farm fresh

One of my favorite things to do in Boulder in the Summer is to go to the Farmer's market. No pics of the market here because it was just way too busy. But be assured that we sampled our fair share of veggies, cheese, and other treats. Natalie got her own baby cucumber and a carrot to chew on while we meandered. But that only sparked our appetite for lunch, so after stowing our purchases in the car, we made our way to The Med.

They have great bread at The Med, and great pizza. This is the first time our waitress ever deemed Natalie old enough to play with a ball of pizza dough. It came in a close second to the tastiness of the bread, but didn't taste as good dipped in olive oil.
And it was much more fun to squish between little fingers.
We had a near meltdown when, after lunch, we said it was too close to nap time to visit the splash fountain, so we made a detour on the way to the car.
Later that day we began our dinner preparations. Everything but the beets came from our own garden! I'm going to have to do another carrot and potato harvest before we move out, and all but one tomato plant will go with us.
Natalie's job is to peel the shrimp.
I helped with the skewering.
Everything was a hit with Nat except for the beet greens and green beans.
My faves were the roasted root veggies and the BBQ rubbed pork chops! (I wasn't too into the green beans either!!)
I can't wait for the next farmer's market day... I heard that the watermelon are in town!

Trip to Florida part I

Natalie and I got back last night from a very nice week-long trip to Florida. We went with my mom to visit her cousin Eileen who has a house down therein Cape Coral. It was great to get away, though it wasn't quite as warm as we'd have liked it.

The flight down was really good. There was an empty seat in our row, so Natalie got her own. And Dora was on the included Direct TV, so that was great. Though the headphones didn't quite stay in Natalie's ears... but being handy, and always equipped with knitting gear, we made it work.

We got to Eileen's had some dinner, and put the kiddo to bed. In the morning she discovered the little doggie greeter at the front door.
That day we went to the Edison-Ford house. We got to see the very impressive largest Banyan tree in North America, (not counting Hawaii). Very cool.
We went on a tour of the grounds, which was perfect for us since Natalie got to run around and get lots of fresh air. Though I didn't hear all that much of the info, the gardens were beautiful.


We got a really close up look at this lizard. The plant we were smelling when we spotted him is a vanilla orchid vine climbing up this weird spiky tree!

The giant green bamboo is the reason Edison bought the property in the first place.
And here is Edison's lab.
Later that day we went for a walk around Eileen's house to visit her local owls. These guys live on a protected piece of land in the development.
We went out to dinner that night to enjoy more of the local seafood. Natalie loves shrimp.
The next day, though it still wasn't that nice out, we promised we'd take Natalie to the beach. Boy was she ready.
There was a great little playground there - thank goodness since the water was so cold.
We walked down the pier there and talked to some fishermen. Everyone was so nice. Natalie got to see some live shrimp bait, though we'd just missed them catch some sting rays and a small shark, all of which they threw back.
It warmed up and we had some lunch.
And then we got a close up look at a sting ray trying to warm up in the shallows.
Natalie made some friends and had fun throwing shells back into the water with them.
By then she was about ready for a nap.
That evening we went out for dinner at a new Italian place - we could have eaten there every day it was so good. We got some raw oysters and some fried.

And Natalie got a pizza. She was so good, and ate a ton that night. Then ran around on the grounds for a while while we finished up.
And totally wore herself out.
I'll post the other half of the trip soon! We had a great time, but are glad to be back. It's going to be a bit of work getting settled back into our routine. But DH is done with freelance work for a while, and I don't have any more Christmas projects to work on, so we should be able to have a nice relaxing couple of months before our next trip at the end of March!

bumps, bears, and breakfast

So here's another random mix of pictures from the last couple weeks. I have some new ones on the camera that I need to load up, but I had to share these last few pics and stories from the last batch!

