A little of this, a little of that

 Ashlyn's first popsicle! Banana cream, made by me. I have some yummy popsicle recipes I am planning to try out this summer! (mainly for me, but hey if she likes it, cool) By the way, she wasn't really into the popsicle. 

 This is the face we get all the time right now. "CHEESE!" She just thinks it is so great. And that's probably partially because I can't help but laugh every time anyway. She really likes to do it to strangers too . . . 

 Wow, an actual smile for the camera, looking at the camera, and I took the picture in time! 

She LOOOOVES frozen berries, especially blueberries. I figure it could be worse! The only bad thing is that she is always such a mess afterwards. But I am constantly amazed at how many she can put away in no time!!

 This is even more rare--2 of them looking and smiling for a picture! Wow, maybe my skills are improving! 

 It has been SOO nice that the weather has been getting nicer! Ashlyn loves to play outside and I am happy to go out there and let her! It is a nice break! She is still unsure of how much she likes the swing.

 Look at her go! She really likes to try to run, although usually she gets going too fast and ends up face-planting. It is so funny. She hardly ever is even phased by it, and usually gets right back up and keeps going!

 Kisses from Mommy! (which, she still won't say MOMMY, MOM, MAMA, anything like that. What am I doing wrong?!?!??! :)

 Ha ha ha.

 Ashlyn and Lucy can really go at it! Oh my heck. Especially in the morning when Lucy is really hyper and Ash is still waking up. She tries to swat Lucy away and Lucy takes it as her wanting to play . . . and you can imagine the rest of the downhill slide from there! So usually Lucy is banished outside first thing in the morning! 

 More snuggles from Mom.

(Mim, Ma, Mama . . . Say any of them kid, I'm dying here!)

 I moved a bar stool that had been sitting in front of this window, and this is now her FAVORITE place! It is just the right height for her to look out at the front door. Whenever one of us goes outside she runs right over to watch what we're doing. And she usually bangs on the window and yells at us. It is so funny. 

 We got invited to our friends the Sibbett's little boy Bryce's birthday party this weekend, and that meant we went to the zoo! It worked out that Collin got done with his inservice just in time to come meet us, too, so that was great! We bought an annual zoo pass, which will get paid off in just 4 visits, so I am excited about that. I think it will be a great thing to get us out of the house this summer!

 The classic Cheese.

 After the zoo there was a BBQ in Julia Davis park and Ashlyn was having an absolute ball running around in the park. I was not so thrilled about all the duck poop she was stepping and falling in, but seeing her have so much fun helped me to ignore it. There were some other little kids there who were running around chasing some ducks, and Ashlyn thought it was so great to try to "run" around with them, squealing and shouting "oooh!" the whole time. It was so funny. She is going to be a runner, this one. We will see how I survive.

 The BBQ was fun once Collin took over watching Ash for a few minutes so I could chat with my friend. She of course refused to eat anything but chips and a cupcake. Awesome. Here she is with the proof of that all over her face... but so so cute.

 This is an example of what most of the pictures on my camera are like right now. She is a blur to try to photograph! It is so funny watching her walk around. She has gotten really good at it, although she still falls all the time. She really likes to have something either in her hands or her mouth while she wanders around. It is often a sippy cup (pictured above, in case it's too blurry for you to tell) or a wet washcloth that she pulls off the sink. Yes, she loves to suck on wet washcloths. It is so gross but what can I do? I just try to make sure it's clean!

 Gotta throw in one of Lucy. She is such a baby when it comes to being outside in the heat. Even when the rest of us are out there she is always scratching to go inside. Sometimes I think, "jeeze where is your common sense?" Then I remember she is a dog! ha ha. (that one is for you, Dad) But seriously, if Lucy would just sit in the shade under a tree she wouldn't even be hot. But instead she stands there on the porch panting and whining about going inside. And the minute I let her in she runs to her favorite place on the love seat and lays down in a huff. Hmm.

 We invested in a little wading pool! They were half off at ShopKo when I was in there the other day so I scored one for $8.99! I am glad because I didn't know how Ashlyn would like it. She likes baths but doesn't like the big pools yet. Luckily this seemed more like a bath to her! She and Collin played out there for over an hour today. She was having a blast. I am so glad that it looks like it will get a lot of use this summer! and yes, Collin is in his clothes. Why, don't ask me. I asked if he wanted to go in and change into his suit and he just never did. Weirdo.  :)