Disappeared again from the blog world!  Wish I could say that we went to another cool place, but I ended up back at work and Emily ended up with a cold.  She was pretty miserable this weekend, tired yet hard to get sleep because of a cough.  Dusted off the nebulizer and getting ready for another cold and flu season...

"I pull the weeds," she says.  She'll do this in the backyard.  The park.  On a walk.  Sometimes it's hard to convince her that some weeds are okay to be left.  

Swinging is her favorite, but since we don't have one she has to settle for the slide.  Continues to prefer to be outside.  She likes to touch the flowers and water plants.  She will tell you that the people building the house 2 lots over are "Ooh. Loud!" and will cover her ears yet likes watching the big trucks and the doggy that wanders around the lot while the guys work.

She still sings (loudly), but has added Wheels on the Bus, Baa Baa Black Sheep, and Row Row Row Your Boat to her playlist of Happy Birthday, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and ABCs.  Loves to devour fruit snacks, popsicles, and cheese.  Continues to love books, and will grab "Spider" (Miss Spider's ABC), "Boom, Boom" (Ants Go Marching) and "Chuggington" (which is a cartoon that she loves the theme song to, but not so much the episodes) most often.

Weekend Getaway

We just got back from a weekend in Coeur d'Alene.

 The journey was a long one.  We left Thursday night and drove a few hours.  Then we traveled all day Friday and got there around dinner time.  Of course, we took a lot of breaks along the way.  Emily had a good time swimming in the hotel pool that night!

 Saturday was spent in the city center of Coeur d'Alene...  Emily liked loved the lake and had no fear putting her feet in the water...

 It was a beautiful day; warm, not hot.  And even though there was a boat show/demonstration going on, it wasn't overly crowded.  The dog even got to take a little dip in the lake that afternoon.

 She didn't want to leave the water until...

We went to find a swing.  There was a great park in the middle of town that was perfect for a little swinging.

But Sunday was a long day of traveling, again.  Home now since it's back to school for me this week...

Iowa

Emily did great on her flights to and from Iowa.  We had a layover in the Minneapolis/ St Paul airport each way.  Most of the flights Emily slept, but also enjoyed some candy and bouncing around in her seat a little.  But she was in a great mood and stayed quiet.  Except when she would look out her window and shout, "Airplane!  Bye Airplane!"

 One of our layovers turned out to be 4 hours.  Luckily, there was a playground...

 and we colored and played with stickers.  Yep (gasp!) I'm actually letting her sit on the airport floor.  Some battles just aren't worth it...

And we had a great time in Iowa.  Thanks Iowa family and friends for taking the time to met up with us and entertain Emily and me!

Meeting Family

Emily was introduced to lots of family this trip...

Cousins Sam and Becca with Great Grandma

4 generations

another 4 generations w/ Uncle Pat

Celebrating Becca's 13th birthday, and there's Aunt Cheri.

and Great Grandma Harms

There were also great uncles and aunts and great-great aunts we met, but somehow I let taking pictures slip my mind.  Oops.

Farm Kittens

The highlight of Emily's trip had to be the litter of farm kittens.  She asked for them morning, noon & night.  She hugged them -

 but didn't like their claws.  At one point she got frustrated with them climbing on her and she turned around and stomped on one.  Then she announced, " I stomped the kitties!"  When her dad asked about the kitties a week later, she still says, "I stomped the kitties!"  and laughs.

 Good thing they were tolerant, huh.

 And she kissed them -

 and learned to be somewhat gentle when carrying them, but they usually ended up upside down...

 "I'm going to get you!"

Iowa State Fair

planting pretend seeds at the Little Farmer area

picking her harvest

now getting to pick apples

playing Farmer Emily

Happy 100th Birthday Butter Cow
(any Iowan would understand that this is a big deal!  Yes, it is all butter...)

and the butter cow companion, it's all butter, too!

look who's all brave around the goats after our zoo adventure

She thought the cows were great, but the horses were scary...

eyeing the ostrich

Antique Carousel in Story City, IA

This is the antique carousel at home that I remember riding as a kid.  First Emily chose the horse.

 Then the dog...

 But as it started to move up and down, Emily informed me that she was, "ALL DONE!"

 So, we moved to the bench... it was safer there.

We rode in the bench twice.  And then headed to the park -

 Emily was pretty pleased that there were swings and slides in Iowa.  She asked for them every. single. day!

To the Dentist

She had her first dental appointment yesterday.  She kept saying, "All done!", but she let the dentist look at each of her teeth with a mirror and then got a fluoride treatment.  She has a discolored tooth that is from nerve damage (from falling), but it's thought to only be bruised and not anything permanent.  But, then there's a crossbite.  She'll more than likely need to see an orthodontist around 7ish to get it fixed.  Her prematurity is to blame for that one, remember all those days on the ventilator?  Yup, although it does "just happen" in some cases, more than likely the breathing tube is to blame for Emily.

And then some more shots from the day -

"Ready, set, go!" she'll say.

And a nice day outdoors -