To Market, To Market

I didn't buy a fat hog but I could have! I love Findlay Market! I realized today that it will never be the same as it was the first time I went. It had a special glow to it that first time I went. It was all so new and exciting to me! This time it was exciting but there was no glow, the stands were all the same, the wares were all the same but the nice part was that the smells were all the same too! I love love love the smell of Basil. I stopped my dad in mid sentence to ask "Do you smell that basil?"

Joe had an early morning man breakfast date so I scheduled a OTR with my parents and Kelly.
I had no grocery list with me only my camera and an request from my husband to bring something fun home for dinner.

We ended up meeting Dick and Peggy there and had breakfast then meandered through the market until Dad and Peg found the proper fishmonger for me to purchase my shark from! Thats right I will report back to you later but the menu for tonight is Shark steaks, Pineapple, Corn & Roasted Red Peppers... I might even make the garlic cheese biscuits like Red Lobster has... yummy!

Annie eating whatever she wanted thanks to Grammy

I failed to notice the amazing flower boxes above our heads last time

Love the old man street performer on the bongos

Introducing Annie to the Lobster

She picked out what she wanted for breakfast and Grammy delivered :o)

No one had these little guys for breakfast... can you imagine, it would take a whole dozen to fill you up!

Peg bought one of these Belgian Waffles! AMAZING!

Ol Squishy Squish Face with her headband on... don't tell her daddy ;o)

Zoo Day

Went on a spur of the moment trip to the zoo today with Kris the kids and the Mama. I was going to head to the other side of the universe (Walton) to bring Kris the box of preemie girl clothes that we all pass around. It is fun to have a few preemie outfits when you have a newborn because they fit so well...

Anyhow she was headed to the zoo so I tagged along.
It was a good trip, each one gets better and better with Annie as she gets older she can see the animals easier all by herself. On the way there she said she wanted to see the "El-phants, Gaffs, and o o o ah ah ah" :o) Well we did see the monkeys to which JP said " Those monkeys have red butts... hehe I love saying butts" His mom did not hear this statement which made me wonder if he is allowed to say butts but he is 5 what else should he talk about?

Oh yeah and fyi they dont have lids or straws on their cups at the zoo "they are chocking hazards to the animals" ever given a 2 year old a slush puppy with no lid or straw?

The only picture I got of the day. This was what she looked like before we even got out of the parking lot.

Lately

We are on vacation detox... no more chocolate at our fingertips, no more Grammy's telling us yes, no more able arms to hold and cuddle all day long. There are schedules we must follow and rules we must obey that are making us girls grouchy and short tempered.

Other than that it is good to be home, I am loving this weather although it would have been appreciated last week very much!

I am in love with my girls as much as ever and loving watching them grow. Annie is as fun as ever and I never realized how even though I know she is two and she acts two I still feel like she is a baby! I thought that once I had a two year old they would be a kid. Its like she is stuck somewhere between baby and kid... I guess you could call her a toddler still?
She was SO much fun at the lake this year floating all around in her little swimmies. She loved it and wanted to play by herself and not hang on to Joe or I which was nice :o)



She has started calling Mia by her name about 40% of the time since yesterday and it throws me off every time! She was out with her Dad and called her Mia and ever since she has been saying it off and on. Its pretty cute... I wonder if "Monnie" will stick or not.

The Monster as I call her (get it Mon-ster hehehe) had her 2 month check up yesterday and she weighed 9lb10oz which is about half a lb smaller than Annie was at her age. I think Annie probably carried a half pound in her cheeks that Mia doesn't have so theres the difference.

I took the girls to the neighbors house this morning to swing in their backyard. They offered when we first moved in and I am happy to have a swing set close to our house when going to the park isn't realistic. Its crazy to me that the park is only about 1/4 mile away but loading the kids in the car on a hot day to drive there is silly and walking is a commitment that you must make so a few minuets of swinging was just out of the question until now.
Anyway... she climbed up on the swing that you see here on the right, I don't know what they are called, and I all of the sudden had an overwhelming desire to be 5 again! I can remember sitting on my grandmas swing just like this and eating popsicles or oreos or what have you. I couldnt believe how little space there was next to Annie on the bench or how little room there was for another set of little knees to be across from her but oh how I wish my knees would have fit, let alone my body supported by those metal bars holding it on. :o)

I have taken up running... there I said it, its true, its official and I will accept any accountability that this statement brings. Im going on 3 weeks now of running at least 4 days a week. I started at the gym alternating running and walking a lap. Then I increased the speed I was running simply because I wanted the lap to be over with quicker. On vacation I had the magical wonderful perfect running partner The Great and Powerful Woody! She was such an encouragement and pushed me just enough to make me feel good(ish) and stretch my abilities. The down side to running on vacation was 1. it was off set by the amount of cow tails I ate during the day and 2. it went from pavement to gravel to grass back to pavement and was super hilly! Those did a number on my knees and now my left knee is messed up a little. However I am pressing on, Im not sure if that is the right thing to do or not but I just can't let myself give up this habit that I have started! Now this week I have steadily done two 13 min miles two days in a row and am excited to increase that, I would like to stretch my distance by running more than walking and thereby decreasing my time... we will see how that works out, hopefully by next week!

Update in Pictures

Ok so its late and I haven't blogged in a while which means you get a bullet point post again just so I can keep track of all that is going on around here and not feel so bad about leaving you all while I go on vacation for a week :o)

• I taught Annie her name today. She says "Ahnnie Suerner" its the cutest thing ever! So today as I was drilling her I said "what is your name?" she said "Ahnnie" I said "Annie what?" she said "Ahnnie Girl" ! Oh she is so brilliant!
  

• I tried a new recipe tonight for Whole Wheat Banana Muffins. They are pretty good but I added Chocolate Chips to the second batch and something tells me that they are going to be better :o)

Annie helping, she peeled all the bananas for me. I couldn't let her eat them because she has been so devastatingly constipated lately but she managed to sneak in a few bites anyway.

yummy!

• Mia holds her head up very well now for just a little while, she is so strong it amazes me

• Aunt "Ku-Kuck" (Kelly) gave Annie a piece of Salt Water Taffy the other day and the result was smurf like :o)

• I have yet to get a picture of Sweet Amelia smiling her big cheesy grin, here is a good one of her being happy though which will have to do for now.