Two virtual friends meet at last

On the drive back down to Florida, we made a stop in South Carolina to see some of Mami's friends. I was really excited about this because I have been a big fan of Maleah and Ashlyn's blog for years, ever since Maleah was born. But we'd never actually met in person, so this was an exciting moment!

Here I am with Maleah.

We immediately started playing together, as if we'd been friends our whole lives. (Which we have, but just virtually!)

We both have little sisters, so we all took a picture together.

And then we let our parents join us too - here we all are:

It was a great visit and a nice way to break up the very long drive home!

Water adventures!

Next to the playground we played at in the afternoon, there was this little stream. Daddy wanted us to go take a look. I went a little further than that: in less than 30 seconds I had stripped down to my underpants and ran right in!

It was a little chilly, but I LOVED it!

Guess who I pretended to be? Ariel!

I sang and pretended to swim and all that stuff. It was so much more fun than in the bathtub!

Mami had no mercy with the fact that it was a little chilly, and she kept splashing me and getting me even wetter. But that's ok, I was having fun.

Until, that is, we saw THIS SNAKE!

There was a woman there who kept telling us we were silly to be afraid, but Daddy knows all about water moccasins, and this one matched every aspect of its description. So we did not wait around to make any further identifications. (What is it about me and Mami attracting snakes?!?)

Out and about in the Carolina foothills

We did so many fun things during our trip to Nana's that it's hard to remember them all!

One of my favorites was playing in this little area across from her house. 

I LOVED the gazebo and could have spent hours there!

We also went to the barn where Nana's horse lives. Look at all this open space for me to run crazy!

We took a break for snack time, too, of course.

Yes, Lela was there too. Didn't you know that?

A kitty cat walked by while we were snacking! I thought that was cool.

Later that day we went to a neat playground where they had all kinds of fun stuff to do.

And... there was a little river there. Next blogpost deals with that!

Passing time with Nana

There were a lot of reasons I was thrilled to spend some time at Nana's. Mostly, that we have a great time together. But also right up there is this wonderful merry-go-round horse that she has in her room, on rockers. 

(My mami remembers playing on this horse with Aunt Melissa when she was not much older than I am now, although it wasn't a rocker then. Nana has put a ton of work in to repainting and refinishing it.)

Nana helped me up.

I pretended I was a princess riding around my kingdom. (You're not surprised by the princess part, are you?)

I also had fun just hanging out and stuff too. I was feeling so happy that I even was willing to share my yogurt with my sister.

And Nana let me help her walk her dog Ollie. That's a big responsibility, but I think I did ok.

We had lots of fun, as you'll see in the posts coming up!

The family that road trips together....

... rents a minivan! We took a long drive this weekend to go see Nana in North Carolina. Even though I had my moments, I was overall a very big, patient girl and entertained myself pretty well on the drive (9 hours each way).

Thank goodness for mac-n-cheese at the lunch stop!

And of course, a good nap can always kill a little time.

Too many cooks in the kitchen?

Oh yes, most definitely. This was just the start of the mess!

It's magic. It's a mermaid. It's balloon-Ariel!

We went out to dinner tonight to celebrate the last day of classess for Mami for the semester. We went to Beef O's, which I've always liked. But tonight they had a magician to entertain us. He showed me tricks with cards and coins that sort of went over my head, but then he said he could make me something out of a ballon, like a flower or a doggie. I said I wanted Ariel... AND HE DID IT!
Check out balloon-Ariel!

(Sure, it requires a little imagination, but goodness knows I've got that!)
I'm thrilled with her. I spent the next hour or so feeding her, cradling her, rocking her and talking baby talk to her. Now she's sleeping in my bed with me. I don't seem to care that balloons smell funny.

My green thumb

Last weekend when Mami was away Daddy and I had some gardening fun. We got the necessary tools:

And dirt and seeds and plants.

I had a great time and was fascinated with the idea of planting seeds and watching them grow. Here's the little garden we created:

There are tomatoes, flowers, and some herbs. I'l let you know how they turn out!

Happy Easter! from Resli

Today is Easter! When I woke up this morning I discovered that the Easter Bunny had come to our house and left me and Lela each a basket!

Our baskets were awesome, they had Teddy Grahams and one book each...

 ...and the most exciting of all, matching fancy Easter dresses!

I immediately put mine on and danced around, of course.

We tried to take some pictures of me and Lela together, but it was harder than it sounds!

Hope you all had a happy Easter too!

A morning at home

Since daycare is closed for the foreseeable future in observance of Passover, we had a day at home with Mami today. She was folding our laundry when I discovered the bedding I use for my naps at school. Lela and I decided that it would be fun to play naptime at home.

That kept us busy for at least 30 minutes.

Then another joyful 30 minutes were spent unfolding, putting on, and taking off a variety of clothes items found in the clean laundry basket.

Who wants to babysit next week?!?

The story of Moses

At school we've been talking a lot about Moses in preparation for Passover and all. (We even apparently play a Baby Moses game at school!)
At dinner tonight Mami asked me if I could tell her the story of Moses... Here goes:

We're Lettuce Heads!

My sister Lela and I are "Lettuce Heads." That means that we wear these special T-shirts from Crispers restaurant (which cost $2 each), and then we get a whole kids meal (including fruit and milk!) for 99 cents! Can't beat that, can you?




Besides, how cute do we look in our shirts?!?


OK, Crispers, here we come!