Phone Pictures

I have only recently entered the world of the smartphone and I have to say one of my favorite things is Instagram! Here are a few pictures I took on my phone.

Centennial Park revisted

Last Saturday we decided to head back to Centennial park and explore a little more. They have a nice playground so we let Morgan play around on that for a little while.

After she played a for little bit we decided to walk over and check out an old train that they parked there.

(side note* Morgan is now moving on from the "pirate face", but we are now seeing her stick out her tongue A LOT. I don't know which is better :)

After the train (and Morgan's 20th exclamation that it was "Hot!") we decided it was time to pack up and go get some lunch. I do think we will be coming back to see even MORE of Centennial park. We didn't even get to the botanical gardens at all.

Pinterest project: Ice block breakers

I found Another toddler activity on Pinterest I decided to try out. I went to the dollar store and bought a pack of rubber dinosaurs and then gathered up some little figures and bouncy balls we had around the house, then I put them in a big a bucket of water and froze them.

Later I took this block of ice outside, gave Morgan a hammer and told her to swing away!

She seemed to have fun, except she complained that the hammer was too long. I think if she had a shorter one she would have gone a little more nuts.

Here she is with all of her findings. I chose the little dinosaurs because it would be something new for her to play with and it felt like digging for fossils to me.

Thank you Pinterest for another winning idea :)

Centennial Park

Last weekend my parents came to stay with us for a couple of days. While they were here we decided it was a great opportunity to go check out some of the things Nashville has to offer that we hadn't seen yet. So, we decided to go to Centennial Park. In the center of the Park there is a replica of the Parthenon with an art museum on the inside. That is where we focused of attention this time.

The best part about my parents visit (for me) was the Morgan wasn't shy around them. She finally recognized them and grabbed my mom's hand and asked her to come play with her in her room. And my dad won her over my chasing her and tickling her. It was really fun to see them bond.

Trip to the lake

The weekend after July 4th our friends invited us to their lake house. The lake house is in Alabama and I knew if I was going to be driving through B'ham there were some people I should try to see. Kevin took Friday off of work so we could meet up with my sister, Tamara and have lunch with her. I don't remember exactly when the last time I saw her was, but I know she hadn't met Morgan yet so it was over 3 years!

It was really  nice to see Tamara. We had a great visit. The restaurant she works at was closed for renovations, but we were able to hang out and talk there for a while. It was great because Morgan was free to run and be as loud as she wanted without disrupting anyone's lunch. Hopefully, now that we live so much closer it won't be another 3 years before we see each other again.

After we left Tamara we drove to the Cemetery where my grandparents where buried. I was moving the day of my grandmother's funeral so I never really got to say my "goodbyes".

By the time we were finished at the cemetery, my friends were on their way to the lake so we met up with them and followed them to their lake house.

Kevin has really been missing riding Seadoos and playing in the water so he didn't waste anytime. After we put our bags in our room and got settled he disappeared and jumped in the lake. Of course, Morgan had to jump in too. I was really sad because I forgot my camera at home so any pictures I have of this weekend were taken on a cell phone given to me by my friend Elizabeth.

Morgan LOVED riding on this watercraft. She started crying when we took her off of it. Kevin Said she kept telling him to go faster and faster. I think she is gonna be a little daredevil off a kid.

Thank you guys for inviting us! We had a blast :)

On the way home we stopped to visit my friend Monica and her family. She has a daughter that is six months younger than Morgan and we were excited for them to meet.

It was great to see the Ishee family because I think it has been at least three years since I have seen them too. Morgan and Ava got along so well which is bittersweet really. Sweet because it is so fun to see your kid play with one of your best friends children ,but a little bit bitter because you realize how much more fun it would be if you lived close enough so they could play often.

We will definitely have to make it down to b'ham to catch up with more friends I haven't seen in so long.

July 4th

To get into the patriotic spirit of things I made this yarn wreath.

Unfortunately, it never actually made it to our front door. I sat it on top of our mantel and there is stayed. I really like how it turned out though and now I have it for next year right?

This 4th of July we went to my sister, Lezlea's house. My parents were in town and we had a b'day party for my dad.

I found an idea on pinterest (I know shocker ;) that I wanted to try out with the kids. You fill up a little kiddie pool with distilled water and dawn dish soap, grab a hula hoop and make some giant bubbles. Oh the kick is you make the bubbles AROUND the kids!

If you are having a hard time seeing the bubbles...click on the pictures to enlarge them. It was pretty neat, but the instructions did say it worked a lot better if the solution was mixed overnight. That and there was some wind that was a problem. I think we are gonna try it again another time. Maybe do it in a garage or something where wind won't be a problem.

After the kids were done with the bubbles they had to jump on the trampoline.

After all the outdoor fun we all came inside to rest for a little bit before we headed out in the evening to watch the fireworks.

Morgan crashed-HARD!

Here is Morgan and Kevin before the fireworks started. I couldn't quite tell if Morgan liked them or not. At first she acted excited, but then she said she wanted to leave. In true Morgan fashion the second we gather our stuff and start walking towards the exit she tells us she wants to stay.

All in all it was a nice day spent with family.

Pinterest project: Cloud Sand

I came across a recipe on Pinterest for what they called "cloud sand" it looked like something that was right up Morgan's alley so I gave it a shot.

All it is is 8 cups of flour and 1 cup of baby oil.

What makes this mixture special is that when you pack it in a cup or pail it keeps the shape. Just like wet sand.

She had a great time with it and I was able to get a few little chores done. Morgan loves to include me in all of her games and activities so it was nice to find something she didn't mind doing by herself.

Of course it got a little messy. It was a good thing I thought about putting that towel down or it would have been a disaster.

After she was done playing with the sand by itself I told her to leave the room for a minute so I could hide "treasure" for her to find. Then I just slipped a few small items in the sand for her to dig for.

She makes some of the funniest faces!

That's better!

I would consider "cloud sand" a success and would recommend it to any other mom looking for something to do with your toddler.