Lexi continues to be highly advanced!

Lexi is continuing to show off her amazing talents. She can sort of count to ten (sometimes she needs a little help, and she tends to forget 7 sometimes and go straight to 8, but lets not be overly picky). She's also very excited about trying to use the potty, and she's gone pee-pee on the potty about 5 times now! She thinks using the potty is so much fun that after she goes pee on the potty she says "more!" because she wants to go potty some more.

She's also been working on her dance moves. The music of the carousel at the Childrens Museum always gets her boogy on!

Video of the dancing queen:


She's also got a special talent for picking up change with her feet.
Video:


She also knows her colors halfway decent, and she knows her animals really well. Here's a video where she shows some of her skills in those areas as well as her artistic streak. (turn up the sound to hear her saying colors and animals)


She's not all business though. She still enjoys kid stuff, like splashing around in the sprinkler, and making her dad do goofy stuff on video.



Photos!!

Lexi keeps her cool (and stays hydrated)

It was a hot one today, so Lexi and Monica decided to break out Lexi's new sprinkler. Lexi had a great time playing in the water, and also discovered that it was a handy place to get a drink.





And here's a video:


We also went to the Indianapolis Museum of Art last Sun. We didn't actually go in the museum, but just walked around the grounds and gardens. Here are a few pictures from that trip.





And her are a couple other random pics. Lexi really likes her hello kitty purse, but she feels the need to keep her arm raised straight up so that it doesn't fall off her shoulder.

Lexi's Summer of Fun

Lexi's been having a good time so far this summer. With Monica off work for the summer, they've been able to get in lots of trips to fun places, like Indy Zoo and the Indy Childrens Museum. This Tues. I took the day off of work so I could get in on some of the fun. We went to the Fort Wayne Childrens Zoo. This was a new zoo for us (we're zoo afficianados and have been to most of the zoo's and aquariums within a day's drive of Indy). It was surprisingly nice for a smaller city's zoo. We had a good time. Lexi particularly liked being able to get in with the baby goats and pet and brush them. She seems to have a natural love for goats. I guess it's genetic. She really seemed to connect with them, and her grandma will be proud to see how she was taking good care of them. Here's a video:


And here are some pics with the goats:





And some other zoo pics:

Under the rain forest waterfall.


Pretending to be a joey.


Petting a Komodo Dragon. (It may have been fake, or it may have just been holding very still. Not quite sure.)


On the Australian river boat ride.


Waving to the kangaroos.

Lexi is a big fan of carousels, so she was happy to see they had one at the Fort Wayne Zoo too. Here is a video of her waving to Dad while riding. Unfortunately the carousel was a super fast spinner, so the cameraman didn't do so well.


We've also been slowly continuing work on her playset. It is almost finished now. Just have to finish the tunnel. Here is Lexi trying out her newly filled sandbox.


The top picture of this post, as well as the one below, are from Lexi and Monica's trip to the Childrens Museum earlier this week. The one below is Lexi standing under part of the Chihuly blown glass sculpture.



Here is one last video. This is Lexi riding the train at the Indy Zoo. She had to make sure her blanky was comfy on the ride.

Swing!

We got a baby swing the other day to add to our new playset so Lexi can swing (she had done a little swinging on the normal swings, but they obviously aren't ideal for somebody her age). She loves her swing! She started grinning as soon as she got in. It was hard to get her out when it was time to go in.

Here are a couple videos. She liked swinging, but she thought it was WAY funnier when she got to kick her Dad in the tummy when she'd swing forward. Both videos are pretty similar, but I couldn't choose between the two so I'm posting both.





And here's a more recent pic of the playset. Still not finished. We have since added the climbing wall and started on the tunnel. Monica has also started staining it with weather sealer, and we have started battling with carpenter bees which are boring holes in the wood. :-(

Goofin' With Gramps

Here's a video of Lexi goofing around with Grandpa Ray in his driveway. Turn the sound up so you can hear her laughs. The laughing is the best part.

Big Build

Last Sunday we took on the project of assembling the wooden playset we had bought for Lexi. We were up at Monica's Dad's house Friday and Saturday for a wedding, so him and Sylvia came back down to our house Sat. evening to help us with the construction project. Sat. night we layed out and labled the parts, and then Sunday morning we got down to business.

We started around 8:00 AM, and didn't get finished until after 9:00 PM. When I say "finished", I mean we finished the main tower portion of the set, and got the slide attached. We still have a beam with two swings, a tunnel, and a cimbing wall that need to be added.

Here are some pics from the build. Lexi was a big help as you'll see. We did have one incident near the beginning where the whole structure came crashing down, almost on top of me, but there was no major damage by some miracle (only one slightly cracked board) so we were able to continue.

Zack Yaks!

I got a kayak last year for a great price on a "day after thanksgiving" sale, but I had yet to use it, so I decided today would be the day. I took the day off work and headed to a local river.

Believe it or not, I took the picture above by myself, by holding the camera out to the side while sitting in the yak. Here are a few more pictures from the trip:






The last two are of a 19" Smallmouth Bass that I caught. My first fish caught from the kayak.