Fun with friends

Today we got to do something new and totally different. Actually it was new for both of us. We had a chance to go to the KidsCommons Museum. I have heard really great things about this place, but never had a good chance to go and to be honest it seemed a little pricey. I also didn't think that Elise was old enough to really enjoy the facility. (I was right.) There were many fun things to do and explore, but I think she could enjoy it even more if she was a little older.

 That space really is as short as it looks.

Bubble Time

 This was a pretty cool room. We got to make some really big bubbles. My main concern was that Elise would hit someone in the head with the giant metal wands. Luckily everyone made it out okay.

 This was a fun light-up wall that the kids could play different games by throwing balls at the wall. This particular one they had to throw the ball and hit the wall inside the square. It was a lot of fun seeing them all scramble for the balls and try to throw it.

 Walking through a tight space to get to another room. This museum had a lot of places to hide and rooms to explore and pass through. There were a lot of places to climb, so Elise felt a little lost at times because she isn't much of a climber.

"come sit mom"

Another musician in the family

We are a surprisingly musical family. And Elise is pretty lucky to get it on both sides of the family. Amazingly enough this was not the instrument that came to mind. Though, right now she couldn't love it anymore.

 Look at the concentration!

 I love that she is dancing and playing!

This is her grand finale! She did this move all on her own. I really don't know where she got it from, but she thought she was pretty cool when she was done. She is a big fan of her drum set! Thanks Grandma and Papa.

January 1, 2012

One year ago I started this blog, and this was the very first picture. Elise just shy of 19 months. Oh, how the year has flown by.

 And now I have a beautiful 'big girl.'

She has changed so much in the past year, and it has been great to see the difference and see what has happened in the past year, even though I wasn't able to keep up like I had hoped. I know 2012 will be an exciting year (what with 2 weddings already on the calendar and the intent to start preschool in the fall). I hope that your year is everything and more.

A bed with 3 sides

Today is a big day! We finally removed the front of Elise's crib. We have been talking about doing it for at least of 2 months now, but just never got around to it. Well today after her nap we asked her if she wanted a big girl bed like at Grammie's and she said yes. What better time than the present, right? So Bob just took off the front.  She thought it was pretty cool that she could climb into her bed. She is getting to be such a big girl in many ways this is probably over due. But she has been sleeping so well, I didn't want to rock the boat. So I really hope tonight she is not a jack-in-the-box. She does really well at Grammie's house where she has been sleeping in a true toddler bed, so I hope the trend continues. I'll take a picture when I get the chance, but seeing as how I have been so good recently about posting anyway (*read-sarcasm), I didn't want to forget when she took one more step into being a big girl. She will be 2 years and 7 months in 5 days.

 Even though her eyes are closed she opened them for a second to ask me "why are you taking my picture?"

She really didn't want to get up from her nap. So far so good with the 'new' bed. 

Next to come in the big girl world...potty training. Let's hope it is quick and painless for mom and Elise.

Birthday weekend

This picture was just too cute to pass up. Aunt Sis's birthday was on Friday and Daddy's birthday was on Sunday so we spent the weekend with Grandma and Papa celebrating birthdays. Elise was really into helping in the kitchen to get ready for lunch. Here she is helping Aunt Sis get some jelly out for the yummy rolls we ate, along with all the other food.

New coat

These pictures were taken a few weeks ago when we had a cold snap. The winter/snow coat that she wore last year actually fits, but it is a little tight. We bought this Columbia interchange jacket last year for $20. It is perfect! We are all big fans of Columbia. We took this picture before we went for a walk one night. We are trying to go every night for at least a short one, until it just gets too cold (for mom). She is all about the 'cheese.' And believe it or not, she chose to put the boots on too.

Cincinnati part2

So, this entry and the pictures will be what you make of them. *read-contemporary

One of the other days we were in Cincy and wandering around we decided to go to a Contemporary Art Museum. Now, I am not much of an art person so I had a little more fun just trying to take pictures than actually looking at the art. Now, the artists are very creative and talented, but honestly sometimes I have no idea what they are doing or where they are going with some of the pieces.

The fun part was actually on the top floor on the museum. They called in an Un-museum. It was a place for kids to look and enjoy 'art'. They were encouraged to touch and explore the exhibits. 

This picture is exactly what it looks like...a trailer. I didn't read the little sign that said what it was really supposed to be, but I am sure we can all use our imaginations and come up with something. The best part was that you could go inside and it rocked/bounced. Elise really liked going in there because she could sit on a bench inside (padded, for everyone's protection) and 'bounce' around. Like I said...art?

This wall was interesting because the little gray box had buttons on it labeled with musical chords. Then when you pushed the button it made (was supposed to) the sound of that cord and it lit up one of the colored squares. It was fun to play around with, but Matt and I weren't really convinced that they were the right sounds.

This is what you saw when you got upstairs. It was just made out of all different kinds of materials.

This is the information about the next exhibit. It is kind of self explanatory when you read it, but definitely one of the more interesting things to see.

(my flash is over the word 'different'. just insert the word when you read about this exhibit and it will make sense)

Elise really liked this exhibit because she could open some of the drawers and see what was inside or it made a really cool sound. I bet we spent a good 10-20 minutes just playing with all the drawers. There was one drawer in particular that she wanted to open over and over. I'll load a video if it because pictures/video can say so much more than I could write.

This was a kind of story wall. It classic tales printed on the wall. As you can see it was pretty large because that is Aunt Sis looking at one of the books.

The rest of the pictures are just some other things in the museum. After one or two floors someone finally told me that I wasn't actually supposed to take pictures. The pictures with Elise in them, I know she liked making the shadows on the wall more that she cared about what was actually being projected onto the wall. (digital art)

Here is a link to the video. Dancing

Sara M-J, I know you will get a kick out of the video. Looks like we might have a fan on our hands. (you will understand when you watch the video.)