October blues

Well Mia and I have the October blues. Its cold out. We are bored with our little house. Everyone we know is sick so we haven't been going out with people much lately. Its dark by 6 (soon to be 5). The worst of it.....Mia is now waking up between 5:30 and 7. Too early. No more 8 or 9. I loved those days.

We have made an effort. We went to Play Pals. Its a children's gym. She had fun there. Its going to be in the 60's this weekend so maybe we'll get out and have some fun.

We did go and see the Extreme makeover house. I'll post those pictures when I go get a picture of it finished. It was a circus but such a nice thing to happen.

Africa WOW!

As members of the Glen Oak Zoo we were able to preview the new Africa! wing of the zoo. The animals aren't there yet so we got to go into places that you aren't normally allowed. I've been seeing the dust stirring behind the gates and all the tractors moving around but I had no idea it was going to be this awesome. It tripled the size of the zoo. I can't wait till spring to see it all come together. The best part is the hidden trenches. You think the animals are all together but they can't get to one another.

Mia, Josh, my Mom and I all went. Mia has figured out echoing rooms. So she screamed every time she knew it would echo. That was fun. I'm glad my membership money has been put to good use.

Go Cubs Go!

Well it has been awhile since I've blogged. I've been busy. September is a busy month. Josh and I joined his family at Wrigley Field. It didn't go well. The Cubs lost big time. It was still nice to be a Wrigley for the first time. We took the train in and that went well. Much easier than driving and paying to park.

Mia has been enjoying herself. We've played outside and taken advantage of the last bit of warm weather. Josh and I planted pole beans this year. I'd say we picked at least 20 batches of beans. It has been great having fresh veggies. Everything is looking pretty poor. Its about time to rip it up.

Josh lost his Grandma today. Wilma lived for 91 long years. She will be missed. Mia loved going to her house and playing with her noisy stuffed animals.

Botanical Gardens

Josh and I took Mia to the Botanical Gardens last weekend. We spent 30 minutes trying to take pictures of a 18 month old. Not easy. Out of about 40, 4 turned out pretty good. By next year she'll do better.

Mia at the Fair

We spent last weekend in Southern Illinois with Josh's family. Mia got to drive Pa Pa Dale's boat. Which she did very well. She also swam in Lake of Egypt. She is so good on the boat. She loves it.

We also went to the Duquoin State Fair. I'd never been before. Mia had a great time. I have to say, you really don't know what hot is till you spend time in Southern Illinois. Wow. We were hot, but had a great time anyways. Mia rode some rides and played a game. She also went to the petting zoo. I was happy....I got my 17th Street BBQ.

Mia loves it down there. She's enjoyed the 3 trips we took down there this summer.

A Day at the Zoo

My Mom, Mason, Mia and I all went to the Miller Park Zoo today. What a wonderful place. I had not been there since I was a kid. It is a very nice zoo. The weather was cool. Mia loved being with Mason. She got to ride her very first ride. I had been wanting to take her on a Merry Go Round but at the carnival its $6 a ride and I think I'd have to pay to go on with her. $12 is a bit much. They had one here today and we both rode for $1.25. She enjoyed it.

Then we went to the playground right outside of the zoo. They have a water area and a very big playground. We played but its never long enough for Mia. After that we ate at Steak and Shake and went to Toys R Us. We are getting ideas for holidays and birthdays. They are right around the corner.

Southern Illinois

The three of us took our annual Rachel's Birthday weekend trip to Southern Illinois. It was quite a surprise that the weather was so nice. It is usually miserable down there this time of year. It was in the low to middle 80's the entire trip. Very nice. Josh and I took a small trip down to Metropolis. Its the home of Super Man. We went to the square and took our pictures then headed to Fort Massac. I took the tripod so I could actually be in those pictures. It was so nice we picked up lunch and ate it at Fort Massac. On the way home we got an invite to join Josh's friends at Blue Sky vineyards. So beautiful! It is in the middle of no where but such a great place to go. It has 2 beautiful buildings, a lake and huge umbrella's to sit under on the lawn. I'm not doing it justice. Everyone should really go see for themselves. They are also part of the Shawnee wine trail. http://www.blueskyvineyard.com/ and http://www.shawneewinetrail.com/

We also went out to eat for Rachel's birthday at a Japanese restaurant. It was delicious. Saturday we went out on the boat. Mia loved it. She sat on the seat and acted like a big girl. She had a great time. Sunday we visited and headed home.