With Natalie's growing confidence walking and even running, (she has yet to get jumping or hopping, but not for lack of trying), she is accumulating a growing number of bumps, bruises, and scrapes. This one pictured below is from two weeks ago. Then when it healed up, she fell, three times in a row on her forehead about a week later. Getting a bump, then a scrape on the bump and her wrist, and on the third time, a new bump on her forehead in a different place. The kid's a bit clumsy, but hopefully she'll grow out of it. The bruises and scrapes are almost healed, and then yesterday she was going for a nice walk with her dad when she fell and scraped her knee! Earning her first band aid and learning a new word: blood!

Here she is taking her bear-conducted train for a walk. She always says "bye" and then heads for the garage door. She turns around, says "back!" and walks back in grinning. What a good trick! But she's finally got the pulling thing down. Before whenever she wanted to play with pull toys, she would just pick them up by the string and try to carry them along.
And now for some classic breakfast pics! Seems like spoons are a much messier way for Natalie to eat than forks. She doesn't have the right tilt down yet.

Rice crispies and yogurt:
Cream of wheat, (more fun to play with than to eat, but she does usually eat it all).
And a smoothie. Her favorite. She requests these a couple times a day.
And this one's more of a post breakfast pic: hot chocolate mustache!

playing catch up

Okay - so I couldn't get all the worthwhile pictures storied out this week, so here are the rest. We should be getting back from Texas today with a whole new crop of photos to share!

Peaches have been great! Natalie eats them whole. She's such a fresh peach and tomato fiend. I have to keep a close eye on her with the produce now. I handed her an avocado in the grocery store yesterday and she had a bite out of it while I was picking out my peppers! Not everything is as tasty as fresh peaches though.

Painting in the basement with dad.

And our crop from the garden! Natalie was very busy with a tomato, and then a carrot I'd wiped off. But then she saw me picking the grapes, and she dropped her carrot right back in the dirt and came running over! That poor white shirt! After the peaches, and the painting, the veggies were the last straw!

Early morning for members at the zoo! What a great day! I've never seen the animals so animated. We're watching the male lion here hanging out with his girls. I've only ever seen the lions limp, but they weren't that morning. It was nice and cool, and everyone was out to play.

Natalie was all monkeyed up that day. She even brought her little monkey toy. And in this shot she's looking at the monkeys! Very cool. When asked, she says that monkeys say "ah ah!". We tell her "ooh ooh, aah aah", but two syllables is still a stretch for her, so we're happy with that.

A few days later and it's story time again! DH came along with. And since I'm only half-brained these days, we accidentally showed up an hour early, (just in time for the baby story time session!) But it was a perfect day for kite flying, and I just happened to have my $3 grocery store special kite stashed in the car just in case the wind was right! And it sure was! What a perfect day for kite flying. You have to be prepared in Colorado, because the wind is usually either non-existent, or way too strong.
This shot was taken right before Natalie let go of the string, and the kite flew into a small tree in the library parking lot. Note to self - don't let babies hold kites alone.

Natalie was so happy to see Nupur and Aanya when they showed up! I love that she's got a little friend already!

And this story time went much smoother! Check out all those kids gathered for stories!

And at the end, the all "line up" to get a sticker! That trick still needs a bit of work.

Just another week in the Summer

Nothing particular to write about. We've been spending a lot of time on Shantibird. Check it out and pass it on to your yoga teacher! :)

Here's what Natalie does in the car.

There was a cold day and it was perfect for some Pho!

And then there were some really hot days - perfect for a play date with Aanya at the splash park!

Of course, the girls found the only muddy spot at the park, and spent most of their time there!

Aanya has learned to hold hands with her friends.... pretty cute, isn't it!

Here she is out garage sale'ing with us in front of a nicely landscaped yard!

One morning Natalie looked in the fridge and insisted on a Peperonchino pepper from the bottom shelf. Not my choice for breakfast, but who am I to judge?!

And here we are at the Neighborhood night out. Natalie got to check out a police car up close. Inside it she was only interested in the computer that was there. Our little button pusher.
And with all the excitement that night and the playground and sandbox so close, she just kept going back to the row of chairs lined up. Decisions decisions.
And here she is with her new morning toy. Playdoh! Why does it say ages 3 and up?! It's a new favorite!

That's it for now! I posted a whole months of pictures on Picasa! Check 'em out. And have a great weekend.