Only a Boy, Never a Man

Petey went in for the big de-manning today.  He took it like a champ.  Other than the gigantic cone (which Charlotte loves and Odie is TERRIFIED of) you would never know anything had happened.  Way to go big guy!

More 4th

After re-couping from our morning parade and changing our sweaty clothes we wanted to get out of the house.  We ended up at the mall, walking around and playing in the play area.

Charlotte had ALL of her energy back.  We were on the upper level of the mall and the girl was running circles all over!  I have the funniest video of it and as soon as I figure out how to load them on here I will.  She cracks me up!

We decided for dinner we would head out since we were grilling out for the fourth the next day.  We went to Q, a little upscale bbq place with delicious food.  Afterwards we red boxed a movie, headed back home. 

The 4th ended up being wet, rainy and dreary.  Super crappy pretty much.  We had wanted to get in on the cheap pool admittance but the pools weren't open.  All, and I mean ALL of the local fireworks displays were cancelled or postponed (I still don't understand why they scheduled them all on the same night).  Joy came over and her, Jim and Charlotte napped while I made a late lunch for us all.  We still grilled because hey, who doesn't grill on the 4th?

Charlotte did learn a new trick.  She can officially climb all the way up on the furniture where she proceeds to scare the crap out of mom.

Aww...buddies.

Later that night I decided we needed to do something a little Fourth of July-ish so we went out in the rain and made some smores.  Yummy!

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!!