We're at the Magic Kingdom!

Today we got up and headed to the Magic Kingdom. I couldn’t wait, I was very excited to see Minnie and everyone else.

Daddy got a good photo of Mommy and me in front of the castle.

Early in the day we headed over to “Tomorrow Land”. (It was already getting hot and they have some indoor rides and activities.) We went on Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger ride.  Daddy asked if I wanted to drive or shoot at the bad guys, and I picked drive!  So I got to spin the spaceship all around while Mommy and Daddy shot at the bad guys (Daddy won).

We headed over to the racetrack where I got to drive a car. Look at how tall I am compared to last year! Daddy says I didn’t do much better driving though. It was pretty bumpy.

I like this picture of Mommy and me. We’re happy and having a great time.

I really wanted to go fly on the spaceships, since they really go up super high. I was very excited, and had a lot of fun!

Later, we went back to Minnie’s house and I got to sit in the same chair as last year. Mommy and Daddy wanted to see how big I’ve become!

Of course, an old favorite of mine is the carousel. I went on it twice. I named my horse “Princess” the first time and “Dumbo” the second time.

We watched a 3-D movie about Donald Duck. Don’t I look cool?

The big excitement, though, was at the end of the day. I had gone on Goofy’s Barnstormer roller coaster earlier, and loved it, laughing the whole time. But it’s just a kids roller coaster, and you have to be taller than 40 inches to ride the other ones. Well, guess what – I went to the doctor earlier this week and measured in at 40.5 inches! When they saw how much fun I had on the Barnstormer, Mommy and Daddy asked if I wanted to go on Thunder Mountain. Yes! They were worried that I’d be a little scared. But I wasn’t scared at all! In fact, I giggled the whole time, and waved my arms in the air too. It was great!  My first time on a big roller coaster.

Since I did so well on this one, we went right next door to Splash Mountain. We figured it would be nice since it was so hot outside by this time. Well, as we were waiting in the boat to go up the first hill, another boat splashed us really well – Daddy got drenched! Mommy and I got pretty wet too, but not as much as Daddy. We thought this was pretty funny. I had a great time on this ride too. I wanted to do Thunder Mountain again, but the line was too long. We’ll do it again when we come back later this week.

It was a great day, but I was super tired when we left and fell asleep in the car. I woke up to eat, though, and then wasn’t tired anymore. I didn’t fall asleep until almost 10 PM! Mommy and Daddy hope I’ll sleep in nice and late tomorrow.

Off to Disneyworld!

We’re off to Disneyworld!

I’ve been counting down the days, and finally it’s here, the day we fly to Florida! At school I couldn’t sleep at all during nap time, I was too excited. Disneyworld has been running great specials for military families, and we wanted to take advantage of them!

Mommy and I picked up Daddy from work and headed over to the airport. I did let Mommy know that “Mommy, if you get scared when we go super high, Daddy and I will hold your hand so you’re not scared.” I’m always helpful!

When the plane started rolling backwards away from the gate, I said it was like Mater, since it can go backwards too! We had a good flight up to Kansas City, where we got on another plane to Orlando. I was a good girl on this flight too. I am very much my Daddy’s girl, as I always want the window seat. Therefore, since Mommy likes the aisle, Daddy’s been demoted to the middle! He doesn’t seem to mind, though.

When we got to Orlando it was about 9:30 at night, and I was really tired and starting to get cranky. I didn’t want to get in the car seat and kept telling Mommy and Daddy over and over again “I don’t WANT to!” This kept up until I fell asleep in the car. But when we got to the resort we’re staying at, I woke up and started right back up, right until I got in bed and then I was out for good. I was really tired!

Labor Day with Grandma and Papa (and Shadow!)

This Labor Day weekend, Daddy took some much-needed time off and flew up to Cheyenne, WY, to visit his friend Chad.  Which meant Mommy and I had the whole weekend to ourselves!  I wasn't feeling so good, though, possibly coming down with a cold, so we mostly stayed indoors, although we did a lot of fun things together.

On Monday, Grandma and Papa and Shadow came down from Owasso for the day.  It was great having them here!

