The McElroy's Visit

Our friends Erich and Carrie came to stay with us on their way up north. They brought their girls, Cassidy and Flora. Lilly really had a good time playing with Cassidy who is her same age.

First they read some books together.

We went for a wagon ride around the block.
Lilly sure is a little lady, huh? Good thing she's got shorts on and leggings. Wouldn't want to be showing everyone her diaper.
The girls picked some flowers for their mommies on the ride.
Then they played in the sandbox. Cass was a little unsure of this. Lilly likes laying down in the sand and Cass didn't even want to stand in it!

Then, of course, we had to have a tubby. They girls LOVED having someone to play with in the tub!

This video is the essence of everything a little girl is! Listen to all those giggles and screams! (Don't mind my giggles in the background!)

Then Lilly got to hold baby Flora. Doesn't Flora looked overjoyed to be held by Lilly?

Thanks for coming McElroy's! We had a fun time!

Swimming!

Good news. Grandpa opened the pool!

Dear Grandpa Henning,

My new swimsuit came in the mail today. I've been wearing it around the house for an hour now, even though it's raining outside. I hear the weather will warm up soon. Please open the pool for your favorite granddaughter.

Love, Lilly

Dresser

I totally should have done a before picture for you. But I forgot. Here is Lilly's new dresser. Yep, we went a whole 22 months without a dresser. After piling clothes on the bottom of her changing table and hanging a lot of stuff in her closet, I was now able to organize and hide everything in a dresser with room to spare. Mom and dad brought the dresser up on Saturday. It was brown with some silver hardware. I bought the knobs and paint at Menards, painted the knobs with acrylic paints and, whal-lah! Maybe someday Lilly will get new big-girl bedding to match it. We'll see.

Sandbox

Lilly loves playing in the dirt. So, to foster her love of dirt, I bought her a sandbox. Mom and dad came up on Saturday to bring a dresser for Lilly (I'll post a picture of the finished project later). I talked dad into helping me put the sandbox together while they were here. Grandma did an excellent job of keeping Lilly entertained while we put it together in the garage. She played quietly in the sandbox for a good 45 minutes that evening. I'm pretty sure she tried to eat some as evidenced by the sand plastered on the left side of her mouth.

Happy Birthday Dow Children's Garden!

This morning Lilly and I helped the Dow Children's Garden celebrate its' 10th Birthday! Story hour started at 10 (we arrived for about the last 30 seconds of the story), then we helped open a birthday present for the garden-a bubble table at just the right height for little hands to splash in (and occasionally blow bubbles)! We enjoyed a cookie (I, personally, was hoping for cake as I didn't eat breakfast before we went), watered flowers, swept up some dirt, cautiously stood near the surprise water fountain thingy, looked at tadpoles, spotted some wildlife (a frog, lots of "Peekas," and a chipmunk), and Lilly's favorite-played in the bubble table.
I'm guessing she is making a run for the bubble table again. We went back three times to play in the bubbles and 'Little Miss I-Have-An-Opinion' made it clear to me that she didn't want to leave them. I wasn't too embarrased by her fit as there were about a million other kids there and most were screaming much louder than Lilly. Yes, people, she throws an occasional fit. Hard to believe, I know.Sidenote: "Josh" made an appearance in our video. We don't know Josh. I told you there were about a million kids there. I guess that would make about 500,000 overprotective, pushy moms too. (Not me of course!)

Ice Cream!

Lilly had her very first ice cream cone on Sunday. We went up to Harbor Springs (north of Petosky) to see Matt and Kara. Kara started her job as a veterinarian today in Petosky. We went out to eat on Saturday when we got there, watched the Wings kick some butt and relaxed. On Sunday Matt made us a delicious breakfast and then we headed north through the Tunnel of Trees on a scenic drive along Lake Michigan. We checked out the Legs Inn which is a really cool bar/restaurant/landmark. Then we headed back to downtown Harbor Springs and walked around a little. We stopped to get ice cream at Yummies where Lilly ate her first ice cream cone by herself. She got strawberry (or as she calls it "dawbies"). We can't wait to head up again when it starts to get warm (it was pretty cold!)



Matt and Kara had my camera charger since the wedding so I wasn't able to take any pictures of the other fun things we've been doing. Now that I got it back I will be sure to post more often!