summer close-out.

For some reason, I'm extremely anxious for summer to end and fall to begin this year.

I'm the kind of person who looks forward to a season, and then is ready for it to be over when it has run its course. Thank goodness we now live in a place with all 4 seasons done appropriately.

But honestly, I'd live in a place where is was always fall, if I could.

But, I'm trying to enjoy the moment and still get some life out of summer.

This weekend Chris suggested we go swimming.

It will probably be our last swim outing, as I think our pool closes on Labor Day, and the temperature is kind of cooling off around here (I heart chilly nights). I'm glad we went one more time because it had been a while and Carly sure loves it.

It was slightly breezy and Carly was shivering her little blue lips off but she didn't want to get out. Towel had fun, too, as Carly and Daddy had fun throwing it/him/her across the pool. "Towel flying!".

Other than that we're continuing our daily jaunts to one park or another. Some members of our ward have a park-like backyard that they open to the moms of the ward on weekdays, so Carly and I head over there. It is not busy like a public park and a lot cleaner and more shaded. I love it.

They have a little climbing wall and Carly can scale the whole thing by herself.

In a dress.

It is pretty impressive.

Though one time her foot slipped and she caught herself.

She declared "I almost fall!".

It was pretty cute.

I know there are probably a few more weeks of summer ahead, but I'm welcoming September with open and excited arms (in fact, can we skip to October?).

Thanks, Summer 2011.

It's been real.

mimi and papak came to play.

This week we marked one year in Michigan by hosting our very first T family visitors.

My mom and dad came to visit, and we sure liked having them here.

They did our laundry and cooked food and did dishes.

They got up with Carly at 6 am (!) when she decided to wake up that early.

They played with her until everyone was played out (not really . . . there's no such thing).

I was lousy at taking pictures, but I did snap a few when we showed them campus.

[Carly and Sparty . . . we'll have to take a pic like this every fall and watch her grow]

[my parents are cool.]

The highlight of our campus visit was probably feeding the ducks (though my mom did get a tres cute MSU shirt for only $5!). Carly loved watching them go crazy over the crackers. And after we fed them, of course they started following us as we walked away; Carly was hoping they'd come with us and said "Come on, quacks!".

Next time they come, we'll show them more.

We'll show them a Great Lake or two, visit Detroit, and maybe even Chicago.

There is so much about our beautiful home that we have yet to explore.

But this time was about playing.

Doing puzzles.

Cooking in Carly's kitchen.

Going on walks to the park.

Jumping.

Running.

Eating Mexican.

And Chinese.

And American.

And Mexican again.

And just looking at each other.

Thanks for coming, Mimi and Papak.

xoxo.

two for the show.

We celebrated Carly's birthday on Saturday with a little party of 3.

It had been a crazy week, and we took the opportunity to soak of the day as a family.

For dinner we had Carly's favorite, sloppy joes and green beans.

Carly wore her "2" shirt, which I whipped up the day before (I'm currently living life a few days behind).

We had cupcakes, which may or may not have been Little Debbie since 1) Chris is on some "eating healthy" binge, 2) I can't eat wheat, and 3) Carly isn't a real cake girl. But they looked cute anyway.



We lit candles and sang the song and Carly was an expert at spitting on/blowing out the candles.

And she looked pretty darn cute doing it.

After we forced a few bites of cupcake in her, we offered a popsicle, and she was all over that.

So instead of messy cake pictures this year, we get messy popsicle pictures.

I'll take it.

In fact, I had a Firecracker of my own.

Yums.



And we opened presents.

Carly was very good at this.

She kept pointing at the presents on the table and saying "Presents now, pease?".

She was spoiled with puzzles, books, clothes, a mini pillow pet monkey, and a Little People school bus from her mom and dad. We are pretty proud of our selection because she loves it, but didn't realize it played music. Oh, boy, does it play music.

But perhaps the biggest news from the day was our pre-party activity.

We went to our local store and got Carly a fishy for her birthday.

We debated between a basic 19 cent goldfish and a little more expensive one.

We finally decided on a betta, hoping it will live longer and won't be too hard to care for.

And its pretty too.

We picked him out, and Carly wanted to hug him.

We had to teach her that you just wave at him,

you don't try to get him out of his house because he likes to swim.

So far so good.



Introducing . . . . Harpo.

It took all of 15 seconds for me to get really attached to him, and 20 seconds to decide we're never getting a dog, because all the responsibility falls to the mom. But I'm glad we have him. Chris says I talk to Harpo more than I talk to him (ha!).

And want to know where we got his name? Well, of course we were initially inclined to name him Nemo, but he didn't look like a Nemo. So Chris quoted Dory out of the blue (ha!) and said "Not much fun for little Harpo", since Dory always gets Nemo's name wrong. And . . . . we had Harpo. And hearing Carly say "Har-po!" is a definite bonus.





But really, how did we end up with a two-year-old?

We took Carly to her 2 year appointment this morning and she came in at 27 lbs 8 oz and 36 inches tall.

She has gained exactly 20 lbs in her two years, and grown 17 inches.

Its bittersweet to see the strong, smart, fun girl she has become.

Here's to the best two years

(so far, anyway).

on a boat.

Our fantastic friends invited us to go boating in July.

I just got some pictures from her, so I thought I'd share.

We had such a fun time.

I mean, I get really easily freaked out by even tubing, and spend a great deal of the time screaming.

But its fun screaming.

Mostly.

All the pictures of me and Chris on the tube look like I'm being tortured.

Its safe to say, I wasn't.

Mostly.

[Chris the skier.]

[this is really the happiest face I have in all the pictures. I promise it was fun.]

[our super-cute hosts.]

Carly even got a ride on the tube.

She did great, until she started to fall asleep at the end.

Guess the subtle jostling and wind in her face was akin to a lullaby.

But she did LOVE "swinning" in the lake, and would announce:

"Carly swinning! Carly swinning!".

[me and S on our "girls ride". much slower. and S even screams louder than me.]



Chris and I came home totally toasted.

I guess you're supposed to reapply sunscreen on yourself too,

 and not just your baby.

Oh well.

We sure had fun.

Yay for summer.

two years ago.

Two years ago, Miss Carly joined the world.

It has truly been the best two years.

Its not even funny how much we love her.

Happy Birthday, Car.

xoxo.