Just Arrived in Minnesota

Elise and I flew to Minnesota on Saturday afternoon & are settling in for a week stay. I always get a little nervous to fly alone with her, and we haven't taken a flight since she's been mobile - but I'm happy to say that she was a star traveler. We met up with the Brandenburg family for dinner & Elise got to play with her cousin, Ethan.
My dad picked us up at the airport, and we drove down to Mt. Lake after dinner & had a nice relaxing Sunday. My mom was there in spirit, but after having surgery last week, she was still resting up at home. We may have to help out as "nurses" during our stay in Mt. Lake as well.
Elise was thrilled to try out the new swing & followed Grandpa into the garden to help out with watering all the plants - and he even taught her how to take a sip of water from the garden hose....so silly. She wants to copy everything you do. After exploring in the back yard, we headed into the shed & heard the tiny "meow's" of some kittens. She wanted to hold them, and so we let her try it out - you can check out the video to see her helping to round up the kittens. The weather has been almost fall-like to these transplants to the Southeast, mid-70's with no humidity. It really is very lovely, and we are enjoying some relief from the heat. Well...that is about all for now. John, we miss you & wish you were with us in MN - but we look forward to spending a fun Labor Day weekend back in Charlotte!

14 Months Old

While in D.C. we were able to meet up with Jessica & Hadley. It's amazing how quickly these little ones change - we just saw Hadley in May, but she's growing up & changing already!

I meant to do a post with Elise & Bailey (Jodi's dog) but just haven't gotten around to it...here's a cute pic of them. They would sit for several minutes like this...all curled up and snuggled together. Bailey was so good to Elise & would let her crawl all over her and rest on her back - whatever. Great dog. We had fun with Jodi & met John half way last Sunday. Elise got home and was so busy & excited to get into all her toys she hadn't seen in a while.

This past week Elise turned 14 months old. She is walking everywhere, understands so many things, but still just uses lots of baby talk to communicate with us - "ba" for ball or balloon, "daw" for dog, "be-be" for Bailey or baby. She will mimick the cadence of our words, but we're still waiting for a very clear-cut, first word other than "mama" or "dada". I must say "Oh" a lot during the day, because she will say this too when she seems to be discovering something...."oh". This week we don't have too much planned, other than packing up to fly to Minnesota for a visit on Saturday. Elise and I will spend a week there, and be back to spend Labor Day weekend with John here in Charlotte. We've been enjoying the Olympics...maybe too much, because we've been staying up way too late catching some of the events. Hope you enjoy the last couple weeks of summer!

Trip to D.C.

After Jodi spent a week with us in Charlotte, we made an impromtu decision to ride back to D.C. with her and spend a week & a half hanging out...and also working to finish the chair we started re-upholstering. Once we got here, Jodi took Elise shopping for a few new toys...and her own pink chair. She loves the new chair and the fact that she can crawl up on it and sit there by herself with her toys.

Last weekend, Toni came down from Philly to see us for a fun girls weekend. We did some shopping together and I think Elise has got the hang of it...she enjoyed looking at the fabrics, too.
Paul was home for a few days in between trips for work, and so we spent an afternoon in the city & toured the Spy Museum, ate in Chinatown, and visited the Mall & new WWII memorial.

Elise & Bailey get along so well!! I'll have to post a video of them interacting - it's very cute. I think they'll miss each other when it's time to go home.

Aunt Jodi Visits

My sister Jodi drove down to visit us in Charlotte the last week of July. The week flew by, because we were so busy doing girl things!! We made a trip to Mary Jo's cloth store & picked out some pretty fabrics, and then ventured home to complete a re-upholstery project for a small chair she brought along....being novices at this, it was a little scary, but we began by taking lots of pictures and writing down the steps of removal, so that putting it back together would go well. We also took in a day trip to Carowinds & went camping for a quick weekend to the mountains (I'll make a separate post for that trip).
Paul & Jodi's dog, Bailey, came along for the visit too. Elise was in heaven! We were all shocked when one evening we told Elise to go over and hug the dog - and sure enough, she went over and gave her a big hug. Who knew she could understand? Another afternoon, she brought over the leash to Bailey and kept putting in on her back, so Jodi hooked on the leash & Elise walked the dog around and around the downstairs...loving it!
This is such a fun age...and we are constantly reminded that she knows more about what we're saying than we think.
We also met Curt for lunch & he gave us a tour of the Joe Gibbs Racing shop where he works. As we were walking around the floor, we passed a group of guys, and Curt quietly says, "That's Kyle Busch." And both Jodi and I ask, "Which one?" We've heard the names of these drivers, but I couldn't pick their faces out of a lineup if I had to. We also got to tour one of the trailers for Tony Stewart where they haul the car to the races.
During Jodi's visit, my ladies ensemble from church performed a couple of numbers, and it was kinda fun to have her there to hear our group. We've recently formed, and it's one of those groups where everyone blends really well & it's been so much fun to sing & be a part of.

Little Fairy

Elise got a new play skirt & matching wand (thanks Oma & Opa) in the mail...and loved to walk around with her new play clothes! Since Bailey was visiting, she was the recipient of lots of wand waving...