Great Weekend

It was a great weekend overall. Liesl and I went to our final swim class on Saturday then picked up Dadda and Grampa Jack for a Zoo trip. We managed to get all the way to the giraffes and back. We got to see a lot of things and spend a lot of time with Grampa Jack. We were all exhausted when it was all done and napped for several hours. Sunday we took a last minute ride to go visit the rescued greyhounds at the cider mill and then to Lake Orion for mexican. Once we told Liesl that there was a chance of "cado" there was no backing down. She ate a gianormous amount of guacamole and mexican rice.

Conversations with Liesl

This morning I had a conversation with Liesl on the way to Oma Ronnie's house. She was telling me all of the animals that she sees at the zoo. She was naming them all off and telling me sometimes what they do or say. When I asked her what animal she likes best she told me the giraffes. I believe she likes the elephants best because she gets upset sometimes when I tell her there are no elephants at our zoo. Plus her favorite zoo animals in her toys to play with are the elephants.

Coloring on the Wall

Yesterday Liesl wanted to color at her Oma Gabi's house. So Oma put her at her table with her crayons as she was making lunch. When she turned around after a couple minutes to see how she was doing, Liesl had managed to color all over the walls and floor with orange crayon in a corner of the kitchen.

Last night, Liesl and I went to babysit Gavin while the rest of the Perrys went out to dinner for Aly's birthday. The kids were both great. We did a little bit of reading and playing with the matchbox cars and then Gavin passed out in my arms watching TV. I barely had to babysit. Only problem was that Liesl didn't want him to be sleeping. I managed to keep her away from him for at least an hour but I am pretty sure that he wanted to stay sleeping. I think it was the easiest babysitting gig I have ever had.

Monkey on her back?

Friday night we and the Perrys went to the new Sonic on van Dyke for dinner. It was quite a cool experience having the waitress roller skate on over with our food. The babies were a little crazy trying to escape through the windows. Liesl was so ready for a nap. Jim and I decided to go to the Drive in at the Dome. Liesl fell asleep through the whole double feature of Ironman/Clash of the Titans. It was a very good night overall. Saturday, Heather and I took the kids to the zoo with my mom. It was a beautiful day at the zoo. Liesl did a lot of walking and being carried....didn't want too much of the stroller business but that is ok. We all went over to the Perrys for "snacks" later (watched our shows) and the kids played nicely...well as nicely as they do when they are tired. Yesterday, Tommy and Jim moved our "new" fridge and stove from my friend Mike's house to Mom and Dad's temporarily. Unfortunately it is only 9 days before closing! Wish we could have waited but we wouldn't be getting such a deal on them if there wasn't a rush on it. Thanks Tommy and Heather for all of the help and fun this weekend! Looknig forward to seeing Aly's new colors in her room and the birthday party Tues!

This weekend Liesl wanted me to read a "storybook" to her. Storybook meaning, mostly words covering each page with one smaller picture. I read her  Lady and the Tramp and Dumbo all in one sitting. She sat so still for them. I was quite impressed.

It's all about the Barbies

Yesterday Liesl didnt let go of the Barbie and her toddler friend all day long at Oma Ronnie's house. When it was time to go home I couldnt pry them out of her hands so the Barbie backpack and Barbies went home with her. The only other thing I have seen her cuddle as she was going to sleep was her Abbey Caddabby doll. She was cuddling those Barbies in the back seat like it would be the end of the world if they were to fall out of her hands. Today I took back a bunch of bottles to the store and surprise, surprise I had enough for a Barbie. She will be so excited when I get home.

I have made a decision that when we bring out my old dollhouse that my Grandad made me from Grandma's model house that I am going to remodel the house. The roof is currently brown and the siding is yellow. There are carpet samples and wallpaper samples in it. I am going to get new ones and paint the walls maybe like out house and put little pictures from proof sheets on the walls to make it look like family pictures. I also think I am  going to paint the siding pink to make a pink and brown house just like our new house. I think she will like it. Polly Pockets should work in it for size and I guess dollar stores carry dollhouse furniture. I am so there.

Today Liesl went to the zoo with Oma Ronnie and Opa Peter. A nice change from the rest of the week where she was stuck inside because of the rain.

busy, busy, busy

We all have been super busy this past month with house stuff among other things. I couldn't believe it when I saw that I haven't been blogging for almost a month now about the little girl. Had a bit of Momma guilt there. I had just started earlier and the powetr went out in the middle of some good stories. Hope I can recreate it.

