Adventures outdoors

Summer has come on full force around here--low to mid 90s and high humidity. About all we can stand to do is hide away in the house or else drive out to the mall to use the play land there. Fortunately Anna and I ventured outside a few times before the real heat kicked in, and here are some images from our exploits.

First, some shots taken at a local playground, maybe half a mile from our house.










Looking up the slide (I think cousin Ellie is going to have to visit to show Anna how much fun these can be).



This is a very picturesque spot just down the hill from the playground. It's lovely, but the steep hills make it hard to get around with little ones. I think we may wait until Anna is a little older to visit this park again, at least without Daddy.

Anna has also just started to explore the backyard a tiny bit:





You can't catch me...



Is that Daddy I hear at the door?

She always wants to go outside. She brings me my flip flops and points to her jar of bubbles. A few times out in the heat, though, have convinced her it's sometimes better to wait.

Gettin' Girlie

Anna's hair is finally getting long enough for bows! If she would only leave them in....








Many thanks to our friend Emily for making this cute bow for Anna!

Interview with Anna

Our little walker

This video is a little bit long, but I love how Anna can't decide what to do once she realizes she's being recorded.

Mother's Day weekend

Ben's parents came for a visit the week before Mother's Day. We had a good time, and Anna really bonded to her grandparents. Just to prove it, she started walking under Grandpa's coaching. Sadly, I got very few pictures during those two or three days, though I think Grandma probably got one or two.

Their visit coincided with a family wedding in Cincinnati, so we all traveled up to witness cousin Brad and Lanette's wedding. It was beautiful.




Here is the first dance. Aren't they a great couple? We were so happy to be there with them, and we wish them all the best in their new lives as husband and wife.

And here are some family photos from the weekend:

Grandma


Aunt Katie


Cousin (second cousin?) Tommie, only 8 weeks old!


And here we are on Mother's Day with Ben's parents and his sister and brother-in-law. What a great weekend of catching up with family. I couldn't have asked for a better Mother's Day.

Going to the zoo, zoo, zoo

About a month ago (I'm just a bit behind on blogging here), Anna and I joined our playgroup for a visit to the Knoxville Zoo. We had a great time! The weather was wonderful and it was a weekday, so there were no crowds. Just us and the animals.







The little ones, worn out after just half the morning!


This is a little infant crawl area inside a larger "Wee Play" section of the zoo. Anna is crawling in a fully padded, enclosed square of maybe about 36 square feet. She loved it. The larger "Wee Play" part looks like a lot of fun for older kids. It's set up like a miniature zoo with play stations, so kids can pretend to work in the cafeteria, or prepare food for the animals, or be a vet. There's also a pretend mini farm. This used to be a temporary exhibit, but it was so popular the zoo brought it back. I hope it stays long enough for Anna to grow into it.



Here was one of the sheep, or "Baa-baa" as Anna calls them, at the petting zoo.

I didn't get pictures of it, but we also rode the carousel and got right up close to a gorilla behind glass at the monkey house. It was a great experience and I can't wait to go again. We're thinking a year long pass might well be worth the money.

A Tennessee spring

It's blossoming and beautiful here. Here are some pictures from out and about.

First, some pictures from the apartment. Our downstairs neighbor has done a beautiful job with the front garden:










She told me she planted one hundred daffodil bulbs. I can believe it.

We also have a few things blooming at our new home.

In the front,




and in the back.




The tree in the front is a cherry tree of some kind, I believe, but I don't know about this one in back. Any ideas?