2 Years, Month 2, Week 3

Summer's heating up; time to head for the splash pad!  We headed to Dillon Park in Noblesville with the Abraham girls to see what they had to offer.  The water was a little chilly, but the girls didn't seem to mind.  I'm not sure which part Livi liked best - the splash pad itself, the playground next to it, running up and down the football fields, or snacking on Isabella's crackers!

She has also been loving all the unlimited classes at Gymboree.  It's a good way to break up the day and I love that the mess of art class stays at Gymboree.

This weekend we headed to Grammy and Grampy Banks' house.  Before we left, Livi had to put the finishing touches on her Father's Day card for Grampy.  She is becoming quite the artist!

We always love going to visit Grammy and Grampy, but it's even better when they have extra visitors!  Uncle Paul, Aunt Miranda, Amelia, and Will came to town along with Uncle Jordan so we decided to really make it a full house.  I can't begun to describe how much fun these kiddos had together!  They all get along so well that the only down side is that we don't get to see them more often.

 

Aunt Mary was also nice enough to host a family picnic.  The food was delicious as always and the kids had so much fun playing.  The "twins" were again reunited an adorable matching dresses!  The Gap really should think about hiring these adorable cuties.  Getting them to stand still to pose for a picture was no small feat.  The only thing more challenging was trying to get seven adults and three kids to look at the camera and smile all at the same time.

Our weekend visit happened to overlap with Columbia City's town festival, Old Settler's Days.  The kids had so much fun riding the rides.  I also got to join in on the fun on the "Crazy Bus."  Let's just say the ride lived up to its name!

After all that fun, sometimes you just need to kick back and relax.  What better place than on the couch with Grammy and Grampy.  Everybody looks pretty comfy!


I think one of my absolute favorite moments of the weekend was captured on this video.  Sometimes, you just can't predict what will entertain kids.  The most endearing part is at the 19 second mark.  I love these kiddos!

2 Years, Month 2 - Weeks 1 and 2

Summer is in full swing and the Banks' Water Park is open!  Livi loves all kinds of water and being outside, so having that water table is win-win!

This week, we went on our first family road trip to Gatlinburg to celebrate Grandma's Sue's 60th birthday.  We rented a cabin in the Smokey Mountains for a nice long weekend with Grandma, PaPa, Uncle Drew, Aunt Lisa, Charlotte (Drew and Lisa's dog), and Tinker.  I have to admit I was a little bit nervous about the drive, but Livi did great!  The cabin was beautiful and had a great set-up so we all had plenty of room.  Livi wanted so badly to get into the hot tub at the cabin, but had to settle for just putting her hands in.  She also used those little hands to dig right into Grandma's birthday cake!

There was also a very nice pool near our cabin.  It even met Livi's high standards and was perfect for wearing her out before naptime.

We did venture out and into downtown Gatlinburg.  We started with a ride on the aerial tram up to Ober Gatlinburg.  The view was amazing!  Livi loved riding on the cars and train at the top (although, she was a little unsure at first!).

After our trip to the top of the mountains, it was time for dinner. Grandma Sue had said all she wanted for her birthday was for all of us to have dinner together, which is normally kind of tricky since we are all so spread out.  But, since we were finally all in the same town for a few days it was considerably easier!  It was also Grandma and PaPa's 39th wedding anniversary.  All the more reason to celebrate!

 

Sunday was Father's Day.  Livi loves her Daddy very much and we're both pretty lucky to have him around. We made another trip to downtown Gatlinburg to do a little bit of shopping .  One very important stop was to the "Donut Friar."  Josh has many, many fond memories of visiting the shop with his Grandma Rose to get their special cinnamon bread.  It definitely lived up to Josh's recollections!  Getting some ice cream and other tasty treats was also a pretty fun way to spend the afternoon.

Livi was also happy to be give her gifts to PaPa on Father's Day.  He's pretty good at reading stories and spoiling his granddaughter.  He also gives a pretty mean pony ride!

Livi also had a great time with her "friends" Uncle Drew and Aunt Lisa.  (The little stinker refused to call them by their names and instead referred to them as her friends.)  Uncle Drew let her drive and also had a dance party in the car.  Aunt Lisa took her shopping, for walks, helped her color, and did puzzles with her.  It really is too bad they live so far away because we can always use extra baby-sitters!



After all the fun we had, it was time to head home so Grandma, PaPa, and Livi could cheer on the Blackhawks.

Unfortunately, on the drive home we noticed Olivia was getting more and more irritable.  She also felt warm and when I took her temperature it was over 100.  We gave her a little ibuprofen to make her comfortable and continued the long drive home.  The next morning her fever climbed to 103 and she was wheezing.  We took her to the doctor and discovered she had bronchitis.  After a breathing treatment (an experience that was awful for all involved) we headed home where Olivia finally got some rest.  The next day the wheezing seemed to get worse, so we went back to the doctor who agreed that it had gotten worse.  He gave her the equivalent of a liquid inhaler which thankfully helped after a few days.  It was by far one of the more scary illnesses Olivia has had.  Between the high fever and wheezing it really seemed to have her down for the count.



Another unfortunate symptom of the bronchitis was her decreased appetite.  That is until we took her to Noodles & Co. for one of her favorites - Mac N Cheese.  She happily and eagerly made the clean bowl club!



Later that week, we went to the dentist.  Let's just say Olivia is not a big fan of the dentist quite yet.  But the ladies there do an excellent job of getting us in and out quickly so it's not too traumatic.  The office is also decorated very cute with lots of beach and surf items, so hopefully that will eventually win this beachy girl over.



Finally to help cheer us up, Auntie Carrie came to visit for the weekend!  She also brought her dog, Sophie.  Livi is such an animal lover that it's always nice to have a peppy, friendly dog in the house.  She was also pretty attached to Carrie too.  She woke up the morning after she left and said, "Where's Care-we?"