3 Scoops of Ice Cream for a Penny?

Last night, we enjoyed seven 31-cent scoops of ice cream from Baskin-Robbins, an event we're making an annual family tradition. Last year Kirsten and Kyle waited in a long at a Toledo store and happened to see many of their church friends also in line. Last night, however, there was no line when we arrived and we had a new addition of the family with us. That cute new addition was more interested in the balloons than in her frozen yogurt. Kyle wanted to tell the employees that there was a problem with their promotional sign but he just couldn't bring himself to do it.

Sunbathing Turtles

With the temperature high today expected to be 88 degrees, Brooklyn and Kyle hit the trails at Nixon County Park in the morning. They saw deer, snakes, cardinals, horses, squirrels, turtles, and more than their share of wasps and large bumble bees.

Visiting Mommy at Work

Privacy laws prevented Brooklyn from participating in the national "Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day," on April 23, but Brooklyn was able to visit her working Mom over the weekend while Kirsten was on pediatric call. Brooklyn loves the fish tank at the hospital and touching the life-size stuffed dogs in the gift shop.

Swingin' at Home With Doggie

With the weather so nice this weekend, Kyle installed a swing for Brooklyn below our high balcony. She loves it.

This week a friend who has a large dog watched Brooklyn while Kyle went to the doctor. Brooklyn and the dog quickly became friends and she didn't want to leave. She has also started pointing to pictures of dogs and puppies in books and gets all excited when she spots a dog from far away during our walks. Brooklyn received a puppy puppet from one of her grandmas recently and it now goes with her practically everywhere. Sometimes it sounds like she is saying "doggie" when she picks up her puppy puppet off the floor. Since Kyle is allergic to dogs, hopefully we won't get pleadings and protests for a real doggie from Brooklyn when she is older.

Rocky Ridge Park

This morning, Kyle and Brooklyn spent a few hours exploring the trails at Rocky Ridge County Park though Brooklyn didn't quite make it to the end. The purple socks pulled up high aren't meant to be a fashion statement but instead function to keep away ticks, which are abundant around here. Three Mile Island can be seen in the background off to the East in the ridge-top photo taken by a kind fellow on the trail. Kyle hopes to hike all of the county parks with Brooklyn in the next few weeks. Before Brooklyn was born, we hiked all the Toledo Metroparks together back in the fall of 2007.

To Grandparents' House We Drove

Easter

Our Easter weekend was a relaxing time celebrated with family traditions and spiritual reflection. We enjoyed having Brooklyn's cousin (can you tell which car seat she's in?) in town. We undertook our first ever egg hunt and Brooklyn loves her DVD of Beethoven music. We hadn't had time to get Brooklyn an Easter dress so we were gratefully surprised when she was gifted such a pretty one.

On Sunday, we attended our weekly Church service together and watched this short video as a family: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpFhS0dAduc

Good Friday Surgery

It seems that throughout both of our childhoods and recently, many holidays have also been times requiring medical attention. Well, this Easter season was no different. Kyle had surgery on Friday. Luckily, Kirsten was able to change her schedule to be home for a few days for Easter weekend and we had family in town. The only hard part of recovery is that Kyle cannot lift anything over 20 lbs. for 4-6 weeks. It's a good thing Brooklyn is so petite weighing in at 17 lbs. but Kyle wishes the laundry, trash, and dishes were heavier so as to be off limits.

A Day in D.C.

Annual Cherry Blossom Festival

Jefferson Memorial

FDR Memorial



Natural History Museum


LDS Temple Visitor's Center


Brooklyn Then (7/08) and Now (4/09 )

Our special thanks go out to the Tuckers who made our quick trip to D.C. possible.