1st French Braid

I very recently learned how to french braid and only last night (with the help of Jeremy distracting her) I was able to get Maeby to sit long enough for me to attempt one on her hair. Its like the third french braid I've ever done.

Take a look:

Penny Carnival

This past friday one of the parks downtown (there are 40+ parks in Corvallis) had a penny carnival for little kids. I took Maeby and we had a TON of fun!

She got her face painted:

She won AWESOME prizes:

Played LOTS of games spending only 1-5 pennies each (great deal!)

And got to see her good friends Mia and Logan whom she adores!

It was one of the BEST afternoons Maeby and I have spent together. EVER.

Grace's Birthday Party!

Last weekend Maeby went to her first real friend birthday party for our friend Grace who turned 5!

This is Grace:

Maeby LOVES cake and more than got her mouthful of princess birthday cake.

Maeby with her friend Logan.

If there is one thing everyone knows about Maeby its that she LOVES water so this was the PERFECT party for her with the little pool, slip & slide, hose, water balloons - she was in heaven!

(Notice how she couldn't wait to get her swimsuit on?)

Neil came to town and we flew a kite!

Our very good friend Neil stopped by for a short visit and we decided to head out to the coast to see the kite festival in Lincoln City and also help Neil find a Sea Star in the wild.

Neil with Maeby at the tide pools:

It was very unusual, but Maeby didn't seem to want to get into the water today, she was very content to play in the sand and watch all of the kites at the kite festival.

Maeby getting her first flying lesson from Papa (who also just learned how to fly a kite ;))

Throwing rocks in the ocean:

Since I have an underwater camera Neil and Jeremy decided to take a video of the tide going out:

It was a good time, and we're glad he made the trek to see us! Hopefully, next time his wife Kate can come too :)

Jessie, Woody and Buzz: Mae's 3 favorite words

Our little girl has, over the past several months, come down with a serious case of Toy Story mania. She watches the first two films over and over (and yes, we're bad, busy parents who often use Pixar as a way to keep her entertained and happy while we do homework or clean the house), and has now seen the 3rd twice. We went, while still in Utah, on the opening day, and she was ecstatic beyond belief, and had to wear her Jessie hat to the event.

Here she is at Jordan Commons, Mama and Papa's favorite theater, and the site of countless dates on their part.

And here she is on a typical afternoon at home:

Each time is like the first time. "Oh no!" she cries when a character is in jeopardy, "my Buzz!"

It was so hot the other day in Corvallis, that I took her to see Toy Story 3 again just so we could cool our skins for 2 hours in an air-conditioned theater. It was worth every penny - plus, I'm pretty sure she'd forgotten all about the movie, because every single scene was cause for ebullience, laughter, fright, and joy. She was even so nice as to wipe the tears off my cheeks for me at the end.