Bus Ride

Amelia loves buses.  She thinks every big vehicle is a bus and points them out wherever we are.  So today, I took the girls on their first bus ride . . . and we went to the library, so that we could do two fun things in one day. 

Waiting for the bus.

 So excited to be riding the bus!

 Sophie didn't seem too excited, but at least she wasn't fussy . . . which was great since she didn't get her morning nap.

The driver said I could let Amelia sit in the driver seat (nice guy, huh?), but knowing how she loves to sit in our cars and "drive", and not wanting to create a scene, I chose to opt for just in front of the bus.

It was a great adventure, and the only mishap was Amelia's skinned knees - from falling on the sidewalk as we ran to the library.  But thanks to the librarian who gave us 2 band-aids, even that was just more to tell Daddy when he got home from work ;)

Ken's Gig

Ken had a gig tonight . . . a concert in the park . . . in a nearby park . . . from 7-8pm.

I thought, "this is perfect!"  The weather is great, I can take the kids, they'll enjoy seeing Daddy play, we'll be back home before bedtime, I'll get to enjoy the music, and everyone will be happy.

So I packed up the house - you know how it is when you take kids anywhere - and we drove 20 minutes to the park.  We got all settled in, said hello to Daddy and sat through 15 minutes of announcements and blah, blah, blah.  And then the music started.

And this is what Amelia did.

We tried moving farther away from the music, but wouldn't you know it, the city of Olympia has a great sound system . . . and it was loud everywhere!  And Amelia just wanted to go home.

Sophia didn't seem to mind it . . . she can't figure out what Amelia is doing.  She thinks Daddy and his band sound pretty good.

So after 20 minutes, we pack up the "house" and head back home.

I bet some day, we'll be the ones complaining that Amelia's music is too loud ;)

Firsts

A few weeks ago, when I was with my cousin at the park, I let Amelia take her first picture.  I had forgotten all about it, until last night when I uploaded other pictures from the camera to the computer.  Considering Amelia is only 2 1/2 feet tall, I'd say she did pretty good - if she was taller, she would have nailed it!

 Last night when we were looking at a house, we let Amelia and Sophia explore the house . . . and suddenly Sophia was climbing the stairs!  We don't have stairs at our house and this was her first experience with them.  I was pretty impressed that she made it half-way up before I carried her back down the stairs.

Things Swirling in my Head

• The granola bars are great and Amelia loves them, but I think when I make them again, I'll make a bunch of them more "Amelia" sized, which will hopefully make them less messy for her.
• We got pre-approved for a home loan.  I have a love/hate relationship with house hunting.
• Sophia is at the stage where she likes to pull herself up to furniture.  But I often find her in the bathroom standing up holding onto the diaper bin.
• Amelia has a fascination/obsession with spider webs.  I can't keep up with cleaning up the spider webs in our home, and I'm tired of hearing Amelia pointing them out to me.
• I am grateful that this time when we're house hunting, that we have more than a weekend to do the whole process, unlike when we bought our condo in Flagstaff.
• Sophia is into everything; Amelia was never like that.  Magazines are torn to shreds, CDs are thrown all over the floor, dirt and leaves come out of potted plants.
• I love that Amelia is talking more, but my favorite is the songs she makes up . . . especially when I can only understand a few words in each song.
• As we get more serious in our house hunting, our list of things we want and don't want seems to get longer and longer.  Is it possible to find the "perfect" house?

Photo Book

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Create your own custom photo books at Shutterfly.com.

(The photo book I made of our family reunion is supposed to be visable here, but for some reason it's not loading.  If you click on the link to see it bigger, it takes you to Shutterfly.com and you can see it there.)

Granola Bar Recipe

For Brenda - my easy granola bar recipe.  Easily adaptable to family likes/dislikes.

1 C. Karo Syrup
1 C. sugar
1 C. almond butter, sunbutter, peanut butter (creamy or smooth)
        (I used almond butter)
The recipe calls for a total of 8 C dry ingredients.  Following is what I used:
4 C. oats (I used quick oats)
2 C. rice krispies (or your preferred cereal)
1 C. sunflower seeds (I used roasted, but not salted)  My sister used flax seed, but I couldn't find any.  Or you could use chopped nuts, or more oats/cereal. 
1/2 C. mini choc. chips (or mini M&M's) (the choc. chips melted when I stirred in the sugar mixture, which again made me think I had got the sugar mixture too warm, but I think I prefer it melted, because then Amelia can't pick out the choc. chips)
1/2 C. raisins, chopped (or other dried fruit)
1/4 C. shredded coconut (I'm not a big fan of coconut, but this small amount just added sweetness without too much coconut flavor)

In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients; set aside.
In a small pan, heat and mix the Karo syrup and sugar until well-blended.  Add almond butter and mix.  When well blended, pour over the dry ingredients and mix well.  (I had a really hard time mixing it; not sure if I over-warmed the Karo syrup mixture?)  When well blended, pour into a greased cookie sheet; press mixture into pan and let cool.  When cool, cut into bars.  (I got over 24 bars.)  Wrap in foil.  Refrigerate and/or freeze to keep fresh.

(Not a great picture, but you get the idea.)

Sophia's Update and other ramblings

Can you believe Sophia is 9-months already?  I can't, but I'm loving it.  At Sophia's Dr. appt, she measured in at 28 inches and 17 lbs - tall and skinny.  She is sleeping through the night, has started crawling, has 2 teeth, and has the longest reach (meaning - don't put food containers on the table near her high chair or they end up on the floor; something I keep forgetting).  And we finally moved her to her own room - yeah!  It's way over due, but we haven't had an opportunity to move her until now.  Now I just need to teach her to go to sleep on her own.

In other news:

• I made the yummiest granola bars yesterday from a recipe my sister gave me.  It was so easy and easily adaptable to whatever you prefer in a granola bar.  The hardest part - not eating them all at once ;)
• It was super hot in the Northwest last weekend.  I don't do heat and was so glad that Ken's parents (who we were visiting) both had AC at their house, and that Grandpa had a mini-wading pool.

• As I've been feeding Sophia, and cleaning up her messes, I am reminded how much I HATE having cream colored carpet under the dining room table.  Really, who thinks that is a good idea?  I'm trying to think of a convincing argument to present to our landlord so that he'll put in something else.
• After multiple episodes of chasing Amelia in parking lots and somehow, miraculously avoiding her being hit by a car, I purchased a "leash" for Amelia.  It's a stuffed monkey, worn like a backpack, with a tail for a leash.  I was a little paranoid about what other people would think of me as I used it, but it has been great.  Amelia loves her monkey buddy and it gives her the freedom to run without having to hold onto my hand.

Family Reunion Part 2

A few more random, but favorite photo moments from our family reunion.  Amelia and her cousin Emma hung out a lot together, which Amelia loved (she just doesn't look so happy in the picture).

Amelia loved being in the hot tub or swimming pool or ocean with Daddy.   Thank goodness for Daddy.

Sophia with my parents.  (Unfortunately I didn't get a good picture of Amelia with my parents.)

My two favorite guys.

Amelia surrounded by some of her cousins.

Sophia crawling in the sand . . . and loving it!