Little Nightcrawler

Great Grandpa: "This is like trying to hold on to a nightcrawler . . ."

If you've tried holding Vanessa, I think you know what he means. :) We could probably publish a book with all of Great Grandpa's clever quotes and analogies. He's truly a wise man . . .

Apple Picking

A friend, Laura, introduced us to Lynd’s Fruit Farm a few years ago. She also introduced us to the amazing Honeycrisp apple. Adam’s always liked apples, but Vicky was never a huge fan of just biting into one . . . until she bit into a Honeycrisp . . . and then a Suncrisp . . . although Suncrisp would rate second in her book. :) Anyway, since being introduced, Vicky tries to make it a point to visit the orchard during u-pick season. It’s a wonderful and very enjoyable activity that sets the mood for fall and gives us something to look forward to before raking leaves and thinking about colder days and nights. Vanessa went to the orchard last year but was only a few months old, and the crop was very poor due to a late spring freeze. This year the crop was gorgeous and is very tasty, and Vanessa was able to thoroughly enjoy the trip, although she wanted “up” in the car on our way there since her grandmother was obviously in the back seat to play with her. :) Vanessa fussed a little when we insisted she stay in her carseat for the ride --Grandma did a great job entertaining her. And I’m so thankful we were able to make the trip when we did since the windstorm was moving in as we returned from picking, and because we heard that Lynd’s modified the u-pick schedule so there was only one more day to pick Honeycrisp, which happened to be that following Friday. We’re not sure if they were able to follow thru with the updated plan since it’s likely the windstorm blew most of the remaining apples off the trees.

Homestead Park

I feel silly for not discovering this park sooner! It's only a couple miles from our house, west of North Hilliard. It has beautiful grounds and great play equipment for children of different sizes. We only visited one part of the park but plan to go back so we can visit the kid size Western Town and the playground near it. It's a small park lined with a white split fence. It's very clean and pleasant.

When we first got there Vanessa was mainly interested in watching all the other kids run around. At times she would try and follow them and other times she would just walk up and stare at them.

She eventually realized that she loved the slide and tunnel.

And she seems to be getting the hang of driving in reverse, even when she can’t quite reach the pedals, or see over the steering wheel . . .

Grandma Jan will be pleased to know that the park has several metal keyboards built into the play equipment. Vanessa enjoyed these!

Electricity

After forty-nine straight hours without electricity, ours was restored around four o’clock this afternoon. When it came back on I was a little confused as to what to do . . . we were getting used to our new routine for doing things and it was kind of nice to visit, play and work together without the distraction of the television, computer and other various electronic gadgets. (It obviously hasn’t taken me long to jump back on the computer – this is one quick way to communicate our status to many.) Although the electrical outage was definitely an inconvenience, we were counting our blessings for the beautiful weather that came after the wind storm, the fact we had lots of dry and canned food, lots of little coolers, a gas grill and a gas water heater, and help from those with electricity (most of our deep freezer stuff was taken care of due to the help of a close friend, who in the middle of many friends without electricity never lost his, and my brother who just happened to be working in the Hilliard area was able to truck a few bags of food back to his house to store). We’re also thankful we didn’t get more damage than the tree at the end of our driveway falling onto our truck, which can be fixed and is just another minor inconvenience.

I should add that our neighbors and strangers rushed to help Adam and clear the debris. The driveway was cleared in about an hour. Adam's not sure who the strangers were. He said by the time he took the chainsaw from our neighbor and turned around, the strangers were gone -- an older lady and two younger women. We need to find them so we can thank them!

No way does the damage in central Ohio compare to devastation in Texas, but it was incredible to experience hurricane-like winds in an area far from any coast. I can also say this was minor to us when we compare it to the outage we experienced in Gallia County in the bitter month of February of 2003 – we were without electricity for THIRTEEN full days during an unbelievable ice storm.

