Dear Dorii

Just in case you thought I forgot about the pacifier..... (Click here for the back-story.)
Are you missing anything of your own?



That's right, I stole it. Your children may never understand Christmas or ever see Santa again without this precious book. Want it back?

Fun at the Park

Most people around here agree that fall is the best time of year. Beautiful colors, nice weather, and lots of football are a few of the highlights. Since we only have a few weeks left until the darkness of winter descends, we thought we should post some photos of Zola at the park so we can remember what it's like to play outside.


"Can someone give me a push?"



I don't know what these are, but Zola loves to play with them. They bounce.




Action clip of Zola going down the slide - feet first. It was a big day for her.







So many choices . . .




We all love the red slide. It's brightly colored, gives a fast ride, and is less crowded than the spiral slide.





Plus, there's always the side-benefit of static electricity.




I told you the fall colors are beautiful. Can you find Zola? (Click on the photo to enlarge.)










Even mice like the Fall. The pretty red leaf she's holding is from the tree in our front yard.

Eek! It's a mouse!

Zola was a mouse for Halloween this year. I wish I could say it was the result of careful planning and research, but it really boiled down to finding a costume that would fit her. We were lucky to find this adorable mouse costume at Target. The costume is almost as cute from behind.




Zola had more fun dressing up than some of her classmates did. Here at Zola's school we had a little parade with the other "Diving Dolphins." The little girl in pink (an octopus) was really upset for most of the time. I told her parents that an octopus lives in water.









After the little parade, we took the mouse costume off (since it was so hot) and had our Halloween snacks. Unfortunately for Zola, she doesn't like sugar cookies. I've never seen such a disgruntled look from a kid holding a cookie. "Nemo" gladly ate Zola's cookie.



After the school party, it was time to hit the town with some of our close friends.

Here we are with Rhett and Kim.






This is Zola's first trick-or-treat. Luckily, it was treats all around.



After our looting spree, we headed back to the safe-house to tally up the haul. Zola likes to take candy out of, and then put the candy back into the her little yellow carrier.




A couple of days later, Zola's still playing with her candy.



Such a great Halloween!

My New Favorite Outfit

Since Zola has come into my life I have found a new love for the color pink, an unexpected consequence of having a lovely little girl. I'm still not loving lace or puffy sleeves but I do love her in pink. My new phone is a testament to this new change.









However, this is my new favorite of Zola's outfits. Not just because it says, "Mom rocks" in tattoo style, but because it looks so great with her Converse.

Zola Bueller's Day Off

Zola was pretty sick on Monday night. She wasn't faking it like Ferris was, but I thought I'd put a couple of pictures up from Tuesday (September 16).

[As always, click on the photos for a zoomed-in view.]

Watching TV on a sick day is a family tradition. Zola's new blanket, made by our friend Lauren, was just the right thing to keep her warm. Zola even has her own remote control (no batteries, though) so she can click just like Mom and Dad do.




Zola likes her new orange boot-slippers that Eileen gave to her. They're a little too big so it's tricky to walk with them.




Lately, Grover has become Zola's most dear and trusted companion. Here, he's doing his best Zola impersonation, holding the remote control in one hand, and her favorite blanket by its tag with his other hand. Zola seemed more amused than anything at this caricature.

[notice Zola's extremely choice front-butt. thanks, dad!]



Eventually, Zola felt good enough to do a little dancing to Baby Einstein, although you can tell her energy level is a little low.

[Yeah, she's a mouth-breather. She gets that from dad too.]




Then, we put on our hat and hit the stairs for several up-and-down sessions. (This picture was taken on the little landing as you make the turn to go up the second half of the flight of stairs.)




The two pictures below weren't taken on Tuesday, but they're pretty typical of the few minutes a day she actually sits still.

Zola loves her puppets - especially the Finger Puppets that Kendra gave to her.




And, finally, nothing beats hanging out with Mom on the seatbacks. There's even a little button you can push to make the back vibrate (Zola loves this).



By Tuesday night, Zola seemed to be feeling a lot better.

Tapping a Keg

Zola was born in a college town which boasts/laments the number three party school in America. But Zola seems to have a different understanding of what it means to "tap a keg."

[Good girl.]



A couple of weeks ago, Zola and her dad took a little day-trip out to Old Economy Village, a little nineteenth century communistic town founded by the Harmonist Society (and a tourist attraction today). You can read all the boring history and see more photos on Dirk's blog. I just thought this was a cute photo to share.

Happy Birthday, Zola Rae.

We can't believe it's already been a year. So far so good.

