Art Cars

We took Gramma and Grampa to Mt. Dora where they had art cars. They had toys and other stuff glued all over them. It was neat! We also saw a train while we were eating. A few days later we went to the Build-A-Bear Store (Aunt Michelle and Uncle Peter got us gift cards at Christmas). We got to pick out a stuffed animal, then we helped to stuff it and put a heart inside. We even got special outfits for our animals. You can see that we match our animals pretty well. It was nice having Grampa and Gramma visit. We miss them.

Family visit

Mikayla: We had a great time having some family visit. Aunt Jenny, Grampa and Gramma all flew in an airplane down from Michigan. We took them to SeaWorld to see Shamu and sharks, and penguins and stuff. It was very, very hot. They let me go in the splash zone in my clothes and get very wet, and I just stayed in my wet clothes the rest of the day. We missed Aunt Jenny, she went back home on an airplane and we kept asking when she was coming back. She slept in my bed and I used the air mattress from Colorado!

A new tune

Daddy pulled out the guitar to play some music. It was fun to dance along. Maybe I will be a folk singer when I grow up.

Turn-around

Elijah: A few days after my birthday I got a great surprise. Dad put my car seat facing forward. I now have a view and like to clap my feet together when I'm excited!

Stuffed

I love to snuggle close with my stuffed animals!

Poo Family

Today I went to the potty before nap time. I saw three...items...in the toilet and told my gramma; "That's the daddy, that's the mommy, and that one is the baby."

Quote of the Day

I was playing with my pink cowgirl hat today, pretending to be a cowgirl, and Mommy tried my hat on. I said, "You're a cow, Mommy!" Why was that so funny?

One year birthday!

I turn one year old on August 8th. I know mom and dad want me to take my first step, but I think I might wait a week till Grandpa, Gramma and Aunt Jenny get here. But I did do the sign for "more" to get more Cheerios for breakfast ☺. Mom decided yesterday should be my picture day so they put a sheet on the bed and sat me up there. It wasn’t too bad; they gave me props to work with. I’m pretty good at being cute. My real personality came out a little later with the help of some hair gel!

Messy!

Mommy spent a bunch of time putting all our stuff away from the road trip and daddy had to mow the lawn. Elijah discovered he could make big messes by emptying out the bookshelf! Yesterday we got to go swimming in our little pool. It was nice to splash in the water. Elijah kept bending over and trying to drink the water.

Buggy

Although this was an image you'd expect to see along scenic Route 66 it was actually part of the Swetsville "Zoo," a sculpture park in Ft. Collins. Some of the sculptures were big dinosaurs and were scary!

The trip home

From New Mexico we drove east and stopped by the Cadillac Ranch (just like two years ago). The cars were painted all over! We kept driving and driving and driving. One day we drove through New Orleans to see what it looked like two years after Katrina. We could still see some white trailers and boarded-up houses, but others looked fine. After 4 days driving we finally arrived back in Orlando. We were all very happy to see home!

New Mexico continued

We noticed that Elijah likes to drop things over his shoulder--a few blocks even made it down inside his outfit. We also celebrated mommy’s birthday there by going up on another mountain. We found a bunch of ladybugs on top and it was fun to let them crawl on our fingers.

New Mexico

After Daddy’s conference was over we headed south. We stopped at Garden of the Gods park in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and had a picnic lunch--just like two years ago. Then we kept driving and driving and finally arrived in New Mexico--not old Mexico. We went to visit my friend Emery, or EJ as he calls himself (just like two years ago). Mommy and Daddy are close friends with Emery’s parents. Emery just got a brand-new little sister. She mostly slept while we were there, maybe in another 2 years we will have fun playing with her, too. They live in an adobe house! We had lots of fun; we took a walk at the base of the Sandia (Watermelon) Mountains. We found some cool bugs; mom was on the lookout for scorpions and tarantulas. I wish EJ and his family lived close by. We’d have lots of fun running around and around.

