Tropical Storm Fay

There's always a lot of hype when a storm comes through. They closed the schools and work for some people. Kind of like snow days in Nebraska. It was indeed a storm--rain and 30 mph winds. I guess it would be a hardship if you were looking for C batteries at Wal-Mart. At least it cooled off a little. There's been an eerie calm and the sky turned orange/gray yesterday evening. We tried to capture it with our camera but it didn't do justice. We do take it seriously, though, because of the tornado risks and the thought that the big one could be coming. We are grateful to be safe and well.

Green Meadows Farm

After spending too many weeks doing the same things over and over we decided to visit a petting zoo. Laurel loved it and Mommy and Daddy did too. She was able to get in the pens with the turkeys, ducks, pigs, chickens, and goats. She rode on a horse, train, and hay wagon. We all took turns milking the cow. I'm not sure if that makes us country folk or city folk, but it was great fun.

"Mommy, what kind of animal is she?"

"This is for the baby calf and you too." "Just who do you think you are?"

Splash! Splash!

We finally did it... and I'm not just talking about updating this blog. We took the advice from many of you and finally bought Laurel a pool to splash in on our back patio. She enjoys swimming and is quite the confident little girl in the pool (a little too confident for Mommy's liking). She follows me to the garage, finds her dirty swimming suit and carries it into the house. It's as if she feels there may be a chance to swim again if I see her suit. Hey I guess you do what you can when communication is limited, right?

Laurel's 1st Birthday!

What's a party without balloons? Friday afternoon Weston and I decorated the house with streamers and balloons. I wanted Laurel to have at least one helium balloon. So we got her a mylar balloon. She loved playing with it as we walked in the store and then all the way home in the car. The store was in such a hurry with another order that they didn't take the time to curl the ribbon on the balloon. What's one balloon?! On the way home I tried to curl the ribbon with my nails, but it just wasn't working. I got the scissors out to curl the riboon when we got home and you guessed it, mommy ruined Laurel's new friend. I felt so bad. Laurel dragged the popped balloon all over the house while Daddy went and got Laurel a new one. Surprisingly, she wasn't too interested in the new balloon. Moral to the story, don't worry about appearances.

Laurel didn't quite know what to do with her presents at first. She needed a little (lot) of help to get the idea. The kids were so funny, they said "pretend it is Christmas". Kids are so funny. I know Laurel loved having them over. She was so excited to see everyone that came through the door. We were blessed to have many friends come to celebrate with us.
Laurel really enjoyed her cake. She was cautious at first, but really dug in once she tasted it.