Don't think Mitch and I are bad parents for letting our kid put a bucket on her head, but she was being an "astonaut" and loving it. When she had the bucket on her head we pretended that we couldn't see her. Then she would take the bucket off and say "peek" so we could see her!


Addie loves ice cream cones like her momma, unfortunately for a one year old they are really messy.


Addie woke up from her Sunday nap with a grump face and crazy hair that just had to be captured in a photo.


I was making some fruit dip the other day and Addie was helping me mix it together. She got sidetracked though after she saw the marshmallow cream jar and of course I couldn't resist giving her the spatula to try and salvage the "clingys" that were still attached to the inside of the jar. I think she decided her hand worked better after awhile. Oh the sticky goodness of Marshmallow fluff.

Addie and I were lucky enough to be able to go to Caldwell for a little vacation before this next little guys comes in August. Mitch endured a whole week with us gone, but did pretty well considering we talked with him every night and left a meal plan for him to cook while I was away.
The flight was great! Luckily we sat next to two very nice ladies that were totally kid friendly and both very unique. The first lady didn't speak very much English and kept calling Addie "Bubka" which was very cute. She was on our second flight too although she didn't sit by us she did make a little slinky toy from some paper for her to play with. The second lady was headed to Notus, Idaho to compete in a period correct shooting competition. She had 45 revolvers (not that many,it's a type of gun obviously not with her on the plane), period dresses, hats, and even a fake name she goes by when she performs. Awesome. They were both very helpful!
We hung out with the family for a week and a half which was so much fun. My brother, sister-in-law and nephew were down for the whole week too so we did some fun stuff. We went to Zoo Boise on Saturday and although it was pretty rainy it was still fun and Addie enjoyed seeing all the animals now that she knows the names and sounds of most of them.she really liked the penguins, wallaby's and the baby goats that she got to feed, or rather watched Grandpa feed them. She practiced her roaring with Uncle B.J. and climbed into a groundhog tunnel with Tristan.

Addie loved the Discovery center, especially making echoes in a sound tube and watching a whiffle ball float above a stream of air.

We also got to play a lot in the backyard with Grandma, Grandpa and Tristan. She loved throwing the Frisbees and balls back and forth and playing soccer with Grandma and Grandpa. Grandma "C" also gave Addie a ride in the wheel barrow. My Grandpa Hart used to do this to us kids and it was always a treat when he let us ride around as he pushed. I'm sure Grandma "C" gives fun rides too that hopefully Addie will remember as she grows up too!



Addie loved playing the piano and singing "Jesus wants Me for a Sunbeam". She's getting better and better everyday at singing almost all the words to some of her favorite songs. Among which are the ABC song, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, the "horses" song which is the All the Pretty Little Horses lullaby ( which she sings to her ducky and monkey friend while rocking them back and forth), Popcorn Popping, 5 Little Monkey Jumping on the Bed, the "mr. Crocodile" song, I love to See the Temple and I Am A Child of God to name a few. She loves to sing with momma which makes me happy because I love to sing with her too.


We also got to go to Given's Hot Springs as a family which we hadn't done since we were little kids. We thought it was going to be packed because when we were little it always was, but when we went this time we had the pool completely to ourselves! Addie loved the water which surprised me because when we went to an indoor water park about a month ago she didn't want to get in the water or play or splash hardly at all. I think she liked that the water was warm so it made her a little more comfortable, like a bath would feel. Well she got a little too comfortable because when people would hold her she would want to escape and try to swim by herself. I think because she thought everyone else was swimming without help she could too. She was even brave enough to blow bubbles in the water which Mitch says most kids her age are not comfortable with. She loved trying to get Grandpa "C" and played a game with him for awhile where she would throw a little silver ring to the bottom of the pool and Grandpa would pick it up with his toes which she got a kick out of. There was a little shallow part of the pool where Addie could walk but still be mostly in the water. Here she tried to corral the balls and tried to let go of my hand so she could walk by herself, silly girl, I didn't want her to faceplant and totally wreck her pool experience so I held on to her. She liked climbing the stairs in between the little pool and the big pool, she would go up them then down into the big pool and visa versa. She did this several times, which was pretty tiring for momma. The pool was lots of fun but the warm water sure drains ya!

B.J. and Tristan really like the Birds of Prey that are in the Boise area so we went to the Center that they have there in Boise to see some of the cool birds. We saw a bald Eagle, a Peregrine Falcon and some California Condors. They also had several stuffed birds of Prey from around the world. Heather's favorite is the Harpie Eagle. I really liked the owls that they had there. They do a little demonstration with some live birds but the first bird was a hawk and was a little spooked by loud noises apparently so Addie and I had to leave. Luckily there was a little room that was for kids that had some fun beaks to try on, some books to read and some eggs to compare in size, shape and color! Grandma "C" came out to watch Addie so I could see some of the other birds they were showing. They only showed one other bird, and it wasn't even a bird of prey, it was a crow, I was a little dissapointed, but the bird did soem cool tricks and Tristan even got to participate! he put a piece of paper out for the crow to take then fly back to the trainer. He also gave the crow some money for the donation box, which the crow put into the slot himself.It was pretty cool.

