Ohio July 2008

For the Forth of July, we took a trip to Grandma and Grandpa's house in Ohio.

One of the first things Grandma did after we arrive was pull out Aunt Linda's old Cabbage Patch Kid. Remember those? Only Linda could remember her name--Dorissa. But she was wondering why Grandma rescued her from the trash...

Anyway, Cara quite enjoyed Dorissa. She improvised a way to rock Dorissa to sleep--using the glider in the living room. Cara sang her favorite song to help Dorissa to sleep--twinkle twinkle. Dorissa seemed to spend a great deal of time in her pajamas sleeping...

I looove to visit Grandma and Grandpa!

Does this kid look only 2 years old?

There is always a major issue following a visit with Grandpa. When all of the digital photos are combined (98.5% featuring Cara), the sheer volume is terribly intimidating. Lots of procrastination ensues before actually sorting through them and picking out the "best" ones.

One of our first outings was to attend the good ol' local Independence Day parade. The feature attraction is kids riding their patriotically-decordated bikes. In 30 some odd years of living there, this was Grandma and Grandpa's first attendance...

The mayor lead things off in his lovely turquoise Thunderbird convertible, and Cara immediately enjoyed waving to him. Some cheerleaders threw Hershy's kisses at us. No one was injured.

Cara digs waving.

Wow, what a parade!

Aunt Linda (and a Sesame Street book)

GG (and another Sesame Street book)

We went and checked out Grandpa's favorite library. Grandpa had to get a library card so he could check out some dozen books for Cara to read.

Everyone took a turn reading to Cara. Why do Sesame Street books have to be so darn boooring!? I like a book with some action or a nice plot. But Cara is a sucker for Elmo. And Bert. She always wants to know where Bert is. (Especially if Ernie is around.)

Since Grandpa apparently doesn't read aloud, he played Dora the Explorer and Elmo games on the web, instead.

Aunt Julie got to read a good one--That darn Pigeon and his crazy exploits!

Grandma (and the Sesame Street book again)

Grandpa, click right HERE!

Cara likes to check and see how cute she's looking in the pictures.

Can't resist the cute forced-pose on the rock in the back yard...

Give me pouty lips!

Awww. (This one reminds me of a little Aunt Julie)

Woah!

This is getting silly. Where's she getting this ideas...?

Ooops....now we see who is egging her on! (Yes, there were three cameras shooting the same thing.)

Cara receives expert instruction in the art of the corn-shuck.

Mmm.

Bubble-blowin' lips.

Grandpa uses the computer to trick Cara into sitting on his lap again...

Cara took an interest into Grandma's grooming habits.

Checking out earrings turns into a tickle-fest.

We went to a nature center, which was also having a talk geared toward tots in the planetarium. Cara enjoyed the lights. When Saturn was displayed prominently, Cara started excitedly saying something that none of us could understand. None of us except Katie, who thought it hilarious.

It seems that mom and Cara have a bit of a TV habit in the mornings at breakfast. And, just like mom, Cara likes the commercials. It seems that there exists some sort of prostate medication called Avodart, which has a commercial that apparently features some nerd in a planetarium with pictures of planets. Cara was yelling "Avodart" at the picture of Saturn. Oh my...

Cara finds some abnormally large garden items at the nature center.

Yup, short enough to ride!

Weeeeeeeeee!

We took Cara to a so-called "Kiddie Park". She loves Merry-Go-Rounds, so I was sure she'd enjoy some of the rides. It turns out she enjoyed all of the rides. There was only one exception--we chickened out of the roller coaster. She even went on the scary-looking (to me) Ferris Wheel, climbing right into the cage with another little girl.

This one might've been the favorite--the "bumpy cars!"

Holding out her ticket in anticipation of her turn.

Practicing that Parade Wave again.

Steering wheel AND a bell!

I wouldn't want to go in there...

I love that she let me put this hat on her, just so I could take a picture. First visit to a Steak-n-Shake, GG's treat!

Ever in search of new angles for swinging photos.

Feeding a lorikeet with mom and dad at the zoo. Everyone not named Julie avoided poo in the hair.

A rare photo of Aunt Julie with her eyes open.

Three tummies. Three bumps.

Katie always does a puzzle.

Cara shows Uncle Jeff how to dance to the Elmo song (or was it "Too Many Mangoes Make a Man go Mad"?)

Cara shows Uncle Jeff how to change a diaper.

Cara shows Grandma how she likes to help water.

What Cara reads when she gets tired of looking for Bert. She picked this one off of Grandpa's shelf. Her conclusion was, "Choo choo".

Cara sang along to "The Wheels on the Bus". I thought it looked like a fire truck...

Can you believe that Katie had never been to Chuck E. Cheese in her entire life? I don't know how she lived with the curiosity. Well, it had been many years since the last time that Grandma, Grandpa and I had been. Grandpa said that the pizza was much better than he remembered.