ROLY POLY POOP MACHINE

My niece, Miranda, started crawling last week at 7 months old. After getting multiple videos from my sister's iPhone I decided that last night I had to see the cuteness for myself. It's pretty funny because she'll crawl after dog toys but if you try to get her to crawl directly to you it's a big fat no.

Right now, her favorite activities are laughing at people who sneeze, bouncing, putting things in her mouth and yanking on the dog. I can already tell what her future occupation is though; she'll become a photographer and sell her pictures to magazines. Obviously, the attraction has already begun.



"Mm, mm, good!"

"More camera strap, plz"



"Fabric tastes so GOOD!!!"





IS YOUR REFRIGERATOR RUNNING?

This weekend turned out a little unexpectedly. Out of all my plans the only thing that actually happened was the Miranda Lambert concert (which was awesome). But I must say that country concerts are a totally different beast than what you would expect; I wore a t-shirt, jeans and old chewed up flip flops but little did I know that girls are supposed to wear short sundresses to show off their fake bake tans, giant cowboy boots, straw hats and also must be falling down drunk.

My sister and I are too cool for that. Obviously.

On Saturday, we were supposed to visit Winterthur, which is a museum, library and gardens, to take pictures and just be outside for part of the day but we never made it. Not getting home from a concert until the wee hours of the morning will do that to you. Instead I just started painting the kitchen, snooze... boring... zzz! Or at least you think it's boring!! Until you push your refrigerator back in place and the pipe to your ice maker snaps! Water starts spraying everywhere!! Woo!! Mayhem ensues, Kyle runs to the emergency shut off valve and I sit there with towels waiting for the pipe to empty. Long story short, the pipe may or may not be fixed. HA! When trying to fix it the emergency shut off valve broke off so it's a work in progress. BUT!!! The kitchen is finished being painted and looks glorious.

Other than all the kitchen fun I didn't do much else, unfortunately. The only other excitement came in the form of giving my cats a photoshoot - how lame am I? :)



GOING WAY BACK IN TIME

I love that my shirt says, "I've got irish roots."

And don't be jealous that Grandmom and I take a snazzy picture. :D

BRANDYWINE CREEK STATE PARK

It's been so hot outside for the past few days and although I don't want to leave the glorious air conditioning I still have to get the dog outside for exercise and fun. I wonder if Ember knows how spoiled she is; I sure hope so. Last night we visited Brandywine Creek State Park with her best dog friend, Eli.

I can only imagine how many miles the dogs actually run compared to the people. All they do is run back and forth sniffing everything and making sure we're still there and following them. Sometimes I'd like to leave her in the middle of the woods, believe me.

Ember's favorite spot of any hike we do is always the water. The dog lives, eats and breathes for swimming. It gets a little ridiculous sometimes (like on the 4th of July when she just kept jumping into the pool over and over). Where there is water, there is Ember and you will not stay dry or clean.

 

As she ran around in the water and the banks of the Brandywine River I practiced with my new camera trying to perfect the art of photography, haha. So far, I'm good at macro shots (although caterpillars do not cooperate) and action shots. Oh and I guess I'm fantastic in AUTO MODE!


After awhile we had about enough of the humidity and decided to head back to the car. Typically, we don't cut through fields but since it was a shorter walk back we decided to go for it -- bad idea. Eli saw a bunch of white-tailed deer and took off!! It took about 7-10 minutes for him to finally come back and he looked exhausted. I guess that will teach him to go tearing off after deer.

Meanwhile, Ember is still pretty dopey. "What happened?! What happened?!"

BUCCI DOG PARK

This weekend marked the official opening of the Bucci Dog Park. My sister finally got her fence installed and since her yard is gigantic she invited anyone in the family over who had a dog. It was a nice impromptu, low-key picnic which I really enjoy. As I get along in age (haha) I'm finding that quiet and low-key is what I enjoy when I'm out; this is probably contrary to what most people think since my family is so loud.

(Ember and Jilly)

Of course a day wouldn't be complete without the most beautiful baby in the world, Miranda! She got a lot of attention that day especially from her Aunt Christine and Grandpop. Mark our words this kid will be a Phillies phan!

We didn't stay too long at Teresa's. All the dogs were wiped out from running around and the heat. When I got home later on I took a picture of my awesome ceramic cat. Obviously he's a attack cat, don't mess with my house.

COLOR OUTSIDE THE LINES

Choosing to start a blog was an easy choice. Naming it was not.