My adventures

Elijah: When we got to Ft. Collins I decided to forgo baby mush and only eat small bites of finger food. (Sometimes I’d eat yogurt and applesauce too.) I liked eating grown-up food. I also liked pulling up on everything, including the toilet and toilet-paper holder! My sister used an air mattress as a bed and I was in a pack 'n play. Sometimes we would both get on the air mattress and mom would bounce us--that was very fun. We liked sharing a bedroom; although I had some naps in the hall 'cause my sister wouldn’t stop talking. She would call for me--I want my brother back!! A few times mom and Mikayla even gave me a bath--in the kitchen sink!

Fun stuff

Mikayla: I got to play a new game in Ft. Collins, it’s called bowling. It has cool shoes and heavy balls. I did pretty good, better than mom at times. I used bumpers, so no gutter balls. They also had a carnival with lots of bounce houses, a giant slide and pony rides. It was fun but we were up way past our bedtime and I had a meltdown which let mom and dad know it was time to go.

The Mountains

We went to the town of Estes Park a few times (it's in the mountains). We took a tram ride up to the top of a smaller mountain. They had chipmunks up there that would eat peanuts out of your hand. We also went into Rocky Mountain National Park and drove way up high in the mountains. We hiked around Bear Lake, and I helped push Elijah. We didn't see any bears. We saw some big elk, and it was cold on top of the mountain.

City Park

One day we went to the city park pool. It was awesome. Mommy and daddy went down the big water slides and I went down a little one. We had corndogs for lunch--yummy! There was also a kid-size train there that daddy and I rode! Oh, and a playground that we went to many times. They also have a small lake and a few very big frogs! One day mommy even picked me up from childcare and we went to the park for lunch.

Arriving in Ft. Collins, CO

We were a few hours from Ft. Collins, Colorado, when Daddy had to pull over on the highway and get under the van. Our fuel line came loose, so he fixed it enough to get to Ft. Collins. They have big mountains just west of Ft. Collins--they are amazing! We stayed in our own apartment in Ft. Collins. Mommy had to mop the floors a few times cause our feet (and Elijah’s hands and knees) kept getting so dirty. We got to do some fun things in Ft. Collins. I got to go to childcare, which was usually fun but I did cry a few times when mommy dropped me off. I got my own pink lunch bag that had a kitty princess on it. There where train tracks just a few blocks from our apartment so we could always hear the train coming. It went right down the middle of the street.

Charlie & Lola

Charlie & Lola is my bestest favorite. Charlie has this little sister Lola who is very small and very funny and they live in England. Sometimes mom thinks I talk with a bit of British accent now. Lola likes seals and so do I and she likes to do lots of fun things. I smile whenever I get to watch them and Elijah dances to the intro music.

Summer Road Trip

I apologize for my lack of posts, but we went on a long van trip and didn't have much internet access. Now that we are back home, let me catch you up on all that has happened. The later part of July mommy did a lot of planning and packing while we were sleeping. Finally the big day arrived when daddy packed lots of stuff into the van, put the bikes on the back and we left Orlando. We drove and drove and drove and drove. We stopped for just a few minutes at our cousin’s house in Adel, GA, then drove a bunch more. I (Mikayla) had an accident in my pants as we pulled into the hotel. We had dinner that night with a man named Fred. I got to sleep in a BIG bed all by myself (well my kitty, other kitty and seal shared it with me). We drove some more that day, and then the next day was the 4th of July. We crossed the Mississippi river into St. Louis and stopped to visit the Gateway Arch. It was BIG! We rode in this tiny elevator car up to the top (mommy didn’t like it one bit!) and looked out the windows on top. It was high up. Then we drove a bunch more till we got to Kansas City, Missouri, where my friend Jackson lives. Elijah got to see his first fireworks, while Jackson and I slept through them. (Guess I should’ve taken a nap in the van that day!) The next day we got to go swimming in Jackson’s neighborhood pool; it was awesome! Then we left and spent a bunch more time in the van. I watched a bunch of videos: Curious George, Nemo and my new favorite, Charlie and Lola.