Cassidy's First Birthday Party Invitation

Last weekend, Cassidy was invited to one of her classmate's two year birthday party. The party was at Bounce Spectrum, where they have giant blow up playgrounds for the kids to bounce on. Unfortunately, they aren't too toddler friendly -- some aren't even adult friendly, with little, padded blocks like a rock wall to climb up the slides-- so I ended up carrying Cassidy, and some of the other toddlers, up the slides.

It took Cassidy a little while to warm up to the idea of bouncing, but once she got going, she loved it!



She also decided early on that she wanted to go down the giant slide. I carried her up to the top where she promptly starting crying and saying no. But with no good way down, other than the slide, I sat her in my lap and down we went (almost a straight drop initially).

She looked a bit shocked when we were done.

I asked her if she wanted to go again, and she immediately said.... "No."

I asked her if she wanted to go on the little slide ... "No.".

She eventually tried a medium slide a while later, and was hooked once she saw a little boy go down on his belly, which she tried as soon as she saw him do it.

The party wrapped up with pizza, juice pouches, cake and ice cream.


While I was throwing away our plates, Cassidy snuck out the door and made a run to bounce again, but was intercepted by one of the staff before she could get there.

We had a great time! I'm not sure who was more tired afterwards, Cassidy or Mama.

Gulf Shores in August

This time around, we stayed at Gulf Shores Plantation. It's a little slice of heaven just a short drive away.

We drove to Dauphin Island and took the ferry across Mobile Bay, which left only another 5 minute drive to our condo.

Gulf Shores Plantation is right on the Gulf, and has 6 outdoor pools and one indoor pool! A couple of the pools are only 1.5 feet deep, so Cassidy had a great time walking and playing in the water without us holding her the whole time!

Cassidy still isn't too fond of the sand, but she's doing better with it. She even played in the sand a bit, but stayed on her towel as much as possible.

Jeff and I did a 16 mile bike ride, including an stop for a quick, unplanned and uninvited swim in a neighborhood pool where no one was around.

(Without a towel, I spent the rest of the ride with unattractive water spots in unfortunate places- looking like I was simultaneously lactating and wetting my shorts... hmmm, I guess my punishment for swimming in someone elses pool.)

Another great family vacation!

Playing with Charcoal

Several years ago, my brother-in-law gave me some art supplies as a christmas gift. I finally got around to playing with the charcoal pencils last night. I had some time to myself after Cassidy was in bed and Jeff was out with the boys. So I pulled out my large sketchbook and charcoal pencils, put on some soft music, camped out on the living room floor, and spent a couple of hours drawing. It was peaceful and wonderful!

Charcoal might now be my favorite for drawing. I usually just use a lead pencil, but I love the way charcoal works for shading.