more pool pics

Look at me, two in one day! Ok, so I'll let you in on a little secret. Everything I've posted the last two weeks has been older pics. Not ancient by any means, but I lost my camera after we got home from mom's wedding, so I've just been catching up on some pics I had already taken and not posted. I called all the places we'd visited, searched every room in the house, and emailed all my relatives to ask if they knew where it was. I really liked that camera. Last night we finally admitted defeat and I went and bought a new camera. I'm really happy with it, it's an ultra compact (Canon powershot SD 780 IS for anyone into that sort of thing) so I can carry it around in my pocket everywhere and never miss a cute pic of Ru again. At least that's the idea. Anyways, I like it pretty well and I'm keeping it. Despite the fact that I found the old one this morning. Yes, less than 18 hours after purchasing the new one the old one showed up. Either Brian or Ru hid it in my laptop bag, which was sitting unzipped in the corner on the living room floor.

Anyway, this evening I set up another new toy, a patio umbrella I scored at a garage sale saturday, and the new hard shell kiddie pool (which, btw, already has a hole in it. Oh well, it's a slow leak). Since we had shade, I was lazy and didn't bother with a swimsuit for Ru. And since I have a spiffy new camera, I took some nakey baby pics that turned out supercute.

No, the camera didn't provide the daisies, I did those myself since I don't want creepy ppl frequenting my blog. (or at least not any additional ones... ;) She has rocks in her hands, because those are her all time favorite toys. She's not picky, so it works out well whenever we are outdoors and bored.


Banging the rocks together for the clacking noise.


Isn't this the grooviest umbrella ever!?! I totally love it! And it is in excellent shape for its age, and a score at $15. Most importantly, it works great to shade our pool.


She's so cute! I love all her little folds and wrinkles; it was all I could do not to attack her tummy with zerberts the entire time we were playing. She did slip and go all the way under for the first time tonight (fear not, my obsessive picture taking didn't keep me from catching her, but she squirmed the wrong way and there wasn't anything I could do but haul her back out right away) and she handled it like a champ! She didn't even cry, just seemed a little shocked and appalled, and I told her what a good girl she was and reassured her she was ok, and she was alright to continue playing with her rocks. :)

Sexy Mowing Mama

I'll admit, while I am not like my friends in gushing out loud, I don't mind watching a muscular young man out mowing the lawn with his shirt off. I am generally quiet and reserved about such things, but I'm human, too. Of course, some of my friends can be downright embarrassing with the whistles and staring.

Recently our power lawn mower has gone on vacation (my mom needed it back when hers was kinda stolen), so I've taken over the lawn care with my little push-reel mower. It's been a while since I've mowed, since the power mower stirs up my allergies so much. However, now that I'm out and about, I've discovered _I_ am a sexy mower, too! and I must be REALLY hot, because both men and women stare while I'm out there doing my thing. I'm not imagining it. Cars slow down, neighbor men come out to chat with me (never mind that the majority of my neighbors are men), it happens too often to be my imagination. I do try to be humble, but obviously I am fairly irresistible despite the fact that I am fully clothed. I'll try not to let it go to my head. I had Brian take some pics so y'all could ogle me in the privacy of your own home.







Of course, I suppose it could be that folks have never seen a woman mowing the lawn with a baby strapped to her chest, but I doubt it.


Ru likes helping, and I'm all about getting her started on the chores early. Not that it saves me any effort, it actually takes a bit more with 24 lbs strapped on. Altho I suspect the more effort thing will hold true for all chores for a few years...

Baby's blue dress

Ru's Aunt Liz in KS sent us this pretty blue dress. I kept waiting for nice weather to put her in it, and finally after a lot of cool sundays I just put a sweater with it. It's totally cute tho, and hopefully next time it gets warm again (raining as I write this) we'll wear it again! :)

I love her expression in this pic! (even tho you can't see the dress at all)




Yay, happy baby! :)

wedding pics

I suppose I should actually post some wedding pics to prove I wasn't just messing around down there in Coos Bay.

From left, Me, Brian, Ru, my nephew CJ, SIL Nikki, older bro Chris, mom bonnie, younger bro John, John's girlfriend Misty, and Grandma Covey. (notice my daughter is again playing with a rock... ;) Misty was awesome at the wedding, mom just kinda gave us the stuff to decorate and said go to it. Misty jumped right in and decorated the arch, made an aisle, and just generally made the place look great with little or no direction from anyone. Thanks Misty!

This was an attempt at the four generations pic, altho it didn't turn out all that good. I have another one from after the wedding I'll post later.

The lovely Bride and Groom. :) They were both quite nervous, it was pretty cute. The ceremony was VERY short, prolly 5 minutes from the time the music started til the time they headed back down the isle as man and wife. But it's all about the party afterwards, right?? ;)

Speaking of parties, a couple other memories from the trip I want to make sure I remember that don't have pics to accompany them (so I'll jot down here): We had a grand time one evening at the hotel playing apples to apples. John, Misty, Chris, CJ and I played in John's room. It's a hilarious game if you haven't played it. I shall always treasure the spunky zucchinis and friendly kilts, along with all the things Misty finds "comfortable." With all his reading problems, CJ still did better playing without his dad, so much so that he wouldn't let dad help after and we had to deal Chris in his own hand.

Ru also enjoyed Mom's giant dog daisy, who we accidentally fed pine cones. (we were trying to play fetch. who would have thunk she would just eat them?? no harm done I guess...) Brian tried to catch mom's kitchen on fire while cooking hamburgers (ok, not really, but we did have some serious flames on the jenn air grill for a few seconds!) and john actually ate the mayo! The cranberry factory was fun, John ate the bright orange cheddar cheese fudge, too. It was like a buffet line of candy samples, dangerous!

That's prolly enough randomness to keep me from forgetting those good parts. All in all it was a great experience, primarily for the family time spent with Chris, John, and our families. (Marv was a bit "under the weather," so we didn't spend as much time with him and mom as we would have liked, but we had fun with them, too!)

drinking fountain video

Pool fun

My brothers and I chose to stay at a hotel with our families, primarily so the kids could play in the pool some. We didn't end up hanging out at the pool as much as we thought we would, but we did spend one evening seeing how Ru would like it. Most of the pool pics didn't turn out well, as my mom was taking the pics and was sitting too far away, with the windows behind us so we looked very dark. Brian took some while we were in the hot tub that turned out fun tho. Ru liked both the hot tub and the pool, and the temp was pretty good in both places so I didn't have to worry about her overheating or getting too cold.
Daddy caught Ru mid splash in this pic!

Almost as much fun as the pool was this cool contraption they had mounted to the wall there. You push a button and a little stream of water comes out! Even better, mommy even let Ru drink some of this water! Altho really, Ru had more fun playing in it than drinking it.

Playing with family

Ru got lots of practice this week on her throwing skills. Both Uncle Chris and CJ played ball with her in the hotel room.

hehe, no family resemblance in this pic, either... ;)

Good throw kiddo! :)