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.

A BIG Thank You and an even BIGGER Sigh of Relief

Finley and I have arrived home from Atlanta, what a week we had!  I have so much more to blog about, but I wanted to jot a quick post tonight on our return trip.

Firstly, a big thanks to Grammy and Grandad for a great week in Atlanta.  Finley had an amazing time, I know she enjoyed every minute of her visit (especially the parts where ice cream was involved.)  It was fantastic that she got to meet my Uncle Larry and Aunt Joan, even moreso to share a baseball game with them.  Without Uncle Larry, Finley would probably not be named Finley.  It was he who turned me into the baseball fan that I am.  He is about to finish his MLB ballpark tour this summer, he only has a few more stadiums to see.  They are off to NYC next week to see both the new ballparks up there, I hope they have a wonderful time.

And the big sigh of relief is regards to Finley's plane ride home.  She did great, SO much better than the flight to Atlanta.  I wasn't embarrassed at all and it didn't even take any food bribes.  She did have a moment where she colored the tray table, but a wipe eradicates that (thank goodness!)  Maybe all is not lost in regards to flying with our precious toddler.

Bye bye Grammy and Grandad!  See you real soon...

Gwinnett Braves

Finley attended her first ever minor league baseball game, looks like it won't be her last since former Oriole Brooks Robinson is looking to bring a minor league to to Sugar Land right near Auntie Lori's house.

Uncle Larry and Aunt Joan met us at the stadium for a Sunday afternoon game in the hot sun.  Finley and I retreated to the shade for a lot of the game since there were a lot of empty seats, we both had on 70 SPF sunblock, but we were still turning pink under the glaring Georgia sun.

The Braves ended up losing, they mustered a comeback in the ninth, but it wasn't enough for the win. 

Who loves ice cream more than Finley?

Absolutely no one!  Ice Cream is Finley's most favorite treat, she likes any flavor you give her, cone or cup, sundae or plain.  She does not discriminate between soft serve or hand dipped. doesn't matter if there is fruit or chocolate sauce, it's all good in Miss Finley's eyes.  She just loves the stuff and who can blame her?  I wonder if I could carry on enough ice cream to last the nearly two hour flight time back to Houston?  A girl can dream, right?

Georgia Aquarium

Finley mainly wanted to run around, but she was happy exploring the Georgia Aquarium.  Finley was wearing her fish dress and snacking on some Goldfish crackers when we arrived, so she was all set to see the different exhibits.  The most impressive was the giant manta ray, it was huge!

Look at all those fish!

What an amazing water tunnel, so many big fish!