D is for...

After we learned about letter D today we headed out to have some donuts and to feed the ducks! This was Addie's first donut ever and I think she enjoyed! When we got to the park we were in for a surprise; there were the cutest baby ducklings! We had a good time together, I sure do love this baby girl!

C is for...

I had big plans for letter C, but the day flew by and we didn't quite get in all the activities I was hoping for, like riding a carousel and baking cupcakes. Maybe next summer. We did read If You Give a Cat a Cupcake, and I had an adorable poem and activity with cupcakes and the cat you see in the picture. She didn't quite get it, so I grabbed a cupcake tin and we sorted the different cupcakes into the different tins. I was pretty impressed with her sorting skills! 

Daddy's Father's Day Gift

 For Father's Day Addelyn and I got Kevin tickets to NASCAR! I was pretty happy when he chose me to go along with him!

Since this is a road course, (you don't just watch them drive around in circles) Kevin and I rarely sit in our assigned seats and we walk around the track to watch along the fence. I never thought I'd enjoy NASCAR, but everytime I go I'm always impressed and truly enjoy the experience! I think Kevin does too.

I tried to get Kevin to try out the Indy car, but it was a no go.

Down right behind the pits. It's such a cool experience to watch the pit crews work together and so fast, then to hear the driver speed off!

Addelyn's First Circus

This weekend we took Addelyn to her first circus! It was nothing like the circus I remember as a kid and it was quite comical!  Let's just say I'm glad we only paid five dollars for admission. Here's a couple pictures and a little video we took with Kevin's iphone.

Addie, Daddy and her yellow balloon.

Allie the Birthday Girl!

 Happy, happy birthday Allie! We were bummed we missed little sister Paige's birthday in May, but glad we could make it for Allison's! 

Addie's first clown experience. She had to hang back and just observe for a while.

And as a side note, Addie got her first haircut this weekend! See that little rat tail of curls, yep, it's gone! (Well, technically it's still here, tucked away for keepsakes.)

 Addie and the Birthday Girl!

The clown was quite talented and made Addelyn a ladybug bracelet.

I think it would be safe to say Addie very much enjoyed celebrating Allie's birthday!

B is for...

Today Addie learned all about the letter B! I made her a bagel, berry, banana breakfast, we read books, practiced colors by matching bees to the their flowers and when Kevin got home we had dinner on the boat! It just so happened that the tank top she wore reads "Beach Babe." (And the good old Berenstains' B Book was perfect too. Thanks again Gramma Jody!) Love that Bentley got in on the action also. See him showing his ball?! Ha! Ha! Ha!

A is for Addelyn...and apples...and alligators...

Today we kicked off our Pre-Preschool with none other than the letter A. Addie already recognizes this letter, but my goal was to plant that little seed about what sound letter "a" makes. And even though it's not recommended, I introduced the concept of upper and lower case "a." I also want to work with Addie on conceptualizing what the numbers mean. She can count from 1-14 (on a good day) and recognize numbers out of sequence, but knowing how many 2 or 5 is, is our next step, which was what she was practicing with the apples on the trees! I'm having too much fun and love the picture of her so proud of herself and clapping after she finished putting the apples on the trees!

Why I'm Excited for Summer...

 Today I'm officially done with my teaching duties for the year, but my teaching will continue on! For those of you who know me, know aside from being a mom, my heart belongs in the Kindergarten/1st grade classroom. As you can imagine, I'm overjoyed that Addie has such a great desire to learn her alphabet, read books, and count! So...we are taking 26 days out of the summer to learn the 26 letters of the alphabet!

We've turned our office into a little classroom. Yes, complete with a classroom calendar too!

The bookshelf is loaded with books, stamps, playdough and more.

My book basket to kick off my summer's lesson plans. Some of the titles include: Andy Alligator, Bugs! Bugs! Bugs!, If You Give A Cat A Cupcake, and  Dilly Duckling.

A couple of months ago we cleared out our coat/shoe closet and Kevin made me shelves for my teaching files, crafts, and more!

I was so excited to get this in the mail from Amazon! Each day I'm going to hide the contents in Addie's sand table, so she has to find the letter of the day! I have so much more in store for her such as special snacks and field trips! Can't wait!!!

Father's Day Weekend at Lake Shasta

One loved Daddy.
Happy Father's Day Babe!

Kevin literally got to dust the ol' wakeboard off! We haven't been since the summer before we had Addie.

Dale and Grammy gettin' Addie's feet.

Daddy twirling his baby girl.

Addie being Addie in her new camping chair, Grammy got her.

Havin' us a good ol' time! 

Daddy Dale also known as "Funny Dale."
Happy Father's Day to you too Dale!

Happy Birthday Skylar and Cameron!

 This weekend we attended two birthday parties! On Saturday, we celebrated with Skylar at his Yo Gabba Gabba birthday!

Birthday boy Skylar!

Isn't this adorable?!

On Sunday, we went next door for a Toy Story party! Happy Birthday Cam!

Addie with the birthday boy Cam!

Sharing a burger with Daddy.
He was working on the boat all morning which explains the grease-monkey fingers.

Addie's 2 Year Old Photo Op

 In this next set of pictures I have a little story to tell. I could tell she was tired of me taking pictures and every time I tried to take one she'd turn away. I was starting to feel a little frustrated and that I hadn't gotten very many that I'd like. So here's what happened next...

 After this picture of her looking down, I asked her if she could look at Mama and smile. She ever-so-slowly turned her head and gave me this face!

 That cracked me up, which in turn cracked her up and I got the next couple of shots!

What's she saying now?

Kevin asked me the other day if I had updated the blog on Addie's latest sayings and I realized I really hadn't. Her words just keep changing and morphing into REAL words or phrases. It's funny how I still want to call things after her cute coined terms such as "bubba" for "flower," although she's been saying flower now for months. I have adored her unique and individual progression and I cherish these moments as her Mama.

Here's a few of her latest...

"Is this?" has turned into "What's this Mama?"
"A-D-D-E-L-Y-N spells Addelyn!"
"Bad dog Bentley! Kennel!" (Ha! Ha! And Bentley actually goes running off to his kennel and then she shuts his door behind him.)
"Hold you Daddy."
"Read it Mama."

And our favorite...
Addie: "How are you Mama/Daddy?"
Us: "I'm good. How are you baby?"
Addie: "Good. More Pizza."

The first night she said this we were eating pizza. My original reply was "I'm good, I'm eating more pizza." Now, she's stuck on the pizza response. Too funny!

It seems as though, just when we think to pull out the camera, she shies away or we aren't able to capture the originality, but here's what we've got.

Brownies

 Couldn't resist posting. She was a great little helper.

A Baby Shower for the Animals

A couple of weekends ago I mentioned to Kevin I wanted to take Addie to the annual Baby Shower at our Suisun Wildlife Rescue Center. He smiled at me and said he already had it in his calendar and was planning on surprising us. So on this very rainy weekend we got to help out a couple of animals at our local rescue center. 

"Book, Night, Night"

If there are two things that Kevin and I are thankful for, other than our healthy baby girl, it's her love for books and her great sleeping habits. Our routine ever since she started sleeping in her own crib, has been reading books, kissing her goodnight and laying her down in her crib with bunny and sheep. But for the last few months bunny and sheep haven't quite been enough. So after we finish a book she says, "Book, night, night," and she quickly takes it from me so she can bring it with her to her crib. And if she can't get to sleep or when she wakes up, she goes through all of her books rereading them, which is absolutely adorable! Sometimes I just stand by the door to listen to her copy the words I read on the pages. Love her.