17 months old & a trip to round hill farm

First off, my baby girl is 17 months old today. Um, where has the time gone? No, I mean really. Seems like just a few months ago I was still writing monthly updates leading up to her 1st birthday, and here we are, a mere month away from her being a year and a half. She's most certainly not a baby anymore, but a full blown toddler. And every day she does something else to remind me of this, whether its something she does or says, or even a face she makes. Time really ought to slow down, its just not fair! Here she is from this morning, looking all big girl like.

Some of my friends and I had been talking about how we wanted to check out Round Hill Park at some point this summer. We had decided to go Wednesday morning, but of course, it rained the majority of this week, so those plans were postponed. Today, the weather looked pretty clear (cloudy, but clear) and so today was the day!

I had never been there before, but heard great things and best of all, everything was FREE. It was very cute! When you first enter the park there is a big pond full of ducks you can feed bread. Of course, Audrey wanted nothing to do with that and just wanted to explore. They also have a little farm area where you can walk around and see the animals. A lot of the animals were missing (horses? sheep?) but there were still pigs and chickens!

The pathways with the trees, fences and barns make it such a pretty place! I smell a good photography location in the future ;) I imagine its very pretty in the fall and I know we'll be making more trips in the future!

Once the kids were done looking at the animals, we headed over to the spray park area. There was a summer camp group (or two..maybe even 3) there, because it was PACKED. We still had fun though. The day was slightly cooler and the water was cold, so Audrey was a little more hesitant to full submerge herself in the streams. She had just as much fun observing everyone else! She did get a little brave though and got a little wet :)

I can always tell at the end of a play date if it was fun and Audrey-approved by whether or not she falls asleep almost immediately..and today? She was out within 5 minutes ;) I'd call that a success!

busy toddler, busy summer!

Life with a busy toddler can be challenging at times. Audrey is, and has always been, a child that is always on the move. She is much like me, and gets stir crazy very easily. On days when I have nothing planned and we spend the whole day at home, she gets restless, which often ends in her constantly trying to get into things she shouldn't and me getting frustrated.

I am thankful that I have met a great group of Mama's here that have kids all around the same age. Play dates are a saving grace -- for both mommy AND kiddo! However, as with anything, we all have busy lives and schedules and regular meet ups do not always happen. So for this reason, I am often left trying to figure out how to entertain my busy girl.

A couple months ago we purchased a zoo pass to the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium. We figured that it was the most cost effective option as otherwise it would cost me (or us, if Ryan comes along on a weekend) anywhere from $14-28 each visit. Having the zoo pass has been great because we can get out of the house for a few hours, Audrey enjoys looking at the animals, and it doesn't cost us anything!

I recently discovered the Pittsburgh Toy Lending Library which is a fantastic place to go on a rainy day, or even a hot day when you don't feel like being outside. They have SO many things for little ones to do, from climbing toys, a play kitchen, puppet area, books, arts & crafts and more! Audrey always has a good time, and it allows her to run around and play with different kinds of toys she doesn't have at home. It's also child proofed, so I don't have to worry about being inches behind her every second, making sure she's not getting into things she is not supposed to. For $5 a visit, you can't beat it!

We've also been to many parks & playgrounds around the area. Audrey loves it, but its definitely harder on me because you need to be on her at all times, making sure she doesn't fall down or off of anything! But it does help her run off some pent up energy she always seems to have! And its a quick decision if there is nothing else planned and we just need to get out of the house for a bit before nap time (mommy's favorite time of day).

The city and surrounding areas also offers lots of public pools and spray parks. Last summer she was a bit too young to really enjoy any of these things, so this summer has been great for these types of activities. She's at an age where she is pretty independent, even in a baby pool. I have to be right there with her, but I don't have to hold her the whole time and she can splash around and play and just have fun. We've tried two different pools, and so far, we've preferred the heated option! :p She really is a water baby though, which makes me happy!

A few local movie theater's offer free or very discounted (as in, like $1 a ticket) movie tickets for older kid movies a few mornings a week. I know for a fact that Audrey is not old enough for a movie theater yet, but for free or a dollar, I may try and take her one day soon! She does love watching movies at home, so who knows? She may end up surprising me ;)

I also took her to the library right up the street for the first time a couple weeks ago. Luckily it has a whole basement designated for children books, because my child does not quite get that you are supposed to be quiet in the library. She was running around laughing and yelling "hi!" to the other kids! I let her choose a few books herself, and did not really look at what she picked until later that day when we were home. The title of one of her selections would explain why the librarian asked me if I wanted to add "my spouse...or...someone else" to my library card. HAHA! We got a good laugh out of that!

