a girl & her food

There is no doubt that starting your morning with a smoothie is fantastic.

The 5 minute scrub-down that follows, not so fun.

I really thought yogurt was a safe food.

 Left alone for 5 minutes, she decided to do this.

*sigh*.

You can't see this as well, but she has hummus all over her face. She decided licking all the hummus off first and then eating the cracker was the way to go.

Pasta. 'Nuff said.

Ah, a food that doesn't require a bath.

A new found summer favorite.

She has discovered that showing her llama tongue cracks us up.

Cracks herself up as well. :)
This crazy, goofy girl! We love her so much.

1+ years and a little change. again. + backyard fun.

We have now been in our home just over a year. How thankful we are for it. It is not without it's inconveniences or things we'd like to change....but so much to be thankful for.

Interesting that just over a year ago our current home was becoming too small for our growing family. And then Andrew's day job moved from Downtown (Strip District) across the river to Greentree. Subsequently, God opened perfect doors for an easy transition to our new home. 1.3 miles from Andrew's work and (unbeknownst to us at the time) ended up being about 2 miles from our church.

A few weeks ago we received word that Andrew's office was being transferred back to the Strip. AGH! We are bummed that he can no longer walk to work and must take the bus. And I now have to plan my afternoons to be available to pick him up in the afternoon......

but we are thankful to live near a great busline and that we can continue to get by on only one vehicle. And hey, I never need to much convincing to stop by the Strip where I can pick up produce, fresh meat or fish, Pittsburgh Popcorn, coffee from Fortune's, my choice of 500 cheeses, or any Steelers gear I could imagine. :)

One of things we most love about our home is our backyard. And one of its best traits is that it is fully shaded until around noon. Most summer mornings I am sure we would not want to be out there if it was in direct sunlight.

Eden mostly wants to be pulled around the yard in the wagon.

Which is a good little core workout for mommy. :)

We have also greatly enjoyed our first garden this summer! Andrew has put much hard work into it. We haven't gotten a ton of produce, but kind figured we might not in the first year. A lot of gardeners seem to tell us that each year can be hit or miss anyways.

The plants are certainly thriving! We have gotten a few zucchini & cucumbers.

 A LOT of tomatoes have appeared, but they are all green at the moment. So I am hoping they make a turn for red where I am sure tomato will be included in every dish. :)

 Lettuce = success! I have not had to buy store lettuce for quite a while now.

Talk about fresh & organic - this stuff is so yummy!

Snippet from a backyard gathering........

 I am sure most people would not have given a second glance to this chair on the side of the road....for good reason. Not Handy Andy.

 A little reconstructive surgery.........

 and a pop of orange..........we finally have our wish for an Adirondack chair!

(Andrew also built the stump benches which I love.)

Anyone want to stop by for s'mores? =)

 This looks like double trouble.

This is probably getting much longer than it should be....but I have few moments to share and too many memories I want to save. :)

Here's hosting a friend's recent baby shower..............

a car/truck theme for coming baby boy (who arrived last week!)

little "cars" atop mini cheesecakes

yum!

print-outs from Etsy

of course we needed little mustache cups :)

Thankful for our home, especially outdoor space, for however long we get to have it.

We have not forgotten what's it is like to be without it.

amusement park fun

Andrew & I have never been to an amusement park since we've been married. He doesn't like many rides and we've never really made the effort to go. Our local amusement park, Kennywood, found out we had never been there and decided it would invite us to be their guests. I love doing promotions for the Momtourage. :)

I had been offered quite a while ago and we were waiting for an open Saturday so we could all 4 go. Not easy to find. We finally had one, but there was 60% chance of thunderstorms. We decided to chance it and it turned into the perfect evening. No rain and slightly cooler with a breeze.

One thing we found out, amusement park admission is expensive! It might not have been worth it to pay 80 bucks for Andrew & I, considering we didn't go on any of the big rides.

 But free definitely works. :) Maybe next time we'll go alone or with other adults!

Graham had the time of his life.

He is not known as a risk-taker, but he is definitely getting more adventerous in the ride department which I am happy to see!

 Eden is our risk-taker, though unfortunately there were only 2 rides that I could ride with her on.

But let me tell you, she giggled the entire time. She loved it.

Graham decided this little turtle roller coaster was everyone's favorite.

We rode it several times!

 Even brave enough to raise his hands. :)

 Another benefit of mostly staying in "Kiddieland" was absolutely no lines. Graham didn't have to wait more than 3 minutes for any ride. That makes everyone happy. :)

This was the only ride they had to stand in line for, it was a 'big person' ride. It zipped around pretty fast! The boys loved it.

 Eden's other ride - the carousel. It also went pretty fast - G has a death grip on that pole. :)

They both loved it.

 Waiting to take a train ride.

 Mommy has a little weakness for the occasional cotton candy.

The kids were quite gleeful about that.

 Eden did very well considering she spent a lot of time chillin' while Graham did rides!

wow, this ride is intense!

Would you like to be one of those little kicking feet?

Andrew says NO, I say maybe. :)

We had the best family night together - so much fun!

Kennywood is a great park, I think we might have to make it a yearly event. :)

As we're driving out of the parking lot, Graham says with a sigh.......I miss Kennywood.

Sign of a good time. :)

An extra special 4th of July

I am slightly belated in posting.....better late than never, I guess.

Andrew & I started our holiday early (as a late anniversary celebration). On July 3rd we were able to head out for the night, the entire night (!) & next morning. It'd been 18 months since we'd had Eden's "babymoon" it was lovely to have some extra time for just the 2 of us. Ironically Kristin did our babysitting both times. Whatever will we do when she leaves for Liberty this fall?!

We booked a hotel thru priceline and got it for less than 1/2 price - yay! We spent the evening walking, walking and more walking. We love that - reminds us of our trips in NYC & DC where we'd spend 12 hour days walking! We started out in Station Square where our hotel was, walked thru Market Square where we stopped for dinner, and on to the North Shore.

The Ragatta was going on and we caught some of the boat races.

Seeing a Pirates games from the outside

dinner!

our hotel

 beautiful night

As we were taking one more walk in the morning, I suddenly started cracking up. I realized we were wearing the exact same outfit (we're both wearing khahi shorts too). Ironically I had packed for both of us. Oh well, happy birthday America. :)  

and then it was off to the fireworks....

both kids have flags, though Graham couldn't keep his still long enough for a photo. :)

I did break down & buy G a light up sword which he loved.

it was an amazing display (and no, this is not my photo!)

Somebody was a little tired the next day. :)