My beach adventure

Today we went on a big adventure. We (Mami, Daddy, Grandma, Granddaddy and I) went up to Jacksonville and had lunch with Aunt Lizzie. Then we went back to Lizzie's apartment and saw Uncle Brian. And because it was thundering and lightning, we had to hang out there for a little while. Just as well, Aunt Lizzie had a present for me - a very cute Elmo outfit, which I immediately had to put on!
I gave her a big hug to thank her (and THEN insisted on changing clothes).

Then, when the storm stopped, we all walked a few blocks... TO THE BEACH!

As I told Mami, "I was a little worried about it", maybe because I remembered how much I hated the beach last year when we went. But once I saw the sand ("the big sandbox") and the ocean, I got very excited. I took off running, chanting to myself, "Feet, feet, feet don't fail me now!" - probably because, if you're not used to sprinting at full speed on the sand, it can be tricky.

Then Daddy and Mami took me in to the water! At first, I thought it was a little cold. Or maybe I was just surprised that it was salty?

But then I got used to it and had a great time playing in the waves.

I ran in the water and out of the water and in again. It was just about the coolest thing I've ever experienced in my whole entire life.

Then, I remembered that we had toys to play with in the sand too.

Like this beach ball. Look at me dribble!

Then Grandma and Uncle Brian helped me dig a hole - which filled with water!

I had fun playing in my hole.

But eventually, after all that playing and swimming and running, it was getting late and we had to leave.
Bye bye beach.

I hope I can go back to the beach some time very soon. It was the most exciting and fun day I can remember!

Go, Diego, Go!

Look at these super-cool shorts Mami found for me! (Yea, they're a boy's bathing suit, but if you don't tell, I won't!)

Go, Diego, go!

A dinner adventure

Mami and I went to dinner with Grandma and Granddaddy last night. (Daddy's away on another business trip.)
After dinner, I decided to liven things up by taking my shirt off. With a tank top, you see, this is a simple procedure.

First one shoulder, then the other, and voila:

No shirt! I thought this was hysterical of course.

Grandma and Granddaddy weren't so amused, though, so I pulled it back up.

But at least I'm learning to dress and undress myself, right?

My long-lost playgroup friends!

We went to a playgroup yesterday with my friends, most of whom I hadn't seen in many months. (Since Mami works so much, she doesn't have time to take me to these gatherings during the week.) We went to Avery's house, which is just beautiful. I played in Avery's room for a while, with Alexis.

And then Nathan, Avery, Ali and I had snack.

After that (and after our parents got tired of running around after us in the house), we went to the park that's nearby.
Everyone wanted to swing, so we had to share - I rode with my friend Sienna.

And then got some time to myself in the swing too!

After that we went to get lunch at a great pizza place and only drove the wait staff slightly crazy. When we got home, boy did Mami and I nap well! It was wonderful to see all my friends and see how everyone is growing and changing. I hope we can see them again soon.

Another hair cut!

I find it hard to believe that my hair keeps growing, but Mami decided the other day that it was time - again - to get me a haircut. We went to a new place this time, somewhere called a barber shop, and a woman named Miss Rachael cut my hair for me.
I was a little nervous at first, even though I sat in the big chair and had a cape on...

But Miss Rachael is a very smart woman. She gave me a lollipop, and then I forgot to be scared. So I let her snip snip away at my golden locks.

I liked looking in the mirrors so I could see what she was doing. (I could see Nana and Mami behind me too!)

Even when she was cutting the hair around my face, I didn't mind.

I was a very big girl at this hair cut and I look and feel so much better with my shorter hair. In fact, I told my teachers at school today to "look at my pelo" because I'm so proud of my new hairdo!

My friend Ollie

When Nana comes to visit she brings her dog Ollie (and her dog Shadow, but he's much more mellow than Ollie, so he doesn't get in as many pictures as Ollie does).
At first, I was scared of Ollie. But then I realized that we're about the same size, and even though she likes jumping up and kissing me, she really is just trying to be nice.

So, now we're good friends!
We spent a lot of time on the floor together. I hugged her,

and petted her,

and even offered to lie down and take a nap with her.

Now that she's gone, I miss her - it was nice having someone my own size to play with!

Fun with Nana

Nana and I have been having a great time together this visit! We've done a lot of fun things.
One day, she helped me make a fort out of my crib by putting my blanket on top of it. It was fun, but kind of spooky, so I kept popping out to say hi.

We also had a real tea party - with real (albeit weakened greatly) tea! I felt like such a big girl sitting at the table with my tea and my snack!

