An Outdoorsy Day

A week or so ago we took a hike at one of my favorite nearby metro parks (Blendon Woods). Naturally I took pics to post and and am only getting around to it now. Better late than never though, right? Uh huh, that's what I thought. :) Soon the leaves will be changing, and I will be posting lots of fall pictures. Fall is my FAVORITE time of year!!!!!!! Click for big versions.

Looking out at the water:

In the Monarch Mansion! :p

Checking out the visitor's center:

Audrey could not get enough of the fish tank. After we initially left the visitor's center, we hiked some and had to come back because she kept asking to see the fishies again. So cute! Baby loved them too apparently.

What a trooper! No strollers on these paths!

Just for fun, here are some pictures from my favorite place to take my walks with Audrey, Sharon Woods. Nothing terribly interesting to point out, just some nice scenery along the 3.8 mile path.

Okay maybe one interesting thing. As I was taking a picture, I noticed a deer standing very still directly to the right of my camera angle, it was crazy! So naturally, I snapped a pic. :)

The deer reminded me of another deer like creature I had seen on tv... so I found the pic... (the kirin from Princess Mononoke!)

... and had some fun with Gimp! Bahaha.

That's it for now. I'm exhausted... all this posting is killing me, ha. Hope you like the blog revamp! YAY FALL!

I know, I know! I fail!

Somehow, no matter how hard I try, I get behind on blogging. For the record, it really does take a huge chunk of time to be a faithful blogger, big ol' chunks of time that I don't necessarily have every day, or even every week for that matter! HOWEVER, I want to keep up with things and I do so love to share about my life and my sweet little girl! Here are a few fun things before I crash for the night.

Audrey is turning out to be QUITE the girly girl. She insists on wearing hats, jewelry (necklaces and bracelets), and often wears my shoes around the house. She still carries "Baby" around everywhere, including to the store and the playground. She carries purses around on her arm. It truly is HIGHLY entertaining to watch her play.

Discovering my bag o' nail polish:

We look forward to walking uptown to our favorite coffee shop with Daddy on Saturdays: (No, she's not drinking coffee!!! GEESH! Our favorite barista - SUCH a sweet lady, we love her! - makes her a small fruit smoothie. "Icecweam mommy! Icecweam!")

She loves to dance, and that is an understatement. Somehow her favorite song has become "Single Ladies".... don't ask!!!!! It's in the Alvin & the Chipmunks sequel so don't yell at me!!!! Dancing requires head gear and jewelry, don'tcha know.

More proof! The second one doesn't have sound for some stupid reason. Anyway, she asks constantly for "Oh, oh, oh", which is what she calls the song. "Dance, mommy? Sing, Oh oh oh? Pleeeeeeeeeease mommy?!"

Walking!

Being silly:

There is more that I'd like to post, but for now I must sleep. Yeah, the one that never sleeps, I know! I'll post more soon! Love ya'll!

California!

Audrey and I are having a wonderful time in So Cal. We miss Daddy though, of course! So far we're enjoying swimming, spending time in the beautiful sunshine, going shopping, and today we had an amazing time sightseeing around LA. I'll cut the chit chat and get right to the good stuff: pictures! WARNING: this post is extremely IMAGE HEAVY, to say the least!!!

Audrey LOVES the pool and constantly asks to get in. She wears that blue star around her waist (or carries it on her arm) whenever able... saying "I like the star! I like the star!" over and over.


Kicking!



I am starting to realize that Audrey loves water, possibly more than anything else in her little world right now (besides the people she loves of course!). She and my Dad and I found a fountain nearby on a walk we took one night...



Going out on the town with my Mom!

My Dad and I:

The J Paul Getty Museum - what an incredible place!!! BEAUTIFUL!


Such appealing clean lines... everything was so classy and clean feeling...

Again with the water!


My girl loves water, so so much... did I mention her obsession with water?!

Snack time!

Aka, coffee time for mommy...


The views from the Getty are absolutely gorgeous.





I really enjoyed walking through the gardens.







Such a happy girl! She has been so bouncy and cheerful during 95% of our trip so far! I love my sweet girl.

An awesome view of LA.

Here is the view from the entrance to the J.L Gerome exhibit, which was FAN-freaking-TASTIC!!!! I loved it and spent a long time looking at his work. The detail, usage of light and shadow, humor and political context, and facial expression were all exquisite. I could actually feel myself present in many of his paintings just by standing in front of them. Anyway... too bad they didn't allow photography, so no pics for you! :p



Driving through Beverly Hills, which I've seen before many times but it was still fun to drive through:
The House of Blues... rather unimpressive if you ask me...

Sunset Blvd.

After the Getty Museum, we checked out a very classy shopping spot in LA that is adjacent to an amazing farmer's market, which I loved very much.



We took Audrey into the American Girl store... oh my... either it was a big mistake or a very good thing, because she loved it. She kept saying "Dolly, mommy! dolly!"




Our last stop was this AMAZING farmer's market. Seriously, if I lived nearby I'd be here constantly.



I had an iced capp.... oh... my.. gosh... HEAVENLY. Yum.




"Wahhh, I'm tired and over stimulated, take me home!"

And take her home we did. Although, she ended up getting car sick and puking all over herself in the car. It was nasty.

More to come as our trip progresses! From Orange County... it's Saturday night! Omg. I need sleep.