Random Good times

The NC Aquarium... Outside was a mosquito fest (See how excited Devin is to hold still in it?) but the inside was fantastic.

Puddle Jumping!

After about 10 minutes of splashing back and forth (it was apparently A LOT of work!), Cambers plopped down on the curb and kept right on kicking (and later "bathing" Tigger). While she was sitting on her perch, she waved at every mail truck that drove by- we live next door to the post office- and brought many smiles to many mail carriers.

Our friends showed up for a play date and we ended up with another round of tub marching to rinse these absolutely adorable dirt balls off.

She seriously can't get enough of the swings.

C's cute curls that come out when it's humid..so all the time.

Devin's Happy Father's Day tie he got from his mama. Poor C was just woken up from a nap, stuffed into a dress and was so out of it.

Cambry's only physically affectionate when it's on her terms. Here's a rare moment when she cuddled up on my lap and put her hand on top of mine, let out a sigh of relief, and rested for a grand total of 30 seconds.

We're in the pool several times a week which is heavenly. On Saturdays Devin gets to join us :)

Cambry came running out of my room wearing my swimsuit around her neck. She is is such a great source of entertainment and keeps her parents laughing.

Devin and Cambry always have some sort of game they're playing when he gets home from work. It usually ends up where Cambry is laughing so hard and Devin is sweating profusely. This one, Devin slides her down the hall in a box.

When I'm making dinner, frequently Cambry stands at my feet and cries for me to pick her up so she can see what's going on. If I'm not using the oven or stove, sometimes I'll set her on the stove and let her watch (I stand in front of her- but yes, I know this would not pass a safety test). She doesn't move much since she knows she'll end up right back on the floor, and I've found out a few useful things about Cambry this way. I've had the hardest time getting her to eat vegetables. Throughout the course of a few days, I gave her a whole bell pepper, a piece of broccoli the size of her fist, and a whole cucumber. Each time she nibbled away at it and surprisingly ate a decent portion of it.

Broccoli Top

Cucumber head (yes we do clothe her- she had a few rough afternoons- don't judge us).

Cambry's new favorite game is to close all the doors. Only problem is since she can't reach the door knob, it leaves her stuck in a room and she yaps until the door is open.

"Utah Rolls!"

My friend and I threw a going away party for a good friend here that's moving on, and I decided to make my mom's rolls- a task I haven't tried without her breathing down my back. I've done each step several times as her assistant, but never on my own (why would I when every function someone made them already?) They turned out fantastic and when I showed up to the party the first thing someone said to me is "Yay! You made Utah rolls!" My mom told me that I needed to use discretion in my decision to make these because if I did them right just once, I'd be known as the roll lady in the neighborhood like she and many of her sisters are known for, and will be asked to bring them to every function.

I'd be happy to share the Beck's recipe if you'd like it- let me know and I'll email it to you.

Humidity

When the first wave of humidity hit in May, I thought I was done for. However, being 7 1/2 months pregnant with the heat index between 100-114, it hasn't been as bad as I thought. Of course air conditioning helps. It also helped that I changed my attitude. I just expect to have a cold shower after mine and Cambry's walk in the morning, rinse off again in the evening if we've spent more than 15 minutes outside throughout the day, and to have high utility bills. A woman here told me that women in the South don't sweat, they glow. I've embraced that. I actually really enjoy the humidity- yes, even when I have a trail of sweat going down my back. I was made for hot weather.

Happy Anniversary

Devin and I celebrated our 3rd anniversary on July 11th. Marrying Devin was the best decision I've ever made. He truly makes me a better person. We laugh until we cry and sometimes cry until we laugh. He is my best friend and I love him more than I did 3 years ago.

NC ZOO

Devin took the day off yesterday and we went to the Zoo. Cambry freaks out with excitement when we walk by a dog, so she was in heaven!

Even when the animals were pretty far away, Cambry was flapping her arms, pointing, bouncing around and yeeping in excitement.

Check out the prego belly! 2 more months :)

It was pretty hot and sweaty and the park is HUGE! Over 3 miles of trails. We've only been to the SLC Hogle Zoo that is about 3 acres. I'm sure all the animal lovers love how much room the animals have here to roam around. Thankfully they had mist stations around the park too make the trek more "bear"able (so punny wink wink). Cambry wasn't too sure about them though.

