Is it bad when...

Is it bad when your 2 year old is playing with a cup in the bathtub pretending to drink and says, "I drink a beer"? I'm just asking...

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

Fort Wayne has a "Low-A" Minor League baseball team called the TinCaps, formerly known as The Wizards. They are part of the San Diego Padres organization. This season is the first season for the new name and a brand new ballpark downtown (this came with a lot of controversy!). Ally received four free tickets through T-ball, so today the four of us went to a TinCaps game. It was a beautiful day for a ball game at a fabulous ballpark.

Our seats were almost directly behind home plate about half way up. No zoom needed for this picture!

The seats were empty today, but above right field is a section called the TreeTops. This area is rooftop seating similar to Wrigley Field. There is a grassy area beyond the outfield where there aren't any seats, but instead you can bring a blanket and hang out on the lawn.

Peyton and Mommy

Daddy and Ally

This might have been the highlight of the day for the girls...a picture with Johnny! Johnny Appleseed is the mascot for the TinCaps.
To end the day off right, the TinCaps beat the South Bend Silverhawks 11-2 with three solo homeruns in the 5th inning. It was a very fun day!

P.S.--For the college gals, Chris Watson our old neighbor at Campus Edge works for the TinCaps. Small world, huh?

Happy 2nd Birthday, Peyton!

Wow, can she really be two years old already? On May 18 Peyton Mary will turn 2. She is so feisty with all kinds of personality! As a newborn, Peyton was a quiet and content baby. However, she has found her voice and talks to us all the time now. She loves to say hi to people and continues to say hi until you respond to her. Peyton is a very determined little girl. If she wants something, she's going to persist until she gets her way. She loves cheese, yogurt (yogee), and salami (lami). We've been working on colors lately...I think blue must be her favorite because if you ask her what color something is the answer is almost always "blue". I know she can identify other colors though because if I ask her to show me the yellow one or the green one, she usually gets those right. Peyton also likes to sing the ABC's and Taylor Swift's Love Story with Ally (we really listen to that song WAY too much!). Needless to say, there is never a dull moment when Peyton is around! We love you , Peyt! Happy 2nd Birthday!

1 year old

1 year old

Allison pointed out that we have a lot of pictures with Peyton's mouth open!

2 years old

sitting pretty...for the moment!

So sweet!
Eating Strawberry Shortcake, which we put a candle in at Peyton's request. She also helped us sing to her tonight after dinner.

An Idea from a Co-worker

A co-worker of mine shared with me a special gift she will be giving her daughter for her high school graduation this year. I think it's an amazing idea and hope I remember to do something like this for my girls. She purchased the Dr. Seuss book Oh The Places You Will Go when her daughter was in Kindergarten. Every year she asked her daughter's teachers to write a short note to her inside the cover of the book (similar to a yearbook). Her daughter has no idea that her mom has been doing this all these years. I can't wait to her what her reaction will be when she receives this gift.

Sun & Fun in Florida

Over Spring Break we traveled to Florida for a much needed vacation. I was a little unsure about driving since we had never taken such a long trip with the girls, but they were absolutely perfect! Who knew they would be such good little travelers?! While in Florida we enjoyed some very nice weather most days. Within a half hour of arriving, Darren and Ally were in the pool and then out on the beach. We stayed with Darren's parents and as you can see, there was a wonderful view of the ocean from the balcony.

Ally & Daddy ready to catch some rays.

I love all the palm trees!

We just had to take a few pictures by the "lomster" at Our Deck Down Under. This is one of our favorite places for dinner right on the water.

We also have a picture "pre-Peyton" when Ally was 2 by the lobster in our scrapbook.

On a chilly day we headed to the jetty. The sun was bright, but it was very windy and cold to be out there for too long. That didn't stop us from spotting a few dolphins though!

Peyton loved the birds. Here we had a good view of a pelican sunning on the rocks.

Peyton and Ally spent lots of time digging in the sand. Ally had no problem getting coated in sand, but Peyton kept saying "yucky".

Looking for seashells. We collected a lot...I think we managed to leave a few in Florida.

Peyton examines a shell she picked up.

During low tide, there were two sections of water. You could walk out on the sand, into the water, back on the sand, and then back in the water. It was nice to have a shallow area for the kids to play in. In the center of this picture you can see Darren and Ally playing in the water.

Grandpa said this was his favorite part of our visit! The girls are drinking their smoothies we made for dessert one evening.

This is one of my favorite pictures.

Thank you, Ron & MaryLou for inviting us to stay with you. Ally keeps talking about when we go back to Florida...

My Spring Break Reading

I had several suggestions as to some good books for Spring Break reading, but haven't gotten to any of those yet. I did manage to read two books over break, both were good, but they were VERY different! The first book I read was a good "beach read"...John Grisham's Playing for Pizza.

Basically it's an easy read about an NFL 3rd string quarterback who goes to play football in Italy where it's pretty much a club sport. I wouldn't really consider this a sports book, more a life story with life lessons (fictional).

The second book I read was also a life story with life lessons, but much more heart wrenching and depressing...Khaled Hosseini's A Thousand Splendid Suns. I would not consider this book a "beach read", not light hearted enough, although I do recommend this book.

This book is mainly about the lives and treatment of people (primarily women) in Afghanistan over the past 35 years. It is a history lesson in the most personal of ways. At one point I wanted to put this book down and never finish reading it, but I am glad I read through to the end.

"I'm five years old today!"

And she sang..."I'm five years old today...and tomorrow I'll still be five...ready, set, go.."

Happy 5th Birthday, Allison! What a blessing it is to have you in our lives. You are so sweet, smart, and caring. We love you more every day!

3 months old and nothing but smiles

Still smiling at 6 months

I thought you were going to eat the flower when this picture was taken!

So big...learning to stand on your own at 9 months. This picture made Grandpa Renier so sad because you were getting too big too fast for his liking.


Our first "real" family photo. Look at all those curls you had when you were 1.

18 months old

2 years old...our little doll

Our brown eyed girl

A little lady at 3 years old

Our beautiful Ally~4 years old

Finally 5! Ally is all smiles...she got a Taylor Swift CD.

Making her birthday wish

Happy 5th Birthday, Ally!