Urbandale 4th of July Parade!!

Jim and I just love that we are so close to Urbandale's 4th of July festivities.  The parade lines up on our block so all we have to do is head down the street and find a good spot.  Joy was in town for the holiday so she came early enough that she didn't have any trouble pulling on to our block.  We gathered up our stuff and headed out. 

One of the floats on our block was a dog grooming and day care place.  They were very excited when we walked by with Petey.  They gave him a biscuit and in all the comotion Joy took a spill.  I saw the whole thing, it was COMPLETELY the sidewalk's fault!  After gathering ourselves back off we found a good location.

We settled in with a blanket, stroller, camp chair, and dog in to a sun filled scorching hot seat.  Pretty soon it all kicked off!

Charlotte was having fun watching the parade but the sun was literally crisping us up as we sat there.  She had manged to gather a little flag, some beads and a sticker.  We left the candy for the big kids.  After awhile we needed some relief and headed to the shade....ahhh.  Right before heang up there Charlotte was handed a popsicle...her very first one!

Petey enjoyed the shade immensely.  He was one hot dog.

Uh oh...she got her hair!

They had these plastic flags around and Charlotte enjoyed waving them so much.

Finally the parade wrapped up and it was time to head home.  Joy's leg was a little sore from the fall and Petey literally could not stand up from the heat so Jim ran and got the car for them.  After he got back and we got loaded up Charlotte and I walked home.  Needless to say we were pooped when we got back!

Daddy Daughter Day

Day care was closed on Monday so Jim and Charlotte had a Daddy-Daughter day.  He took pictures of most everything they did cause I really hate to miss out on stuff so here goes:

He gave her a bath

And played all morning.

Until it was nap time

Dad napped longer than Charlotte, so she played with boomer.

Then they ate lunch and got the oil changed in Mom's car

Then Dad lost his money clip and zoo pass at the oil change place...but he didn't realize it until the got to the zoo...at almost closing time...after sitting in a big traffic jam.  They went back to the car place and picked up their lost stuff.

Then she had dinner

And they swept off the deck.

Finally they both visited me on my photo shoot that evening.  See the pregnant belly in the back...I am photographing it!

Jim said they had a super fantastic time together.

Art Market

Sunday afternoon we headed to the Omaha Art Market with my Dad and Deb.  Again, it was quite hot, but we had great time looking at all of the booths and just having time to visit.

On our way back to the car Charlotte was ready to run and was being such a ham. I adore these two picture of her.  The first one I love because she is just so happy and having fun.  The second is totally a little miss model shot.  I mean seriously...Marilyn Monroe anyone?

Sofia's First Birthday

This last weekend we headed to Omaha to celebrate Sofia's First Birthday!  Her and Charlotte can have quite the time together so we were excited to be able to join in our her special day.  They were able to come for Charlotte's birthday in April as well so it is great we can have the opportunities for the cousins to hang out.

We left Saturday morning and drove my car instead of Jim's SUV.  Both dogs made it a bit more tight so we let them share the front seat.  They will definitely not be able to do this much longer, but it worked today!

The party was at Maybrey Park in Carter Lake.  It was HOT...like H-O-T hot hot hot!  Scorching, burning, fire on the sun, well over 100 degree heat index hot.  Some how Shaun and Sara really pulled it off.  They had the shelter decorated, a taco bar and plenty of drinks available. 

The breeze from the lake was quite nice to enjoy some times.

Papa with his 2 youngest grandkids.

Shaun and the Birthday Girl!

Opening Presents

After a couple hours of sweating it finally became to much for Petey and Charlotte (and Mom) so we headed out to my Mom's house to go relax in some good ol' AC.  

We had a great time and Happy Birthday SOFIA!! 

Things She likes

Charlotte is very into anything purse like right now.  She garbs what she can, puts over her shoulder, and is on her way.

She has also become very fascinated by her belly button.  She wll lift her shirt and show you right whre it is.

Charlotte also now enjoys sleeping with her booty popped right into the air.  Funny.

