Impromptu dinner date!

Mary, Mackenzie and I were heading out when we noticed that Hal and Jeanette ( who live across from Mary) has a new camper parked in their drive. We, being the nosey neighbors we are, had to stop and check it out! Mackenzie and Ben( who is almost three months older than Mackenzie) had so much fun playing in the camper! They bounced around back there until they were red in the face and sweat! Soon, dinner plans evolved and Mary and Jeanette set out to prepare some grub! Hal and I supervised a swim session with Mackenzie and Ben. Here are a few pictures from our dinner date!

Mackenzie on the inside looking out
They are wild I tell you!
Sippy break!
This picture is not for the faint of heart...or stomach! The kids were playing so hard, that Ben ended up with a stray booger on his forehead! We still aren't sure who's booger it was but rest assured that it was properly disposed of. If the parents have their way and these two end up married, I solemnly do swear to show this picture at their wedding!
The the water was freezing, the kids had a blast playing in the pool! Jeanette pushed the little slide up to the pool and the kids climbed up and slide down into the water to their hearts content!

They sure worked up an appetite
Just one more slide before it was time to go home:
The adults laughed at how our evening was " a little bit redneck" but what a good time we had!

Mackenzie and "Fe-Fe"

Grandma Mary has two big cats, Felix ( Fe-Fe) and Fonzie ( Fonie). Felix really loves Mackenzie and the feeling, of course, is mutal as evidenced by these pictures:

Mackenzie sharing her sacred snack ( cheese) with Felix:

Checkin' out the train together:
Felix and Mackenzie have lots in common: Their love of cheese, their love of small, fur covered fake mice and they weigh about the same!

Castaway Cafe

"The Girls" ( Grammy, Aunt Meg, Aunt Janet, Mackenzie and Missy) headed off one morning to Castaway Cafe: an indoor jungle gym with lots of things to climb on and hang from. Mackenzie had been there once before with Grammy and me but having Aunt Meg and Aunt Janet along made it even more fun!

There's a special toddler section but Mackenzie doesn't hang out there much. She likes to climb all the way to the tallest slide and go down. She also loves the HUGE bouncy balls that are bigger than she is although I think her favorite thing is being around the other kids. Here are pictures from our day!

She's always ready to go!

Mackenzie and " The A's" in the back seat..."A" Meg brought yogurt parfaits!
There she goes!
Nearing the top, she had to stop and wave to her adoring fans!
Mommy and Kenzie in the slide, ready for take off!
Grammy climbed up the slide to try to help Mackenzie down. This is the view from the bottom. It was so cute , I couldn't resist!
Slide shot
At the top with "A" Janet
The Peanut Gallery
I was about three seconds late for this shot. Mackenzie was following Aunt Meg through the tunnel and they were in sync!
After an hour of running and climbing, a very thirsty Mackenzie waved goodbye to Castaway! The rest of us took an Aleve and wished for our pillows!
But, the pull of the outlet mall ( which is about a mile from the Cafe) got the best of us. After a bit of shopping and a bit of lunch, Grammy pointed the car toward home. What a fun morning!

A visit with Leif, Marie and Chloe!

Leif, Marie and Chloe were in town visiting and we got together for a BBQ at Aunt Meg's house. It was so nice to be able to visit with out ....oh wait...I was about to type " with out interruption" but then I remembered that there were two busy little girls around! We must just be used to those interruptions! Anyway, it was nice to visit with out any big plans other than just catching up and getting to know each other! I didn't take many pictures at this visit but hope to catch up with Marie and Chloe again next week ( Leif has to return back to work but Marie is staying an extra week!). Here's a picture of sweet Chloe!

I'm peekin' at Chloe over Marie's shoulder. Chloe is SUCH a happy girl, even when she isn't familiar with her surroundings!


Grandma Meg soakin' up her time with Chloe!

More pictures to come!

Update time

We've been really busy although, for the life of me, I can't quite recall WHAT we've been doing in specifics. So here are a few pictures from the last few weeks.

Mackenzie finds her shadow!
Check out these curls! Her hair gets curlier by the day.
This is a really horrible picture ( quality wise) but she looks so grown up and so much like her cousin Brooklyn that I had to post it!
And a blooper picture- we have this bird in our beach themed room and Mackenzie likes to point out his eyes, nose ( "noise" in Mackenzien) and head. This picture was just snapped at the wrong time. She's got wild hair because it's just before bed time.

Mack and I went on a hunt for wild flowers. Mackenzie really liked being able to roam freely and pick the flowers ( instead of hearing " Those are for smelling, not for picking." ) . Our hunt carried us closer to nap time than I expected , so by the end of it Mackenzie was looking wild and her flowers weren't lookin' so good. We did manage to get some really beautiful wild flowers and I am trying my hand at flower pressing with them!
Mackenzie and I watching Sesame Street. Neither of us were feeling good at the moment!

Free range

There are soccer fields near our house and Mackenzie loves to run free on the grass. There are few things in life better than running barefoot in the grass!

Videos galore!

I'm sure it's a tough life for Mackenzie- expected to perform at the slightest whim! Here are a few videos I captured today:

This is Mackenzie playing with the Leap Pad that Nikki sent her. Over the last few weeks she's really started to pay attention to the stories and follow the commands. Here she is reading from " Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can you? " I love how she whispers " Lellow!" at the end.



We play " Crib Volley Ball" at our house. I toss the beach ball into Mack's crib and then she throws it back out. It's one of Mackenzie's favorite things to do. Here's a video of her playing in her crib.



And one more crib time video ( This one's for you Brooky!) . Mackenzie is so silly and I have no idea why she kissed the crib..hehe.