Tea Time

Here are a few pictures of Brenna having tea with some of her friends at church, including cousins Chuck and Della.

Hard to believe it's already Tuesday, hard to believe it's almost May, yikes!

Return To The Zoo

This morning we took advantage of the beautiful weather, to go back to the zoo with Aunt Beth and favorite cousin Rachael .

The monkeys were sleeping.

Brenna enjoyed playing in the newest splash pad, with her cousin.

There were many pictures taken with this large rabbit, this was my favorite.

Fun was had by all!

Weekend Is Here

I'm very thankful the weekend is here. Work was rough this week, and will only get worse leading up to my trip to South Carolina in early June, but we have the next few days to look forward to. I think we're going to do something outdoors with the rest of Emily's family tomorrow, since it's supposed to be cloudy and barely 80, just not sure what that something is at this point. But rest assured, if we have our camera in tow, you'll know about it in a future blog.

I don't recall posting this picture before, if I have, a thousand pardons. Brenna really enjoyed playing with some Play Doh animals that Emily made for her the other day, and here she is showing one of them off. I think she's holding a mouse. Or a marmoset, not sure.

Tonight while watching her new Disney Sing A-Long DVD, Brenna asked to be dressed like a princess. Here is what Emily came up with, a nice little dress that she says her grandmother made for her when she was Brenna's age. Brenna was pleased.

On a final, totally random note, when Brenna got home this afternoon, she went straight to her easel, and began drawing what looked like a box of odd proportions. When asked what she was drawing, she replied (something to the effect of), "I'm making Donna a house before she comes to the party". In talking to Emily, Brenna was apparently referring to the main character in the movie, "Mama Mia". Later in the afternoon, Brenna picked up Donna and Sophie (another character in said movie), and was carrying them around in her hand, I'm assuming taking them to said party. Imaginations run amok around here these days.

Some More Brenna

Brenna has been recovering from her coughing troubles. Last night was the best night of sleep for everyone involved here since Saturday or Sunday. I managed to stay away from the coffee this morning, after drinking way too much of the stuff earlier in the week.

It's still abnormally hot for this time of year, but we're looking forward to a nice weekend, with highs in the low 80s.

Now that I've briefly discussed the weather, keep scrolling for some random Brenna pictures that Grandma Sheila sent back on a memory card from her recent visit.

Hack Hack

This past weekend started off well enough. On Saturday we had family over for a cookout. Brenna enjoyed spending some time picking her nose with her cousin, and enjoying good conversation and snacks.

Then that night she woke up hacking, and is still coughing a good bit today. The last two nights have been very short on decent sleep. Matter of fact, last night Brenna came to bed with us, and I woke up at some point getting punched in the face. Emily got the other end of the child (kicking, thrashing, etc). At any rate, despite the rough evenings, there have been some bright spots in between, including:

- Rediscovering her Tigger that she got from Uncle Bill two Christmas' ago

- Realizing how cool her National Park blocks are when they're stacked up at the same time (on the side she's checking out, from bottom to top they show the changing landscape of Arizona from the desert floor to the mountains up north)

- Playing at the park across the street, going down the slide with Daddy

- Rocking the teeter totter with Daddy

- And finally, playing with some animals Emily made out of Plah Doh

Tonight, Brenna saw a baby at Target that she wanted, but we left it behind. As a way to bargain for some potty training, we told her that she could have the baby if she did her thing. After sitting on her little box with a hole in it for over an hour (including at one point asking Emily to squeeze her so she could go), she finally did her thing, and we went back to Target for her reward. Granted, we sure as hell won't be doing that every time the kid does her business, but we thought it was a good start to her doing this with some regularity.

Brenna's Room

Emily cleaned out Brenna's room recently, moving the glider out, and moving in some new storage. She also thinned out large quantities of toys that Brenna said could go to a little baby. Our next/eventual step is to get a larger bed for the child, and get her up off the floor.

