Labor Day in the Mountains

Labor Day weekend we headed up to the mountains for a weekend of R&R.  As an added bonus, Mama K and Daddy Bob got to come join us!  And since Aunt Liz and Uncle Hugh were at a wedding that weekend, they were keeping Clara's cousin Eleanor and she got to come along too.

I'm not sure Clara loved sharing the attention, but we sure loved getting to see Eleanor and watching Daddy Bob and Mama K play with both their girls.  

The girls had a great time playing outside...

And of course had to scrub clean.  You know I can't resist a bath photo.

In the  morning, they enjoyed more of Robert's specialty pancakes.  (Featured below: Grover)

And had storytime with Mama K.

This was the best we could do for a shot of everyone being "still", sort of kind of not really.

And just because I get asked all the time if Clara is always as happy as she looks in pictures.... the answer is: usually she really is!!  But we do occasionally get a very grumpy baby.  And this is what that looks like:

See you again soon, Hardy family!

A Girl, Her Daddy and a Turtle

You may remember when Robert showed Clara a toad he found in our backyard?  Well, it was only one of what I'm sure will be many many encounters with backyard nature.  I'm thankful for that daddy and how much he wants this little girl to appreciate God's creation and be willing to get a little dirty to check it out.

We were all loaded up in the car and about to head somewhere, when Robert popped in the backseat with this little critter he had found.

So, of course, we had to all get out and go watch him creep around in the backyard a little.  Clara had just started saying the word "turtle" a few days before, so it was fun to watch her see one live and in action!

 "Hi Turtle!!"  And back into his shell he goes... Guess I can't blame him!

 Here's a little video of their encounter.

Grocery Girl

The same afternoon after our little science museum adventure we needed to run to the store for just a few things.  Since I had Robert with me (for backup) and since Clara had been such a trooper about her little major fall, we decided it would be a fun time to let her push one of those little kiddie grocery carts.  Fortunately, my camera was still in my bag from the museum!  She had a blast, but it may be awhile before she gets to do this again.  These six items took us at least thirty minutes to collect!

Such intense concentration.

Think she's proud of herself?

SCIENCE! {Part 2}

Okay, okay.  Back to all the museums and frolicking we've been doing.  August and September have been busy months!  As I said to someone recently... you can either live life or blog about life. Doesn't seem like there is time for both.  We've been living life, for sure.  Now I'll do my best to catch up on the blogging part!

Soon after we visited SciWorks, we went to Greensboro to visit their Natural Science Center.  I had never been before and was so impressed with not only their indoor exhibits (which we didn't even get to all of), but what a remarkable mini-zoo they have!  It was a wonderful Saturday with Aunt Stacy, know-er of all things sciencey.  She's determined to brainwash Clara in the joys of math and science (since she knows I won't).  I'd say she's off to a good start!

We started out hitting the outside exhibits.  (Note: dino is not alive.)

Clara loved getting a close look at all the animals.

And climbed and explored all over these guys...

So much to see!

 The petting zoo was a big hit!  Good thing Aunt Stacy grew up on a farm.  She showed Clara just how to do it.

Unfortunately, Clara took a bad bad tumble onto the asphalt right in the middle of our visit.  It gave mama and daddy quite a scare, but Clara walked away with nothing but a really really bad bruise on her noggin'.  Here we are, soon after the fall, trying to get her to "put ice on her head."  She didn't quite get it.

At least she still had a smile on her face....

 The dinosaurs were her daddy's favorite.

And here's a collage of just a few of the animals we saw!

Clara loves animals right now.  Spotting them in books, making animal sounds and singing animal songs (Old McDonald, for the 12th time today, anyone?) are among her favorite right now!  We had such fun seeing so many cool animals in real life.  

Thanks, Aunt Stacy!  Let's do it again soon!