October PLAN playdate-Pumpkin Patch at Bauman Farm

Josie and Chloe checking out the animals.


The Hay Maze

Chloe and Natalie
Josie's turn
Chloe, Taylor and Josie going round and round . . . .



Hi mama! I see you!

Taylor and Josie checking out the Teepee


Instead of a sandbox, they had a "corn"box. Cool, huh?

Josie on a big-kid swing
The requisite series of pictures trying to get everyone to sit still and look in the same direction.



The hayride out to the pumpkin patch.



Shali and Priya
The jumping pillow-easily the most fun thing there-I fell down almost immediately and couldn't get back up. Josie crawled out to the middle and was catching serious air. That's Julie and SP next to us.
Josie and SP in the corn box.
Taylor and Josie holding hands in the pumpkin patch.

Josie on her first ride on a horse.


Great fun had by all.

Sept 08 PLAN Playdate

Last Saturday we met up with some other PLAN families for an overdose of cuteness: Chloe, Taylor, Priya, SP and Josie had some fun at Piccolo Park. Josie seemed to wake up with a little bit of independence that day-she kept taking off on her own to play. Usually she makes me follow her around playgrounds so this was a nice change-I got to chat with all the other parents for a change. At one point she decided it was time to go home and tried to leave-so Shali and I had to herd her back to the playground!

We gathered (herded) up the kids for a group shot-SP's mommy (another Julie!) acted as the spotter . . . . This worked out pretty well-much better than the PLAN picnic last month where none of the pics had all the kids even vaguely looking in the same direction.








Josie loves her new Elmo shirt.


Taylor-the snacking queen.

Super-cool shot of Chloe.

Just a couple cute random photos

SHWIMMING!!!!

Great-Grandpa Joe (Papa) picks up Josie from daycare and takes her to our pool once or twice a week. And she loves it-except for the time the inner tube flipped her over and she couldn't get herself back up. Took awhile to get her back in the swing of things. She was worried about "fall!" Can't blame her really. No more inner tube unless I'm in the pool right next to her. Or maybe at all. A little girl drowned recently in 1 foot of water because of an inner tube.

Josie's first slip-n-slide encounter:






Grandpa usually swims with her-he forgot his suit this day. Our condo has a regular pool, hot tub (josie loves it!) and this awesome 2ft wading pool.

4th of July

We celebrated the 4th at the Salem Waterfront-enjoyed family and friends, some Irish dancing, music, and, of course, the best fireworks that they've ever put on before. Josie did great-stayed awake the whole time (as opposed to last year when she fell asleep in the middle of the fireworks) and clapped and clapped for the "pretties".





Look Mama! A light saber! (note to parents: a great tool for keeping a child up way past their bedtime. Thanks Lisa!)



Mama and Josie taking a picture of each other.

Josie's 2nd Birthday party AKA The Party of the ANNOYING SINGING ELMO BALLOON!

You know-it seemed like a good idea at the time. We went to the party store to get some balloons and I picked out one of Elmo's face and some latex ones and the girl filled the balloons while we paid. Then when we went to get them-she's like, "You know-we have a singing Elmo balloon. Would you like that one too?" Of course-she didn't point it out until I'd already bought and paid for the other one. . . . So yeah-I got it. Brady and Marina and I squished ourselves into the car with a million balloons (or so it seemed). Honestly-I was a little worried about Marina in the backseat-I couldn't even see her. That balloon sang all the way to Jeff and Marie's house . . .

It was just a family birthday-we had a gourmet hot dog theme and of course, green beans for the birthday girl. (Side note: we recently had a green bean canning party and when Josie saw over a hundred quarts of green beans on the counter-her eyes got HUGE! And then she was ticked cuz we didn't have them for dinner . . . She kept pointing at them, like-hey people-THEY'RE RIGHT THERE! OPEN ONE FOR CRYIN' OUT LOUD!)

That balloon floated for 6 WEEKS! And is still singing . . . . . Shouldn't have rescued it from the skylight. And when the whole balloon bunch came loose from Josie's highchair during dinner-we shouldn't have let Uncle Jeff climb the tree to get it out.

A few pics . . .


Look Mama-it's SINGS! (yes, yes . . .we are all painfully aware, sweetie!)


Uh, oh!





Somebody DO something!


This is the nice quiet one.

Sassy girl

Is that a new camera Mama? Let me see up close.


Scuse me? I'd like a Shirley Temple to go with my goldfish. Extra cherries, please!


I'm too sexy for these sunglasses!


I crack myself up!



I'm soooo rocking this recorder . . .

My new ringtone is "Elmo's Song"

I need to get out more.

Nuff said.

more "Yeah, I said that"

3. Josie-don't put the measuring spoons down your diaper!

4. Did you just pee on bear?

5. Did your diaper leak or is that drool? (BTW-it was drool! Not sure which is worse . . .)

What 2 looks like