Dog Days of Summer

Olivia joyfully locked herself in with Molasses in the dog crate the other day. They were probably in there close to 1 hour, but she had a ball. I know Molasses enjoyed the company.

I often blame Andy for new actions or vocabulary Olivia picks up that I don't quite care for, but I have to take complete blame for her newest one. The other day I had some chick flick type show on in the background while I painted trim in our bedroom. Olivia was out and about playing and occasionally had to come see my progress. During one of her visits there was a couple on the TV making out. Olivia turned to me and asked me why they were kissing like that. I replied because they were in love, and decided to turn off the show and change the channel to a safe HGTV program instead. Well, the next day I found her to be kissing me kind of strange and didn't think much of it at first, but it continued. She now likes to turn her head from side to side while she kisses and it really looks like she is making out with me! (thankfully with a closed mouth) Without freaking out, I tried to explain to my 2 year old that's NOT how mommies and daughters kiss or daddies and daughters. That's only for mommies and daddies to kiss like that. She laughs hysterically when she does it and gives me this look in my eye. I want to die laughing too, but it only encourages her. We've been cracking down on it and she is doing better, but has to test the water every now and then still.

Barefoot and pregnant

My lifelong friend Tina Randall (Smith) is very pregnant with baby number 3. Did I mention she just turned 30? Olivia and I went over to her house today to play with her two daughters Kylee and Emma, who happen to love to play dress up. I decided Tina and I needed to play dress up too. (sorry no photos of me dressed up.) My dearest mother-in-law bestowed upon me the gift of a dead woman's retro wardrobe for a Mother's Day gift. I thought it rather strange at first, but have found the bizarre outfits to be quite fun. They need to get some use, so I took them over to Tina's to play dress up with her. I had to add some aged effects to the photos to make them look like she could be a pregnant mother in the 60s or 70s era. She is a wonderful mother and will be to this new bundle of joy as well! We had a fun afternoon of biking and dressing up and will have to do it again real soon.

Your welcome for me displaying these wonderful photos of you Tina!

TOO CUTE

Did someone say "bad hair day?"

Kissing cousins

hanging out with Baby Gavyn

Ray, Lauren, and Piper Sterling came over for dinner about one week ago after the men finished golfing. Olivia just loves baby Piper, and who wouldn't? Look how cute she is. We had a nice evening and here is a collage from some of the photos that evening.

Boo Boos Happen!

Friday, the 20th of June our family was invited to a hotdog roast by Aunt Jennifer and Robert. It was down in La Grange at Robert's boss's log cabin and woods. The place was gorgeous! Everyone was having a swell time. Olivia loved going for rides on the John Deere Gator and the Kabota version of it as well. They had 130 acres of land and lots of trails to explore. Olivia rode the trails with numerous people. It had gotten dark and she was out riding with Robert and Jennifer in the Kabota. They'd been gone for awhile, but I didn't think much of it. We just sat around the bonfire and enjoyed conversation with Robert's family and friends. After awhile I saw the Gator driving back and could hear Olivia crying (She had been doing lots of that lately so it came as no surprise to me to hear her crying), but I remembered she left in the Kabota and realized she was returning in the Gator and riding with a man named Drew. He handed Olivia to me and then calmly announced that Robert had rolled the Kabota and Jennifer might be stuck. The men all jumped to their feet and into the Gator to go help. I am so relieved that he brought Olivia back with him or I would have been panic stricken at the thought of my little girl rolled over in a ditch. She had a small gash on her forehead, but I think was more scared about a man she didn't know taking her away from Robert and Jennifer and the whole rolling experience. She was also quite concerned at this point with aunt Jen. Shortly later the Gator returned with all that set out to help along with Jennifer and Robert. Jennifer had taken the brunt of the injuries trying to protect Olivia. She handed Olivia up to Robert immediately after the crash and then passed out. She came to and had some scrapes on her forehead and complained of her arms hurting and the back of her head, but refused to go to the hospital. Robert's mother came to check her out, who happens to have been a nurse not too long ago. She seemed to think she would be alright. Jennifer was concerned and very apologetic to Olivia. Neither Andy or myself were upset. We are just happy no one sustained any serious injuries and that all the boo boos will heal. I guess what happened was Robert drove the Kabota down a trail that came to a dead end. (Andy had Olivia by himself down this particular trail earlier, and I'm so glad it didn't happen with just the two of them.) Naturally he tried to back up and turn around a bit. Well, unbeknown to him or Jennifer there was a ditch on this side at least six feet deep that one of the tires quickly found and over they went. If you ask Olivia about the night you will most likely hear her say one of three things. "Drew saved me!" "I don't want to ride in a bota anymore." or "there a stinky raccoon at the ginning." (There was a dead raccoon at the beginning of the trails.) We avoided telling nana and papa for a few days, because we knew they would freak. Olivia has been very accident prone lately and cries over anything these days. She whines a lot and often with good reason, but you can't get her to stop. When she awoke from our drive home from Owosso she wouldn't stop crying. We finally went to see Nana who consoled Olivia. Three days of constant activity, comings and goings, injuries and no naps, does not make for a pleasant child.










The boo boo girls a few days after their accident.

There's something about a grandmother's touch.

Doyle Clan Fun!

