Happy Birthday Great Great Grandma!

In honor of my Great Grandma Bea's 96th birthday some of my extended family got together at the Carpenter Nature Center to pick apples at the orchard and have a picnic lunch.  When Mary and Joe's kids were younger they would take Grandma Bea to the apple orchard and have a picnic lunch by the river for her birthday.  Mary decided it would be fun to relive that tradition and invited us to join them.  It was a great day and a perfect time of year to pick apples!  We hope to continue the tradition with them in the years to come!  

Larkyn was very interested in picking apples and Mary enjoyed helping her!

"Reach Mama Reach!"

Larkyn and I "shared" a Sweet 16 apple.  She ate the majority of it!  We paid for it tonight as she had a very red bottom:(.

After "lift, twist and pull" put it in the bag...

Kayce and Larkyn walking to the next row of apples.  We picked Macintosh next to use for apple sauce and apple crisp!

Larkyn's turn at the apple...

She had enough with the help, she wanted to do it on her own.  The grass was pretty thick in between the trees so she had a hard time walking without falling many times!

"Happy Fall Everyone!!!"

"What do you mean I have to take this apple out of my mouth?"

The Family Gang plus us:

My uncle Rick and cousin Kayce, Uncle Joe and Aunt Mary, and Cousin Tory and her fiance Travis

Tory and Larkyn

(Larkyn is one of the flower girls in Tory's wedding next July!)

Larkyn and Rick

(He wanted this picture for his funeral.  Apparently he's been planning his own. Why he is talking about his funeral...we don't know!!!)

Larkyn, Mary and Joe

Checking out the boats on the river

Pooping or just looking at boats still???

LOVE the face!  

This is when I knew I should be done taking pictures.  This was her "don't even think about taking another shot" look:)

15 months...

Its hard to believe Larkyn Kate is already 15 months old!  We had her 15 month well check and everything went really well...most of it anyway!  Larkyn had a hard time laying still to get measured...hence no more "see me grow" mat pictures.  We will have to start measuring her against the door jam soon!  At the doctor she weighed 24 lbs. 5 oz, which puts her in the 75% for weight.  She is 32 inches long, which is the 90%, and her head is 18 3/4 inches, also the 90%.  She is a growing girl!!!

Some of Larkyn's newest developments include; climbing on/off things, going down the stairs, unzipping and taking off a jacket or hoodie, taking all of her outside toys out of the garage to "play", opening and closing things, filling up and dumping out things, and talking more and more each day.  She loves her Larkyn, Larkyn Who Do You See? book and is starting to say some of the names of our family members.  She says May May, Sis and Art pretty well.  Other new words for Larkyn include; yes, uh oh, bow, cheese, bear, head, eyes, and please.  She will shake her head for "no" and sign "thank you" often.  She also likes singing "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" and "Barbara Ann". Well, she starts us by singing "Ba Ba Ba":).  

Larkyn now has 12 teeth.  4 on the top in front, 4 on the bottom in front, and 4 molars.  She is using them to eat more and more food, and flashes them when she smiles...which is often!  Larkyn really never passes up the opportunity to eat and enjoys trying new things, including raw carrot sticks.  She also continues to love cheese and asks for it almost daily.  Anytime the refrigerator opens, she immediately says "cheese"! 

Last minute I decided to do 15 month pictures, not really knowing how they would go with a VERY mobile toddler.  She was FABULOUS!  I taped up the sign, put her in the chair and she sat there with a big smile on her face.  It was like she knew it would be over quicker if she cooperated.  She was right...

"Can I do a silly one yet?"

"Time to be done...I've given you some good ones already!"

Two other shots from that day...

Today was also our first full day of summer vacation.  We had a playdate at the zoo with Hannah and Jessi.  It was a great time visiting the farm animals and playing at the park.  That is the great thing about having a zoo membership...you don't have to do it all in one day.  There are plenty of options for the little ones too!

Larkyn has been practicing her animal sounds. She knows the sound that cow makes quite well...

Though she did not love the big smelly cows very much...

Hannah loved the chickens...

Despite what your eyes made your brain think at first...no these are NOT real pigs!  They are just fake.  I would never let Larkyn play on real pigs!  She wasn't very sure about fake ones...

Larkyn and Hannah going down the slide together...

Well, at least they started together.  Larkyn took the first plunge down...

Hannah decided to stay at the top!

We had a great visit to the zoo and a very fun time with Hannah and Jessi.  

We hope to do more playdates again soon!

School's out for summer...last day at Tracey's

 The beauty of being a teacher is having the summer off to spend with my baby girl.  The bummer is missing her friends at Tracey's.  Larkyn was very blessed to have had such a great group of kids love on her and play with her this year.  Emily and Grace gave her daily attention and Carson and Cameron gave her extra entertainment on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  She especially loved Cameron as he was there during the mornings before going to afternoon Kindergarten on those days.  They got some extra bonding time and play time together.  Larkyn will miss seeing all of the kids over the summer, but will hope to get together for play dates every so often.

Cameron, Grace, Larkyn, Emily, and Carson

  

"What's so funny? Did Larkyn toot?"

What a great group of kids!  

I had the pleasure of teaching Grace, Emily and Carson when they were in Kindergarten.  

Larkyn loves Tracey.  I'm pretty sure it is because she gets whatever she wants all the time!  Just kidding, Tracey!  We feel so blessed to have found such a wonderful care giver for Larkyn.  We couldn't feel more comfortable or confident in a person to care for our daughter and provide learning experiences for her.

  

Larkyn loves Tom too!  She stays with him at times when Tracey volunteers at school.  She used to go to guys with little or no hair over her grandma or aunts.  We would say it was because of Tom:).

A beautiful weekend to be outside...

 It was a perfect weekend to spend outside in the pool.  And who better to have a pool party with than our neighbor friends?  Larkyn was sporting the sunglasses and learning how to share her toys and things with others!

  

Logan sporting the "sexy pose". 

"Umm, Brandon, I think I will keep this one, thanks!"

"Well if you aren't going to let me have your watering can, then I will try out your tractor!"

 Scott and Joey joined in the fun too...

 It didn't take Joey long before he found the pool. 

(He had just changed out of his swim trunks and got in dry clothes!)

 And then their were 3...

(Joey is slowly creeping further into the water.)

On to the cube slide...

Such a look of determination...

Such a big girl!

"Look at me! I can go down on my feet!"

How's that working out for you???

Joey officially made it all the way in and enjoyed every minute of it!

Grandma Debbie comes for a visit...

Grandma Debbie came to visit us the first weekend in June.  We took her to the zoo.  She hadn't been there since her honeymoon over 28 years ago! Needless to say a lot has changed since then.  And who goes to the MN Zoo for their honeymoon? Ha...just kidding Mom!

 

We saw the Grizzly Bears...

 We saw the camels...

We saw the Asian Wild Horse...

  

And then we saw the water fountains...

 Larkyn screamed with excitement...

Squealed with delight...

Stuck her head in the water...

 Smiled with joy...

And went back for more...

 "Hey, where did the water go?"

"Whoops! There it is!"

 It took some major convincing to get Larkyn out of the water.  

Who needs animals when there is water to play in at the zoo!?

It was a great day with Grandma!