Ye Olden Times

Uncle Ron gave an interesting speech at the family reunion about how our ancestors made their way across Pennsylvania and Ohio into Indiana. They made their way through forests in wagons and on foot, with nothing but the twinkie to see them through. Our ancestors braved the harsh conditions that were common when traveling in the early 1800s: fording rivers, managing snakebites, constant bouts of dysentery, frequent stops to shoot buffalo, stopping to bury those that had died of drowning or snakebites or dysentery or cholera or fever, and of course nagging children. You see, it was the twinkie that these brave pioneers relied on. Leaning heavily on the sugar to get through the midday slump and quiet any children of their nonstop questions of "Are we there yet?" These twinkies were their driving force and because of that we honor them with a twinkie tower*. At least I think that's what Uncle Ron was saying; I wasn't really paying attention. Anybody want to play Oregon Trail?




*This year's tribute brought to you by John Rhoades, with special thanks to Courtney Rhoades for the design.

Happy Bastille Day!

We like to celebrate the storming of the Bastille by taking Maya out for some birthday ice cream. That's sticking it to the Man.

Kittens!

Maya's a cat person and it didn't take long for her to work up the nerve to pick up a kitten. I'm pretty sure everyone took turns showing Maya how to hold the kittens, but she preferred to hold them in a manner that was certain to squeeze the life out of them. So after each kitten got a chance to see how their lives were at risk around this kid, natural selection came into play, and well, I don't think the black one is going to make it.

Sprinkles* was wise and knew to hide from the little person who smelled of goldfish crackers.

*Just looks like a Sprinkles, don't you think?

His Dream Tractor

There were plenty of toys to go around at the farm. Motorcycles, golf carts, four-wheelers, and tractors and Maya took a turn on them all (not necessarily while they were running). This tractor was very loud and sounded like it was going to die at any moment; which made it all the more impressive that Maya was willing to go anywhere near it.

Jenny showed up just in time to catch a ride.

Video of Piggy!

Only a day old! And the grunting, so cute!

Piggies!

When we arrived at the farm, we were told about the pigs that were born the day before. I had never seen baby pigs before and these guys were too cute! It's just amazing that something this adorable becomes something so fat and gross. And tasty.

*I just thought it was worth mentioning that during our trip, Maya managed to walk in, sit on, and even pick up manure. I think she definitely received the "farm experience."

One Very Short Visit

Our drive-time to visit-time ratio was all off on this trip. In total, the drive took about 26 hours and we were only in town for about 48 hours. On the plus side, Maya was a fantastic traveler who handled the drive like a champ and only turned into a crazy person once we reached the hotel, and even then she was running around screaming with a huge smile on her face. Dad was shocked at how well she was in the car. See, that's the great thing about having one kid- no backseat bickering.

The best part of the trip was how quickly Maya took to Grandma. They haven't seen each other since Maya was 4 months old but you wouldn't have known it by looking. Maya needed a moment to warm up but it didn't take long before she was climbing all over Grandma. For weeks leading up to our trip, Maya would talk about how she was going to see "my Grandma" and "my Grandma loves me." It's nice that there are some things in life that you can always count on.





Maya has always had a weird relationship with dogs. She likes the idea of them but doesn't want them to come near her and doesn't seem to like to pet them. We have exposed her to all kinds of dogs and puppies and yet she only likes them from afar. If you give her a few days she will eventually come around to playing with Buddy, Uncle Mo's golden retriever, but that's about it.

Well, she finally found a dog that she liked almost instantly, the pitbull:

Of course.

Play Dollhouse With Me?

Jason wasn't able to accompany us to Indiana so instead of risking my sanity I asked my dad to ride with us. His original plan was to ride up to Indiana on his motorcycle, from southwest Florida. Which, in case you were wondering, would take almost 20 hours without stops. He decided to take me up on my offer. So he rode up on Thursday so we could leave first thing on Friday, drive ALL DAY, spend about 48 hours in Indiana, and then pack it up and head back. I went with very low expectations on the amount of rest and fun I would have given the fact that I was going to be spending four days with a soon-to-be-three-year-old whose schedule would be turned upside down.



About 5 minutes after Poppy arrived at our place, Maya dragged him into the living room to play dollhouse.

Awww, poor Poppy. He died of boredom.

*Cue Banjos*

On our way home from Tennessee, these people were merging onto the interstate at the same time. Guy is sitting in his RECLINER in the bed of a pickup truck on the INTERSTATE.

Oh, Tennessee. This is not going to help your reputation.

Gone Fishin'

Maya went fishing for the first time during our Tennessee visit. She even caught a couple of fish! I don't think I ever had that much luck. But I never used worms as bait. Since, you know, they're worms.

There Will Be Cake

As part of the weekend events, there was a birthday party for Maya. She is now under the impression that she gets a birthday party whenever we visit family. Whatever gets her in the car.

Guilt Trip

About a month ago we spent a quick weekend in Tennessee visiting family. We didn't get to see everyone we wanted in Tennessee or Indiana because both trips were so short. We traveled on Friday and Monday and only had Saturday and Sunday to visit. I think it would be much nicer if anyone who is related to either Jason or myself or anyone we have ever met could just live in the same state. That would make visiting family and friends so much easier on me and would seriously decrease the guilt. And isn't that what's important? Making me feel better about living in a different state than any member of my family?

The biggest occurrence during our visit, at least to me, was Maya jumping. She had never jumped before. We always worked on it but she just couldn't get both feet off the ground. After all the time spent showing her how to do it and practicing in bounce houses, she finally got it by playing on her Granny and Papaw's trampoline. I've never been so excited to see someone jump. Now she's my little frogger.

Pics of the recently acquired ducklings:

Hey! I Have A Blog

Yep, so I see I missed an entire month of posting. Normally, I would have noticed this and put in some last minute posts so I didn't seem so lazy, but I had better things to do, like sleep. Oh the naps that I have taken the last few days! Naps so wonderful that I didn't wake up until a little person had pulled themselves onto the bed and was kicking me in my head. I have many pictures to post including pictures of our trip to Tennessee and Indiana. And if you're sitting there thinking "Hey, I live in Tennessee/Indiana, why didn't they visit me?" It's because I forgot you exist. Please don't take it personally.

Enjoy this picture of Maya shaving. It seems like kids are going through puberty younger and younger these days.

A Few Moments

As an end of year gift, Maya's teachers sent each student home with a little photo album with candid pictures they had taken throughout the school year. Here are just a few:

About to take a bite of a donut hole on "Donuts with Daddy Day."

The look she gives pretty much any adult who attempts to communicate with her.

The aftermath of what was clearly a very healthy snack.

Apparently Maya had been playing in the princess costumes before this picture was taken.

Last Day

Yesterday was Maya's last day of school. We now have 3 months without the benefit of an activity filled school day. We also have 3 months to get this kid potty trained. The countdown begins.


First day of school:
Last day of school: