The Play Structure

Well as most of you know Doug decided he needed to build Chloe's play structure from scratch. So here are some photos of his work. He isn't quite done but as you can see he has come a long way. It is pretty darn impressive. This first picture is where he began: with an isosceles triangle to support the end of the swing set portion.

This is the structure at the end of day one.

On day two he added a roof.

The slide started off attached to the platform, but when Chloe went flying off of it due to the steepness, well we had to work out a different plan, so now there is a second lower platform off to the side.

And this is what it looks like now. He added railings and the rock wall yesterday. He was building the rope ladder when I woke up this morning so, I imagine that is going up before he leaves. Pretty impressive.

Spring 09

Our little budding artist. Chloe definately had more fun playing with water than painting.

Chloe learning to drink her smoothie from her Chloe mug.

Yep, got to tip your head back.

Ahhhhh Freedom from the sippy cup, isn't life grand!!!!

Easter09

Chloe at her first Easter Egg Hunt. She really was quite happy with just one egg, that is after all, all that you need for a good shaker, ha/ha. She had a great time and got to sing songs with the Easter Bunny. Our good neighbor Miss Stephanie went with us, she is in the picture below. We had a great time.

No idea what Chloe and I are talking about here but, it must have been pretty important, :)

VT Feb 09

Echo Park

Bridget and Chloe

Chloe with Joe's Trucks

So Chloe and I headed to Vermont this winter to spend some time with Reyna and the kids while there were on a winter break. We had a great time. Chloe got to go ice skating, they wouldn't let her on the ice with just her shoes and the smallest skates they had were over double her size but that didn't stop us, we laced her into those puppies and got her out there. Her Aunt Reyna did most of the work and Chloe was demanding, she wasn't happy unless Reyna was going fast :0.

Chloe also got her first exposure to the snow, while she wasn't a fan of being bundled up she did seem to like playing in the snow. Not sure how much she liked the cold thing but, she isn't really used to that level of cold. At the top of the page you can see her playing in the snow with some of Joe's trucks, that was by far her favorite thing to do outside. The other picture is of Bridget giving her a ride on the sled. The other pictures are of Chloe and her cousins at Echo Park, where they got to play with a Water Table go on a Archaeological Dig and see a bunch of animals. Chloe made a point to wave and say Hi to as many of the animals as she could. It was really cute. Overall we had such a great time and Chloe just had a ball with her cousins. Bridget is awesome with her, she was constantly watching out for her and helping her with different tasks, it was great to watch. The three kids at night were hilarious in the bathtub for some reason Chloe thought it was hilarious to put her face in the water and then she stood up and yelled dance and of course her cousins obliged her with a good dance, it was hysterical, not sure where she gets her moves but she can booogy down with the best of them. I think Reyna and I had the best time watching the three of them.

Pensacola

At the beginning of February Chloe and I got to head over to Pensacola and visit the Brachers. Somehow I failed to get a picture of them with Chloe but, I can say that we had a great time. On a walk down to the beach we even saw a snake, thankfully a nice man willingly threw him off the trail for us. Sunday afternoon Mrs B, Chloe and I headed down to the park that Mr and Mrs B helped build and let Chloe have some fun playing on all of the equipment. The visit was too short but we will be back. On our way home we had a one day excursion to New Orleans where we met Doug and there too we had a great time. Chloe was a real sport about the crazy route home.

Aruba

Well the trip to Aruba went well. Chloe even given the odd hours of travel did very well. We had an awesome time. As it turns out if there is anything Chloe likes more than rocks it is sand. She likes to dig in it, put in her hair, eat it, and walk on it. She also seems to really enjoy the ocean, she would crawl into the water and back up the beach chasing the waves, it was so cute and she liked getting rides from Doug and I in the water. It is so much fun to watch a child explore a situation for the first time. It really was a great time. We went to the beach everyday and as you can see from above we went to a Butterfly Farm where I am pretty sure Doug and I had more fun than Chloe, although she did enjoy watching the butterflies, the Koi and the turtles (she just wasn't a big fan of all the talking), she is quite a nature enthusiast (must get that from her dad :)) and finally we (I use that term loosely) decided to drive along the North shore one afternoon, oh mind you there are no paved roads there, just dirt ones and we were in a Mitsubishi Lancer circa 1990's so we were in a great shape. Although I do have to admit despite my panick that we would get stuck and have to carry Chloe across the island to the inhabbitted side it was beautiful on the North Shore, the waves were huge and there were amazing rock piles everywhere, need to look up what those were about.

phoenix09

Well we had a great trip to Phoenix. Chloe loved and I mean LOVED the rocks and the oranges at Grandma Meg and Grandpa Art's house. She had so much fun with the rocks we later found them everywhere including her diaper (no idea how she managed that one). She ate citrus to her hearts content while watching planes fly overhead, what more could a girl ask for? We also stayed with Aunt Megan and Uncle Jeff who it turns out also have rocks and tons of toys, so she was in heaven. Her cousin Angela has a new puppy and you can see from below that she quite enjoyed the little guy. She also got a chance to pick up some putting tips from her Grandpa D, ahhh would that not make both her Grandpa and her Nano's day if she actually enjoyed golfing. And of course she went to the race and cheered me on with her Dad, Aunt and Uncle. I say the reason I was able to qualify for Boston was entirely due to her and her Dad's excellent coaching. We had a great time. Oh her Aunt and Uncle weren't able to get her walking but perhaps more importantly to some of you they taught her how to do the Touch Down sign during the Cardinals game, it was so cute, tried to get it on tape but the "panther" eyed me with the camera and the moment was over. On the last day we went to the Zoo and our little panther just loved the birds, who knew anyone could enjoy birds so much (well a ornithologist probably did :))

For more pics: http://animoto.com/play/cCMcMhvzbegKObgi0pa2cw