ollie treat!

von didnt know ollie eats ice cream treats too!?!  i think he enjoyed watching her just as much as she enjoyed eating it! 

 

it's getting hot ...

this morning was a 'breakfast in the basement' kind of morning since the heat decided to start nice and early.  von didnt mind - he thought it was a treat!  he still ate his berries & scrambled eggs, NOM NOM NOM what a good eater!! 

home depot

yes, home depot: the place where von's dream become reality.  tractors.  forklifts.  tools.  and lots of orange (his favorite color).  he always loves when mommy's errands include a trip to home depot.  

 

rhododendron 2

time for the annual rhododendron pictures!!
wow, how a year has flown by!  last year's photo session was MUCH easier because von had just started walking and wasnt able to run in sixteen different directions :)  we absolutely bribed him with bites of ice cream this year, ha!  if you check out last years pictures ( click here ), you'll see how much von has grown.  he was such a little peanut!!
thanks again ma, for this fun idea to capture von by the rhododendron every year!!

it's beginning to look a lot like ...

SUMMER!!!  everywhere you look ...

 

FOOOORE

i think josh was in his glory when von wanted to swing the golf club this weekend.  i smiled pretty big too.

 

rock city

a weekend without plans, ahhh yes.  so what did we decide to do?  LOTS of family stuff :)

saturday morning was a trip to rock city park.  wow, it was amazing and the scenery was spectacular.  von tried to convince me that he should get 'down' out of the carrier about a trillion times, but with the terrain, that was definitely not an option.  however, once i started climbing the rocks, he thought that was just pretty fun and giggled as we went up, down, and all around the park.  daddy made the trip fun with his narrating and map reading skills.  there was even a bear to sit on when we got done with our hike.

yup, our saturday morning rocked!!

best backyard ever

what 1 year old little boy doesnt love looking out the window to see piles of dirt and diggers galore?!  
 von & i ventured to kittanning last week for a dentist appointment and garage sale.  well that's what was on my agenda.  however, von's trip was simply to watch the excavating.  lots and lots of excavating.  the rumbaughs are putting in a pool, so their backyard pretty much looks like a vision from von's dreams right now.  dirt.  diggers.  pa, hay, and em.  yeah, you get the picture.  i'm sure he'll love the pool this summer, but i'm also sure he wouldnt mind if their backyard just stayed like this forever! 

pittsburgh zoo

while we were in jamaica, von stayed with the kittanning crew.  he had a WONDERFUL time (and that might be an understatement, he didnt cry once!!?!).  an added bonus, the preschool field trip to the zoo!!  von tagged along with t (aka auntie) and met up with ma & em in the burgh.  looks like they had a blast (von liked the penguins the most). 

 although von enjoyed the zoo, he enjoyed just hanging out with everyone even more.  he's still talking about pa and the tractor rides two weeks later!  
a HUGE THANKS TO ALL for showing von such a great great time & loving him so so much!

good morning!

someone actually wanted to stay IN his crib this morning.  cutie pie.

sunday funday

this is von playing with his bus after we arrived home from church on sunday.  happy boy.  sweet and innocent.  quietly enjoying his sesame street friends.  

 and this is von after nap that same afternoon.  crazy-fun von.  ready to cause some ruckus outside.  and cracking us up with his giggles and goofiness. 

ewwww

von has an addiction to ketchup ...
and tonight it was kiwi dipped in ketchup ... delicious to him, strange to us!

love this kid!!! :)   

change of plans

so we went to the zoo with intentions of it being a wonderful field trip for our little playgroup.  and it was, although it included a small change of plans ... you see, rachel (a fellow momma) unfortunately suffered a heatstroke which landed us at st vincent hospital ... with 5 kiddos under the age of two, no naps, and just a ton of processed snacks for them to nibble on.  oh boy.  oh boy, oh boy, oh boy.  HOWEVER, the kids did amazing (thank you, Lord!) 
we finally departed dear erie around 530pm after knowing rachel was going to be ok and her family was there for support.  i'm sure we'll be erie-zoo-bound again this summer, but hopefully much less exciting next time ;)

 

hiho

tonight marked our very first evening ice cream outing for the summer (yes, it's still spring, but at 78 degrees, i'm calling it summer).  von enjoyed a bite of dads, then a bite of moms, then a bite of dads ... you get the idea.  i'm like a kid when it comes to ice cream though, so josh really had his hands full making sure that both von & i behaved :)