A trip by herself... Part 1

Back in June, Arya went to Gramma Suzanne and Pa's house- without me! This was our first time being apart over night. Mommy and Daddy were in Chicago for more than a week. Gramma was very good about sending us pictures and updates about the things they were doing. Every time we were on the phone Arya was having too much fun and wouldn't talk to us. But when she got home she did seem happy to see us again. These are pictures from the first part of her trip. JD was also at Gramma and Pa's at the beginning.

 Playing the piano at Great-Grandma Joan's.

 Playing with Great- Aunt Dee.

 They were camping in the motor home at first.

 She LOVES this seat in the motorhome. She claims it every time we ride with them.

 They found a toad.

 They drew A LOT. Gramma brought us a whole portfolio of Arya's artwork.

 This girl loves her Pa!

 Now they found a caterpillar. 

 Worship team!

Frog

Arya's favorite animal is currently frogs. I plan on decorating her bathroom with a frog theme.
She has a frog hooded towel, frog jammies, a couple stuffed animal frogs, and always asks to watch "Frog" (leapfrog episodes on netflix). Last week she started pretending she is a frog. She hops around and ribbits. She was doing it last week. My phone camera stopped working for a while. We finally did a video after she got ready for bed. Unfortunately she didn't do it as much and started being goofy. Here is the video- she only acts like a frog a little bit at the beginning.

Come on over to Adventureland,,,we're gonna have a fun-ffilled day

In July we went to Adventureland with Gramma Suzanne and Pa (as Arya calls Grampa Brian) just like last year. This time Arya was big enough to ride some of the rides! And she LOVED every single one!

                                 
When we walked into the park Arya saw the carousel and ran right to it. When the ride ended, she started to cry! The attendant asked what was wrong and I explained she didn't want to get off. Well, good thing about going on a Monday- there was no line, so he said she could ride again! So we switched horses and this time Mommy rode one too!

 She still cried when we got off. Once she was with Pa she was fine.
While Pa and Mommy rode the Space Shot Arya rode the kid verson- The Frog Hopper.

She liked the Frog Hopper so much that she rode it twice. And she was so good about raising her arms when the guy told them to (like when you're on a roller coaster).

Then she rode little cars. It was cute how serious she was turning the wheel when the ride turned.

This year she rode on the log ride with Pa and Mommy. Mommy got SOAKED. 

Here's Arya at the waterpark portion- Adventure Bay. Again, you don't want the camera around the water so this is the only picture of that. She LOVED her new suit with the monkey on it.

                                                 This year Mommy rode the chuckwagons with her (last year Gramma Suzanne did it).

 Fishing for frogs with Grampa. She won two frogs.

A surprising thing about this trip- Gramma rode some rides!!

Then Arya did more little kid rides.

Again she was very serious about her steering.

The ladybugs was probably her favorite ride. Remember, it was a Monday so there were usually no lines. Arya rode this  ride more than 7 times in a row! She switched to a different car each time.

We made sure and rode the ferris wheel since we failed to do so last year.

Grampa took a turn riding the carousal with Arya before we finished the night with a ride on the train (which mysteriously we have no pictures of).

It was a fun trip. Thanks again Gramma and GramPA!

Baking Apprentice

I enjoy baking. My specialty is peanut butter cookies. Today Arya was my apprentice.

                                                    Washing her hands before we begin.

Checking the recipe/

Putting in the peanut butter/

 Adding the egg.

 All ready to roll, sugar, and press. Arya tried to do the criss-cross with the fork. She was a little forceful, which caused the cookies to fall apart and that upset her. Then she kept asking for me to "help, pease!"

 Whenever she helps in the kitchen, she loves to watch the items bake in the oven.

Enjoying the fruits (or cookies) of her labor.

This was a great "making memories" activity!

Anyone want to join us for milk and cookies??

All American Cutie

I love the 4th of July. My love for it was part of the reason Bradley and I got married when we did (July 2.) We celebrated our 8th anniversary on Tuesday.

For the fourth we hung out at home during the day. Daddy and Arya had a water fight with the hose while Mommy slept in. Lucky me! In the evening we went over to some friends' house for a cookout and fireworks. Arya had fun playing two other little girls that were there. One was only 11 days younger than Arya! All three of them were scared of the loud fireworks so we stayed inside while Daddy played with fire along with the other guys outside.

Here is Arya's festive outfit, notice in some of these she is posing like a little model.

Chatterbox

Arya is quite the talker. One of her new phrases is "Come here:." She says "Mommy!" When I respond she curls her whole hand and says "Come here!"
She also says "Sowwy" a lot. Yesterday we were at Target and an employee cut us off. The employee apologized and Arya repeated her.
She still says "George" for Curious George, but her favorite character is Hundley. Whenever she sees a wiener dog she calls it Hundley.
Little Einsteins is referred to as "boy." And Mickey Mouse Clubhouse is called "Mouse."

Arya LOVES Gramma Suzanne's banana bread. She says "Breaf" which means breakfast and/or banana bread. The other day I gave her three slices of banana bread. She ate two and took the third slice downstairs on a napkin. After a while I asked if I could have the last slice. She said, "No. It's mine. Sowwy." It cracked me up. Later she wrapped the bread in the napkin and did give it to me.

Arya loves telling Teddy what to do. I don't think he understands her though. She calls him, tells him to sit and tells him to go back into the utility room.

She also says " OwSide" becaue she always wants to go outside. And "stairs" when she wants to go downstairs.