May 31

Obviously, I didn't take this picture. Amy took it with my camera. Since Amy never posts pictures on her own blog anymore and since this was the only picture on my camera for today, I thought I would post Amy's picture for my picture today.

We had a small group cookout at the Blakley's tonight. After we were done eating, us girls ended up in the living room watching The Bachelorette. Cael was my buddy and wanted to snuggle with me on the couch while we watched it! When Cael was a baby, I was one of his favorite people...but it's been a while since he has wanted to be my buddy again. So I enjoyed my snuggle time with him tonight!

Poor Daniel and Audrey had to stay home from the cookout because Audrey is sick. It started with a cough this weekend, then a cough and a very runny, snotty nose yesterday, and now it is a cough, a runny, snotty nose, and a fever. Daniel was kind enough to stay home with Audrey so I could get out and go to the cookout...what a good husband!! Hopefully Audrey will get over this sickness soon....being sick is not fun for her or for us!

May 30

We've upgraded Audrey's pool for this summer. Last year we had this tiny pool, and we were very jealous of Ava's pool with a slide and a fountain. So this year, Audrey has a pool with a slide and a sprinkler. Today we just put a little water in it, so she could test it out. She seemed to have fun for a little while, though with her ridiculously short attention span, she was quickly ready to move on to something else. It's a pain to fill (and then empty) the pool for just a couple of minutes of playtime, so hopefully she will play with it more as the summer goes on.

May 29

Audrey had a fun time playing outside with Grandma today. Then it was time to come back home and get back to everyday life. I'm ready for a real vacation. Our whirlwind trip to Keokuk (and Lima) was not long enough.

May 28

We are in Keokuk for a quick trip to visit my family. This afternoon we headed to the metropolis of Lima, IL (population: 125) to visit my dad and his family. We also got to go swimming in my dad's pool. It was a great afternoon for swimming! The weather was perfect, sunny and hot but not too hot. The water temperature was perfect too; I expected it to be cold since it is still May, but it was surprisingly comfortable. And Audrey loved playing in the water. In the past she has seemed a little scared in the pool, but today she was having fun splashing and jumping and even putting her face in the water a bit.

May 27

Today was the last day of Sprouts! We celebrated with a beach party. We encouraged the kids to wear their swimsuits, and we had lots of beach toys and decorations. Audrey really liked this intertube. She stood in it for the longest time, just looking around at everything and showing off her swimsuit (and her chubby legs and tummy!).

May 26

Today it stormed and rained even harder than yesterday. I heard one report that we got 5 inches of rain in an hour! I think that is a bit exaggerated, but still...I have never seen anything like it. Tons of streets in Springfield were flooded, including ours! This picture was taken at the end of our block. Good thing I didn't let Audrey go play in these mud puddles...she would have drowned!

(FYI: I have to give Daniel credit for this picture today. He went out to take a few pictures while the water was still high. I'm bending the rules and posting it, even though I didn't take it.)

May 25

It stormed earlier today and rained pretty hard, leaving a huge puddle right in front of our house. So Audrey got to play in her first mud puddle this afternoon! She was very ladylike about it, just walking around and stopping to touch the water occasionally. She didn't get too wet or muddy. But she must have been having fun, because she did not want to go back inside!