Sandbox

Addie was the lucky raffle winner of a Sandbox at the One Small Step Walk we went to on Saturday. But not just any boring sandbox. This one has wheels so we can move it around wherever we want (it’s out on the screened in porch for now), and the lid for it is actually a chalkboard. Addie L.O.V.E.S. it. She insisted on getting new shovels for her sandbox at Target, and has been in heaven playing in it. Who knew it would be so entertaining. And the bonus is, she is perfectly content to play in it all be herself. So I can sit on the porch swing with my laptop while she plays her sandy little heart out.

27 Months

One Small Step Walk

We had the 1st Annual Birmingham One Small Step Walk today. Kera worked super hard, and it all paid off! Birmingham ended up raising over $6000 for Prader-Willi Research. Not bad for their first year! (And as a whole campaign, they’ve raised over $600,000, which is amazing!) It was a fun morning, but it was HOT!!

Some of the Walkers

The actual walk was just a little over a quarter mile or so, and Addie enjoyed walking the whole thing.

Addie, Jen, and Will walking

After the walk, Addie and Delilah entertained themselves for the next hour playing with the ducks and splashing in the water.

Will cooling off after walking in the heat.

Special thanks to those who donated!

Addie Goes to Grandparent’s Camp

Ryan had his birthday this last week, and to celebrate we usually head to one of his favorite places, our family’s cabin. He LOVES it there. Unfortunately, he had a TON of stuff come up at work, and he had to cancel his trip. Since we had already planned it all, and people had taken off work (May and Matt were coming with us), we decided to go ahead and go, and leave Ryan in Birmingham. (He insisted…we offered to stay…) So, we left as soon as Addie got our of school on Thursday afternoon.

It’s about a 5 hour drive to GiGi and Granddaddy’s house, which is where we were headed for the night.

Addie and Aunt May slept on the way there.

We made it to Tryon, and enjoyed a nice, yummy dinner (that was made for Ryan with all of his favorite things…so sad!) and then Aunt May and Addie went for a quick, late night swim.

The next morning, May, Matt, and I headed to Del Rio to start our cabin adventure, and we left Addie for her first weekend at “Grandparent Camp”.

Since I obviously wasn’t there with my camera in hand to document everything going on, as I would normally be, I MADE my mom PROMISE to take pictures of their adventures. And she came through! (Disclaimer* I originally took over their camera, and then when I got a new one, Liz took it over, and we left them without a camera, so these are all from GiGi’s camera phone…I’m just excited she took them!)

Also since I wasn’t there, I didn’t have a clue what all they did, so here’s GiGi’s account of Addie’s first weekend of Grandparent’s Camp… (She’s stayed at their house with them alone before, but she was tiny, so this is the first time they could take her around to “do” things…)

GiGi says:

Friday morning, the travelers left for the cabin and Addie stayed with Gigi and Granddaddy.  We went to the playground nearby and played on the swings, several slides, hung on the monkey bars, walked across bridges, and had a marvelous time!

There were a bunch of balloons there (maybe left from an earlier party) that Addie loved playing with.

Another  fun unexpected treat was awaiting us at Harmon Field, as there was a horse show getting ready to begin, so we got to see several horses jumping and going through their paces.  Addie loved watching them!
We went home and, after attempting to get her to eat anything for lunch and having very little success, she and I went swimming for a while. She loves swimming with no help (except her puddle jumpers) and liked riding in the Addie boats (floats) while I pulled her around the pool.

After nap time, Addie went down in the basement with me (to get a few more toys) and she saw the big plastic penguin and raced over to it, delightedly yelling "ADDIE'S PENGUIN"! He was a constant companion for the rest of the trip.

Friday evening, Betsy and Jay Goree came over to have dinner with us and to see Addie.  She went swimming with Mark and Betsy afterwards and had a blast! 
Friday night was a late night for bed, maybe midnight or so.  I have new respect for Lindy's stamina with this child who is a true night-owl!
Saturday morning, we awakened and went to the Farmer's Market in Columbus.  She loved looking at the many vegetables and fruits, none of which she would eat.  Farmers were trying to give her apples and grapes and all kinds of yummy things, but she refused them all!  She kept saying "No, me" which I only found out later that she means "No, maam" as Lindy has taught her.  :)  She did meet the Farmer's Market mascot rooster, named Lovey Dovey, and she really liked petting him and watching him eat his breakfast of seeds. 

We then walked across the street to a little park and she played on the playground for a little while.
In the afternoon, it was time for the pool again!  A long swim, followed by an even longer nap! 

Gigi had to finally awaken her at 4:15 and, after supper,  we got ready to go to the Art Trot downtown.  We first went to the Upstairs Art Space (local art museum) and Addie really had a great time looking at the new art show there.  We discussed various artists and their style of painting or their sculptures and then went down the street to lots of the shops and other art galleries. 

She rather lost interest in art after the first show but she enjoyed running through the studios and pretending she had no bones in the middle of the floor.  The last hour before dark, Addie and I went back to Harmon Field to play on the playground.  We got caught in the rain right as we were about to leave!

We built with Disney blocks (big plastic ones) throughout the whole weekend.  She quit knocking them down (until they were fully built) and really got the hang of building with them. 

She would spend an hour at a stretch building lovely castles and "animal houses" (her word for the stables that we built).  Her other favorite toys were the baby doll and her little bag of goodies, the drawing desk and art supplies, and a bunch of hats that we had available (2 of each) -- cowboy hats, fireman hats, Roman helmets, army hats, dinosaur and alligator masks, etc).  I had to put on whichever hat she chose and she put on the matching one and we said whatever term that "occupation" would say.  "Where's the fire?", "YeeHaw!!", "Roooaaarrrrr", "Gung Ho", etc.  She found this absolutely hilarious!

We also played MANY MANY MANY songs on the computer with videos and I found that Addie loves to sing and dance to these!  She also enjoyed a little keyboard that we have, with a microphone attached.  She would hold the microphone in one hand  and the other hand would play the keyboard while she sang "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" at full blast.  American Idol, watch out!

But her favorite thing to do was to go out and feed the fish, which we did about 7 times a day (as opposed to the usual 1 - 2 times).  The fish can't wait for Addie to visit again!
Sunday, we watched an episode of Dora and then went outside and played with sidewalk chalk out in the driveway.  We played with all our toys once last time, as her Mom was on her way back from the cabin. 

Lindy, May, and Matt all came in time for some lunch and then packed up little Addie and left for Birmingham.  The house is very quiet today and we miss our little sunshiny Addie!  However, Gigi and Granddaddy are thinking about going to bed very early tonight!  :)

 

Thanks, GiGi and Granddaddy SO SO SO much for letting Addie come and visit and doing so many fun things with her! She woke up this morning and told me she needed to play blocks with Granddaddy. Ha. We’ll be back VERY soon!