So far, our summer has been a busy, but fun one! I feel like we are always on the go with something to do.

What types of things do you do to keep your little one's busy during the hot months of summer? I'm always looking for new ideas!

a day at Idlewild

A couple months ago my Dad had the opportunity to buy some discounted tickets to go to Idlewild and SoakZone. My mom called and asked if we'd be interested in meeting up some day in the future and going. The last time I was there, I was childless and back then, I did not really enjoy myself as its mostly geared towards children. However, now having a child, and one that is old enough to ride pretty much all of the kiddie rides, I jumped at the chance!

Fast forward to last Friday. We decided it would be the perfect day to go, so little miss Audrey and I piled in the car and made the hour drive to Ligonier to meet up with my parents, sister and nephew.

The weather reports were sketchy, but we ended up with a nice (albeit hot, humid, muggy, whatever) day! We started the park in Storybook Village where Audrey had a blast going in and out of the little houses, climbing on fences and whatever else she could get to. Wild woman! She also got her first sucker from the pirate ship treasure chest, and she loved it! Normally, I would not give her candy, but it was a treat and it helped keep her occupied and not trying to climb out of the stroller!

Our next stop was Raccoon Lagoon, which houses all of the kiddie rides. The first ride they went on was a ride similar to what Audrey had ridden before at Waldameer (and loved it) but not this time! She was already mad about being strapped in, and once the ride started she was not having it and screamed the entire time. Ha!

At that point, Audrey decided a meltdown in the line for the mini ferris wheel was appropriate. Life with a toddler! In her defense, it WAS close to lunch and she hadn't eaten much breakfast, so I knew she was getting hungry and gave her some snacks to tide her over. Luckily, this tact work because we were able to get a couple more rides in before we ate!

After lunch, she was like a whole new child! ha! She was back to her usual happy go lucky self and was able to enjoy more rides. We went on the Mister Rogers Neighborhood train ride and she was in trance of amazement. She also rode another car ride and said "weeeee!" as she was going around and around. She's hilarious :) After some more rides, we decided to head into the water park area where we had a great time cooling off in the spray park area.

Before we had to leave for the day, we stopped at the ball pit on the way out of the park, where again, Audrey had a fun time crawling around (and sinking) into all of the balls.

All in all we had a wonderful time and we can't wait to go back!

happy 4th of july!

Our 4th of July was pretty low key this year. With it falling in the middle of the week and Ryan having to work the following day (and me that evening) we couldn't really leave town. So, we made the most of it right here in Pittsburgh!

We decided to check out the Three Rivers Regatta, which is an annual event here in town. We got down there early (before some of the vendors were even set up!), which was probably a good idea. It was already 80+ degrees with serious humidity, so we didn't spend a ton of time down there. None of us are a fan of the heat..we are A/C people ;) We went down the the Point Park fountain, and Audrey loved it. She even threw a public fit (see photo below) because we wouldn't let her play in the dirty fountain water! She enjoyed running around the grassy area, saying "hi!" to everyone and even stealing goldfish crackers from strangers.

Holidays are always a good opportunity to sneak in some family photos. We are usually dressed somewhat appropriately (ha!) and we don't get photos together very often (read: I rarely get photos with my daughter because I am always the one behind the camera). Of course we didn't get any of the three of us, you know, together, but what can you do? Handing your camera to a stranger often ends in an unfocused, blurry disaster. And, I may or may not be a serious critic when it comes to photo composition :p

After we got tired of the Regatta, we decided to go to the PPG Place fountain to let her run around and cool off. I wasn't sure if she'd even like it since we've taken her to the spray park once this year and she was less than impressed. Wrong. She LOVED it! She was running in and out of the streams and got braver by the minute. Every time the streams would disappear she would say "Oh no!" There is nothing better in this world than watching the world through a child's eyes, experiencing things as they do, for the first time. No words.

After the fountain adventure, it was nearing lunch time and we were all getting hungry. We decided to walk through Market Square and grab some lunch. We had a few open choices, and decided to get Moe's. Because really, whats more American on the 4th of July than Mexican food? Audrey was hungry and devoured almost her entire quesadilla! Guess it was all that energy she burned off in the fountain ;) We finished eating and went home for nap time.

Later than evening, I had to work so Ryan took Audrey up to Mt. Washington to see the fireworks. Despite it being past her bedtime, she loved them! I wasn't there to see it (sadly) but he took video. She was clapping during the booms and generally enjoying them :)

We hope everyone else had a safe, happy and enjoyable holiday!!