College Bound

To say Adaline is having fun in CT would probably be an understatement! As you can see from her smile from Gramps' lap, she is having a great time...

A true testament for Grammy's cooking - Adaline wanted to suck the tasty morsels of meat off of the bone... According to Daddy, they cut off some rib meat for Adaline to feed herself, but the minute she saw Daddy eating off the bone, that was all she wanted! These pictures definitely make her look southern, I must admit. :)

Daddy better start saving his nickels and dimes - he thinks Adaline felt quite at home on the Yale campus today... He is already dreaming of her offers from Ivy League schools in about 16 years...

Since I had to tell visitors to the White House all about Nathan Hale, I was glad they had their picture made with his statute. Five dollars to the person who can tell me Hale's famous quote (without looking it up on the internet or in a book!). I'm guessing Uncle John may win the prize...

Bryan said Adaline has figured cameras out by now - when he says "look at Grammy," she knows it is time to smile for the camera.

I think Adaline's endless energy during the day may be causing a little exhaustion with the adults by dinner time - but it is obvious that they are having so much fun. As Bryan says, she is such a happy little girl, and it is so wonderful to show her the world we live in... We couldn't be more blessed! :)

A Day at the Zoo

I am happy to let you know that Adaline and Bryan made it safely to Connecticut with no incidents on the plane! :) Today was a great day for them - Grammy, Adaline, and Bryan went to the zoo! And as you can tell from the pictures, Adaline had loads of fun.
Adaline is learning how to "smile" when you ask her to pose for pictures...


Bryan says it is quite hot in CT, so it was good this little elephant could spray some cool water on zoo visitors...
After a fun day at the zoo, it was off to the beach! Adaline loved taking it all in.


Adaline said the word "seaweed" while at the beach... She has also taken to calling Grammy "Re-Re." And Bryan has taught her to say "yea, ba-by..." :) I'm just sorry I'm not there to enjoy all the fun with them.

What a Week!

I'm sorry for not writing earlier this week, but it was a busy week! These first pictures are from Friday when Adaline, Mommy, and Ms. Karen went swimming. Adaline did a great job kick, kick, kicking and was willing to try blowing bubbles. The funniest part of the afternoon was when Adaline decided to pull her bathing suit down as seen in these fun pictures. Adaline will hate these one day. :)

On Saturday, we all went downtown for AthFest. The first spot we found was the petting zoo. Adaline had no interest in petting the animals, but she did wave hello to the cute monkey.
Adaline's new "thing" is to say "hmmmm" and pose as pictured above. Mom and Dad think it is the cutest thing of ever...
The whole point of going to AthFest was for the kids band performing at noon - but as you can see, Adaline was a bit overwhelmed by the crowd. There was no dancing from Adaline - but Mommy and Daddy did lots of dancing to try to elicit some type of response from little missy. Oh well! There's always next year. :)
It was HOT at AthFest, so we tried some Italian Ice to cool off - and it was a big hit!

After our hot afternoon downtown, Adaline spent some time with Mimi and Poppa so Mommy and Daddy could pack for the big trip to CT. Adaline got to feed some fish before taking a long nap.

Unfortunately, Adaline was up sick most of the night last night - she threw up for the last time at 11:30 pm. :( We think she just had a little bug - she was fine this morning, and from all reports from her dad (who is with her in CT), she did great on the flight north. She is excited to spend time with Grammy and Gramps during the weeklong visit. Mommy is missing them already, but has been spring cleaning the house (a little late obviously...). No new pictures will arrive until little missy and Daddy return home a week from Monday.

Father's Day Smiles...

Adaline and I were so glad that Bryan got home in time for Father's Day! We started our day with presents for Daddy - including a handmade picture frame painted by Adaline with a beautiful picture of her smiling face taken by her teachers at school. This inspired me to work hard to get a smiling picture of little missy. I was not very successful, but they are cute attempts.

