We Love New York in June!

Last week Natalie and I visited my sister Leah (aka Sissy) in New York.  It was our first mother/daughter travel adventure and we had a fantastic time.

Natalie caused quite a sensation as she rode her Melissa and Doug "Trunkie"(a combo luggage/scooter)  through the airport.  She calls it her briefcase.


When we reached the Chicago Airport we discovered a wonderful Children's Museum that Natalie enjoyed exploring during our short layover there.




Her favorite part was flying the plane.  She looked so professional as she flipped the switches and turned the control dials.


Happy pilot!

Finally we made it to NY and took a nice walk with Sissy.


The next day was a day of rest.  Our only outing was to walk the dog.  Natalie and I were both recovering from a bad summer cold.


On Tuesday I took Natalie to the Brooklyn's Children Museum where she had a blast playing musical instruments, crawling through tunnels, and playing with elaborate sand and water tables in their toddler play area.  She also enjoyed playing with these giant lego-like blocks.


Her very favorite part was the food area.  First she went "shopping" for life-like fruits and vegetables.


Then she made pizza and cooked it in a pretend oven.


Natalie helped flap my wings while I was playing the part of a giant butterfly.


She drove a bus and directed me to sit down in one of the seats and put my seatbelt on.


We discovered this beautiful mural while walking Stella, Sissy's dog.




On Wednesday we took a trip into Manhattan (The below pic was taken on the way to the subway in Brooklyn)


We visited the Museum of Natural History which Leah and I both saw as children.




One of my favorite things about this museum is the 94 foot long replica of a Blue Whale (this photo does not do it justice).  Natalie was unimpressed; she was more excited about the Elephants and Zebras.


In the Subway station about to head to Sissy's house.


Natalie and I were zombies by the time we got on the subway.  Nat fell asleep and I carried her all the way home.


After her nap Natalie was ready to play with her princesses again.  Stella kept her company.


On Thursday we visited my very dear friends in Long Island.  Natalie had a wonderful time playing with A (age 5) and S (age 9).  They took amazing care of her and are 2 of the sweetest girls ever!


Nat and A strolling with their dollies.






On Saturday we said goodbye to Sissy, Stella and New York.


During our visit Natalie did get homesick at times for her Daddy, Louie, Katie, her bed, dress up dresses and our bathmat of all things, but once we got home she asked when we could go back to NY :)

Dressing Up and Dressing Down

Have I mentioned before that Natalie is obsessed with fashion?  She picks out her own clothes everyday and 99% of the time she chooses a dress.  She loves dresses so much that she often begs me to wear one too.  Yesterday I did, so we decided to take a few pictures because as Natalie said, "We match".  Maybe not in the color or style of dress, but the fact that we both had dresses on was good enough for her.










Water play days started at school last week.  Natalie is having a blast splashing around with her friends at school.

A Girl and Her Newf (again!)

Natalie relaxing with her Louie Newf after a long day at school.

Natalie has watched me brush the dogs' teeth many times.  Last night after watching me brush Katie's teeth she asked if she could do Louie's.  I think she actually did a pretty good job and she cracked us up saying "Wake up Louie" and making exasperated noises when he wasn't 100% cooperative.

One of These Things Is Not Like the Others...

Amendment to post:  The title refers to the fact that all of the pictures are of Nat & Louie except for the one of Nat & me together.  For a while it seemed like all the pics we took were of the tiny and giant black headed siblings.

I just noticed that almost all of the recent pictures I have are of Natalie and Louie.  He may not look enthusiastic about all of the attention Natalie heaps on him, but I think Louie really likes having her around.  He is such a sweetheart and so is Natalie.  Katie and Natalie are very comfortable with each other, but just don't interact as much.  The other morning though when I was out walking Louie, Gary found Natalie and Katie lying together on the kitchen floor.

Big Dogs at the Big Dam Bridge

We recently took all three of our kids for a walk across the Big Dam Bridge.


The "Big Dam Bridge" in Little Rock, Arkansas is the longest pedestrian bridge in the world.




It's fun to be on an outing with the whole family.


Migrating pelicans


A rare family photo


On the way back to the car Natalie made friends with a little puppy.

Spring Fling

Last week Natalie's school hosted a Spring Fling complete with live children's music, friends and pizza.  It was so great to see Natalie interacting with her classmates and to see how comfortable and happy she is at school.  It also felt amazing to see how securely Natalie is attached to Gary and I.  She was so happy to see us, but once she felt confident that we weren't going to leave without her she ran off to play with her friends.  Natalie came back to each of us several times to check in, but wasn't clingy like she has been in the past.  After 16+ months home with us she is blossoming into a confident little girl. 

A Very Hoppy Easter

Natalie's 2nd Easter at the Happy Haus was even better than last year.  On Good Friday we took our first ever trip together to the mall to have Natalie's picture made with the Easter Bunny.  She was a bit nervous about it, but bravely sat on his lap.  She ended up staying with him for a few minutes while Papa (Natalie's granddad) and I picked out which photo we liked best.  When I went to get her I asked if she wanted to give the Easter bunny a hug which she did.  Then she surprised me by kissing him on the cheek.  She seemed to be pretty thrilled with the whole experience.


Natalie's Easter egg hunt was indoors this year due to heavy rains over the weekend.  As you will see in the below video she had a blast.  I think Gary, Marm, Papa and I had just as much fun watching her.