summer days

Since the family visits and birthday festivities faded away, I found myself in a bit of a slump. 

There was no party to plan for. No house to clean for guests. No crazy, last minute painting of newly purchased kitchen tables. It was just me and the babe alone all day in a house whose constant "to-do's" have somehow vanished (maybe because I ran around like a crazy person for two months trying to accomplish everything in record time, now I am bored...)

So we have just been "hanging" out. This babe is entering the stage of actually wanting to be entertained. She has done a remarkable job of making toys out of nearly everything in our house, but I can tell she gets a bit antsy and wants something more. I guess this is when I should start creating educational activities for her.

 So I attempted to do finger painting. I bought food coloring and mixed it with yogurt. The colors were oh so beautiful and vibrant. I thought, "she is going to love to delicately mix the colors into a wonderful masterpiece." Well, she did something like that...

 She had no interest mixing the colors and painting with her fingers. The only mixing of colors occurred when she shoveled it all in her mouth. This learning activity lasted about one minute and then she was off to explore the sidewalk. At least I tried, right?? 

Another activity she enjoys is ripping up just about anything. So when we received a birthday present from my friend Claire, she went to town. She discovered the cutest, most adorable shoes. Even though she was very resistant to take a picture with them on, I know she loved them.

Another activity I was hoping she would not ever discover, is pulling all the books off our bookshelf. She went twelve months with out even realizing she could take them off. However, one day after work, Will decided to read a hiking guide and she quickly put the pieces together. If dad could take a book off and read it, so can I! 

And those are all the recent pictures I have. Hopefully, I will have more after this week. We are going on a huge family adventure. We are driving for ten or so hours with our "hate the car" baby and "refuse to lay down in the car" dog. We are going back to Bozeman for the week. I am really excited about going back and introducing Madison to people who have yet to meet her, but the getting there and back is a little daunting. 

Lets all pray for safe travels and an in tact marriage!