Happy Birthday!

For the fourth year in a row, Emma must've wished for good weather for her birthday! With temps in the low 80s and beautiful sunshine, it was once again a perfect day to be in the backyard celebrating Emma's big day. As you can see, Emma chose ladybugs as her theme, and she and Grandma Karen made and decorated a beautiful cake to match. Emma also decorated the cupcakes all by herself! Friends Lily, Bobby, Madelynn, and Maci all seemed to enjoy themselves as well, first with a game of "pin" the dot on the ladybug (a 5-way tie), then, later, with a dip in the kiddie pool and sprint through the sprinkler. We were happy to have many extended family members there to celebrate with us, too!

Baby, Don't You Wanna Go...to Chicago?!

Our "big" vacation this summer was to visit Chicago. Todd and I had been there several times before, so we knew that it would be a great place to take Emma. With Daddy's White Sox fanaticism, we of course went to a game. We also took in the Museum of Science and Industry, with Emma enjoying the enormous model train set and a "ride" on a real Boeing 727. The boat tour and ride on the Navy Pier ferris wheel gave us beautiful overviews of the city (Emma said the ferris wheel "reached up to the sky"). We dined at Rainforest Cafe, with a "volcano" for dessert and a balloon rainforest frog. On our third day, we visited the Children's Museum, which captivated Emma with its hands-on exhibits, especially the ones encouraging role-play in different jobs. We finished our visit with a trip to the Field Museum (where we saw the real t-rex skeleton, aka "Sue") and Buckingham Fountain. Emma was a great little traveler, with rides on the El Train (subway), bus, trolley, and on foot (thank goodness we took the stroller). Emma's now just as convinced as we are that Chicago's the best city in the world!!!

A new to-do at the Toledo Zoo!

As a part of our "big" vacation we take every summer, we made a stop for a couple days in Toledo to see Grandma Karen and go to the Toledo Zoo (our primary destination was Chicago, so this helped to break up the drive). Emma was so excited to see the new baby elephant, Lucas! He was born just a matter of days after our last visit over Memorial Day Weekend. We got to see him nursing, eating straw, and following his mother. Emma liked his "cute little trunk" the best! We also enjoyed the children's area, where Emma got to role play being a vet, bee, spider, and bird. In spite of the heat, it was a great first afternoon of our trip!

Emma, Graceful Ballerina

I bought Emma some new pajamas a few weeks ago. With a pair of sparkly ballerina slippers pictured on the front and a removable tutu, they were a bit more extravagant than what I'd usually buy, but what mom can resist Carter's on clearance?! Anyways, she immediately insisted they were NOT pajamas, they were a REAL ballerina costume, and she was not going to wear them to bed and ruin them! She has, however, enjoyed wearing them around the house and practicing standing on tiptoe! Now, she's asking for ballet slippers and a hair bow for her birthday to complete the set. She insists she wants to go back to gymnastics classes this fall, not start ballet lessons, but she's awfully cute in her ballet "costume"!