Mommy got some pictures of us but since this is being written a few days later in Orlando, FL, and we didn't bring the camera she used to take those picture with us, they'll have to wait until we get back in a week and a half.  We'll post those pictures then!

Installing drainage for new gutters

A couple of weeks ago we had new gutters installed around the house. (The old ones were damaged in the big storm that hit our house last May.) Daddy wanted to ensure the water runoff was going into the field next to our house. So he added some tubing and dug a drainage ditch for the tubing. Obviously, this was a two-person job. Here I am hard at work digging the ditch.

Looking at new homes

Since we’re going to be moving soon, Mommy wanted to go look at some new homes in the “Parade of Homes” this weekend. In some of the houses, we needed to put on these funny blue booties first so we wouldn’t get the floors and carpets all dirty.

In this one I practiced my “let’s scare Mommy” drop back off Daddy’s shoulders. Guess what? It worked! Mommy was scared. (But I had fun!)

Afterwards we went by Mr. Steve’s home to drop a few items off. He’s the one who has a doggie named Piper. Piper really likes me, as you can see from the big kiss she gave me.  I'm really giggling!

Mommy's new shirt

Mommy had bought some new shirts today. Most of them were for our upcoming trip to Florida, but this one is for the Fall. It’s almost my size.

We've been having fun with Mommy

It has been almost two weeks since Mommy got home, and we've been having a fun time.  Mommy's been pretty busy during the day trying to get ready for our move, so most days I do go into school for a little while, but I still get a lot of play time with her and Daddy. 

The first weekend she was back, Mommy, Daddy and I just spent the whole weekend together (mostly at home since it has been so hot outside).  We read, and played, and danced around silly, and just had a great time being together again. 

On Wednesday the 18th Mommy and I had a really special day.  First we went to one of my favorite places, the froggie bouncy-bounce place (Jump!Zone) and played until I wore myself out.  I told Mommy I was ready to go home, but strangely as soon as she mentioned that there's an ice cream place just a little further down the building, I didn't want to go home anymore.  So we both had a little treat.  I got mint ice cream with M&Ms, and I ate it all!  Mommy got cake batter ice cream with oreos, and she ate it all too!  I am definitely Mommy's daughter when it comes to ice cream.  Then we went shopping for some new clothes for me.  After we got home, I was so tired I took a nice long nap with Mommy.  It was great!

On Saturday the 21st Mommy and I went to the Omniplex.  I got to show her how much of a big girl I've become while she was away.  I think I scared Mommy a few times (like going down the super big turny slide), but I was having fun!

On Monday the 23rd it was Mr. Duaine's birthday, so Mommy and I made dessert. I told Mommy we should put in lots of chocolate chips, but Mommy said the recipe didn't call for chocolate chips (it was apple caramel squares).  I said that I should try some anyway to make sure they were still good for next time.  Then we took Mr. Duaine out for dinner (to Texas Roadhouse, so of course I ate a lot of rolls, but I also found out I like peanuts!) and then came back to our house for dessert.  So I got to sing Happy Birthday nice and loud for him.  We had a fun time and Mr. Duaine really enjoyed himself.

On Tuesday and Wednesday the weather finally gave us some relief from the 100+ degree temperatures, cooling down to the 80's, so I finally got to go out and ride my bike again!  Mommy and Daddy walked behind me, but they didn't realize I'd become so fast.  They had to run a little to keep up!  I did enjoy taunting them with "Nanna nanna boo boo, you can't catch me!"  Of course then Daddy or Mommy would try to catch me, and I'd ride as fast as I could.  They'd catch up to me and I'd giggle!

Throughout this time I've been helping Mommy a lot in the kitchen, making dinner (and some desserts), and just learning as much as I can.  Daddy sure likes getting to eat the food too!

I've also become very affectionate since Mommy came home.  Many times a day I will go up to Mommy or Daddy and say "I have to tell you a word ..... I love you!"  And I also come up at random times to them and say "I just have to give you a hug".  They think it's very cute.  Of course, I have also started using these as "delaying" tactics when they want me to brush my teeth or get ready for bed or something - "But first, I just need to give you a hug!"  It's still pretty cute though.

Mommy's home! And she doesn't have to go back!

