Brown-Eyed Helaina among the Brown-Eyed Susans

A picture is worth a thousand words.








"Ok, Momma. Enough. Can I please take this thing off my head now?"

If there ever was a noodle-eating contest.....

our daughter would surely win! Anyone who knows Helaina is aware of her love for noodles and pasta - whether it's macaroni & cheese, lo mein noodles, spaghetti, noodleo soup, spatzel, pastina, buttered noodles - doesn't matter, she'll gobble it up every day, any time of the day, as much as she can get. She recently had some lo mein noodles for lunch and I couldn't stop laughing at how much she was enjoying them, so I grabbed the camera and took a few photos. This is one funny toddler!

You can actually see by the look on her face how pleased she is with her lunch.


Open wide!



Studying the spoon full of lo mein to see how big she should open her mouth.


This big, I guess!


A few weeks ago we were outside doing yardwork and it was getting close to lunchtime. I told Helaina it was time to stop our work and go in for lunch. She dropped her rake, yelled "hot dog, noodleos" and started running for the front door!

Lions, tigers, bears, potato chips and pretzel stix

About a week ago we met some friends at the zoo for 4 hours of fun and exhaustion. Take 4 mothers and 5 children, throw in the animals, food & snacks and you've got a good time!! I didn't take any pictures of the zoo animals - just the "human" animals!

Helaina with pals Sofia, Cecelia and Meilyn sitting in front of the lion den.

Discussing the Olympics - or maybe whether the chips taste better than the pretzels.

All 5 kids as penguins, sort of. If you ask Helaina what a penguin says, she will tell you "me me me me me me" in a funny high-pitched voice. Don't know where she got that from.

Our mother-hen Helaina. This little girl stood by Helaina while looking at the penguins. Helaina felt it necessary to put her arm around the girl and point something out to her. How cute is that!

We recently had an opportunity to splash in the water at Green Lakes for a few hours. Helaina had a blast - kicking and screaming with excitement in her carseat when we pulled into the parking lot and she saw where she was! Ironic that she left kicking and screaming when it was time to go. Jim had to carry her from the water - well, kicking and screaming!

"I promise I won't splash you, Daddy." Uh huh.

Little people fingers, one afternoon at home.

Helaina's been a busy gal lately. She went to her first movie at Carousel Mall this week. They show free kid's movies 3 days a week in July and August so we finally were able to take advantage of one. Charlotte's Web was the movie - not the cartoon version though - this one had Dakota Fanning in it and I enjoyed what we saw of it. Helaina managed to last about 30 minutes (with snacks and koolaid), which we didn't think was too bad considering this child has to be on the go most of the time. Here's a picture of her in the seat right before the movie started.

The Museum of Science and Technology

Last Friday we took a trip to the MOST. Jim had the day off, it was raining outside and we were still recovering from Seabreeze, so we figured we'd give it a whirl. The museum sure has changed from when I took Joshua there when he was young. They have tons of "hands-on" things for kids of all ages, plus they have a 5-story padded climbing bouncy sliding jumping bounce-till-you-drop thing to crawl through - literally. More on that later.

Helaina liked looking in the mirrors that changed your shape.


This was not the 5-story bouncy thing, but Helaina liked it anyways. Anything she can climb through or on is ok in her eyes.


Thought this was cute with the reflection of her face in the mirror.


Loved the dominos.


Helaina planning her attack on these steps.


So, why aren't there any pictures of Helaina in the 5-story bouncy jungle? The sign on the monster read "children under 4 years of age must be accompanied by an adult". I looked at Jim and said "Take off your sneakers." He obediently complied, as did Helaina, and they were off. After a few minutes I was annoyed that I couldn't see what was going on and I wanted some pictures of Helaina playing in it anyways, so I took off my sneakers and headed up with the camera. You climb up padded curvy steps while hunching over because it's made for little people. I reached the 3rd level (I think) and Helaina was in there climbing up stairs and going down a small slide. As I was about to get the camera ready for some photos, I realized I was in an area where brats above you (I mean nice young children) could fire sponge balls out of some cannon-type gun. A few boys thought it would be funny to aim at my head instead of the targets, so I heard this "swoosh" sound and was immediately bopped in the face by a sponge ball! The trio of boys stopped their laughing when I reprimanded them for hitting me in the face with eyeglasses on. That was enough for me. I left Jim and Helaina in there to fend for themselves. Later on Jim was good enough to take Helaina in a second time so she could go down the 5-story curvy slide. Jim had to squeeze himself between 2 huge padded rollers to get Helaina to the slide. I was on the ground watching and laughing, thankful that it wasn't me. She entered the slide sitting up but picked up a lot of speed on the way down and came out on her back and head-first. That was enough of the 5-story jungle gym! Next time I'll bring my safety glasses!

The Queen of Seabreeze

Jim took Thursday and Friday off from work to have some fun. On Thursday we went to Seabreeze for a day of rides in the amusement park and splashing in the water park. Before we were even through the gates, Helaina saw a roller coaster through the fence and started squealing, jumping and clapping her hands. She was her usual self in the park - fearless - wanting to go on every ride from the smallest boat to the biggest roller coaster - sorry Helaina, you're too short for that gigantic ride! She also had to show patience while waiting in line for some rides - uh, yah, that didn't work too well. "Helaina, wait your turn." "Helaina, don't push that kid out of the way." "Helaina, stop weaving between those kids to get to the front." Must have said those words about a million times.

