Sunday Fun

After the disaster of Saturday evening, it didn't take much to make Sunday afternoon more fun! After we all were able to enjoy a Sunday afternoon nap, we headed out the garden to plant our tomatoes and peppers. Rachel was all about helping- even if it did mean she had to get dirty. (I'm not sure that gardening will be a passion of hers- she doesn't like to have any dirt on her hands.)

Thanks for the gardening tools! She's making good use of them!

Dirt clods will not be tolerated in Rachel's garden.

I thought this picture would be cute when I took it. Looking at it now, it's obvious that Rachel is Nick's daugher. They have the same posture...right down to the way they hold the watering can. Wow.

She's excellent with the watering can. This will come in handy since so far this spring, things have been dry.

My favorite girl in front of my favorite flowers!

THAT'S the Rachel I know and love!

Rachel loves to walk Pepper. Last night after many rounds through the house, Rachel took Pepper to the deck saying "Mon! Mon!" (I'll decipher... it's Rachelese for C'mon.) Pepper humors Rachel, but will look at me as she goes by with an expression that says "Why did you give her the leash?"

No evening would be complete without a spin around the house post-bath in her birthday suit. Best part is when she sat down and said "Brr..." Didn't deter her, as you can see.

The best made plans...

Saturday was our 5th anniversary. In some ways, it doesn't hardly seem possible that it's already been five years since we said "We DO!" in front of God, our families, and friends. In others, single life seems like light years ago!
We didn't have big plans for our anniversary. We were planning a much needed and overdue date night out. Grandma and Grandpa Held were going to keep Rachel overnight- which meant we could go see a movie. I've recently finished the Hunger Games trilogy and with enough pleading, Nick finally relented and said we could go see the movie. While he finished planting corn, I cleaned the bathroom and threw a load of towels in the washer. As the washer hit the spin cycle, I could hear what sounded like a cascade of water. My fears were confirmed when I went down to find water gushing out of the pipe the washer drains into. Hmmm...
I flagged Nick down. He was equally thrilled to hear that we had a leak. After trying the snake, he determined there wasn't a clog and went outside to check the grinder pump. Sure enough, the pump wasn't pumping. Melvin was called in and the real fun began. I'll make a long story short. We did not go to a movie. We did not go to dinner at the Schnizelbank. But we have found a very wonderful plumber that as far as I'm concerned, we will use forever and ever. As if wading around in our sewage filled yard didn't qualify him for Dad of the Year... Melvin then delivered a pizza to our door, which we enjoyed while watching tv on our sofa.
My friend Alison asked what I thought 10 years of wedded bliss will bring. Only time will tell...but hopefully it will bring working plumbing! :)

Big GIRL!!

Look who's using the POTTY! We've been working on it for awhile...but now that she's been using the big potty, it's so much more fun. She even tells the items in the toliet "bye-bye" as they wash away. She's been pretty successful these last few days. She even used the potty at the car dealer today while we waited for my car. Most of our mishaps have been my lack of paying attention. Maybe it won't be long and we'll be diaper free! Good thing too- the diaper money can be handed over to pay for the new CD/stereo in my car!

A little light reading while she does her business.

Tale of the Squashed Butterfly

Rach and I packed our car for a roadtrip to IL to celebrate my mom's upcoming birthday. She'll be 29 again for the 24th time on Saturday...
The drive was uneventful and went well considering I had a 22 month old as my traveling companion. The money spent on the DVD player for the car has already paid off several times over. And so have the Elmo DVD's that Granny and Grandpa have supplied us with!
Saturday morning we had big plans for breakfast with the butterflies. Despite the griddle problems that caused breakfast to be late, the food was pretty good, although not exactly as plentiful as we hoped. Rachel was more than happy to share though....

They offered the opportunity to make a butterfly mask, but Rachel was not at all interested and we made our way to the conservatory where the plants, fish, and butterflies were plentiful. First stop was the frog. It was a pretty big hit with all the kids because it was something that could be climbed and/or ridden.

Rachel had the opportunity to get a butterfly tattoo. She even gave it some thought...so to encourage her, I got one too. But once she saw that the sponges were not there for cleaning and that a stranger was going to touch her, that was the end of that idea. Nana showed her the fish and how to play in the water, where she happily spent about 30 minutes. I was grateful she didn't try to remove her shoes and socks and go wading...

We finally convinced her that releasing a butterfly would be pretty fun. We were given two packets and once she saw how it all worked, she was very interested and LOVED to watch them fly, which illicited giggles and smiles.

As we meandered along the path, several butterflies were congregated on some hyacinths, including a big, beautiful monarch butterfly. I snapped a couple of pictures, including this one of Rachel's cute, chubby toddler finger pointing to the pretty orange and black butterfly.

To bad we couldn't have just frozen it here... anyone with a little person knows what happened next. The same chubby fingers grabbed those folded wings for a closer inspection. While I'm telling her NO! We don't grab the butterfly... the deep gasps and screeches of horror from 3 old women standing nearby cause Rachel to tighten her grip. They throw in a few "Let it go!" type phrases as Mom and I try to pry the butterfly from my now crying daughter's fingers. It flitters off, injured, to a safer place with the mean old ladies tisk tisking about how you can't touch their wings and "how sad". Off to a quiet corner we go where I try to comfort Rachel and explain that butterflies should be looked at but not touched. A completely different message than she had 3 minutes before when we released four butterflies that had been crammed into a small envelope for her entertainment...

The fun of the butterflies was definitely over- so we went back to the fish pond for a few minutes to calm our nerves. Rachel wasn't too interested in the butterflies after that...but found the fish to be safe with no yelling old ladies. I guess we can cross entomologist off her list of future career options.

As we were leaving, Mom shared our tale with one of the park department employees. She wasn't at all concerned about the butterfly...but rather horrified that these ladies ruined the butterflies for Rachel. I felt so much better when she made light of it by reminding me that none of the butterflies are endangered and it really was ok that Rachel touched/pinched one. After all, she's not even two- and the only way she can learn is by trial and error.

I hope that Rachel, Mom, Dad O. and I can all return to the breakfast with the butterflies next year. I just hope the mean old ladies have pancakes at home!