I've been saying it for a while now - when Mommy comes home, she won't have to go back to Indiana (or Wisconsin, or anywhere else).  And today she came home!  Daddy picked her up at the airport and brought her to see me at school.  I was so excited to see her at the door that I dropped whatever I was doing and ran over to give her a big hug. 

Since Daddy and I went there on Saturday, every time we've passed Rusty's Frozen Custard, I've pointed it out, and mentioned how we "shake, shake, shake them upside down and it doesn't come out!"  Mommy has never been there, but we knew she'd like it, so we decided to go.  Especially since it's on the way home!  I showed her all about how to hold the custard upside down.

Since it was still pretty early, we decided to head over to the library.  I gave Mommy and Daddy a puppet show too.  Are you ready?

After the library we headed on home.  We told Mommy that we had a surprise for her, and I had to lead her into the kitchen with her eyes closed.  It was tricky, but we made it.  When she opened her eyes, she got to see all the decorations and flowers we got for her.  She really liked them! 

Daddy and I also got her some "welcome home" cards.  I picked mine out all by myself.  I thought it was funny because it had a big owl on it.  I told Mommy that my card says "HOOT!" and she said "HOOT!" too!

What is really special about this card is that I wrote my name "almost" all by myself.  Daddy didn't touch the pen at all, but he did have to remind me how to make the E and the R.  But I did all the writing!  That's the first time I've written my name without Daddy or Mommy helping to move the pen.  They're very proud of me!

Mommy had a surprise for me too - some more Dora movies!  I thought this was pretty great (and Daddy is certainly ready for some new ones!)

Daddy and I are so glad Mommy's home, and most importantly, that she doesn't have to go back.  Mommy and I are going to have a great time the next couple of weeks as she gets some time off work.  I can't wait!

Mommy's coming home tomorrow!

Mommy's coming home tomorrow, so Daddy and I needed to get ready.  We went to the store and bought flowers, balloons and cards.  I think she'll like them!

I tried my hardest to blow up some balloons by myself, but I just couldn't do it yet.  So I had a little help from Daddy.

When we got them all blown up, I helped Daddy decide where to put them.  This took a while since I really just wanted to play with them!

I hope Mommy likes our decorations!

Daddy made me dizzy!

Today as Daddy was getting ready for work, I was following him around.  He kept forgetting things and turning around to go get them.  So I kept turning around and following him!  After a few times of this, I said to him, quite seriously, "Daddy, I'm getting dizzy of you walking all over the place!"  He thought that was pretty funny.

I also have taken to saying that large trucks with "dually" rear tires have "chubby cheeks".  When you see them from behind, it sure does look that way!

Omniplex

Daddy asked me what I wanted to do today, and I told him I'd like to go to the Omniplex.  Sounded good to him, so we did!  I had a great time there, as always.  But the most amazing part was that I went down the firepole in the little firehouse all by myself!  Daddy didn't even have to ask if I wanted to, I just ran up the stairs, grabbed the pole, wrapped my feet around it and slid down.  No hesitation!

Great day with Daddy

(Daddy thinks so too.)

I woke Daddy up this morning at 6:45.  This didn't bug him very much because that meant we would have time to fly up to Ponca City for their monthly breakfast.  And it was yummy - I had pancakes and bacon, and ate the whole plate.  We got to see some neat airplanes too, and I wanted to stand in front of them all and have Daddy take my picture!

We got back around noon, but since we had just eaten at about 9:30, we weren't hungry for lunch yet.  But we were hungry for "Rusty's Frozen Custard"!  Another coupon had come in the mail this week and Daddy said he'd take me again.  I reminded him that he should get strawberry mized in with his, since that's what he got last time.  This was over 3 months ago, so he was surprised I remembered!  They say you can hold them upside down and won't spill any, so of course we had to try it.

I really liked the chocolate chips in mine.  And I even let Daddy help some!

After the frozen custard we went home and started to do a puzzle.  We were both pretty tired, and I ended up falling asleep on the couch, and he went and took a nap on the big bed!  About 3:30 I woke up and then we played around for a little while before we were both hungry again.  We ate dinner at our "chips and beans" place and then went to pet store!  I'vve been saying I want to be a veternarian when I grow up, because I love doggies and kitties.  At the pet store I got to pet a few doggies and got a few licks too!  We then walked around some other stores and chased each other around outside a bit.  I think Daddy was trying to wear me out from my late nap, and it sure worked.  I was tired and went right to sleep after my shower tonight.  I got to spend the whole day with Daddy and had a great time!  And so did he.

