The Summer of Addy

I know I said I would try to update this more often, but this summer has been crazy and I have been soooo busy. I thought I would share some of my favorite summer moments. Playing with my sister, Avery in our pool in the backyard was a lot of fun. We both like to splash and laugh a lot. She doesn't even get mad when I splash water in her face!!! We had a great time. Mommy says maybe next year I can take swimming lessons at the big pool. I can't wait.

Avery and I also visited a zoo in WI Dells with my mommy, Grandma, and Lenny. We got to see all kinds of animals. The Puma was one of my favorites. I got to feed the giraffes. I didn't like the way their slimy tongues felt on my hand. They slobber all over. How rude!! I also got to ride a camel. My mom rode with me so I didn't get scared. It was soooo high. I also got to take my first train ride. We rode in a train around the zoo. That as much more comfortable than that camel and his hump.

Summer wasn't all fun and games. My dad put me to work. He needed help watering the trees in our backyard, so...I got to fill the bucket up with water. Mommy said she wasn't sure who got more of the water me or the trees. I love to help Daddy. He's my "buddy." Pay no attention to my shoes, obviously whoever dressed me that day was a bit confused-my shoes are on the wrong feet. Seriously, it's not that difficult. It's so hard to find good help.

As you already know, I had a birthday this summer too. I turned the big 2 and was lucky enough to get not 1 birthday party, but 2!!!! I already posted my the first party I shared with my Grandma. I also had a party in Iowa with my some of my friends. I had my party at the park-another one of my favorite places to be this summer. Lots of my friends came. We went down the slides and swung a lot. My friends were so nice to me and brought me really cool presents. I got lots of Dora stuff. Do they know what I like or what. My mommy made all the party hats, party favor envelops, and my cake. I had so much fun.

Guess what I got for my birthday?? A new bike. Actually, I got two new bikes. A tricycle and my own sweet ride...a Dora hotwheel. I can now be seen going down the sidewalk in front of my house yelling "I PEDALLING".

I also went to the Iowa State Fair. It was so much fun. I saw lots and lots of animals. The biggest hog, the biggest bull, goats, a calf, chicks, and horses. The best part was the food. I had a hot dog, a few bites of a deep fried candy bar, and some ice cream. Yum, yum, yum!!!! I went on two rides. The car ride was the best. I went around and around and around. I liked it so much my mom let me ride it twice. Then we went on the merry-go-round, that was fun too. I wanted to go on the bumper cars, but they said I was too little. I can assure you I am a much better driver than most of the other people I saw on the ride. Oh well, I'll get 'em next year.

I have also been practicing my softball swing. I can really hit the ball...when my mom actually pitches me something I can hit. Don't tell her, but she's not very good!!!

Summer wouldn't be complete without a parade. Avery, mommy, daddy, and I went to the Restoration Days parade in town. I was so excited. They threw CANDY!!!! I picked up as much as I could, but I did have some competition. I need to practice my candy snatching skills before next year.

Avery has had a busy summer, too. She has learned all kinds of new things. She has been army crawling everywhere. Mommy says I used to do that too. Now she has learned to crawl and can get into my stuff a lot faster than before. The other day she pulled herself to stand. Mommy and I don't think we are ready for her to start walking yet. She's into everything already. I tell her all the time, "Avery, you siving (driving) me nuts!" She likes to play peek-a-boo with me and puts her arms up when I say "SO BIG." She is my best buddy!

I can't believe summer is over already. I can't wait to see what fun adventures I encounter this fall. Love, Addy

My Birthday: The One Day Each Year When It's All About Me!!!

Hi Everybody!

Sorry it's been a while since my last post. The summer has been way too busy to keep up. Well, I made another trip to Wisconsin. We spent a few days with mommy's side of the family and then the rest of the week we were with daddy's side of the family. It was so much fun. I made another trip to my grandpa's farm to see the baby cows, and this time I got to sit on the tractor and see his puppies. Here's me petting one of the puppies when it was three and a half weeks old.

Auntie Lacey bought us a very cool swimming pool (notice the monkeys climbing the tree)! I got some pool time in with my sister and cousins.

And now for the main event of the weekend: MY BIRTHDAY PARTY!!!

I got to open my presents. This is me opening my Dora the Explorer backpack!

Avery even joined the party - she had fun chewing on my party hats!

And sticking with the Dora theme, check out my fabulous cake!

In case you have forgotten, this day was all about me, so look how excited I was when everyone was singing "Happy Birthday Dear Addy!"

Here are me and my cousins enjoying the delicious cake. Notice in picture number two how I eat my cake very lady-like; meanwhile (I won't mention names) someone is shoving the cake in like he hasn't eaten in weeks!

Really, who needs plates when you can just dig right in. Yummy!

Ok, I fibbed a little. This day wasn't entirely all about me; I was kind enough to share it with Grandma. After all, how often does one meet the half century mark. The whole family got together to celebrate.

It was long day with lots of eating and celebrating, so what better way to end it than a bath with my cousins!

That's all I have for now. I'll try to keep the time in between posts a little shorter next time, but I'm not making any promises!