They had my favorite car parked by the elephants- Defender 90 :)

She loved the bronze statues as much as the real things

Ever since the movie Madagascar, I've loved the Lemurs

This gorilla walked right up and plopped down in front of Cambry. This was definitely a highlight in her zoo experience.

Devin totally freaked a little kid out at the "Swamp Ghost" exhibit by trying to explain why these alligators are called that. I'm sure she slept well last night.

We got to watch the Grizzly go swimming in his pool. We had just spent a little time under the mist station, but suddenly we felt ripped off.

Checking out the turtles (note the leaf she has safely secured in her death grip little paw).

We got the annual pass, so we'll definitely be back!

Cambry vs. Birds and the tail end of Cambry's yeeps at the gorilla

4th of July Freedom Festival

We went to the Cary Freedom Festival on the 4th of July. What a great time we had. They had good music, food and kid games, which we missed most of since our little friend took a marathon afternoon nap.

She went to town on the watermellon. I was so curious to see how much she would eat, I placed the Tupperware in front of her and let her go. She ended up eating literally about 1/5 a watermellon. Devin and I were astonished. Her belly and my belly were about the same size.

Part of the program was a Japanese political figure that talked about the aftermath of all the natural disasters they had in March. At first I thought- I understand Japan has suffered, but hello! It's America's day- why can't we get an American to talk about how great America is... I was humbled quickly when he started weeping tears of gratitude for our armed forces that have been there and are currently still there giving them aid to put together their cities again. When the whole audience stood to say the Pledge of Allegiance and sing the Star Spangled Banner, I'll admit I was also in tears. God bless the USA!
The fireworks were supposed to go off on the other side of the lake, but an hour before launch, it down poured like only the South can do. We had about 3 minutes warning (the wind started picking up as we were posing for this shot), and we RAN (as fast as one can while pushing a stroller and being 7 months pregnant) to our friends' house that was about 10 minutes away and celebrated there instead. Needless to say the fireworks were cancelled- it actually rained 4 more nights consecutively and the town of Cary finally had their fire work show 5 days later! Hello!

Every day life

Cambry and I went to the Museum of Natural History and Science and had a jolly good time. We found the "mountains" exhibit which I'm glad it was done lamely, because I'm really craving a hike in the mountains and this would've made it worse.
I love that this display of a turtle is at the level of a toddler and says "DO NOT TAP ON THE GLASS." Right...

Cambry went wild in the kids zone with so many kids to follow around. Oh, the toys were nice too.

Cambry is 2 1/2 snakes tall.

Giving the animals a little love.

She was quite fond of this Brontosaurus's leg and kept coming back to it to give it a little pat.
She was a good patrolman of the globe and marched around it several times.
It's funny that the 2 things she was the most pleased with weren't part of the museum displays. #1 The escalators. We rode up and down them 3 times each before mean mom made her move on (I can't get enough of those cute curls!).
#2 tapping people on the legs and getting into people's space (especially kids). We love coming to this museum.

We found the most brilliant place to play. It's this place called Playnation that sells these backyard play houses and swing sets. In their warehouse they've set about a dozen up and have a bounce house and a bounce slide and you can come in and play on them. Since all the slides at the parks are too hot by 11 am, this place is pretty happening! Cambry might be too young for this joint. She wouldn't touch the bounce houses, She cried down a slide, and she was so upset when I took her in this little kitchen to hang out in.

I tried to put her on this swing, but she slid to the middle and was in a little circular prison that she didn't care for.
Finally! She was as happy as can be in the swing. I'm bummed that somehow the video got erased of her, just dancing her heart to the music out in the open area in the middle of all the playgrounds.

Another generation of tub marchers is born! When I was little, my mom would tell us "Go march in the tub!" whenever our feet were black (I guess it got better results than "go wash your black feet, you disgusting human being!"). Cambry LOVES puddle jumping so, in she went into the tub with her muddy shoes.

Devin got her dressed one day and was confused at why we had a mermaid costume for her... both her legs were in the same pant hole. She doesn't stand a chance with us for parents!

And last of all... Devin got reading glasses. I picked out the frames since he said I'll be the one looking at him. I love them on him.

Baby Einstein Jump