These are some of the highlights of our trip with pictures for some of what I just explained. If you click on the scrapblog link in the lower right hand corner it will enlarge it in another window so they are a little easier to see.

Alright all you food gurus out there. I have a question about home made bread. I've only recently gotten over my fear of not being able to bake bread, but so far the storage of the bread has not been to grand. I don't mind my bread being a little hard, but Mitch prefers softer bread for his sandwiches. Does anybody have some recommendations on how to store bread so that it stays "just cooked soft" for longer than a day or two?

Mitch got a week off of school before the summer semester started, so we decided to do a little camping up at the very tippy, tip top of Wisconsin at the Apostle Islands. It was a 6.5 hour drive from Milwaukee to Bayfield, WI where we caught a ferry across to camp at Big Bay State park on Madeline island. Madeline island is the biggest island in the archipelago. To keep Buggie from going crazy we stopped in Steven's Point, WI and just happened to find this beautiful park that had streams and bridges, swings, slides, geese, and alpine slides even! unfortunately the alpine slides were closed but we loved walking around the big park and Addie loved following the geese around, she almost walked right into the water after them. It was a great reprieve for some pretty sore tushes.
After some more driving, a lot of songs and a short nap, we arrived at Bayfield to take the ferry. Addie as this point was very excited because we told her that we were going on a boat. She kept saying "boat" "water", "boat". As we crossed we pointed out the waves, seagulls and the island we were going to. After we got off she kept asking for the boat again, which she got a second chance on when we came home obviously. Mitch and I had planned the trip so that we would get there with plenty of time to set up camp. Our last camping trip we left too late and finally got our tent set up, in the dark, at around 9:30, hurriedly cooked dinner in a roaring fire, instead of good coals and so this time we wanted to make sure that we did not have this problem again. We got the camp set up and the logs burned down just in time for a 6:00 o'clock meal of salmon, corn on the cob, and asparagus, Yumm. The best camp meal I've ever made if I do may so so myself.

One of the purposes of going camping was to try out the emergency kit that we have been putting together. It had all of our warm clothes, camping equipment and a few other items that might come in handy if we were trying to live like nomads. I think we decided though that it was just too heavy to lug around (it's in a large rubber made container)plus there is a backpack for each family member that carries their set of clothes etc.
We tried to have a good look around the state park while we were on the island, although it was overcast and pretty cold down by the lake, it was very beautiful. We saw two blue jays, an owl, and two ticks which neither Mitch or I had ever seen so many. Needless to say we were pretty paranoid the rest of the trip about having one. We were the only people in the whole park which was good because Addie had a rough night, I think she kept waking up and didn't know where she was so she'd just cry and cry. Finally at around 3:00am Mitch got up and started a fire and took her out and held her so that she could sleep and be comfortable, and so that I could get some sleep, what a great Papa!! He said is was beautiful to be up that early, he heard the first bird chirp, saw the sunrise and saw some raccoons too.
Although we had reserved the campsite for two days when we woke up Tuesday morning it was starting to sprinkle, which didn't surprise us because the forecast said that is was supposed to have rained on us the night before, so we decided to leave a little early and head down to the Dells to do an indoor water park. The McAffee's had told Mitch that the Wilderness was a good resort to stay at so we went there for a night. We though since Addie likes parks so much that she would love the little kiddie water stuff, but she was more than a little apprehensive after a huge bucket tipped 1000 gallons of water down to the ground before she even got into the water!! After watching the bucket the rest of the morning here fears started to ease a little bit, but as soon as she heard the warning bell, she would find Mitch or I or stare at the bucket from the lazy river where we were floating, almost as if she expected it to dump on top of her even though there was plenty of space between it's cascade and us. The water park did wear her out though, so the ride home was peaceful, as she slept the whole way.

Sorry to say this is the only picture we have to verify that we went camping, like an idiot I deleted the pictures off of the camera before double checking to make sure that they had imported. This was the only casualty of the camping trip, Ducky fell into the fire and got singed. This is him even after a washing, Addie doesn't really play with him anymore. Every time we give him to her she say's "Ducky dirty" and gives him back to us. Luckily she has found a new lovey in her "monkey friend".

I went in to check on Buggie the other night and once again found her in a cute sleeping position. What a silly kiddo. Sorry the pictures are kind of dark.

Warning, the following pictures contain images that may affect younger viewers. Viewer Discretion is advised. O.k. so not really just a few more pictures of our lovely baby boy. We are so excited to be having a little boy join our family!

So my sister in law Christy is due to have a baby boy a couple of weeks before I am and the challenge was set forth to post a belly picture, in a I'll do it if you do it type manner. So here is it Christy, I'm expecting one of you to appear soon on your blog!