She also showed me how to do "Row row row your boat" together, and we rowed back and forth while we sang. That was really fun!

Nana brought me this pretty purple Dora visor as a gift when she got here - and it turns out she has a purple visor too! (Hers doesn't have Dora on it though, and don't tell her this, but I think she's got it on wrong...)

We smiled for a "dual visor gals" picture.

And then, since we were on the floor together anyway, I decided I could ride Nana around like a horsey!

We've had a really great time together, and I'm sad that she has to leave tomorrow. But I hope she'll come back to visit again soon!

Off to find Daddy

With Daddy still away in Reno, I decided to take matters in to my own hands and go find him myself. Nana helped me pack a suitcase the other morning, and off I went.

Traveling is such a pain, though, isn't it? I didn't get very far... So hopefully, Daddy will find his way home back to me soon.

A message for Daddy

Dear Daddy:
I know you only left for Reno this morning, but I miss you very much already. (I don't know where Reno is, Mami forgot to show me on the map, but I'll ask her tomorrow.)
I think you've been on an airplane all day, but we've had some excitement around here. When Mami and I got home this afternoon, guess who was there waiting for us: Nana! I know, what a surprise. I took her in to my room to play with her and show her all my cool books and stuff. Apparently, I talked her in to playing a little dress up before dinner, because this is how I came into the dining room:

Sure, the heat index was 104 degrees today, but what good are flannel pjs if you can't wear them whenever you want? (You should have seen what I dressed Nana in... but unfortunately no pictures of that!)
Then we had tacos for dinner. I know you like tacos a lot, so I ate an extra one for you. Yummy.

Nana helped me with my bath, and I washed my hair and everything. I know I never do this when you're around, but whenever you're not here I run around the house naked before putting my pajamas on. I was showing off for Nana tonight, I guess.

And finally, now, I'm ready to go to sleep. But I have one message for you before I go:

Good night, Daddy. I love you.
Love,
Resli

Celebrating the 4th of July

We had a big party at my house on the 4th of July. (As if we hadn't had enough parties around this house lately!)
Mami and Daddy told everyone they had to wear red, white and blue to get in to the party, so I of course had to get all gussied up too.

And then lots of people came over. We had barbecue, cake, tons of good food and a lot of fun. I like having "mucha gente" over to my house, I keep telling Mami and Daddy that. (We think I get this from my great-grandmother Dorothy, whom I know as Gaga - she was much more social than my mami is, I get my party genes from her...)
To help pass the time outside, we got a new water toy - it's a water ring sprinkler kind of thing. (Mami says the pools, blowing them up and filling them up and emptying them etc., are just too much hassle...) I wasn't honestly sure about this water thing at first.

But then Mami, er, "helped" me get wet.

After that, I wanted to just keep running in and out of the water all afternoon!

It was so much fun, I didn't even want to stop when the sun went away, it started raining, and my lips turned blue!

But finally I went inside and put on some dry clothes so I could play with my friend Max. I showed him all the toys in my room and we would have played there for hours if our parents hadn't made him go home eventually.

I hope you all had as wonderful a 4th of July as we did!

Dora, Dora, Dora....

When we had Grandma and Granddaddy's anniversary party last weekend, I got to see a lot of their friends and family, some of whom I'd never met before. I met my Aunt Sharon and Uncle Mike (well, really great aunt and uncle, I think...), and they brought me a present! They of course had no way of knowing how much I love Dora, but they sure guessed right - the gave me an adorable outfit with Dora and Boots on the shirt.

... AND this cool beach bag with them on it too. The bag is perfect for water days at school, I can carry everything I need in it.

I'm lucky to have such nice family, aren't I?

Happy Anniversary Grandma and Granddaddy!

Saturday was Grandma and Granddaddy's 40th wedding anniversary. Aunt Liz decided we should throw them a surprise party to celebrate, so we had it at my house. (It was supposed to be a surprise, but it didn't really work out that way.) BUT, it was a good party anyway. We had a big cake with candles, and I sang, just like at a birthday party.

I helped Grandma and Granddaddy blow out the candles (in the hopes that they'd give me a big piece of cake in return!).


And I showed Granddaddy that we even had a sign saying "Happy Anniversary."

There were a ton of people there, family and friends of Grandma and Granddaddy's. Here's a Ward family photo: Brian, Liz, Granddaddy, Grandma, Mami, me, and Daddy. (I look kind of upset because Mami had taken my Diego doll and thrown it towards the camera so I would look up from my book - it worked! And it made everyone --except me-- laugh.)

(There were lots of other people there, but I wasn't in all those pictures, so I'm not putting them on my blog!)