Kite-Flying

We took a trip to the gun battery at one of the local forts here. The park there has tons of room to fly kites. Andy and Carolyn had a great time flying our cheapie little pocket-kite.

Please note--the first picture of the terribly mismatched outfit was simply an attempt to keep my child warm on a chilly day before we located her coat. But... I think she's adorable even in mismatched clothing, don't you?

Perhaps a visit from the fashion police was in order? 

Lots of room to run. 

Carolyn helping Daddy fly the kite. 

See the little speck of a kite way out over the water?? 

Visit with the family

Aunt K, Uncle Larry, and Luke met C and I at this beautiful lighthouse, the last day of Andy's det. It was Uncle Larry's first official meeting of Miss Carolyn, and I don't think she disappointed him. We had a good time, aside from me arriving a little frazzled.

Carolyn latched onto Luke who was then officially dubbed an 'Uncle.' They had a wonderful time playing together, jumping up and down stairs and being rowdy altogether. Carolyn was thoroughly worn out after the visit as a result.

They tell me that they feel responsible to make sure that Carolyn becomes warped.... I must say I don't think they have anything to worry about. Andy and I might have some folks fooled, but we've got the warping covered. However, every little bit helps, suppose!

It was a good day. We are so lucky to have such a great family!

Luke, Larry, Kathy, and Carolyn

"Uncle" Luke and C. (The flag in the background is in no way a representation of my cousin's support of the current administration--I feel he would want me to say that. heehee). 

The Clarinet, The Clarinet Goes Doodly-doodly-doodly-det.

Inspired by our new Baby Einstein movie, Meet the Instruments, I decided to get out my Clarinet today to show Ms. Carolyn. She enjoyed listening to Mom play--rusty though I am--and then gave it a try herself. I think she is a musical prodigy!

Honk! 

My future band-geek 

Where to find my Thoughts These Days

I'm revamping the intent of this blog site and moving the locale of the bulk of my ruminating.

Ruminations will continue to be the place to come to see pictures of my beautiful, adorable daughter. And it will be the place that I give family updates--tell what we're up to, how we're doing, and all of that good stuff.

But if you want to read the writing, writing, you'll have to head on over to my new blog at WordPress.

For those of you going--ok... So how many blogs does she have now? The girl is insane! Well, I'm trying to integrate all of my blogs together into this new one. So... New Way to be Human is pretty much done, this is the place for photos and updates, and new blog is the place to read the thoughts of Val--silly though they may be.

See you there!

Dig Your Toes In

First Ice Cream Cone

We made good on a long-standing promise to our favorite ice cream shop, to bring Carolyn in for her very first ice cream cone. She had eaten ice cream before, but never from her very own cone. The Ice Cream Shop snapped their own photo to commemorate the event, and of course, I took a few pictures of my own.

As you can see, Carolyn figured out how ice cream cones worked in a big hurry. Before we knew it, she had licked down far enough to bite into the cone, and without any instruction from us, she had! (I guess she's seen it done a few times before....).

Anyway--there's nothing better than getting sticky with ice cream and strolling along downtown.

The first lick 

Yum.... 

Sharing the shade and eating ice cream--what's better? 

Walking with Dad 

What's behind door #1? 

Lavendar Sentiments 

Playing Dress up

Carolyn has been way into playing dress up lately. If there are clothes that she can reach, she WILL try them on. Here are some of our recent favorites.