she was much happier free.  We had a scary moment when she tried to sit on the chair back of the seat in front of us.  My quick reflexes (HA!) enabled me to grab her before she toppled over the seat back.  It was a tense moment there for a minute.  She loved to watch the train, especially when Lance Berkman hit a homerun and the train started moving.  She cheered and she booed, sometimes at the right time, sometimes not.  Her size 9 month onesie still fits, hopefully we can stretch it for this entire season.  I went to the gift shop and saw that the toddler Astros shirt and shorts were $46.  The three onesies she has now were $7 at Marshalls, so I have to keep my eye out for another good deal.  Most importantly, Finley wore the baseball bow I had made for her.  The ribbon was kindly given by Uncle Larry's Bearfax.

First Trip to Chick-fil-a

I love Chick-fil-a. Clifton hates Chick-fil-a. Grandad loves Chick-fil-a. Grammy hates Chick-fil-a. Finley loves Chick-fil-a! YAY!

After our trip to the Georgia Aquarium, I was famished and we were in Georgia, the home of Chick-fil-a, so it was meant to be.  Luckily, the kids meal has the option for a fruit cup and milk.  Finley has eaten Chick-fil-a nuggets before, at her first birthday party, they were a hit then (not as much as the cake) and she is still a big fan.  We already have a date set to sample a free spicy chicken sandwich there next week, Finley will stick with her kids meal and I may let her try some of the sandwich, depending on how spicy it is.

Who does Mommy love?

While we were in Atlanta, my mom taught Finley to answer when you asked her "Who does Grammy love?" and Finley would say "Me!"  I have now gotten her to say it when I ask her "Who does Mommy love?"  And when I say "Who does Daddy love?" she says "Daddy!"  It is hysterical.  I tried all day to get her to say it on video and I got a bunch of outtakes, but not a single successful video.

A Tale of Two Parks

After our trek to the Georgia Aquarium, we hit up two parks.  The first was the toddler park at Centennial Olympic Park in downtown Atlanta.  Finley had such fun there, but it was getting really warm and I was starving, so we headed back to Alpharetta to check out Webb Bridge Park, after Finley's first ever visit to Chick-fil-a.  Finley loves parks, so she was tickled to play at both parks.

Both parks had swings...

Centennial Olympic Park

Webb Bridge Park

Both parks had slides....

Centennial Olympic Park

Webb Bridge Park

Both parks had FUN!

The Webb Bridge Park had a slight advantage: a teeter totter, a giant sandbox to play in and a natural spring that ran through it.  The teeter totter was so much fun, Finley loved it.  The sandbox had her typical reaction, she refused to sit or stand in it and needed her hands cleaned often, but she really had a good time shoveling sand into buckets.  Such a hard little worker.  The natural spring was so cooling, I preferred to just wade around in it the whole time.  All parks need this feature, especially ones with giant sandboxes.

First Bounce House

At yesterday's playgroup, our wonderful host had a bounce house in the backyard. It was muggy and hot, but super fun. Finley got in at first and didn't last long, she wanted out. I decided to try it one more time and she loved it. She was running all around and having a great time with the boys. She was running and running and running....then she got a little momentum, a little more and she couldn't stop. She landed hard (as hard as you can on a giant, inflated bounce house.) The fall scared her and that was enough bounce house for Finley. It was great to be able to play in it, normally at parties there are too many old kids for Finley to get a chance to play without being totally knocked down.

Boat Trips

We went out a couple of times on my parents' boat to see how Finley would do in her life jacket and to maybe try to feed some ducks and geese.  As long as Finley was eating, she was blissfully unaware of the life jacket.  As soon as she was done, she realized that she had a giant red, foam jacket on and would get frustrated.  Safety first!

Finley loved to feed the ducks and the geese, it usually went one piece of bread for the ducks, one piece of bread for Finley.  Imagine that!

As a side note, I made both of her hair bows in these pictures. I got a little crafty in Atlanta and I have a ton of ribbon, it was really easy to do. Finley is going to have way more hair bows than any little girls needs.