And being responsible for a child or other people could definitely make things a little more challenging, but Vanessa was a trooper, so we wouldn’t know. As a testament to her adaptability, you’ll notice in the video that she loved playing in the dark. You’ll also notice in the picture below the video that Vanessa was thankful to finally play with her electric powered honey graham box shortly after the electricity was restored – she obviously didn’t miss a thing. :)

Playhouse

I’ve wanted to share about Vanessa’s playhouse but keep getting sidetracked by all the other blog-worthy postings. Since a few of you emphasized that you even like to hear about what is probably only slightly interesting to most, if at all, I’ve gone crazy with posting about lots of little things I deem cute or really cool. So forgive me for being a little overly zealous. :)

So, the playhouse was a birthday gift from Vanessa’s mommy and daddy. When roaming our house freely, Vanessa often goes in the playhouse to chill out. I consider it a comfy zone for her, with a soft mat, blanket, stuffed animals and books. Luckily we have sliding glass doors and it fits perfectly up against the side that doesn’t open. She can look through the elephant’s eyes to see outdoors.

I predict she may end up making it a hiding zone eventually. Today after feeding Lilly, I went to take a picture of Vanessa playing in it and noticed she had taken one of her daddy’s shoes in with her. I thought of some familiar stories friends and relatives have shared about their little ones sneaking off with car keys, phones, cameras, etc., and not finding those things for days, or even weeks. Eventually they would find the missing item in a playhouse or tent or under the child’s bed, pillow or in the child’s closet. We’ll keep those experiences in mind!

The other day Vanessa dragged her portable booster seat into the playhouse -- she just sat in there and talked to herself. And sometimes we go in to hang out with her, if she welcomes us to. ;-)

Basket

Our daughter loves to climb into things. One of her favorite things currently is sitting in baskets. This morning Vanessa dumped all the balls from this basket and carried it over to me. She screamed and screamed for me to do something with it. I tried sticking it on her head, since she sometimes has an interest in putting things there, but that didn’t satisfy. She continued to scream and I explained to her that I couldn’t understand what she wanted. She finally said “Up!” So I put the basket on my lap and then put her right beside it. She then tried climbing into the basket and I realized she wanted to sit in the basket while on my lap. She was content for like 15 or 20 minutes.

Cleaning

Not that we’ll
allow Vanessa to take on this responsibility at such a young age, but it seems she likes to use the Swiffer. She’s a good helper. A couple weeks ago she began to pick up crumbs and other little things that don’t belong on the floor. She walks whatever it is over and hands it to me and then goes back to playing.

Zach and Andrew

Unfortunately we were unable to be with Vanessa's cousins Zach and Andrew to celebrate their birthdays this summer, but we do want to share since they're very special to us!

Andrew turned eight this last June. He’s quite a blessing. He can be extremely silly but also very gentle and serious. He’s very inquisitive and caring. You can look at him and see through his stunning eyes and expression the wheels turning in his head, like trying to figure out why things are a certain way. Zach turned eleven in July and is also genuinely a blessing. He’s the comic of the family. He always has a joke and is very creative when making them up. He’s very curious. He loves little ones and is the first in line to hold his little cousins. He’s the keeper of the small ones. He loves to share and socialize and lights up a room with his charming smile. Both boys are very loving and sincere, just like their older brother Ben and younger sister Hannah. Their parents are doing a fantastic job and are wonderful role models for how to raise confident and compassionate individuals.

Two (Too) Cute Tailgaters!

Here are two of the best little Buckeyes around! They both arrived on campus bright and early ready to cheer on their team!

And let me explain Vanessa's t-shirt -- it belonged to Adam when he was little. This may have been one of her last times wearing it since it's getting rather difficult to pull over her head.

The Bib

Okay, so this is the bib Vanessa has developed an attachment to -- not a blankie, not a stuffed animal, but a bib. This is actually a hand-me-down from her cousin Hannah. I'm not sure what it is about the bib that she like so much . . . the fun colors, the pocket or what . . . but she loves it! So after wearing it and chewing it most of the first day, it started to smell a little, so that night when taking a bath it was easy to take it away without her noticing. I eventually carried it downstairs to place at the top of the basement stairs so it could be put in the laundry. The basement stairs have a door at the top which remains closed most of the time. The next morning Vanessa was walking around the kitchen for only a few minutes when she somehow caught a glimpse of the bib under the door. She bent down, reached under the door, pulled the bib through and carried it over to me while screaming for me to put it on her. It was another day of having to wear the bib all day. She even insisted on wearing it while napping, which put me on edge since that's a choking hazard. (I just kept checking on her.) Finally at the end of that day, I was able to take it all the way to the basement to be washed.