MoM's DaY oFf & PiCnIc At ThE pArK

The females in the Fanning house LOVE Tuesdays! Mom's day off means lots of playtime! Even though we spend most Tuesdays running around like crazy getting stuff done we enjoy every second of it. Today was jam packed with stuff! First off I was in desperate need of a trip to the salon to fix this stuff sitting on top of my head. Mission accomplished! Next up was the final weigh in for the hospital weight loss competition....mission accomplished! A morning of not eating before the weigh in left me very ready for a lunch date with Katie and Riley. Nanny watched Hal all morning until I went and snatched her up for a relaxing afternoon. I made the mistake of going home before we headed out to the walking trails....and the first thing I saw when I opened up the door was Emmi's sad little face staring up at me saying "if you go to the trails without me I will destroy this house and everything you own." Ok, maybe she's not that evil but those eyes just broke my heart so I loaded up the super sheddy (if that's a word) dog and baby. I realized it was a stupid idea about halfway there but there was no turning around once you say the words "do you wanna go for a walk?" She found a lovely place to ride on the way there....it was so nice of her to sit atop my work folder and on top of my purse because she is too much of a princess to ever sit in the floorboard.....

I've created a monster

Oh wait, 2 monsters

But I can't help but love 'em

VERY soon after getting everyone strapped in and leashed up I realized what an absolutely stupid idea this was. We obviously spent our fair share of mornings strolling and dog walking when Hal was teeny tiny. But that was because she was teeny tiny and slept for 22 hours a day. Not so much anymore. Emmi insisted on walking directly in front of the stroller and getting ran over numerous times. She also very much enjoyed wrapping the leash around the stroller wheels. That was great fun! What was even more fun was picking up Hal's bottle from the dirt, cleaning off and then repeating that process ten times. I think the two stinkers planned to gang up on me!

See what I mean??? Bad idea.

After Emmi used up some of her pent up energy she gave my arm a bit of a break and Hallie decided to snooze for awhile....now came the relaxation. So I rolled up my sleeves, plopped down on a bench and enjoyed the peace and quiet in the sun.

Great grandma was itching for some time with her little sweetie so we spent the afternoon doing some shopping and hanging out at Great Meme and Great Papa's house. My grandma has been a rockstar lately and getting out of the house more and more so we loaded up in my car and headed out to the store. She pushed the silly girl in the basket all the while making faces and eliciting silly noises and plenty of smiles from Hal. As grandma's therapist I was so thrilled to see her out shopping again and back doing the things she enjoyed before she got sick. I guess it's no surprise to say that Hallie was spoiled with some goods and probably the cutest little swimsuit I've ever laid eyes upon! Hallie was parched after all of the shopping and decided to help herself to some of my drink....at least the has the concept down.....

"This must not work like my bottle does"

She was her smiley self and spent awhile crawling at top speed from one end of the living room to the other. It was nice to have her contained in a space that she hadn't fully explored before....in our house it's a different story...she has memorized the layout and knows exactly where to go to get into trouble. At grandma's she isn't aware of all the other places to get into trouble. But that doesn't mean she didn't make her own trouble....

"I like to rip my own socks off...I'll help you with your's"

"I could've sworn I put my binky in here..."

 Grandma and grandpa had a great time with their great grandbaby as usual as did she. Hallie was even nice enough to leave her with a slobbery table and a couple torn up magazines as a gift! I can't begin to describe how much I cherish this time that we all get to spend together...Hallie and I are very lucky to be living so close to them now. 

During our drive home I felt so relaxed watching the pretty blue skies and the open fields as we passed by. I took a look at the temperature outside and decided that this was not an evening to be wasted. So we tallked Riley into a picnic in the park and got outdoors to enjoy the 78 degree temp. The Bumbo got some attention tonight for our picnic...I was worried about getting her out of it though...it's safe to say she has  nearly outgrown the Bumbo! When I say picnic I do not mean that I prepared a lovely dinner in a basket with some wine and a big comfy blanket to spread out. Nope. We picked up some Taco Factory to go and Hal munched on some strawberry puffs.....

"My kinda picnic"

The wind proved to be Hallie's enemy as it kept sweeping away her puffs from her tray. Luckily she was in a great mood...normally you don't mess with her food!!!

"Swings, you say?!!! Get me outta this thing!"

My favorite picnickers

Everyone else must have had the same idea because we ran into some family and friends at the park with their kids too. Hallie was a social butterfly and showed off her talking skills. Soon she was getting antsy and still very much ready to SWING...her absolute favorite thing in the world.....

"FINALLY!"

I just can't even explain how much I love this little girl.....

The ducks were calling our name so we went over to check them out....

I could've sworn Hallie mimicked me and said the word 'duck' but I'm pretty sure Riley would tell you I'm crazy. I still think she said it! Smart girl! Hallie spent some nice practicing her walking skills in her tennis shoes...she's gonna be walking on her own in the blink of an eye.....

"I think I could climb that thing if he would just let me loose..."

"Wellllllllll, maybe not...."

May I just say that this playground we were exploring had to be the most dangerous children's play area ever designed. I might also add that it was the most fun. So I guess danger = fun. Don't tell Hallie though. I had Riley shield her eyes as I squealed with delight while riding on the super fast spinny toys and while climbing through these objects I can only describe as death traps. I warned Riley that an ER visit might be in our near future as I attempted to make it through this contraption....

I still don't understand how this works....

And don't even get me started on this creepy treacherous "tongue slide." Like I said, super fun but super dangerous. I don't think Hallie will be spending much time at this particular playground until she is 27. ;)

It chews you up and spits you out on the ground.

Although Hallie has the most paranoid parents in the universe she seemed pretty pleased to be spending the evening with us......

"SUPER FUN!"

The feeling was mutual. ;)