Playing Outside

This morning we went to Gymboree and when we came home it was beautiful outside, so Rainah played for awhile. She has a wagon, some balls, a shovel and watering can... but her favorite thing to play with is still the chalk. Today I had to hide it because I didn't feel like cleaning up the huge mess she makes all over her clothes, face, hands, shoes... etc. But don't worry, she found some things to do.

The past week

Ok, so I realize that I have been obsessing about the way my photos look and the whole post processing thing way too much and it's keeping me from posting as much as I'd like to... I have to remember that this particular blogs purpose is to keep friends and family up to date on what Rainah is up to in her daily life as well as for me to keep track of her growth and development as a mother and have something to look back on and read (I have been TERRIBLE at keeping up with the baby book!).
So... I'm going to forget about trying to perfect my photos and focus on what this blog was originally intended for ~ and maybe start another blog to showcase my love of photography.
So here are a few things that we did last week: we started out by hitting the children's museum on Monday since it was a special members only day. Those are nice for us because there are no school groups with older kids running all over the place. They also have food from Qdoba and juice for the kids. Here are some highlights:


Shopping for some fruits and veggies










Rainah's in heaven... mirrors on all sides!


Watch out, Papa! I'm learning!






Hello?? Oh, wait...






The itsy bitsy spider...

it was gorgeous out all week and Rainah just loves playing outside. I bought her some chalk thinking she may enjoy it at some point... and it seems to be her favorite thing to do. She carries it all over the place and once in a while will bend down and make a mark or two. She ends up with way more on herself than on the concrete! This is what happens when you give chalk to a 16 month old:








You can always gauge the humidity by this one's hair!



Back in October we planted a Weeping Willow tree in honor of Rainah's birth; and with the nice weather we've been having, the buds are starting to come out on it (I am so relieved... I hoped it would come back after the winter!)







And last but not least... Rainah has a thing for hats... doesn't like to necessarily wear them, but has to have one to carry around. So she has come up with a new fashion statement... the diaper hat!

Our Beautiful Weekend

Michigan winters last FOREVER. It's not too bad until you hit January~ Christmas is over... it's been cold out for a few months already... then you realize you still have at least 3 1/2 more months of cold, cloudy, snowy, rainy weather. We were so happy when Friday it was in the 50's and the rest of the weekend was in the mid and upper 60's. The weather people said we hadn't had a weekend like this since the middle of October: 5 1/2 months ago!!! Needless to say, like most little ones, Rainah LOVED it outside! She spent hours out there running up and down the driveway, around the yard, throwing and kicking balls, climbing over logs, finding sticks to give Cheyenne, running around some more... and she was not happy when we'd have to bring her inside. She is going to have a great time out there this spring and summer! As I type this it is 40 degrees, cloudy, and rainy! But here are some photos to remind us of that brief but beautiful few days:

Thursday:

















Friday:













Saturday:



























Sunday: