So we were at Paula's yesterday for Thanksgiving (I'll blog about that when the weekend is over and the traveling is through) and Matt was holding a wine corkscrew when Quinn came over to him and asked him what it was and what it was for. The following conversation ensued:
Quinn: "What's that?" Matt: "It's a corkscrew." Quinn: "What's it for?" Matt: "You pull the cork out of a wine bottle with it." Quinn: "Matt, will you hurt yourself with that?" Matt: "No." Quinn: "Well I would!"
Tonight Kirch and I were sitting down to eat our Subway subs when Quinn came running into the living room and proceeded to put a hand under each foot and then try to stand up while stepping on her hands. Kirch and I looked at each other, perplexed, and this was the following short conversation:
Kirch: "Quinn, what are you doing? Quinn: "I'm trying to pick myself up!!!"
I can't be THAT heavy!!!
I swear, these never ever get old. I only wish I could remember all of them!
Quinn and I took advantage of the beautiful weather this weekend and hit two different playgrounds in two days. On Saturday, after dance class and tennis lessons, we went to the Kentlands and played on the swings (her favorite) and the jungle gym before heading to the outside flea market to peruse the booths. It was beautiful out!
Yessss! This is so cool!
Seesaws are fun too!
On Sunday, we hit a playground in Germantown. I was pushing her on the swing, and she was really crankin'. She was loving going so high! She kept saying, "I'm going high on the Earth!" She said she wanted to go into outer space, so I asked her if she wanted to be an astronaut. After I explained what an astronaut was, she thought about it and said, "Mommy, if I go into space I would be lost from you. I don't want to do that, I just want to grow up and coach tennis with my daddy." There you have it - I guess we have our next tennis coach in the making!
This morning after Quinn got herself dressed, she came up to me wearing a new (hand-me-down) shirt where the sleeves are a bit long on her. She politely asked me, "Mommy, will you please roll up my sleeves because they are driving me nervous!"
What a beautiful day for our final playdate. Yesterday we joined the Fernandezes and the Perruses for a round of mini golf in Gaithersburg. It was a perfect day to let little kids run around with iron putters and golf balls and hope for the best! Quinn is quite a sports fan - she took pretty good direction and tried her hardest to sink her ball hole after hole.
Watch this Eagle, Mommy...
Daddy is even in on the action!
There is NO way Mommy will make this shot!
After the game was over, since it was the last day before the course closed, all of the kids got popsicles and we called it a day. This is a great tradition Donna Scheleur started 2 years ago and I look forward to next year's adventures!
In September just Quinn and I headed back to Michigan one more time...
The reason was actually for me to go to a fundraiser for an old friend of mine I grew up with - his 6 year old son has Autism. That night, an adult night only, was a blast. But the time I spent with Quinn was as much fun. Poppy and Manka enjoyed their time with her, too!
I love my Poppy and Manka!
We spent time at a new park on Taft Rd, just a 10 minute walk from the house, we saw Brenda, Carrie and the kids, we hung out with Uncle Swany and Aunt Jessica, and Pop and Laurie got some time alone with her, too. We had good weather, and we are already looking forward to Christmas time!
Yesterday I took Quinn to her first college football game - and I'm proud to say it WASN'T her first tailgate! We had a great mother-daughter day together. I think I had just as much fun watching her watch the game as she did taking in live football for the first time!
I'm not ashamed to say that I totally threw caution to the wind and my mothering skills out the window, letting Quinn eat any-and-everything she wanted yesterday. Her dinner consisted of a few juice boxes, one chicken nugget, a football-shaped doughnut, some chips and chili cheese dip, a hot pretzel and some french fries. This all spread out over a 5 hour period!
She was a great tailgater, too. She had Eric Scheleur to play with all day, and she kept herself very entertained digging in the dirt and playing with a tennis ball!
I'm digging this tailgating thing! Go Terps!
Nothing like a football-shaped doughnut to keep my energy up!
Quinn kept asking when we were going to see the football player (sooo cute), and when we got into the stadium, she did a good job of paying attention to the game. She kept asking where the ball was and when the flag girls were going to run around the field again. She made it through the halftime show and almost all of the 3rd quarter before we packed it up and headed home. She learned a cheer and now runs around the house saying "Defense, Defense, Number 1!"
Me and my buddies Donnie and Eric!
Mom, I'm sure having a good time!
So now she has attended a hockey game and a football game - our little cheerleader is being sports educated!!
Since we have taken so many trips back to Michigan this summer, we decided to do a little mini-vacation to Baltimore for some quality family time. It was a wonderful way to show Quinn some of the close-to-home attractions with a far-away feel by staying in a hotel for a couple of nights. I'd say the trip was a smashing success.
But I must digress a bit. We actually started the weekend off by heading up to Dad & Dorothy's in Pennsylvania for some quality pool time (oh yeah, and time with Grandpa and Dorothy!). We had fair weather for the weekend, allowing us time to splash around in the pool, and watching Quinn's courage grow enough to jump off the diving board. The girl is a fish and she's not afraid of much when it comes to the water!
Sunday afternoon we left PA for Baltimore and after checking into our hotel, we walked a block up to Pratt Street Alehouse for a yummy dinner on the patio. It was nice to be so close to home, but to still have the feel of being in a new place to explore. After dinner, we took a walk up to the Harbor to get some ice cream and check out the sights. We headed back to the hotel to rest up for Monday's adventures - and by rest up I mean wait until 11:30pm when we could finally get Quinn settled down to go to sleep!
Monday morning after breakfast we took Quinn to the Baltimore Aquarium, where we spent 3 1/2 hours checking out the fish, frogs, birds, sting rays, sharks, and all other aquatic creatures. We tried the 4-D theater and failed miserably. Quinn was NOT a fan of how the special glasses made everything come to life, and on top of that, it was an interactive theater --- that meant that when a fish would come on screen and splash in the water, we'd get sprayed. There were little gusts of wind and sprays and Quinn lasted about 2 minutes (I kid you not) before bursting into tears and begging us to get out of there! After calming her down and checking out the sharks, we headed to the dolphin show, which was much more up her alley. We watched 4 dolphins wave, swim and jump around for about a half hour before we finally headed to the jellyfish exhibit, which was very cool.
After we got out of the aquarium, we jumped onto the water taxi and went to the Rusty Scupper for lunch. We jumped back onto the water taxi and headed to Fells Point (the oldest burrow in Baltimore, by the way, circa 1792-I think) to chase pigeons and eat snow cones. And chasing pigeons was by far the more exciting of the two!!!
We went back over to the Harbor and walked around for a little while longer until about 5:30pm, when Kirch and I had finally run out of steam. Quinn was already asleep in the stroller! Kirch and I enjoyed a drink in the hotel bar and watched some US Open tennis while Quinn caught some ZZZ's and finally I brought her upstairs to crash out on the bed. She woke up about 8pm and we all stayed up until 11pm again, playing Candy Land and watching more tennis.
This morning we took Quinn to Port Discovery Children's Museum, which was a HUGE hit! It had this 4-level monster jungle gym, which we could all play in! We also played in a water room, did puzzles, did pretend grocery shopping, played on a mini soccer field, went through this crazy Alice-in-Wonderland type house where all of the room proportions were off... It was really great. If you have kids and are looking for something fun to do with them, I highly recommend it. But only on a weekday - I can't imagine how crazy it would've been on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon!
After Port Discovery, we had a nice outside lunch at Luckie's and finally called it a day. It was a fantastic long weekend and we look forward to showing Quinn other things around the area as she grows up!
I can't be THAT heavy!!!