No more sippy cups!

While I was at Grandma and Papa's house, I only used a sippy cup a couple of times.  I'm a big girl now and don't need sippy cups anymore!  Daddy lets me pick out my own cup at meals, and what one do I go for now?  The biggest one, of course!

I was off in my room playing, and when Daddy came in to see what I was up to, he saw I was ready for anything with my boots and backpack!

Vacation in Owasso!

The past 10 days I've stayed with Grandma and Papa while Daddy was up in Oshkosh, Wisconsin for work.  We had a great time!  He took me up there on Saturday, July 24th and didn't pick me up until Tuesday, August 3rd.  Grandma, Papa, and I did all kinds of fun things.

I did get to help assemble some chairs.

And point out the proper instructions to follow!

I really enjoyed playing doctor.  First I checked Papa out.

Then it was Grandma's turn.

I had to make sure Shadow was healthy too (I later told Daddy I want to be a doggie doctor when I grow up)!

Grandma and Papa even let me eat pizza and popcorn on the floor while watching a Strawberry Shortcake movie.  Fun!

I liked having Grandma help me do my hair.

And then we helped Shadow do hers!

We also got to go to the neighborhood pool a few times, a local water park, and "Incredible Pizza" which has lots of fun games like bowling.  What a great time!

More Piper-isms

(After seeing someone standing in the street) "You don't stand in the street or you'll get squished!  By a car, or a bus, or a truck, or a van, or a tractor..."

(Driving by the Moore High School) "When I be older I can go to high school.  Probably when I am 4 I can go to the high school with Mommy and Daddy!"

(Usually when I'm putting on my shirt and it gets stuck on my head) "Daddy, I'm having problems here!"

I also continue to amaze Mommy and Daddy with my memory.  Earlier this week Daddy mentioned Hawaii.  I said that "I have been in Hawaii!  And Alex was there, and we were dancing silly!"  Of course, that was over a year ago, when I was just 22 months old.  And we did dance silly!

Daddy told me that I'd be going to visit Grandma and Papa this weekend, and am going to stay for a week.  He told me that they have a new house now, and we hadn't seen it yet.  I corrected him by saying "I have seen it, when it was super muddy!"  Yes, two months ago, the last time I visited Grandma and Papa, they took me by their new house when it was still under construction, and it was muddy.  I remembered!

It's hot!

It has been really hot for the last week, and today was no different.  With temperatures a little over a hundred and the heat index a few degrees higher than that, neither of us wanted to go outside today.  So we stayed in and played.  When Daddy got out of the shower, he found out I had lined up my water balloons.  I've always been very organized!  Later I separated out all the pink balloons and kept them apart from the others.  Then Daddy found me playing with the balloons in their big bed!

For a snack this afternoon I had some peanut butter crackers.  I sure did make a mess!

After he took that photo, I asked Daddy I could do one with a "sad" face.  So out came my "boo-boo" lip.

I was having fun being silly!  We also ate some of the cookies that Mommy and I made last week. We had made some into cupcakes, which I started calling chocolate-chip muffins. So Daddy and I had some "muffins" today too!

Shawnee, OK

This morning we flew over to Shawnee, OK (a really short flight but it had been a while since either Daddy or I had gone flying, so he wanted to fly anyway) for a local fly-in/aviation day put on by the city.

I wore my "Humu-humu" shirt that we got in Hawaii last year.  It still fits!  (It was pretty big last year.)  But what amazed Daddy was when I saw it, I said that "I have been in Hawaii, and Alex was there, and we danced silly!"  It has been 15 months since we were there, and I was only 22 months old at the time, and yet I remember it.  Mommy and Daddy are pretty amazed at my memory.

On the way there I was counting in Spanish.  I'm getting pretty good at it!  I made it all the way up to nine, and Daddy asked what came next.  I said I didn't know, so he told me "diez" and asked me if I could say "diez".  I responded very adamantly with "I don't know how to say 'diez'!"  He had a good laugh!