We've been celebrating Zola's birthday for a couple of weeks now, since Dirk's family threw a party for her while we were in Utah. Here are some of the highlights from the celebrations.

Thanks to Mimi, Jen, Allison, and Mandy, it was a Princess Party. Since Zola is (temporarily) the only granddaughter around, everyone had lots of fun exaggerating every possible pink princessy point.

I hope it's okay if I post these photos - my talented sister Allison took them. Thanks, Al.

[As always, click on the photo to zoom.]



The cupcakes were amazing, especially Mimi's retro animal candle-holders.


Although this little giraffe seems to have made a little "mess." Glad I didn't eat that cupcake. Even though they looked so good, little Z wasn't interested in eating any.


Sweet action photo of Ed smashing that piñata!


A prettier group of princesses has never assembled.


In the week or so that we've been back, Zola's birthday just keeps on chugging along. Since her biggest interest right now is her stroller, we decided to get her a little toy stroller for her birthday last weekend. It's been a big hit. Here she is pushing Raggedy Ann around. It's kind of fun to compare her to the photo in the background on the bookshelf, taken when she was three months old.




HERE SHE COMES! (Better get out of her way.)


Conveniently, the stroller folds up for easy storage during long cardboard-box journeys.


I've tried to come up for a caption for this one for a few days now. Words fail me.


Finally, today (Wednesday, August 13) was her true birthday. Zola had a pretty big day.

After her nap, this is how she said hello to me - smiling into her blanket with the precious tag held up for all to see.



Downstairs, Mom was making cupcakes.


Zola didn't really help, but she did show off her new birthday shirt that Marme gave her.


Then we headed out to a nearby park to celebrate with some friends.


Zola loves to hang out with our friend Justin. He's a pretty tall guy. I'm not sure that those balloons are moored to anything.


Dane and Dirk tried to talk Zola into eating a cupcake, but she didn't like it (again). Instead, she settled for pizza crust and some bark chips (yum!)


Thanks to everyone who helped us celebrate this birthday. It's been a wonderful year, and it went much too fast. I'm just glad it was a leap year.

The O.C.

We spent the end of July in Orange County, California, living it up near the beach. Here are some of the highlights.

We hit the San Diego Wild Animal Park which isn't even in San Diego, but Escondido.

We don't get to see Jeff and Susanna very often. They're some of our favorite people in the universe. With a little luck, we'll live close soon! But for now, we're really glad they could come and spend a couple of days with us. Uh, hey you guys. Where's your little girl Natalie?

[Hello, Social Services? Yes, I'd like to report . . . ]




Whew! Looks like you found her. Zola and Natalie are BFF's, although Zola here looks like she just wants that tour guide to quit talking (she used the word "weird" about 1,437 times during our 17 minute tour). Special guest appearances in this photo by Spencer, Porter, Drew, Frank, and Marshal)


I guess Ducks are technically wild animals, but they're not all that exotic. They were fun to feed, though, and this one got pretty close.



Somewhere around the gorilla's enclosure, both Zola and Natalie conked out. Even the anonymous little kid in the background is catching a snooze.



A nice picture with mom.



Zola had lots of fun playing with Natalie, but things could get rough.

[Okay, to be fair, Zola didn't really push Natalie over here, although the angle of the picture makes it look that way. Natalie is a walker; Zola is still a crawler. The two were standing together until Natalie dove for the blue cup.]



After all the excitement, it was time for a bath. Zola liked the slip-and-slide features of this model, while Natalie intently studied the bath toys. It seemed like both girls had fun.




It was lots of fun to see Mimi. Zola seemed to play her cards just right and enjoyed the bountiful fruits of Mimi's patronage.



Aaah, the fabled Pine Cone of Truth! Guard it well, young lass.



The 21st was Mom's birthday. We had a bunch of pies to celebrate.



The beach is always lots of fun.



Zola claimed this beach in the name of the Queen.
Jana, Marshal, and Frank look pretty cool here


Zola ate a lot of sand, but there still seemed to be enough for the next time.


We spent some time at a stylish mall called Fashion Island, a 1.3 million-square-foot mall in Newport Beach. I was amazed to see a $1100.00 stroller in one of the stores. I was even more amazed to see someone pushing a kid around in one a few days later. Despite the steep price tag, the company still had to issue a safety recall for faulty front tires in 2007. Sometimes, I guess, you don't get what you pay for.

Instead of dropping a cool grand on a stroller, we settled for Jen buying Zola a ticket for her first ride on a Merry-Go-Round.