Playdate with Max

Max came over today to play with Finley. The two of them are absolutely hysterical together. The games they come up with are so fascinating. Finley and Max were wrapping presents for each other, serving each other food from the grill and sending each other to time out. They really have a special relationship. We have Thursday as our new set playdate day since Max and Finley will no longer be in school together. 

Happy Birthday Grandad!

On Monday we headed to Clear Lake for swimming, pulled pork sandwiches, cake, ice cream and to celebrate Grandad's birthday. Finley was quite proud of the card she had made for Grandad. Finley has gotten very good at writing her own name, but she had a bit of trouble trying to copy Grandad.

At the Ranch

Grandma sent over a few pictures of Finley at the ranch. Finley was too scared to ride the tractor because it was too loud, but she was very happy to hang out in the chicken coop.

A Family Trip to the Museum

On Friday we met up with Uncle Walter, Aunt Sidnoye, Grandma, Aunt Rose and cousin Faith at the Museum of Natural Science to check out the dinosaurs.  Aunt Rose and Faith had to head home before I was able to snap a picture of the whole family.  Finley was super excited to take everyone to the temple upstairs, it is still her favorite place to visit.  Finley's favorite part of the new Paleontology Hall is the petrified wood displays, she ran around in circles in there for a bit.

Happy Birthday, Samantha!

Last weekend we went over to Samantha's house to celebrate her fourth birthday party. I cannot believe Finley's friends are turning four! They are all growing up so fast. There was a bouncy house, Chick-fil-a nuggets and snow cones. Finley was a very happy party goer. Ariel, The Little Mermaid, came to sing at the party with Prince Eric.

Finley's First Musical

The Lion King is playing at Hobby Center this summer. Neither Clifton nor I had seen it, but his co-workers said it was great for kids. I was a bit nervous about Finley making it through the nearly three hour show, but she did great. The opening song with all the animals parading through the theater had Finley entranced. She sat on my lap the entire time so she could see everything. We had great seats in the first row of the mezzanine, so she was able to see very well. I think she may have nodded off a bit towards the end, but once all the animals were out again, she was wide awake. During intermission she selected a Zazu bird to take home. At the start of the second act, there were women all over the theater flying birds on sticks, Finley flew her Zazu too! Finley did so well that we went ahead and ordered tickets for Beauty and the Beast in September.

Is it Halloween Yet?

Carousel Flashback

I am fairly positive it is the exact same carousel, just with an old paint job.

A Fish!

Finley has been doing amazingly well in her swim lessons. She will jump off the side and swim to the middle with no issues at all. At Grammy and Grandad's pool, she is the exact opposite. She is clingy and won't even jump in the water unless she is holding onto noodles or your hands. It is a crazy how differently she behaves in the two places. I wonder if inviting Miss Crystal over to Grammy and Grandad's would help the situation in her "play pool."

Nationals Game

The Washington Nationals were in town the weekend of Mike and Katie's wedding, sadly the Orioles were not. So the choice was clear and we headed to DC to see a new stadium to check another off Finley's list of baseball stadiums. While none of us were impressed with the stadium, it was a good game. The Nationals won 9 to 2, beating the Atlanta Braves. It was nice and overcast when we arrived, but by the 6th inning we were sweltering. We all missed the air conditioned Minute Maid.

Finley's First Wedding

Finley had a wonderful time at Katie and Mike's wedding. So much so that she wanted to play wedding with her animals tonight. Bear Friend was the flower girl, we used leaves in place of flower petals and made a cake out of blocks. There was no dancing at Finley's wedding, each animal got a book to read after the bride "dug out the cake."

The wedding this past Saturday was beautiful. Finley loved dancing, eating cake and playing with all her new friends. As long as there is delicious food and cake, Finley considers it a party success. Congratulations to the beautiful bride and lovely groom!

Once Around...

We had to make a return visit to the carousel today...

Finley's First Rehearsal Dinner

My cousin Michael married Katie on Saturday.  On Friday night we all headed up to Westminster to Paradiso for their rehearsal dinner.  Finley was thrilled to play with her second cousin (I think) Lily.  The two of them had the best time feasting on spaghetti and more bread than I can ever say I have seen Finley eat before.  Finley loved seeing all her extended family and was excited to stay up late with the grown-ups.

A Trip Down Memory Lane

We arrived in Maryland yesterday for my cousin Michael's wedding.  Finley had a fantastic flight here, with Grammy entertaining her the whole way while Grandad and I got good naps in.  The landing was a bit crazy since we landed in a thunderstorm. 

Today we headed over with Mrs. Perry to the Annapolis Mall, one of my favorite spots as a kid.  The area near Hecht's (now Macy's) had a big fountain with steps all around.  The fountain has moved and there is now a bridge and a much smaller grouping of steps.  I remember running all around the fountain as a kid, my favorite part was running across the metal service panel because it made the loudest noise.  Finley was equally happy running up and down the ramp.

Grammy and Grandad went to Uncle Chuck's and Aunt Mary's for dinner, so Finley and I were on our own. Which meant we were heading to another childhood favorite spot of mine, Friendly's, to get Fishamajigs and ice cream sundaes. I decided to drive by the old K-Mart by Friendly's to see if the small carousel was still there, it is. So we parked so Finley could grab a ride, like I had so many times as a kid.


After that, we headed down to Friendly's for dinner and a Conehead sundae, in pink of course. Yum!

Aprons and Frogs

Finley insisted on dressing in her apron and having her frog friend dress in their apron.  Later she dressed Penny the Penguin in an oven mitt.

It's Circus Time!

Finley and her daddy went to the Circus yesterday. It wasn't the first time they have attended the circus. The first year they went twice (one and two), she came home a huge fan of clowns and elephants. Last year she only went once and like the motorcycles the best. Finley has been super into bracelets since her cousins Zac and Josh made her a selection out of duct tape. She said she wanted a bracelet from the circus and they were handing them out for free, score! Until she dropped it in the toilet...whoops. She said they should have gotten more and will get more next time they go (next year!)

Children's Museum

Today Clifton had a eye doctor appointment, so Finley and I headed to the Children's Museum to take advantage of the early member morning. Finley wanted to go to Kidtropolis first and then we went to check out mini-Kidtropolis in the Mexico section, but we were surprised to see it is now Gullah-fied. Luckily, it still has the market and kitchen, so Finley was just as happy. After that we made a straw horn and some ice cream crafts. The highlight of the visit was that Finley asked to go into an area we had never been before, the Parents' Resource Library. I had no idea there were childrens' books there and that we could check them out. We checked out a book about the circus since Finley is going tomorrow.

July 4th Party

On July 4th we went over to Joe's house for a party.  There were burgers and hot dogs, so Finley was thrilled.  More importantly, Max was there, so Finley was doubly thrilled.  After lots and lots of playing, Finley ate (inhaled!) a slice of Miss Shannon's amazing cake.  We all headed outside to watch the boys set off fireworks to celebrate the 4th.  We didn't make it home until 10:30 pm and Finley was still awake.  She had so much fun.  She keeps asking me when she will be old enough for "sprinklers" (sparklers!)  Maybe next year Finley, maybe next year....

Crabs!

We finally got it together and had crabs down at Grammy and Grandads this week.  Finley napped through most of the eating, but she was a good helper in getting the crabs in the pot. Finley has been around crabs since she was a wee baby, but she still isn't a huge fan. I got her to eat a bite of crab cake tonight, but that was it. Let's look back at baby Finley...crab feast and crab feast.

Happy 4th of July!