First stop on our Trip

On our way to Ohio we got to stop and spend the night at my Grandma Groves' house in Indiana. My aunts, uncles, and cousins came over and brought lots of good food and we had a nice time. Isabella had lots of fun playing with the toys my Aunt Anne brought over. It was a short visit and we left mid-morning the next day, but it was a very nice visit.

A kiss for Great-Grandma

Isabella and the ball pit

Remember Isabella's excitement over these balls she received for Christmas?


Well, my plan was to put them in her baby pool (minus water) indoors for an activity on a rainy day. Maybe we haven't had all that many rainy days, but only on a few occasions have we gotten them out. Even then, we've never contained them in any sort of area, until now.... Jeff went to work and used the old huge box her playhouse came in and cut it down to size. We threw the balls in and she's having a blast. She's entertained and contained, this could prove to be very useful!!!

Owie on her chinny chin chin

We got a call from daycare last week letting us know that Isabella fell and hurt her chin. They said she was fine and it wasn't bleeding or anything, but I was surprised to see what a mark it left when I went to pick her up. The actual report said she was dancing and she fell and hit her chin on the lunch table. Poor thing, it looks like it really must have smarted. I tried to get some pictures after her bath.

Kid's Day at Kinnick

Last Sat. we took Isabella to Kid's Day at Kinnick. Basically it is just an open practice for fans to go watch, so not much other than that was going on. It is fun to get into the stadium and be around a bunch of Hawkeye fans. I thought maybe Herky would be making an appearance, but it was probably a little too hot for him.

Isabella is pumped and ready to go in her cheerleading outfit

Isabella and Daddy in our new seats
Isabella and Aiden don't look too thrilled to be there, but I think they had a fun time..

Our trip to Michigan

A few weeks ago we took a trip to Michigan to visit my mom's side of the family. We left Wed night at Isabella's bedtime, so we could get some of the drive out of the way while she was sleeping. She slept, but was wide awake and smiling when we got to our hotel in Chicago. Luckily, we got her back to sleep with out much of an issue and she slept ok in her pack and play that night.

Funny pic of Isabella in the hotel room

Thurs morning we met Pa (Jeff's Grandpa) at Gabe's for breakfast. As usual, we had delicious omelettes. It was great to see Pa as we don't get to Chicago as much as we'd like to.


We made it the rest of the way to Michigan on Thurs (it was only about 4 more hours). We stopped at a playground to let Isabella play and grabbed some lunch. We got to Great-Grandma's (GG) house in the afternoon. Grandma was already there from Florida as well. That night we went to an ice cream social. Isabella did the fishing pond with Grandma.


On Friday, I got up and went for a jog and had a run in with a dog. He threw himself into my legs and I went down hard on the gravel. Just a little "road rash" and luckily he didn't bite me, even though he was growling at me. Megan and Ryan (my cousin's Tom's children) came over in the morning and Isabella loved playing with them. She'd let Megan do just about anything to her, pick her up and everything!
In the afternoon, we went over to Tom and Sue's for a little swimming in their inflatable waterslide. Isabella actually had a blast, although she does look terrified most the time.

Friday night we went over to Uncle Jim's for a cookout. The kids went swimming and Isabella had fun watching and running around. Lots of water out there though, so we had to make sure we were constantly, constantly watching her.



On Sat, we went to Ann Arbor to a petting zoo at Domino farms. Isabella had fun looking at all the animals. The highlight was taking a hayride through and stopping by a bunch of cows. As soon as we stopped, the cows came running at us and we were able to feed them. I was surprised that it seemed like Isabella actually wanted to feed them.

That night Jeff fell into the window well in the sunporch when he was trying to spy on me putting Isabella to bed. It scared the crap out of me. He broke his phone. I fell in a window well there when I was two, so now we have that in common.


Sunday was the Mann family reunion. I think there were around 50 relatives there and it was nice to see everyone. Isabella screamed when she rode in the barrel train, so I barely got a picture of that.

My cousin Jeff's son, Jacob, gave us a couple of golf cart rides. He only just turned 6, so he can barely reach the pedals, but he's a pretty good driver. Still, it was a bit like being on a thrill ride being on the back of that thing.


On Monday, we headed back home. We made the whole trip in one shot.

All of our pictures can be viewed here: Michigan July 2009

Must-dos while visiting Great-Grandma in Michigan!

1. Run down the big hill



2. Eat a soft pretzel on the porch



3. Eat sweet corn at the Mann reunion (she actually eats it off the cob!)



4. Feed the fish at Uncle Jim's



5. Play with the old, old, old, toys in Great-Grandma's toy closet ( it didn't take her long to remember where the toys were stored)




We used to do all those things and more on our visits to Michigan and now Isabella is doing them too.

More details on the trip to come!

Isabella's 18 month checkup (at 19 months)

Isabella had her 18 month checkup last Monday. All is looking good for her. She got 4 shots, 1 in her arm and 3 in her leg. She took them pretty well, but it is still sad to see her get shots. We discussed her biting quite extensively. Our doctor is not worried, she still thinks it is just a phase. Daycare doesn't like the fact that sometimes she "bites for no reason" and "picks on a little boy who isn't as mobile and can't get away".

Nothing much new to report. She's big into copycating right now. If you take a drink of something, she takes a drink of something and thinks it is pretty funny. Overall, she's been in good spirits lately! Yay!

Here are her stats:

Height: 32'' (50th percentile)
Weight: 26.5 lbs (75th percentile)
Head: 18.25'' (45th percentile)

Tiffenfest Petting Zoo

I'm a little behind on my blogging, we had a trip to Michigan last weekend and I have lots of pictures from that to post. For now, I had wanted to post about the petting zoo we took Isabella to a few weekends ago. It was at Tiffenfest, which there isn't really much going on with that, but they did have a kid's carnival which Isabella was too young for. In the next few years it will be perfect for her. We did let her go into the petting zoo, and she had a pretty good time. I thought she'd be pretty scared of all the animals, but she actually went after them to pet them.



I was taking pictures of Isabella and this cow not realizing she totally had her hand on its butt. (You don't want to know exactly where her other hand is in the picture). Maybe she'll want to be a vet when she grows up?....


On a side note, I felt sorry for this cow, I don't think it was feeling so well. I hope all these animals don't mind the constant harassment by children.

A couple of videos to note, the first one was right at the beginning when we went in. I didn't really realize how "friendly" the animals were or even how many there were or how big some of them were. Animals were basically constantly running into me and touching me while I was trying to video, but you can't really tell from the video. It is why I'm laughing so much and it was also being witnessed by another lady who was talking to me while I was videoing as well. I like the way the animals keep sneaking up on Isabella and there is a goat at the beginning with a strange cough.




Thought it was cute how much Isabella wanted to use the hand sanitizer. She usually only uses her "more" sign for food, so I think it is cute when she uses it for other things. This was after we'd already given her sanitizer once or twice.