Water Table Fun!

Natalie's Granny and Peepah got her a water table for her birthday. The morning after her party, we set it up on the back deck and took it for a test drive. My famous last words: "Nah, I don't think we need to put her swimsuit and swim diaper on." Ha.

Already soaked by the time I got the camera.

Hey, Daddy needs a bath! By the way, the water out of the hose was COLD!

And there goes the shirt.

After telling her that she isn't allowed to stand in the water table, we compromised and let her splash her feet instead. (By the way, I love the monkey hanging out in the Croc "boat.")

A little bubble-blowing was definitely in order.

Ahhh, that was fun. Now it's time to snuggle with Daddy and get warm.

Just Add Peanut Butter

I thank my lucky stars that Natalie is not one of those unfortunate kids with a peanut allergy. The kid LOVES her peanut butter. And that is totally fine with me because she even likes the unsweetened and unsalted stuff! Ingredients: Peanuts. She likes it on her sandwiches, in her smoothies, on her bananas, and on a spoon by itself. (Gah! Have I been reading too much Dr. Suess?) Well, we've recently come up with another use for peanut butter - - vegetable dip. It seemed strange to us at first, but who doesn't love a good Thai peanut sauce!? If you ask me, I think she has a mature, complex palate!

These veggies are boring. They need a little sumthin' sumthin'.

Ahhh, yes! Peanut butter to the rescue!

Poor Mr. Roly Poly

This poor little roly poly was the subject of Natalie's curiosity the other day. She is fascinated by nature, large and small, but she will rarely touch anything herself. Usually when we point out a frog, ant, spider, etc., she responds with "Mama (or Dada) pick it up!" Depending on the critter, sometimes we will, but she is quick to pull her hand away when we try to hand it off. But when Allen picked up this roly poly he was able to drop it into her hand before she could pull it away. Once she realized that it wouldn't hurt her, she had fun rolling it around in her hands and examining it. That is, until she dropped it on the ground. And then we decided to release Mr. Roly Poly back into the wild.

Hey, this isn't so scary after all!

Poke. Poke. Are you in there?

Come on out and play, Mr. Roly Poly!

Whee! Mr. Roly Poly rolls just like a ball!

Suwanee Sprayground

Natalie and I took a nice, long walk with Meega and Poppop on the Suwanee Greenway on Saturday morning. Afterwards, we changed Natalie into her swimsuit and let her splash around in the sprayground at Suwanee's Town Center. Thanks, Meega and Poppop, for a fun morning! Let's do it again soon!

Tuckered out from the walk.

Looking more and more like a "big kid" every day. Sniff.

Norcross 4th of July Festival

The three of us packed up a picnic dinner and headed to downtown Norcross for their 4th of July festival, which was actually held on Sunday the 3rd. We weren't really sure what to expect since I had just read a brief blurb about it online that mentioned pony rides and fireworks at dark. Well, it turned out to be a toddler's paradise. Natalie had a ball playing on the playground, riding a pony, a "train," and a swing, getting an airbrushed butterfly tattoo, and watching the fireworks. I was a little apprehensive about keeping her up for the fireworks after such a long day, but I'm really glad we stayed. Not only was she not scared, but she was shouting, "More,""Again,"and "Bang, bang!"

I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story...

First pony ride ever! She obviously hates it.

A regular cowgirl.

Getting an airbrush tattoo. Now when you ask her about the tattoo, she says, "The boy sprayed it!"

Smiles of approval.

It came with glitter, no less.

Getting ready for the "choo choo train" ride!

Wheeee! There were a few tears when we had to get her off the train. Good thing somebody had a dog nearby. Distraction: A parent's best tool.

Picnic time! We all enjoyed some corn from my dad's garden. Yummy!

Did I mention that this kid loves to eat corn on the cob?

Time to dance!

More dancing with Mommy.

One last swing ride before the fireworks. She was not happy about getting off this ride either. Luckily the fireworks started shortly afterwards.

Is anybody there?!

Hello? Is anybody still reading out there? Yes, it has really been 8 months since my last blog post. So, what has the Bray family been up to? Well, I'm glad you asked! I'm finally done with my contract position (more to come on that) and have some time to blog again. Hooray! Let's see if I can get you all caught up!