Grandma's piano

Monroe has discovered piano playing.  Whenever we are at Zach's parent's house, she runs to the dining room and says, "Up."  She plunks away for a little while and then gets down.  Within a few minutes she's back in that room asking to be put "up" again.  

The piano was given to Zach's mom when she was six.  It is the piano that she learned to play on.  The piano holds a lot of sentimental value for the family, so they obviously love seeing Monroe playing it.  We'll have to wait and see if her interest in the piano now turns into real playing in the future.

Stolley Park Pool

We took Monroe to a wading pool for the first time last week.  Zach and I were anxious to see how she would do with the water when she was in control.  We were pleased that she didn't seem to have any fear of the water.

She very willingly walked in the water as it snaked around and got deeper.  It took her a little while to get used to walking in the 12" water without falling over, but she figured it out.  There were many times that her face went under or got wet.  She would sputter and gasp, but she never once cried.  

She also figured out that she could sit down in the shallower part.  She would sit down and then look at us like she had done something really cool.

We also realized that we may give too many kisses in our family.  While at the pool, Monroe tried kissing three different kids (total strangers).  It is probably our fault, but she apparently thinks this is a normal way to greet someone.  

We had a great time in the water!  We look forward to going many more times this summer.

Cody Park

While we were in North Platte, we went to Cody Park to take Monroe on some rides and get the best ice cream in town. 

The first ride we tried was the train.  She was so excited before it started, as you can see in this picture.

Her excitement didn't last long.

As soon as the train jerked to a noisy start, Monroe had had enough.  She was screaming bloody murder before she had completed one lap.  I am so glad I got this picture of her reaction before we took her out.

We decided we should try a ride she could ride with me.  The swing went much better.

After the swing, she ran back over to the train ride.  She kept saying, "Up" because she wanted back on.  We decided not to try it again.

We also tried riding the carousel.  She didn't hate it, but she didn't love it either.

We ended the rides back on the swing.  She liked it again.

After the rides, we went and got ice cream and looked at the animals.

Grandma and Monroe going on a walk.

Monroe is a little young yet to appreciate Cody Park, but I think it will be a great place to go in the next few years when we visit North Platte in the summers.

Ten year reunion

It has been 10 years since I graduated from high school.  This means two things:  I am old, and it's the year of our 10-year reunion.  I was a class officer in high school, but I really, really didn't want to plan the class reunion.  It took some effort, but my best friend from high school finally talked me into helping.  I'm glad she did.  The reunion ended up being a blast.  

Last Saturday we all gathered in North Platte for the big event.  We met at Centennial Park with families for lunch.  It was supposed to be 106 degrees, so we prepared for the heat.  Thankfully, it didn't get hot until a little later.  That night we went to Shooter's Bar where a lot more people joined us.  We definitely did not have all 365 classmates in attendance, but we did have a good turnout.  I was able to catch up with a lot of old friends and meet adorable little ones.  

My loves at the park.

Group picture at the picnic

Great friends: Chelsey, Leslie, and Amanda

Josiah Lee

Monroe has her first cousin on the Runcie side.  

On June 21, Dustin and Julie welcomed 8 lb 14 oz Josiah Lee.  Julie, who is a labor and delivery nurse, achieved her goal of having Josiah with no pain medication.  We were happy to get to go meet him the day he was born.

Monroe gave Josiah lots of kisses.  

Monroe holding Josiah

Proud new parents

More kisses

Loving the new addition

Play date with Landon

Monroe's friend, Landon, came over to play last week while his mom had a meeting.  The two kids hadn't seen each other in a few weeks, so I was anxious to watch them interact.  

They played well together until I brought in the Cozy Coupe.  Monroe was fine with pushing Landon for awhile, but Landon did not want to give Monroe a turn.  

Monroe could only share for so long before she got frustrated.  Landon was not about to get out of the car, so they were both screaming.

We decided it may be nap time.  I got out both of their pacifiers and blankets.  They both very willingly curled up with Zach.  So cute!

After nap, they had fun playing together.  Zach was the blanket monster.

 

  They especially loved playing with this elephant.

Thanks for coming over to play, Landon!

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day

I think they look so much alike in this picture.

We spent Father's Day in Hastings with Zach's family.  We had a barbecue and swim party at Jeff and Carmen's.  Zach was hoping his Father's Day would be punctuated with a Tiger Woods come-from-behind win, but that didn't happen.  Oh well!  It was a great day anyway.

True to habit, the only pictures I have are of Monroe.  One of these days I will learn to take pictures of everyone else at a get-together.

We used a floaty like this in Estes and loved it.  We knew we wanted to buy one.

 The best daddy in the world!