No new Brenna pictures at the moment, I had a fun night with her while Emily was away at a church meeting, but didn't think about taking any pictures. We colored on the couch, watched Wow Wow Wubzy on her DVD player, played Dollar Store in her room (exchanging imaginary dollars for crayons, she was putting these dollars in what she called a money bag), and catch with her Arizona Diamondbacks ball and bat. For now she's treating this little padded bat as a golf club, holding it upside down and whacking her little ball around the floor. Tonight she managed to roll it under the oven, and we found many a lost treasure under there when I went to retrieve it. She's getting pretty good with throwing as well, and can catch if she holds her arms close together, and I hit her square in the chest. She has just as much fun catching it as she does missing it and running after it to throw it back to me.

Oh yes, before I forget, Brenna pulled a fast one on me tonight. While playing in her room, she was jumping on her mattress and I was watching her with my back turned to the hallway. Right in the middle of jumping, she stopped suddenly, looked past me and yelled, "Hi mama!". I wheeled around, thinking Emily had gotten home from her meeting, and there was no one there. Brenna, seeing me do this started laughing like crazy. That wiley girl, she's indeed tricky.

Missed One

I missed an Easter shot in my haste yesterday, my apologies. Here's one of Brenna in her Sunday outfit, complete with a poncho that Emily crocheted.

At any rate, there you have it.

Brenna continues to be a busy little girl. She continues to enjoy her kitchen, and spends her afternoons serving dinner to Emily and I. Tonight I was handed a croissant and an ice cream cone. A winning combination, for sure.

She also is thoroughly enjoying puzzles. She has one with giraffes on it that she puts together, I think there are maybe 9 or 12 pieces to it. It takes her some time, but she gets through it with little help.

Another favorite right now, much to my dismay, is the movie and accompanying soundtrack from Mama Mia. This afternoon she was singing/mumbling some of the words from Super Troopers, one of her current favorites. She also bellows along to It's A Rich Man's World, Mama Mia, and of course, Dancing Queen. Shoot me now. No, serious, it's not all that bad, we could be listening to the Anti-Christ, aka Barnie, or something equally hideous. She also bellows out "Ratt!" and "Voivod!" (with a growl), upon command, a small price to pay for making me listen repeatedly to Abba.

Oh yes, and tonight, while Emily was cooking dinner, Brenna was observing, and blurted out with "Rock on, mommy". Genuine appreciation, I think, and words to truly live by.

Rock On.

Easters

Here are a few quick pictures from this past Sunday. A shot of Brenna pulling some Wubzy's from her eggs, holding up her new favorite duck, and posing on the Dave Mustaine bench.

A fun day was had by all!

Return To The Zoo

Grandma Sheila has been visiting the last few days, and on one of those days we went out to the zoo to see the animals, etc. It was hot, over 90, but we managed to spend a good three or so hours out there before Brenna gave in and napped in her stroller, and decided to call it a day.

Here she is playing at the splash pad, a very popular spot that day.

Going down a twisty slid with daddy before she decided to conquer it on her own.

Going down the same slide with mommy.

And finally, conquering another fear, the dreaded merry-go-round.

And at last, peering down at me from the top of the giraffe observation tower, which she insisted she climb all of the steps by herself.

One More From Florida

I think I can squeeze one more decent post out of our Florida trip.

Here goes.

Here's a shot of me and Brenna on the beach at sunset. Emily did a great job on this one.



Here's one of Emily and Brenna somewhere at Busch Gardens, looking at something interesting.

Here they are again on the train that goes around the park.

Here is Brenna looking for hippos at the aquarium, another stop we made in the Tampa area.

And finally, probably one of the stranger pictures I've taken. I was trying to take a picture of Brenna when she suddenly threw this ball at my head, and this is the end result.

Back To Florida

You only thought I was done with the Florida pictures. Oh no, there are plenty more to come. I haven't been feeling terribly well lately, so the blog updates have suffered, but I'm back tonight with a few shots of Brenna and family at one of the parks we went to while in the Tampa area.

The humidity supposedly wasn't bad during our visit, but on this afternoon it seemed pretty oppressive to me.

Brenna enjoyed climbing up and down these steps, numerous times. She does this at our neighborhood park as well, up and down, back and forth. She's a busy girl.

Here's a shot of Brenna kickin' it with Grandpa H (hardy har har). The girls got a pretty good leg and throws with both hands.

She's also a big fan of slides, this one was the opposite of the one at the water park, pretty slow, and she commented on this (the thrill seeker that she is).