We landed and parked the airplane, and immediately on getting out I forgot all about this being about airplanes.  Much more importantly, they had a Moon Bounce set up!  I of course asked if I could go on it, but Daddy said we had to look at some airplanes first.  So after we looked at an airplane, I asked again.  And after the next airplane, I asked again.  After doing this three times Daddy decided to have a little chat with me, reminding me that yes we would go on the Moonbounce, but not if I kept asking, and guess what - I didn't ask again!

They did have some neat airplanes there, a WWII B-26, the FAA's DC-3, and even some helicopters.  There was a helicopter there giving rides, and it turned out the pilot was Daddy's helicopter instructor last year, so we got to say hi up close.  No we didn't go for a ride, but I wanted to! 

I told Daddy I thought the Army helicopter was "boring" looking, and I liked the other helicopters better.  Why?  They were painted in brighter colors!  Of course I had to hop in the NewsChannel 4 helicopter.

After what seemed like forever, Daddy finally asked me if I still wanted to go in the Moonbounce.  Of course!  Here is a silly picture of me trying to get the camera from Daddy.

Right next to the Moonbounce was a fire truck, and I got to drive it a little bit.  Look, my feet even reach the pedals!  I did want to know one thing about the fire truck, though, and Daddy said I needed to ask the fireman who was there.  What was my big question that I needed to know?  "Where does the gas go in?"  Yep, that was it!

Fortunately we left before the real heat of the day, but it was still plenty hot when we got back around 11.  We did some shopping and even got me some new socks, that are shorter than the ones I've been wearing.  I like them a lot!  In fact, Daddy caught me "hiding" under his bed sheets with the open bag of new socks.  When he asked me what I was doing, I said "cuddling with my new socks!"  Daddy thinks I'm silly sometimes!

A day of firsts

Today was a great day of "firsts"!  But first, a little hiding on the bed with Daddy...

I hope Mommy doesn't find us!

I've been doing really well with not swallowing my toothpaste when I'm brushing, so today I got to use "big girl" toothpaste for the first time.  I did great, and Mommy and Daddy were very proud of me!  (However, I did comment that I didn't like the toothpaste as much as the other one I had been using.)

Then, we went to the movie theater, and saw "Toy Story 3".  This was my first time at a movie theater, and I did great!  I was mostly quiet the whole time, sitting there and paying attention to the movie.  I did make a few comments out loud, though, like "Hey, he's a tortilla!" and "They're dancing silly!" I was having a great time!

Since we had to take Mommy to the airport today to head back to Indiana, Daddy decided to take us by his work.  I've never been there, and although he talks about me a lot, none of his coworkers have met me.  So this was another first for me!  I met some very nice people who were very excited to finally get to meet me, and I was as cute as I could be.

But then, all the fun was over and we had to take Mommy to the airport.  We sure had fun this weekend, Mommy, thanks for coming home!  We've only got about a month left until she's home for good!

The Froggy Bouncy-Bounce place!

We had planned to go to the water park today, but it was raining.  So instead we went to the bouncy-bounce place that I last went to on my birthday.  I had a great time again, and ran around until I wore myself out and told Mommy I wanted to go leave.  So we went to eat lunch and then a few stores on the way home.  I was really tired, though, and sure enough on the way home I fell asleep.  Daddy got me out of the car and I took a nap right next to him for a while. 

I woke up just a little, rolled over, and realized Mommy was on the other side!  It has been a long time since I've been able to cuddle up with Mommy, so I was quite happy sleeping right there for a nice long nap!

I sure was worn out!

Fun day around the house

We mostly stayed inside today, since it was really hot and humid, but we still had a good time.  Mommy read a lot of books to me, and I played a lot with both Mommy and Daddy.  Especially Mommy!  I wanted HER to be the one to help me when I needed it, not Daddy!

After I woke up, I went into their room and we got to play on the bed.  I got to play horsey with Daddy! 

Of course, when I do this I risk Daddy dumping me off on the bed and giving me raspberries!

Later in the day I got to do something I've been talking about since my birthday a month ago - riding my bicycle with Mommy AND Daddy.  Of course I've become a lot better in the last month since Daddy and I go riding almost every day, so I wanted to show Mommy my new skills.  And did I ever!  She didn't know I could go so fast!

