Laura, Jeff & Ada

here is a new video of her demonstrating her new spinning skills.  she also thought clapping was really hilarious yesterday!

you spin me right ’round

ada and i went down to visit my parents this saturday since jeff was occupied with his buddies.  ada had a blast getting dirty in the garden and screaming and chasing after their kitty.   the weather was nice for once (we are in the middle of constant rain - are don and patsy in MA and we just don’t know it?!).  anyway, i had fun picking a TON of strawberries as well as some peas and lettuce.  the local strawberries are phenominal this year.

ada getting into the berries (she loves strawberries):

my haul:

ada playing with her bubble (ba-ba) machine:

and here’s a video from a while ago where ada takes to heart the hawaiian saying “don’t eat til you’re full, eat til you’re tired“.

we went to nyc this weekend to visit our friends, liz and brian, in manhattan.  we had a relaxing time just eating out and going to parks so ada could run around.  here’s ada on liz and brian’s balcony, she was having fun going inside and outside, back and forth…  little girl in the big city:

we visited the central park zoo… not a great photo, but she was interested in the polar bear.  everything else was less obvious to her.  they had a new snow leopard exhibit which i was excited about, but they were being evasive.

ada enjoyed the children’s area better.  lots of toddler friendly things like this “tree” tunnel and lily pads and also a petting area where she could see the animals better.

this morning we went to a playground in front of trump towers after breakfast where ada had lots of fun following all her new nyc friends around on all the different play areas. she really liked the bubbles that one boy was blowing.

the drive is about 3.5-4 hours long, which turns out to be too much for ada when it’s not friday night and her normal bed time… so after a quick lunch stop, we found the dinosaur state park in CT where she could run around outside.  i also couldn’t resist going inside and seeing what all the fuss was about.  so, i took ada with me for a quick run through…

she was enjoying following the dino prints on the carpet back and forth, forth and back on the floor while i checked out the hundreds of real dino prints that were discovered in 1966.  cool!

bonus video of ada doing “up… down…”

i finally found a place to host videos where you can see them without getting an account (i think).  here’s a couple of new ones.

ada reading her dog book

ada says “baby”

we have a trader joe’s down the hill from us.  we walk there alot, especially now that it’s nice out.  a couple of trips ago, ada got a balloon and it amused her for a good 2-3 days!

i’m a bit obsessed with irises this year.  i’ve noted all the different color variations around the neighborhood and i’m thinking of acquiring more somehow.   here are the two varieties i have, the usual purple color and a sort of magenta with a peach top which are descendent from my grandmother’s irises.

the rest of my perennials are also coming along nicely, some of them blooming already and none seem to have been lost to old man winter.  the rododendrons are currently blooming their lovely magenta color:

ada is into feeding herself these days… here’s the results of some yogurt from the other day:

i think she also has a new word: “baby”!

unfortunately, google stopped hosting videos, so i’m using snapfish for now for which you need an account.  here’s a link anyway:

ada having fun with daddy

it was almost 90 this afternoon, so we had some fun water play in the backyard…  ada was busy dumping water on herself while trying to drink it with holey toys. 

on thursday, we took the day off and went over to the arnold arboretum in jamaica plain.  the lilacs were out and we enjoyed a lovely stroll around the grounds.

last sunday in mystic we went to mystic seaport, a living history museum of a 19th century shipping community.  it was a lovely day outside and we enjoyed a lot of the hands on activities, participating with the crew.  jeff and don helped heave up a sail, i dragged a dead horse around a deck and we all played 19th century baseball.  ada liked the horse that was pulling a carriage around as well as some ducks we came across.