Love, Addy

Avery Busts out over State Lines

That's right, Avery made her debut in Wisconsin this weekend. We went to Milwaukee to help Auntie Lacey celebrate her birthday, it was so much fun!

I showed everyone how I eat corn on the cob. Avery was laughing at me because I scrunch up my face when I take a bite. The amateur behind the camera was too slow to catch it.

Saturday all of the adults were running around like crazy packing coolers, making food, and getting ready to go somewhere. Little did I know they were not planning on taking Avery and I with them. Here's what Avery thought of that...

I went down for a nap, and when I woke up we had some new babysitters, our cousins Nicole and Natasha. They were the best babysitters I have ever had, we blew bubbles, drew on the sidewalk, and went to the park. Here's Nicole and Avery! Sorry Tasha, we didn't get your picture, blame it on the amateur photographer again. If we don't see some improvement we might have to replace her.

The adults were kind enough to share some of their photos with me. It looks like they had fun, but I'm quite certain it couldn't have been that much fun - I wasn't there.

Auntie Lacey and Uncle Nate. I love them so much. (Even though I kicked Uncle Nate in the face this morning and refused to tell him I was sorry. Wonder where I get my stubborn streak from?)

Look at this handsome group. That's my Daddy, Auntie Lacey, and Uncle T-Bone. It doesn't get any better than this!

Watch out for these guys. You already know Uncle Nate. The guy in the middle is my crazy Uncle Matt, everyone calls him Big Sexy. My Daddy gave him that Molitor jersey, he covets that jersey. He won't even let Auntie Brenda wash it. He won't even eat with it on; maybe he just needs to wear a gargantuan bibster instead of getting naked to eat. Yeah, good idea, I'll have to look into that. The guy on the left is Nando. Uncle Matt calls him his little Puerto Rican friend. He doesn't look so little because he is standing on the curb.

Whoo whew! Look at these hot chicks! (Too bad I'm missing from that picture.) Look at my Mommy isn't she beautiful! She deserved the day off, this was her first big outing since Avery was born. To her left is Dominique, Auntie Lacey's friend from college. She is married to Nando, and I can say her name really good. Then of course there is Auntie Brenda, you met her from my last trip to Wisconsin. You may not recognize her in this picture because she isn't wearing her swimsuit like in the last picture. (I kinda caught holy hell for that!) Finally, there's the birthday girl, Auntie Lacey!

Well, I guess Avery had fun on her trip. This picture indicates she enjoyed herself, either that or she was so happy that we were leaving to go back home.

Ok back to me...wait a second, there are no more pictures of me. You mean to tell me that photographer only took pictures of me eating a lousy cob of corn. That's it! She's fired. I have to ask Mommy for some adorable pictures of me, this post focused way too much on everyone else. Blog at you later!!!

Introducing AV and "sweet ride"

Well, now that you know all about my trip to Wisconsin and have met some of my monkey relatives I thought you might want an update on my home life. First of all, this is my little monkey sister Avery, or AV as I like to call her. She is my best friend and future playmate. Right now her favorite thing to do is pull my hair.

Speaking of hair, check out this picture. I wonder where she gets that monkey hair from!!!!

Today was a big day for Avery. She learned to roll from her back to her belly. Maybe now she won't lay there and scream because she can't get her booty rolled all the way over. Good job Avery.

My daddy is driving my mommy's car to work this week. The highlight of my day is when we get to take "sweet ride" to Camilla's in the morning. I love to ride in "sweet ride." Mommy doesn't seem to be as happy about it as I am. In the afternoon, I get so excited when I can hear "sweet ride" coming down the road because I know my mommy is coming to pick me up and take me home. When I say I can hear it, I mean I can hear it. It is so loud I think half of the county knows when we are coming. Mommy gets embarrassed, but I think it is the best ride ever. I sit up really high and can see everything out the windows. Daddy says he is going to get collector plates for it next year...whatever that means.

Other than my ride in "sweet ride," today was an uneventful day. I spent a good 81/2 hours at Camilla's playing with my friends (I love it there), came home and got a Dora episode in and had some fruit snacks ("snacks"), played with my dolls a little bit, yelled at the dogs to "leave me alone," played with AV, made pan cakes with mom, took a bath, read my usual bed time books (see profile if you want to know my favs), and then down for a good 11 hours of sleep. Sounds like a long, busy day I know. I'm exhausted. I will introduce you to the rest of my family and share more stories later. Good Night! I can't wait for my next ride tomorrow morning.

My Trip to Wisconsin

Dad and I packed up and headed to Wisconsin for the week. It was a long ride, but I'm pretty sure I kept daddy entertained with my singing and fine storytelling skills. Here I am upon arrival.

I was so excited to get there and see everyone. I practiced saying their names all week - Grandma, Grandpa, T-Bone and of course my favorite Aunt Wacey (that's Lacey for those of you who don't understand toddler speak). Here we are....isn't she beautiful?

I needed to run around after being strapped in all day, so I convinced everyone to play outside. I had to show them my daddy's Big Truck.
Grandma heard that I've been helping Mommy with yard work at home, so she thought she would put me to work too - she bought me a cool shovel and rake.

I rode in the truck all day, chased Cosmo (he's Grandma and Grandpa's yellow lab), ate supper, I was ready for a bath and bedtime. Mommy and Daddy told me I had a strict itinerary while I was in Wisconsin - Auntie Lacey and I would be on the go from morning to night. Here I am after bath time, perhaps this crazy hair of mine earned me the nickname "Monkey". What do you think?

You think that's bad.....I have some sweet bed head in the AM.

Wednesday started out with a trip to Mommy and Auntie Lacey's favorite store...Target!! I love shopping, seriously, I clap my hands and yell shopping when I find out I'm going to be able to bust out the plastic. Speaking of plastic, Daddy gave Auntie Lacey his credit card and gave her a list of very important items: diapers, diaper rash cream (my bottom has been a little soar lately), and apple juice. Mommy and I told her she should buy a little something for herself on Daddy, but she took the high road and paid for her own things. My only problem with shopping is that I can't run around and touch things, I can only look at them from afar:(

Once we cleared out Target, we made a pit stop at Sevastopol High School to visit my Great Aunt Cindy. I thought I'd get a little taste of office life, it didn't seem so hard.

After we were done there, we went to Grandma Great's house. She and Great Aunt Kerry were there waiting to be dazzled by my intelligence and overall cuteness. We played for a while, had some lunch, and then we went up to my Grandpa's farm. I arrived and looked in amazement at Grandpa, I was so sure it was Daddy. Anyway, Grandpa took me to see his dogs...they are crazy. Fritz and Casper were sent to the bedroom, but Lucy stuck around to lick my face (she probably wanted to clean up the rest of the caramel Oreos Grandma gave me).


After Lucy was done licking my face, Grandpa Great took me to see the baby cows. I have the special ability to speak to baby cows, I said "MOOOOOO" and they answered me!

We went back to the cottage to take a nap. When I woke up we were looking out the window, and I saw a fox. I told everyone his name is Swiper and you have to tell him "Swiper, no Swiping!" Do you see Swiper the Fox?

Everyone came to Grandma and Grandpa Great's for supper that night. I had to do my best to help them finish their desserts. Then Grandpa tried to get my sippy cup open, I asked him if he needed the book Sippy Cups for Dummies, but he finally figured it out.

What a day! I was exhausted and I fell asleep on the way home.

Thursday we went to the YMCA with Auntie Brenda, Henry and Sophia. Auntie Brenda and Auntie Lacey went to workout while we played with a whole bunch of kids at the Y daycare. There were nice teachers there who read me books. After that we went swimming in this huge pool and we played with buckets and watering cans!

We worked up quite an appetite swimming, so we all went to McDonald's to eat. Henry, Sophia, and I formed a trio, and treated the entire restaurant to our rendition of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Auntie Lacey wasn't a very good manager, she failed to bring the camera to document our debut.

The itinerary allowed for a five minute nap as we drove to Grandma and Grandpa Sawyer's house. I didn't eat enough at McDonald's so I shared a sandwich with Grandpa. Then he picked me up and put me on his lap where I announced "I go poop"! Even after going #2 on his lap, he gave me some delicious cookies!

I was kidding about the nap, Auntie Lacey took me back to Algoma, and I took a two hour nap. After that, I was ready to go. We got our jackets and sunglasses on and went outside to play!

Auntie Lacey's glasses were a little too big for me, I'll stick with the froggy glasses (which I later lost to the bison at the zoo, don't ask it's a long story)!

Friday morning, I was greeted by the Great White Hunter, my Daddy. Here we are with the big kill. Apparently, Daddy was a little ticked off that Auntie Lacey didn't get the whole bird in the picture. I don't know why he's complaining, she obviously captured the two most attractive people.

I didn't have enough swimming on Thursday, so I practiced in the tub Friday morning.

Auntie Brenda came to pick us up, and we headed to the zoo to meet Auntie Michelle, Auntie Cynde, Sydney and Brady. Here are a few snapshots from the zoo! Oh, don't tell anyone I said so, but I think there may be some members of the family who escaped from the zoo!

Sophia and I riding in style. Doesn't she look like a movie star?

Two little Addys!!! I finally meet my ancestors!

Here I am with my cousins, doesn't my butt look great in those pants? I also happen to have the cutest shoes, my Crocs!

They allowed us to get out of the wagon for some play time. Check it out, I caught some air when I went downt the slide. Then Auntie Lacey and I rode the purple dinosaur.

We topped off the day with Grandpa Sawyer feeding all of us some much deserved ice cream cake!

And finally....Saturday, time to go home and see Mommy, Avery, Legend and Kody. Don't get me wrong I missed them terribly, but I was so sad to say goodbye to everybody.

Here I am saying goodbye to T-Bone and Grandma - Grandpa ran from the picture, he had some crazy outfit on and his hair made him look like a monkey, I mean I am talking gorilla!

I have so many pictures to share from my trip, but I am so exhausted, I have to catch up on my beauty sleep. I'll try to post more later. Thanks for reading!