Backyard bathing beauty

Helaina LOVES the water - whether it's the water table and pool on the deck, the ladybug sprinkler, taking a bath, watering plants, washing her hands or even brushing her teeth - anything that has to do with water is okey dokey. If we let her, she would spend the entire day playing on the deck filling buckets, transfering water, splashing, squirting and kicking in her pool. Heaven help you if you come within a few feet of the "splash zone". It's funny that in the initial paperwork we received from the orphanage on Helaina it said she loved her bath and loved clapping her hands in the water. They definately had that one right!

She's constantly trying to climb in the water table even though her pool is right next to the table.


Pretty little face.


Who knows what she was doing here!


Her ruffled butt in this bikini is too darn cute.


She was trying to blow bubbles in the tiny bit of water on her hand before it rolled off.

Fun at Green Lakes

Helaina had her first trip to the beach a few weekends ago when it was very hot. We were hoping that she'd like the sand and water, and she definately did. She got excited when she saw the beach and enjoyed the sand between her toes when we took her sandals off. She headed straight for the water and walked right in with no hesitation and a HUGE smile on her face, even though the water was a bit cold. She would have kept on going if we didn't grab her hands - absolutely fearless. She also enjoyed digging in the sand with her shovel. Now that we know she likes the beach, we'll buy her a few more toys for the sand. When it was time to leave, Jim had to actually carry her back to the blanket - screaming and kicking! Can't wait to go again.

Favorite picture from that day - the delight on her face shows!


This is serious stuff!


"Do I have to get out now?"


"So what if my bathing suit has a pound of sand in it?"


There was a nice playground there too. Helaina liked sitting in this fire engine.

Fort Rickey on 4th of July

We took Helaina to Fort Rickey game farm on July 4th. I remember taking Joshua there several times when he was young. Helaina loved it. She got up-close and personal with many animals. We bought animal crackers at the deer area that could be fed to the deer and all the other animals at the zoo. Helaina wasn't afraid to feed the animals. She stuck the crackers right into their slobbery mouths!

You feed the deer through the fence so they don't charge you when you enter their enclosure. Good thinking!

One of the workers directed us to this deer because it was the only one in the enclosure that would let you pet him.


Helaina fed all the animals in this pen the crackers we bought. After she fed the donkey I was just about yell "Helaina, get your face away from that donkey!", but before we knew it she planted a big kiss on his nose! She's constantly blowing kisses to everyone, but does she blow kisses to the donkey? No, she has to actually kiss him!


Nice horsey. She was just about to poke him in the eye and do her usual routine of "eyes, nose, mouth".


They opened the "maternity ward" for 15 minutes and we were allowed to play with the baby goats born less than a month ago. Oh so precious! They were jumping on the rocks and running after their Mommy's. Some of them were hard to catch but we managed to capture a few and sit them on Helaina's lap.


Our baby holding a baby!


They also had a ball crawl there. She liked it but didn't stray too far from the entrance. It was difficult for her to move around in it because she sank up to her waist. I imagined her getting stuck in the middle and then Jim or I having to crawl in there and rescue her.


There was also a little play area. Helaina loves anything she can climb on or through.

Dragon Boat Festival

The last weekend in June we attended the Dragon Boat Festival sponsored by Families with Children from China. Our "dish to pass" was a cake. This was Helaina's first experience baking a cake with Momma, and it sure was a messy one!

Licking the frosting off the spatula and the beaters is the best!

It takes twice as long to prepare a cake with a 2-year old than without!

Yummy.

We threw together Helaina's "dragon boat" a few days before the event - just a diaper box covered in some Sesame Street wrapping paper with a few ladybugs, pandas & dragons pasted on. Didn't know if she'd take part in the parade (she didn't), so I was glad we didn't get elaborate. Maybe next year she'll be more interested. They had a playground and since she loves playgrounds, she was distracted by that most of the time.

Here's her dragon boat that she didn't want anything to do with at the park.

And here's Helaina on the playground, where she would spend all of her time if we let her. It's gotten so that she knows the parking lots of all the playgrounds that we visit. When we start to pull in the parking lot and she realizes where she's going, she starts clapping her hands and kicking her feet in delight - right in her car seat!!

Our little "dragon boat" with the wind blowing in her wispy hair.

The zoo, the boat and much more...

Helaina visited the zoo for the 2nd time recently, this time for a private party that had lots of food (including popsicles and cotton candy!), fun activities and of course the animals. Helaina's favorite animal is the elephant and we were fortunate to be right up front for the elephant's performance. Helaina smiled and clapped and yelled "yah" long after other people had stopped clapping! It's fun to watch her enjoy the simple things so thoroughly.


Pretty impressive, isn't she?



Having a popsicle with Daddy on a Saturday night at the zoo - what could be better?


We went out for a boat ride a few weekends ago. No fishing yet - just cruising around. I think Helaina was wondering "Now where are those boat keys?"



Wearing Daddy's hat while having a snack in the back of the car. Boating makes you hungry.



Fun with our Dora the Explorer playdough kit. Of course we had to make playdough fingernails like I did when I was a little girl.



Helaina loves to sit at the computer and imitate what she sees us doing with it. She's got one hand on the mouse and the other on the keyboard. Looks like she knows what she's doing!



She likes to look at photos of herself on the computer - she's got about a million to choose from!

One for the record books...

Never thought I'd see the day when Joshua would be putting pigtails in his little sister's hair! I'll bet he never did either.