At the end of last month Oma Gabi and Grandad went on a bike trip with their club on the east coast for a week so I took a few days off to cover for her. Liesl did a lot of hanging out around town among other things like visiting the zoo a couple times. The day before Liesl and I went, she had gone with her Oma Ronnie and Opa and they had been in the process of learning peacock. When Liesl and I went the first time I took her in the backpack. When we got to the giraffe/zebra/peacock junction she started pointing and yelling at the top of her lungs "cock, cock, cock" which was hilarious. Since then she has been calling every bird she sees a "cock-cock" and sometimes a "pea-pea" which are almost equally as funny. She really loves to shorten words which is really funny and clever.

 She has really started to repeat everything you say.....EVERYTHING! She can say just about everything and she knows that we are amused so loves to repeat things for us. She has quite the sense of humor. One thing that she has started to do is say people's names. She really loves Shannon's name...and of course Aly's name....she loves Aly in general because she is a big kid and really looks up to her. very cute. She especially loves to play dolls with Aly. Liesl does love her dolls. She has really gotten into barbies in the past month. I got her a Happy Meal at McDonald's that had a Mermaid Barbie in it which she loves to carry around also an Ariel Barbie which she can take in the tub with her. Oma Ronnie and Opa Peter bought her a Barbie backpack to hold her Barbies and a Barbie and toddler Barbie in swimsuits that she can also take in the tub. She definitely knows how to say Barbie too. One night at the Perry's she had all of Aly's 20 or so Barbies laid out going "ooooh, ooooooh" the whole time. Then later on in the evening she had them all in a row like a sleepover  saying "night night" to them all.

This past Sunday was Aunt Gloria's 60th Birthday surprise party. Liesl had a blast visiting with everyone and playing with Gavin. She had been practicing Aunt Gloria and Shannon's names before we went along with the word suprise. She wouldnt stop saying SUPRISE when Shannon was on the phone with Aunt Gloria before she arrived and it was a wonder it was still a suprise when Aunt Gloria arrived. When she was running to her Oma Gabi later in the evening she fell right on her face and scraped it on the wood floor. After she stopped crying she said Shannon, Shannon....So I brought her to Shannon who gave her and ice pack which she walked around the house with for the next 30 min.

Yesterday at Oma Gabi's house Liesl came up with names for all of her baby dolls including the boys....All of thier names are ......Shannon.....No surprise there but completely hilarious.

Fun Weekend

Friday night Liesl slept the evening so I got a chance to pack some of her room up for the "Big Move" Jim and I got a chance to watch The Fantastic Mr Fox. I think he is Mr Fox. Thanks Heather for telling me about it. Good stuff.

Saturday, Swim class was in the morning. Liesl woke up early this week and we had french toast before class and took our time getting ready. It was a very nice change from the usual routine. Later, Oma Gabi, Grady and Grady's Momma and Grandma (Dee and Sandi) came to visit Liesl and I and Dee's new painting. It is always so nerve racking when someone sees my work. Please dont give me a "whatever" anyone. We decided to go for a wagon ride and out to lunch despite the cold. They had a good time sharing Liesl's Abbey and Ernie dolls in the wagon and treats and crayons in the restaurant.

Sunday, Heather, Gavin, Liesl and I decided to run over to Great Lakes Crossing for some "play place" time and lunch at the Rain-forest. Liesl was crazy wound up that the play place and was practically running in circles on the huge food. She loves crawling through the spilled pop, the corn on the cob and the watermelon slide. She aspired to climb the cupcake and be crowned "queen of the hill" but alas she was not yet tall enough for that. We stopped in the Bass Pro Shop for a gander at the fishtanks while waiting for a table at the Rain-forest cafe. They both enjoyed the big fishies in there and the large stuffed moose. In the Rain-forest, Liesl loved the Elephants and made me take her over there every 5 minutes. She was very good in there and sat in her booster and ate her mahi mahi......and yes...her "VOLCANO!" that we absolutely had to get. The kids fell asleep in the car finally at 4.....yeah wow. She slept for 2.5 hours. She woke up a little cranky still though just in time for Kiki and Sydney to come by and play for a little over an hour which was a lot of fun. Sydney is a little younger but not enough to make a difference. They were so cute. Sydney is a like a little clone of Kiki and Liesl of me so it was kinda funny. We topped off the evening with movie night finally at the Perry's house. It has been a long time. Crazy stuff has been happening. Please excuse our long absence from your screen Perrys.

Thanks to all the Babies and Babies Mommas and Grandmas for all the fun this weekend!