This boat was the first ride she headed for. Absolutely loved it. When it ended and Jim "tried" to get her out, she clung to the wheel and screamed! The ride operator let her stay on instead of getting out and then back in the line. It didn't take Helaina too long to realize she could ride what she wanted as many times as she wanted.


This turtle mini-coaster had to be her favorite. She climbed right in and did what the ride operator told her: "Put your arms up!" so the safety bar could be put down on her lap. It goes around in a circle and there are 2 loopy dips it takes. She squealed with delight each time it went up and down.


The ride went pretty fast, but I managed to get this photo of her going down one of the dips. Her face says it all!! We have a feeling she's going to love roller coasters when she gets older, just like her brother Josh.


Airplanes that really go up in the air? What could be better.


These cars were another favorite. First time riding the line was long and she had to wait a while. She was whining and complaining the entire time. I finally told her to stop squirming or she'd have to get out of line. Unfortunately Jim now has 2 impatient females to live with.


She was so funny in these cars. At one point she had her left arm out along the edge of the car and was steering with her right hand. It was hysterical.


She also liked the carousel and we all rode this many times. I told Jim to lean in so I could get him in the picture too, so of course Helaina had to do the same thing Daddy did. She's so funny.


Helaina wasn't tall enough to go on these swings, but the ride operators didn't even notice - probably because she was so excited she ran past them in a blur. She rode them several times.


After lunch we hit the water park. Seabreeze has a great section for little ones. She loved going under the "water mushroom" with Daddy and playing in the "soak zone". We took her in the inner tubes through the lazy river - she liked it but was bored with it before it was over. This gal has to be moving!


Helaina's favorite thing in the water park was this water slide. She must have gone down it at least 20 times - no kidding. Jim took her to the top and had to give her a shove to get her going. I stood at the bottom to catch her as she flew off the end. The look on her face every time she went down this was worth a million bucks - mouth wide open in awe, gigantic smile across her face, eyes wide open - sheer delight! There were 2 women next to me the first time Helaina came down and they were laughing at her reaction louder than I was. One of the women yelled "You have to get a picture of that!" I switched places with Jim after a few times down so he could enjoy seeing the look on Helaina's face too.

I wanted to get a close-up of her face but it was tough. I was trying to get the picture, keep the camera out of the water and get ready to catch her at the bottom all at the same time.

Needless to say, our exhausted gal slept on the way home (we were at Seabreeze from 11:15am to 6:30pm). It was 6 minutes total from the time we strapped her into her carseat until she was sound asleep - no doubt dreaming of her fun day at Seabreeze and wondering when we can go back there again!!!

First ......... fish!!!

Last Sunday we went out in the boat for a while. It was very windy and a bit rough but decided to try our luck at fishing. Jim rigged Helaina's $12 Dora the Explorer fishing pole with a pink-headed hook and a purple sparkly rubber worm (pink & purple - Momma and Helaina's favorite colors). He dropped the line in the water and handed the pole over to us. Less than a minute after the pole was in the water, we had a bite! Helaina caught her first fish - a small perch! As we reeled it in and brought it into the boat Helaina had a big smile on her face. Couldn't get her to hold the fish (or even touch it for that matter), but she was very interested in it. Here are a few photos of the monumental event!

Check out Helaina's hair - did I mention it was a bit windy?

"So now what do we do, Daddy?"

Pink and purple - must be what baby perch like.

A lilypad near the dock.

We had free tickets to a Skychiefs baseball game the other night, so Helaina has that experience under her belt now. She loved the slushie drink we bought her as much as the clapping & cheering when a play was made!

Old McDonald's Farm, Sackets Harbor

Jim took last Monday off from work so we could take a road trip to Old McDonald's Farm in Sackets Harbor. Turned out to be a nice day-trip and since Helaina loves animals (especially ones she can get up-close and personal with), this place was right up her alley - goats, pigs, cows, sheep, kittens, a camel - yes, a camel on a farm, who would have thought. Helaina had a blast, and Momma and Daddy enjoyed it too!

This little goat should have ran when Helaina headed her way.


"Easy, Helaina. Do nice to the goat."


"Really Helaina, let the nice goat out of the choke-hold."


"Hey Mr. Sheep. Why are you ignoring me?"


You must always jump in a wagon to be pulled around when one is available.


On the Wizard of Oz hayride (yes, I did say Wizard of Oz), we stopped to feed the cows corn husks and bread. Let me tell you, cows have very LONG, rough and slobbery tongues. I think I was more hesitant than Helaina was, but she shoved her little hand out there and fed the cow the hamburger bun like a pro.


Bunnies, Helaina's 2nd most favorite animal (after the elephant, of course). She is petting Thumper.


A bunny with the same name as our dog.


Feeding a sheep popcorn out of a cup.


Horses, pigs and donkeys were in the barn. After she pet each one, she would say "more". I will admit I was leary of the horses and kept telling Jim "not too close" - you see by the photo how he listens to me. They are so darn big & muscular and you never know what they're thinking!


The sign in the reindeer's shed said he likes to eat grass, so we pulled some up and fed it to him. The sign was right!


What trip to a farm is complete without an inflatable bouncy thing to jump in and slide down. Helaina had to literally be pulled from this thing (protesting all the way) or she would have stayed in it all day. The child has endless energy.


Drove in to Sackets Harbor and had lunch at an outdoor restaurant. Helaina was snacking on marshmallows, coloring and pondering her morning on the farm while waiting for her hotdog and ice cream.


Who knew geese and ducks liked Teddy Grahams and Cheeznips too?


Our exhausted China doll asleep in her carseat almost immediately, and slept just abou the entire ride home on the Thruway.