Olivia and I headed up to Tawas on Saturday with Aunt Joan. We cleaned out her cottage so the carpet layers could lay carpet soon. Then we walked next door to Uncle Mike and Aunt Ruth's cottage to stay the evening. We had a very nice evening and Olivia was well behaved, but never stopped talking. When I say never, I mean never! The entire drive up she talked and never slept. She was completely without a nap, but determined to go swimming. I took her down to the water, but she didn't want to go in alone. I said I'd go with her in the morning, so she conned Joan into going in with her. The water was of course ice cold so they didn't last too long. We enjoyed a wonderful visit with Mike and Ruth. They built a beautiful home on the lake and are the best hosts. I don't think they are having any regrets about not having children of their own after our visit. Although Olivia was well behaved she was still a 2 year old. She disrobed in front of everyone and shook her little bum for them. My Uncle Mike was uncomfortable, but had to tell everyone about it.

At 6:45 AM the next morning my darling daughter woke me and said, "Get up mommy, the sun is shining. Time to go swimming!" The things we don't think all the way through. I managed to put off our swim until about 9:00, but then we had to go. Of course it was freezing outside so I could only imagine the water. Again, it didn't last long and we ran back for a hot shower. We dealt with a boo boo, got dressed, and headed out with Joan this time bound for Owosso.

My cousin Amy's son Andrew has graduated from high school and his open house was being held at Mootzie's Art Gallery. A very unique and intriguing store if you are ever in the Owosso area. I got to see most of the Doyle clan in attendance and visit even if for just briefly. Olivia loved playing with Leah, my cousin JC and his wife Michele's beautiful little 2 year old girl. She also wanted nothing to do with me and was having strangers pick her up. Again she was fairly well behaved, but it wasn't the best atmosphere for a 2 year old. Kind of like a bull in a china shop. After a couple hours there we headed our sights for home. Olivia finally conked out about 5 minutes from home. She was running nonstop this entire weekend, but finally had crashed and crashed hard. When she awoke she was cranky, upset and would cry about anything and everything. She is now back to her sweet self, but it took a day to get there.

Daddy Teed Off !

Andy finally has gotten his motorcycle out of storage for the summer. Olivia was excited and wanted to ride on it, but paranoid mommy wouldn't even let her ride it into the garage with daddy. She handled hearing "no" well on that occassion.

Our family started out Father's Day by heading out golfing. Olivia was very excited to get to sit on daddy's lap and help drive the cart. She quickly mastered yelling, "hit the ball daddy!" every time Andy was in his back swing approaching the ball. He thought it was funny at first, but it soon got old. Olivia got to head on out to the greens with her daddy and carry his clubs. Andy would throw a ball down for her and let her put as well. I sat in the cart and watched them, and it made my heart melt. They were absolutely adorbale together and of course I didn't have the camera with me. Olivia also wanted to try to hit her ball from a tee, so Andy set her up to tee off a few times as well. She was quite pleased with her performance on her golfing debut.

After, we headed back home for a good breakfast of french toast and sausage. We were kind of lazy to start off the afternoon and did some napping. Later in the day we stopped by Grandpa McNeil's to wish him a happy Father's Day and then went to Andy's parents for dinner. Olivia had fun playing ring around the rosie with Robert and Aunt Jen. After spending quite a few hours there and consuming way too many calories we headed home to hit the hay. Olivia had daddy read her some books before tucking her in for the night. Overall, I think it was a nice and relaxing Father's Day for all of us.

Olivia hiding behind her gift for Papa John.

Ring around the Rosies anyone?

One last book before bedtime.

The start of summer fun

Olivia was dying laughing so hard as her Daddy threw the big soft ball at her head. It would bounce off her face and knock her backward, but she thought this was the funniest game ever. It was hard trying to capture a photo at just the right time, but this picture at least shows her reaction well as the ball flies back into Andy's hands.

We picked up a new pool for Olivia last weekend. We haven't had many opportunities to play in it yet, but I'm sure it will be a daily occurrence here soon. The night I blew the entire thing up myself (yes I blew it up without a pump - talk about light headed) she had to have it filled up. She then was just going to dip her feet in, which quickly turned into getting her clothes all wet, then stripping down to her underwear, and then just her birthday suit. I did snap some cute photos of her naked little buns running around too, but I figured I'd be nice to her and keep those off the website.

She is also becoming a pro at riding her bike. In this photo we were headed out on a family bike ride and we made it all the way to the ice cream store! We didn't tell Olivia where we were going, but as soon as we were a block away she told us she wanted "superman ice cream." She knew where we were going without us telling her, and if we weren't planning on stopping there, she would have buttered us up enough to make that happen anyways.

Olivia stayed the night with Nana last night, because Papa is gone on his yearly baseball weekend with the Johns. I enjoyed a fun evening out with the ladies at work. We had a light dinner and then drove over to Coldwater to watch the Sex and the City movie. We had quite a hoot just chatting the entire drive to and from. We died laughing during the movie as well. I never watched a ton of the series, enough to know the main character personalities and a few of the men in their lives, but you didn't need much background to enjoy the movie. It was quite a good flick on relationships of love and friendship, and absolutely hilarious at times. Now I am on my way to pick up my bundle of joy from Nana's house. It's always wonderful for a night out without her, but I miss her so much when she's away.