words AND pictures

Today we went on a little family picnic. It was so fun. We ate lunch and then went on a nature walk. Anna-Kate loves to be outside. LOVES it! She also loves rocks. Weird, I know, but she does. She doesn't like for her hands to be dirty though so loving the outdoors (and rocks) makes this a little difficult sometimes. She also loves when Mommy puts her crib mattress on the floor in her room for her to climb and walk on. I learned this one day when I was changing her sheet and she knocked it over on the floor and started playing on it. THEN, she went right to sleep (at bedtime). It was nice. It totally wears her out. So, the other evening I carried her mattress to the living room while we watched American Idol (she also LOVES AI). I find that it's actually good exercise for her little body because she walks to one end, steps off and then steps back on and walks to the other end and repeats the whole thing. That's a high little step for someone who's only 29 inches tall. HAHAHA!

........The other day when we took her to the park there were a bunch of little teams having soccer practice. I had to chase my little kiddo off the fields atleast a handful of times. She loved seeing the kids running around kicking a ball. I think she might be a soccer player. Haha. We've been doing a lot of outdoorsy things with her lately. It's really important to me for her to be active. I definitely don't want her to be a couch potato. Although, we do watch our share of TV, I want there to be a balance and I think we're finding it.--That's one of the things I love about living here, there are parks EVERYWHERE, literally, bunches and bunches of fun parks-And there are always people out doing things-it motivates me.

Here are some pictures of the past few days:

^^^the mattress relays^^^

^^^she found this unoccupied soccer ball^^^

^^^I came in to find my kiddo like this!!!^^^

^^^her "whatever mom" look^^^