MIC-KEY M-O-U-S-E

Mia has been introduced to the Wonder World of Disney. I'm thrilled. I've loved Disney my entire life. I was so upset when our Disney store closed. Now my daughter loves Mickey. She watches the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on Toon Disney. Well we came across a Mickey at Walmart. I let her hold it. That was it. It had to be hers. I could have tore it out of her hands and had one of those episodes we've all watched happen with the kids screaming as the Mom runs out of the store. But we let her have it. She loves it. I can't wait to take her to Florida to Disney World.

Over the weekend Mia got a blow up ball pit. She really enjoys that. It was really hot so we didn't do too much outside. Sunday we did go to the park for the band concert. Josh worked. It was his first weekend for Moonlighting. We'll be happy to see that.

Dog Days of Summer

Well it must be the Dog Days of Summer. We aren't doing as much as we have been doing. Its so hot outside. I'm tired of yard work. We've been pulling weeds for days. Yesterday we went to Chuck E Cheese. At least it was cool in there. Its the first time Mia has been since she learned to walk. She loved it. You can't tell it from the pictures. I'd put her on a ride and she'd get so serious. When the ride was over she'd be kicking and screaming as I took her off.

This weekend went by pretty slowly. Friday we went out to dinner. Then I saw a Hot Air Balloon on its own. I haven't seen one by itself in years. I love it when I do. Saturday we went to the riverfront for breakfast as usual. Then Saturday night was Man Night. Josh had a great time. Sunday we stayed home until the band concert in the park.

Its been awhile

Well its been awhile since I've posted. It seems like every spare moment I get on the computer I'm doing my Photoshop lessons. I've been working on this for weeks. I've read 108 pages and have done many lessons. I'm almost done with getting photos into Photoshop and organizing them. Maybe by next week I'll actually start working with my photos.

Since my last post we've done many things. We went to a Chiefs game with Josh's work. It was so hot but Mia had a great time. We went to Josh's parents for the weekend. We had a Christening to go to Down there. I got to meet some of Josh's family I'd never met before. We had a really fast but nice visit. We did find time to get out on the Lake. Mia had fun on the boat and swimming in the Lake. I did not enjoy the lake swimming. The water was as hot as bath water and the fish kept biting me. I also got accused of being a "City Girl" by a stranger. But Mia was having fun so I took one for the team and stayed in. Since then I've been unpacking, doing laundry and catching up on sleep.

Photoshop!

Well anyone who knows me knows how much I love taking pictures. Sometimes I don't even feel like I've been to an event because I spent so much time taking pictures. Well Mia is definitely my favorite photo subject. Well, she's a little fair skinned. So most of my pictures of her look washed out. So I decide with my birthday money that I'm going to buy Photoshop. Well its the most expensive thing I've ever bought myself that wasn't jewelry. So I do my research and also find out that you must buy the book that goes with it or you'll be lost. More $$$$. So I bought the Classroom in a book.

I haven't been to school since 1999. I remember my computer classes. I was so bored! I was irritated at all the older students that didn't know what they were doing. I did all my other homework while they were learning how to turn on their computers. Wow 9 years later and I'm that older student. Thank Goodness its just an at home lessons class. I have to reread everything at least 3 times. I'm sitting here in a cold sweat wondering what I got myself into. I've been working at it for an hour and all I've done is learn how to get into the program. Yikes.

Hopefully I'll get the hang of it. Maybe in the next couple of weeks my pictures that I add to my posts will look beautiful.

Lazy Weekend

Well we finally had a lazy weekend. Friday we went to the Hot Air Balloon Festival in Peoria. It was too windy to launch any balloons but the weather was great. We sat around enjoying the cool breeze and eating fair food. Mia stayed right with us the entire time. We didn't have to chase after her or strap her in the stroller. My Mom stepped on a snake which made me want to turn around and go home!

Saturday morning we went to the riverfront for our breakfast and playing. Mia played in the water this time. She had a great time. She's not afraid of it at all. That night we went to a birthday party for her friend Jake. He's 2. The kids had a good time playing together.

Sunday we went out to the Shoppes and walked around. Mia played at the 2 different play areas. I bought my book for the Photoshop software I just bought. I can't wait to start playing with my photos.

Happy Birthday America!

Well we had a busy and fun 4th of July weekend. Friday the 4th we had a BBQ at my brother's house for lunch. Then we had family out to our house for Pizza and fireworks. It was a great time. We played games then walked down to the lake for the fireworks. Mia was not scared at all.

Saturday we had our breakfast at the park. Then we spent the rest of the afternoon resting. That night was Maddie's 4th birthday at my Mom's house. She had a good time. Sunday was rest and the band concert in the park.

Now Mia and I have colds. So its down time for us.