We even had to ride super fast through a sprinkler.  I got a little wet, but it'll dry!

Another great day with Mommy.  I love having her home!

Mommy's home to visit again!

Mommy's home again!  Daddy and I picked her up from the airport this morning and I was very happy to see her!

I slowed down from a run to a walk at the end because Daddy showed me how I couldn't go any further or alarms would go off.  But I was very excited!

It was still pretty early in the morning, not even lunch time, so we went to the park to play and show Mommy how big a girl I have become.  Then we went out to lunch!

Mommy and I went out grocery shopping too.  Mommy had invited her friend Mr. Duaine over for dinner and needed to get some things to make it with.  Of course it didn't hurt that Daddy coincidentally hadn't gone grocery shopping this week, so we needed some basics too!  Daddy stayed at home and did a lot of yardwork.  I was a good girl at dinner, and once Mr Duaine left, Mommy got to read some books to me before my shower!  I also showed her what a big girl I am now in the shower, and it was fun to have Mommy dry me off and even braid my hair.  Daddy doesn't do that!  What a great day, I am so glad Mommy's back.  She has to leave on Tuesday, back to Indiana, but we're going to have a good time until then!

"I don't need a nap, Daddy!"

About ten minutes after telling Daddy that I didn't need a nap, here's where he found me!

Daddy was surprised because I slept in really late (for me - until about 8:30) since I was up so late last night.  But we went to get new tires for the truck this morning, and as we were waiting we walked around to some of the local stores (including a pet store where I got to pet some doggies).  All the walking must have worn me out.  We also stopped at Braum's for lunch and I convinced Daddy that he should get me an ice cream cone - mint chocolate chip!  I then helped him outside doing some work on the gutters.  So even with all the sleep last night, I still needed a nap today.  He picked me up from the table and laid me down next to him on the big bed, where I immediately fell back asleep.  It was pretty late, though, so he didn't let me get a real long nap!

Happy 4th of July!

It was still raining off and on today, so we stayed inside most of the day, but we still had fun.  For dinner we went over to our neighbors Jim and Karel Webb's house, as they were having a little party for some of their friends and neighbors.  I was sure the star of the party and played it up by acting as cute as I know how.  I was dressed in my patriotic best!

After dinner we were planning to go to the park where the Moore city fireworks display is held at, but it was canceled because of the bad weather.  So we walked back home, but then I noticed that people were setting off fireworks all around us!  Fireworks are illegal in Moore, which of course means that everybody has them, so we got a good show.  When our neighbors a couple houses down started setting theirs off, we had a real close-up view!  Daddy thought I'd be scared like with thunder and lightning, but I surprised him by giggling and saying how "beautiful" the fireworks were.  Especially when our neighbors started setting theirs off, my jaw dropped open and stayed that way almost for the rest of the time as I swung my head back and forth to see all the displays.  I thought it was great!

But it was pretty late, and I actually told Daddy "I want to go back inside.  I'm tired."  Well, that's pretty rare, so we went back inside and I managed to fall asleep even with all the loud noises all around us.  I really was tired!

Back to the Omniplex

It has been a long time since we went to the Omniplex, but today was the perfect day, since it has been raining off and on all day.  They had some new displays, and I even got to see a science show!  Daddy wasn't sure if I was going to like it, because it had some explosions, but it was really a lot of fun.  Some kids even got to go up and help!  I started to get up once to run down to the stage, but Daddy said first they had to pick me to help.  Oops!  They show was pretty neat, and they did have a lot of explosions, so I kept my ears covered practically the whole time.  But I didn't ask to leave, which Daddy took as a good sign.  He was happy because he really wanted to see the show too!

Here I am with a boy who wanted to be in the picture too.  I like this place!

I ask a lot of questions

I've been into the "why" phase for a few weeks now, keeping asking "why" even after Daddy's already answered the question.  I know what I'm doing too, because I start giggling after about the third "why".  Well, this week I finally admitted it.  In the car, I simply said:

"Daddy, I ask a lot of 'why why' questions!"

He made sure to tell me that I sure do!