Rosenbloom Farm

Rarely do I get to go somewhere with just one kid. It is always nice to give them a little 1:1 time. Days like these make you wonder why you ever thought 1 kid made it hard to get out. I feel like I can go anywhere and it is so much easier with just one kid.

I went with Brooke to Rosenbloom farms where she was able to get up close with quite a few animals. There are no pigs, sheep, or cows on this farm.

Brooke feed a llama a carrot.

Pet a goat.

Brushed a donkey.

Up close with a boa constrictor.

Gross! That thing was ginormous and was the one thing she went straight to without grabbing my hand to go with her. Thank goodness. She has no fear.

Some other fun animals on the farm were the bunnies, horses, cats, and the fish pond complete with frogs.

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Water Table

Brooke isn't phased by the cold hose water in her pool. Lindsey knows better and doesn't want anything to do with that ice pool. She prefers to splash and play in the water table. The extra Elmo bath toys made it that much better.

It is actually meant to be a sand and water table. We didn't have any sand. It turned to each of them having their own water table. Best idea of the week! They played great side by side.

Strawberry picking gone sour

I had high expectations for strawberry picking. I imagined Lindsey's face and hands covered in the sweet red juice and Brooke picking one after another in order to fill her container first.

Lindsey wasn't so pleased with the straw ground and Brooke immediately decided she had to go potty. We were out in the middle of a huge strawberry field. Brooke was announcing over and over, "I have to go potty. I don't think I can hold it. I just felt a little drip. I REALLY need to go potty". So we picked as fast as we could while trying to calm both Brooke and Lindsey.

I even dressed them in coordinating strawberry outfits hoping to get a good picture of my girls together.

Instead we captured the reality of two unpredictable girls.

On the plus side the strawberry shortcake is oh so good. Tim wants to go back for more to freeze and I would love to figure an easy strawberry rhubarb jelly.

Go Mudhens!

Tim took the girls downtown to a Mudhens game last night with the Down syndrome association.

While you wouldn't guess it by the picture, they all had a fantastic night. They ate hot dogs and cookies until their bellies felt like they would explode.

Watching the game

Running the bases and watching fireworks to complete the night off.

We are going to have to plan another trip because I am so jealous I had to work.

Beach Girls

Wow, have we had some hot days. Sounds like the perfect time for the beach.
Brooke and Lindsey had tons of fun playing in the sand. Lindsey covered her eyes and screamed the moment Tim set her down in the sand. Once I had the shovel and a bucket out she completely forgot what she was crying about. It was fun time in the sand from that moment on. The water was still pretty chilly. I wouldn't get in past my ankles. Although, that really isn't saying much. Brooke and Tim didn't seem to think it was frigid. They jumped around in that water like it was heated. Lindsey and I were much more comfortable sitting on the beach. She played peek a boo with a bucket. I could here her muffled echo of a laugh under that bucket the moment I said, "Where is Lindsey?".

Once we were covered in sand we made our way to the Pied Piper. The end to a beach morning should always include a shredded chicken sandwiches and ice cream lunch. Yummy!

Brooke's Ears are Pierced

Brooke has been talking about getting her ears pierced for quite a long time. I have no clue where it came from. I am thinking someone she goes to school with had their ears pierced. Finally I decided to use a reward (bribe). She made a little foam and ribbon thing that said Brooke's ears. Every night for bedtime routine she would pick a bow to put on her ribbon. If she followed directions and didn't go downstairs with 20 "I want" or "I need" once we said goodnight she could keep her bow. I explained everything to her and I decided on 7 bows. When I picked 7 I really thought it would take her forever. Wouldn't you know it, the little stinker only had one bow taken away. Brooke was getting her ears pierced much sooner than I imagined.

Here she is showing us how excited she is to get them pierced after picking out her earrings. She wanted them to look just like her Mommy's.

The not excited face. We were there early so only the manager was working. That meant she wouldn't get them pierced at the same time like I had hoped. Brooke didn't want to wait. She was a trooper and took it like a champ. When she saw the pictures after they were done she insisted she wasn't crying because it hurtbut because Lindsey got the color sucker she wanted.

The oh so happy grown up little girl with her ears pierced.

The warm weather is here to stay

The warm weather is here to stay and already the air conditioning is running. Just as everyone thought, we went from chilly to hot hot hot overnight. So hot that we made it through the first day but gave in on the second and flipped the thermostat from heat to cool.

Lindsey prefers to relax in the shade playing with her toys.

Brooke prefers the torture of the cold hose water pool.

The sprinkler doesn't make the water any warmer.
Kids don't care. They are happy to run through the cold water over and over again.

Memorial Day Kickoff

Memorial Day weekend has always been the kick off weekend to summer. Everyone tends to pack up and spend time at the lake, BBQ and just sit back relaxing. Tim headed up to the lake with the girls to kick off summer complete with bathing suits, sunscreen and sand toys.
The most amazing thing about this picture?

Brooke has an EMPTY plate of food she ate sitting in front of her.

Lindsey was in love with her Great Grandpa. Apparently they were best buds.

Brooke hopping around in the water.

Still a little chilly.

Lindsey keeping cool hanging with the little people farm animals.

Cardiology and more

This week Lindsey was back for her check up with the cardiologist. She let every.single.person. know she was there and would rather be outside. Oh my goodness! Elmo didn't work for the ECHO. I was keeping her hands occupied to keep her from pulling off wires and the girl's hand from her ultrasound thingamajig. Lindsey figured a way to wrap her legs up and around the tech's hands to move her away. I couldn't help but snicker at the "oh my she is strong and a fighter comments". Once they were somehow able to get what they needed from the ECHO and EKG we moved on with the appointment. Forget about the blood pressure. Not happening. The weight? Don't' remember. I am not even sure if they told me. The height? Probably not accurate. So the results? VSD remains unchanged. Continue to "wait and monitor". Back in 6 months.

I decided to take here to our PCP today. She always has a runny nose. That is nothing new. Over the past few days it has been worse and not such a healthy color. The dreadful cough. Oh the poor thing and her cough. So amoxicillin it is. Let hope it dries up that nose.

Now does this look the face of a fighter or a sick child?