Balloon Festival

I saw some cool pictures of a balloon festival that some Facebook friends posted so we decided to check things out on Saturday night.  I was under the impression that a Glow 'Ride' was taking place so figured we would just get the cheap seats and watch without paying the $15 to get into the festival.  We got a great parking spot and could even hear the announcer.  As the 'launch' time got closer Cory mentioned that there was no way those balloons were going to take off so close to each other.  I agreed that it didn't feel quite right, but was just positive that I read 'ride' on the website which to me inferred they were going in the sky.  After pulling out the phone and doing a quick search I discovered I misread and that they just light up the balloons.  It was still neat to see, but I liked the idea of balloons flying in the night sky better.  Probably not the safest thing though.  The morning launch would have been neat to see, but our family just does not get up and going in the 6 o'clock hour for pleasure.

Splash Cove

We told Brady early in the summer that we would take him to Splash Cove (one of the Shawnee public pools).  The summer got away from us and this was the last weekend the pool was open so we kept to our promise and headed to Splash Cove.  The pool is perfect for younger kids and Brady has lots of fun!  I was enjoying a spot under an umbrella with Ellie and was quite content watching, but Brady thought that I needed to take a turn.  The water was a little on the cool side (which I honestly don't know how is possible considering how hot it's been this summer).  I narrowly avoided having a huge bucket of water dumped on my head.  I got a huge kick out of the fact that a lady that went onto the playground after me who was oblivious to the buckets dumping water got nailed.  I guess the nice thing to do would have been to warn her. 

Ellie - 2 Months

We survived another month.  In fact we survived the hottest month on record in the US.  My mom used to tell me about how hot the summer of 1980 (the summer I was born) was, but 1980 did not stand a chance against 2012.  Ellie and I spent the days indoors while Brady was at school, but since I had no foresite into the fact that we would have a miserably hot summer we spent a lot of our evenings outdoors watching Brady's various activities.  When the last week of July came and we were officially done with t-ball, soccer & swimming lessons I must admit I was pretty excited.


Stats:
Weight:  11 lbs 6 oz  75th percentile
Height: 22 inches 50th percentile
Head: 15.5 inches 75th percentile

Everything went well at her first appointment.  She is tracking to be short and stocky at this point.  Perhaps she won't have issues with her pants staying up like her big brother does.  We do have to work on Ellie turning her head to the left.  She favors looking to the right hand side right now so we have started doing neck stretches and more tummy time.

Other highlights from the past month:

• Sleeping -  We were graced with Ellie sleeping one time through the night a few days ago.  However the norm is still about 4 -5 hours.
• Favorite activities - Swinging, being held, taking bathes (last month she wasn't a big fan, but now she is)
• Dislikes - vitamins
• Notable accomplishments - Cooing, lots of smiling, blowing slobber bubbles.
• Eating - She continues to be a really good eater.
• Other notable activities - Ellie traveled to Peoria, IL to visit Nana, Papa, Granny & Aunt Katie.  She also visited Des Moines and we made a quick pit stop in Iowa City. 

Brady asks to hold Ellie pretty much every day.  It only lasts about 20 seconds before he decides he's done, but at least he has some interest.  Overall he is doing really well with her.  Before she was born I was worried that he would want to try to pick her up.  I'm pretty sure he has that male syndrome where he's scared to hold a baby for fear she will break.  This is a GOOD thing.  Brady has his moments where he shows signs of jealousy, but fortunately he has never taken it out on her.  I can tell he's a proud big brother when I pick him up for school.  The girls in his class always run over to see Ellie and Brady will run over and tell them it's his little Ellie.  He also continues to show an interest in what she wears.  He wants her to wear a dress and hair bow every day because "Mom, she's a girl and girls wear dresses and bows!"

 

Fishing

Another highlight of visiting Illinois was fishing.  Brady got a new Spiderman fishing pole.  I sure am glad Katie likes fishing because this is an activity that I have absolutely no interest in.

18 Holes

While visiting Nana & Papa in Illinois Brady played his first full 18 holes of golf.  He's been wanting to golf on a real golf course for a long time so this was a very special day for Brady.  It was a LONG round (probably because he played every hole), but he did great.  When I asked how he did he said he got 5 birdies and that he beat his Daddy and Papa.  Since Brady did such a good job golfing maybe we need to have a once a month tradition of Brady and Cory golfing while Ellie and I go shopping.

Rain and Rainbows

We have been in desperate need of rain.  Last night swimming lessons got cancelled because there was thunder and lightening in the area.  I told Brady we really needed the rain so it was ok that swimming was cancelled.  He looked at me and said, "Mom, we really need rainbows too." 

Summer t-ball

T-ball is finally over and we are all relieved.  It has been a good experience, but it has been miserably hot every week.  I think our coolest week was 95.  The team was all 3 & 4 year olds.  I was expecting to have a full roster, but they actually keep the teams at 6 kids.  I liked the setup as they get to bat more which is their favorite part.  For fielding they just spread out in the infield since there aren't too many hits to the outfield.   The skill level was pretty varied, but I guess to be expected with the age group.  One little boy stepped up to the plate the first time and held the bat by the barrel. Oh my.  It too most of the season to correct it.   Brady had fun.  He is a pretty good hitter.  Fielding still needs some work.  I think he enjoyed chewing on his glove more than fielding balls. 

Way too hot!  Even in the shade.