And by golly we can not forget the shoes!  She is OBSESSED with shoes.  Having them on, keeping them on, getting you yours, making you put them on.  Shoes...shoes...shoes.  She gets that form her Aunt Chelsea and Aunt Barb.  Definitely.

Cubbies Again

Tonight I was shooting a wedding reception so Charlotte enjoyed a night with Jim.  Barb had some tickets to the Iowa Cubs so they went to the game.  Sounds like she had a good time.  Jim forgot the camera so no pictures of that...boo!  I was super sad that she got to watch fireworks for the first time without me there.  I hate missing stuff.

They ended up getting home after I did so she was crashed out.  Eventually she heard me and woke up which made for a very late night.  I did snap this picture of her in her bed head glory.

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day!

Charlotte is so super lucky to have such an awesome Daddy!  They love eachother to bits and he would do anything for her....I think she knows that!  This Father's Day Jim was ogled over by all of his little ones, including Odie and Petey. 

Yesterday I took the girl and the 2 boys to get their picture taken for Jim as a surprise.  It was a little nightmarish but we ended up with a couple cute ones.  Unfortunately Charlotte was in full on Mommy mode.  She absolutely would not sit without me, and after having the garage sale all day, although I had showered, I was by no means picture ready.  They were still cute though.

The dogs also picked up a pooper scooper for Jim.  Wasn't that nice of them?  Charlotte got him some books all about Daddy's and their kids to read together.  I got Jim a GPS system, but I let him pick it out and now I just need to get it.

It was a pretty good day in all.  Happy Father's Day Jim! 

Garage Sale

Yesterday we had a garage sale.  I am not sure it is ever truly worth the work.  We took off Friday hoping to have it both Friday and Saturday (fyi...I hate that the most popular garage sale day around here is Friday.  I mean seriously!). 

Well, Friday was a no-go for 2 reasons:  1-We were NOT ready!  2-It crazy stormed off and on ALL day.  At one point the sirens were even going off but it was for high winds, not a tornado.  Winds were reaching over 70 mph on a constant basis.  Um...can you imagine if we had set up the garage sale?  We definitely would have gotten rid of our stuff, we wouldn't have been sure where it flew off to, but it would have been gone!

Saturday was HOT but we managed to get it all out there.  We sure had a few crazies stop by and ended the day with way too much stuff left (and we were CHEAP!).  But over all we made about $500.  Not too bad.  Hopefully we can get the rest of the house gone through for them to begin our home repairs early August.

On a brighter note....Friday we planned a vacation!!  One of my favorite photographers (www.heidihope.com/blog) who I have been following for a couple of years is offering a workshop.  Immediately Jim and I knew I should go.  It could be a serious turning point.  What she is teaching is what to do AFTER you take the picture and I don't know WHAT she does to skin and eyes but it's GORGEOUS and I can hardly wait to learn.

Well, this workshop happens to be in Warwick, Rhode Island!!  It is in November so we are planning on taking about 7 days off of work, plus the weekends.  We are going to drive out, stopping at Niagra Falls for a day.  We will visit Cape Cod, Providence, Warwick and some other coastal towns.  The last thing we will do is attend my workshop and then head back home.  I can not wait!  So, the garage sale money began our vacation fund.  Woo hoo!!

Snack Time

Snack time at our house has definitely gotten...more costly let's say.  It generally goes like this:

First Bite: Charlotte

Second Bite: Quickest Dog/Closest Mouth

Third Bite: Subsequent Dog

All in all Charlotte is VERY fair.  She definitely distributes evenly among the canines.  Nothing like learning to share early.

Iowa Cubs!

This past weekend I took some baby photos for one of Jim's friends.  Their little guy is adorable!  He came a couple of weeks early which left them with a few extra tickets to the Iowa Cubs game for tonight.  We invited some friends of ours and had a great time.

After dinner we headed to the game.  Charlotte was a big fan of the music...and the dippin' dots!  Here she is just hanging out waiting for it to get started.

Charlotte and Kinsley had fun together as well.  Check out her cool shades.  They are only a few months a part which seems like a lot now but soon enough the will be running around together.