After church, we picked up breakfast at Dunkin Donuts and enjoyed a little quiet time at home before Bryan had to go to work. Yes... Work on Father's Day! Oh my. He did get home in time to watch the end of the golf tournament, however... :)
This is a picture of Adaline with her "bracelets" - toys from Arby's that have become her bracelets since the first day. Too cute. She runs around with them on, giggling and quite proud of them. :)

Happy Father's Day to all the fathers reading this!

Make New Friends, But Keep the Old...

What a wonderful morning we had today! Adaline and I joined Leigh and Eva Smith and Mimi for breakfast this morning at Big City Bread. Eva and Adaline hadn't seen each other in several months, so it was lots of fun seeing them together again. Eva is all grown up - she starts kindergarten in the fall - and is so much fun. She showed Adaline how to cheer like a cheerleader and how to write with chalk.

After breakfast, we went to Memorial Park and fed the ducks. Besides Adaline picking up poop and Eva eating moldy bread, we had an enjoyable morning. The quote of the morning came from Leigh after Eva ate the green molding bread - "honey, this is a good lesson for life - when bread is green, you shouldn't eat it..." Too funny!

After feeding the Canadian geese, it was off to the playscape! After trying out the slide and swing set, it was time to go our separate ways. We look forward to another visit from our Vermont friends!

A girly-girl already?

Since Daddy left for a business trip yesterday morning, Adaline and I went out to dinner with Mimi and Poppy (Adaline's new name for him...) at Farm 255. Earlier in the day, Poppy had joined Adaline at school for the Father's Day celebration where she ate THREE plates of snacks! Wow. Needless to say, she was less than interested in her macaroni and cheese for dinner... :)

I will post pictures when Bryan returns with our laptop, but suffice it to say that Adaline now craves Mommy's pink, summertime purse. It has a lot more allure than the black business purse I've been carrying for the last few months. Bryan has decided that Adaline is already becoming a girly-girl, walking around with Mommy's purse hooked over her arm.

It is usually quite cute, but this morning she pitched a screaming fit in the carport when Mommy took the purse away to put Adaline in the car! Oh my. How soon do kids get over the two's? :)

See ya'!

Adaline's vocabulary continues to improve, and Bryan and I have such fun talking with her each day. She is learning the names of all her classmates - at night she constantly repeats Ri-Ri (Irina) and Will... I look forward to her telling us of her school adventures with these special friends one day soon.

Yesterday was another swimming lesson, and Ms. Karen has suggested Bryan or I attend future sessions. Adaline misses Mommy and Daddy during swim-time and doesn't focus quite as well on blowing bubbles and paddle-paddling around the pool.

Of course, Adaline charmed Ms. Karen at the end of their fun by saying "See ya'!" as Karen got into her car. What a cutie!

We are looking forward to a play date with Eva and Leigh Smith on Saturday when they return to Athens from Vermont. We will post pictures of that fun event this weekend!

A Day in the Park with Adaline

What a full day we've had - and it isn't even 12:30 pm! Adaline ran errands this morning with Daddy, and then we all drove over to Memorial Park to feed the ducks. Adaline threw the bread into the water, and we tried to aim for the baby ducks (although the Canadian Geese had other plans for us...).



After walking around the park, we went swinging and sliding - lots-o-fun! Adaline can pretty much handle sliding all by herself, but we always stay behind her for the occasional misstep where she falls... She is a very good slider, no doubt because of Grammy's Christmas gift!


After playing, we moved indoors to avoid the heat (almost 90 degrees!) and ate lunch at Add Drug Store in Five Points. An old-timey drug store, you sit on a swivel stool (which Adaline loved spinning) and watch your food being prepared.

Adaline continues to talk up a storm - some of her favorite words and phrases are duck, ball, I too, pee-pee, book, one more, and her newest word - "Please!" We practiced "please" a lot this week, and she is doing such a nice job using it when she wants something. We hope to instill good habits early on... :)