Tri-State Roadtrip 2009

Momma, Daddy and I went on a roadtrip this past week to visit some friends and family.  First we headed to Milwaukee to visit Auntie Mandy, Uncle John, Ryan, Jack and my new cousin Lincoln. I was really excited to see my cousins and we had a good time playing together and fighting over toys and such.  They gave me a stroller for my baby doll and that was nice!  Lincoln was very small, but they let me pet his head.  Jack was nice and showed me how to do some things with toys.  Ryan and I dressed up like cowboys.  And I got to see Bobby-O.

The next day we drove north a bit to Fond du Lac to visit friends Andy and Liz and thier baby Leander.  Leander is six and a half months and sits real nice and doesn’t try to steal my toys.  He doesn’t even complain when I steal his.  This baby and I got along real well.

Next we headed towards the Twin Cities.  We passed alot of farms and I saw some live cows and horses. We sang “Old McDonald” and I’m getting real good at saying, “E-I-E-I-O”.  I now work it into everyday conversation.

Singing Old McDonald in the car

We stopped near Eau Claire to see my great aunt Sherrie and Wayne and have dinner.  They gave me a bunny and let me play with their very fascinating coasters.

Late that night we arrived at Grandma and Grandpa G’s in Minnesota.  I immediately went and said Hi to Big Bird, as noone else was up.  We stayed there for almost a week.  I played with the kitchen set and the bristle blocks alot.  Momma and Daddy took me to the Children’s Museum.  It was great.  Very different from our children’s museum.  There were lots of things to climb on and run around in.  There were animal costumes I could wear, water I could stick my hands in, and even a grocery store where I could go shopping!  I got to drive a bus too!  We’ll have to go back there again.  Momma also took me to the zoo.  It was cold out so we stayed inside, but we did get to see some monkeys and turtles and birds and lots and lots of fish.  My favorite was the shark!  I yelled at him through the glass and got mad when he swam away.  There were lots of other fish to see when he wasn’t around, but really, he’s the best.  Momma recorded me talking to him.

Shark!

The rest of the week I hung out with Grandma and Grandpa and sometimes Auntie Heidi.  It was her birthday around that time, so we had a bit of a party.  We also went over to Uncle Greg and Aunt Lindsey’s and saw cousin Keith.  I stayed up late a lot, once even past 10!  Other than that, not much.  Just hanging with Momma and Daddy.

Iron Horse, Fiberglass Horse, Real Horse

Today was Saturday.  We needed to get our family act together and get out some Christmas cards, so we headed to the arboretum to do some location photography of your’s truly being cute in the winter for the card photo.  Well, that part was easily done- but it happened that there was a holiday model train exhibit, so we checked it out.

I was already familiar with trains due to my bathtub toys.  I can summon a respectable “choo choo”.  Seeing the trains and the little town and ice skaters was neat.  I watched for a long time as the trains went round and round.  Then Momma got the idea to follow-up with lunch at the diner in town that serves up your meal via a train that goes round the restaurant on tracks.  While we were waiting for a booth, Daddy popped a quarter in the horse ride and I went for a slow trot.  That was fun!

Then… when we walked outside there was a horse-drawn carraige on the street with two REAL horses.  They let me pet thier noses, and I hoped they would make some horse noises.  They were big!  Much bigger than Tony the Pony.

Happy Easter!

No candy for me, but lots of fuzzy things. Fuzzy bunny, fuzzy dog, fuzzy bunny. And lots of new summer clothes from Grandma and Grandpa. We went out to eat at Carnival. There was a jazz band playing in the bar and I showed off all I’ve learned in Wiggleworms.

I got to spend time with G’ma Joyce and G’pa Gene. They take some getting used to, but I warmed up to them after a while. G’ma scared me by popping into the bathroom while I was taking a bath. Sorry for the girly shriek, but I was naked and wasn’t expecting visitors!

New Wheels

My parents bought me a new set of wheels and we took them for a ride. Goodbye little baby seat stroller (which I have freakishly outgrown by 6 months), I’ve got a big baby stroller now. And no more moving backwards and always having to stare up at my driver, I get to look forward now and see where I’m going.

We went to the store and tried out several models before I settled on this one. It rides smooth, can be steered with one hand, comes with a great rain fly, and is a cool gray with green accents. Momma said something about it being “gender-neutral” though I don’t quite understand why that was an important feature.  It’s also a little baby lazy-boy: it reclines and has a footrest. This is an important feature as long walks really tire me out.

I had them push me around the Skokie Sculpture Park. We stopped for hot dogs, and Daddy pimped my ride with a pink balloon. When we got back to the car he inhaled the air from the balloon and talked in a funny voice. He’s so goofy.