it is just how we roll…

what do we have here?

a picture of our transportation device…

the back story:  yesterday was a beautiful day in the low 80’s and a cool breeze so jasper and i decided to skip the gym and go straight to the zoo!  jon works in downtown fort worth now and that is just around the corner from the zoo so i called him up and we made plans to meet for lunch at the zoo and then jasper and i would wander around and enjoy the animals and the sunshine and the breeze…  i think you can probably guess that ended up never happening…  we got into a 4 car fender-bender on interstate on the way to the zoo and that pretty much took care of most of the day…  and now my truck has been called a “total loss” by the insurance company and that means i am truckless…

my poor truck just didn’t deserve this…

of course, the good news is that jasper and i are completely fine as was everybody else involved…  but until we get all the insurance  red tape taken care of and find another vehicle (oh, if it were only as easy as writing that line was!),  jasper and i have our feet and her stroller and those will just have to do!

luckily, the library, the lake, a couple of playgrounds, my gym and my supermarket are all within a mile or two of our house so while the weather is still nice, it is fine to walk where we need to go…  thank the green grass that this didn’t happen in the middle of summer!  jasper and i would have been house-bound by the heat alone…  so i guess that is one way to look at it…  you know, if you are wearing rose-colored glasses…

anyway, who needs a wonderful, well-taken care of, beautifully green 4 door truck when you have a stroller?

oh, right...  yeah, i do…

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girl versus drum…

louis collier, see what the african drum you gave us is being used for?

a drum!  not a nightstand, not an end table, not a book-holder but it is being used as an actual drum!

you can thank your niece for that 🙂

i pulled the drum down from the attic (what was it doing up there???  ask jon – it is all his fault!) and it wasn’t long before jasper lilith was dragging the child-sized (and by child-sized, i mean the size of an actual child!) drum around the house and really working that drum out!

she is also jumping up and down and singing while she drums but those pictures are just shots of a pale colored smear 🙂

of course she is drumming while naked!!!!  is there any other way??  not in jasper-ville 🙂

what a finish!!!

this picture is kind of fuzzy but there was no way i could not include such an obvious capture of her performance 🙂

i wish you could have heard her!  i would have taken a video but she was moving around so much and too obviously naked to put on youtube so no video!  just still shots of the jasper doing her thing…  loudly…  with great flair…  and even more enthusiasm!

taaa-daaa!

who needs who here?

hey!!!  she is taking all my momma jobs away with her “no!!!  i can do it” independence!

who needs a mother when she can put her own bandaids on?

that is a trick question, right?  right?

a playground detour…

we live within walking distance of a branch to our local library so on nice days (those are still in full swing but won’t be for  much longer!), jasper lilith and i walk to the library…  there is one of those big, elaborate catholic churchs right by the library and it has the cutest, little playground that we like to play at…

the upsides are that it is right by the library (very convenient) and it is has a beautiful covering of trees – the shade is just wonderful and will be great come hot weather!  it is also never in use – we are always the only ones there!

the downsides are that it is a small playground with not much room for flat out running and it is almost never in use – yeah, this one counts as both a postivie and a negative…  i can tell that jasper gets bored quickly since there aren’t other kids there to run around with…

but these days her imagination is just wild!  today we played with dinosaurs, an invisible boy, monkeys in the trees, sand castles and a “wuff” (wolf, by the way)…

“mama, shhhh!  dinosaur sleeping – he taking nap…  no, dinosaur it nap time!”

she told that dinosaur, didn’t she!

pshaw, who takes the stairs when you can slide down the railing?

our little monkey…

she looks like she is happy to be right there and in the moment, doesn’t she?

“be careful, jasper!  do you need some help?”

“no, mommy!  stay theuh!  i got it!  i don’t be cayful!  i said i got it!”

she “got it”???!!!  my 2 year old tells me she doesn’t have to be careful because she “got it”??!!

well, ok, then…  i guess she has got it…

and then off to the library we go – to cool down, find some books and play with some puzzles…  did i already mention the cooling down part?   man, thank the world over for air conditioning!

this is a perfect little playground for when we walk to the library but over all, the bigger playgrounds are better just because they tend to have other kids that jasper can play with…  “oh, mom-mom!  look!  kids!  i see kids!”

“i go play now – bye!  see you soon!”

pool time, pool time, pool time, pool time!!!

well, i did say it was pool time, didn’t  i?

a sunny, sunny day it was so we celebrated by having another cook out (just the three of us this time) and finished the day off with water, sunscreen and lots of splashing!

jasper lilith is no faint-hearted girl and swimming is no exception – only the second day out and she is already insisting on swimming by herself, jumping off the edge of the pool (i mean cannonballs and belly flops!) and going under water!

just to clarify, by swimming, i mean dog paddling with her floaties on 🙂

but we can’t help her – oh, no!  “no, mama!  no, daddee!  i do it myself!  i kicking, ok?”

my bet is that the arm floaties will last another 2 weeks before she is taking them off and dog paddling without them…  2 weeks!

“come on, daddee!  letz go!  huwwy up!  letz go swimming!”

see?  all by herself…  she just doesn’t want help if she thinks she can do it herself…  but of course, the scary thing is that she can do it by herself…

the independent thing…  i wonder where she got that from?

aw, can you hear her, “hi ya, mama!  see?  i in pool!”

jasper lilith and her daddy enjoying the water…  man, doesn’t that look like it feels good?

and a close up of a very wet and happy jasper!

still wet…  still happy…

looks like those are two people who are having a good time!  it wasn’t long after this picture that i had to go put my camera up and join them – i just couldn’t take not being in the pool any longer!

jasper saw heather and duncan!  and man, was she excited!

“oh, header!!  i so happy to see you!! go swimming too?!”

jasper finally slows down and takes a break…

she seems to like to cuddle under her towel and relax in the sun 🙂

for about 5 minutes…  and then it is back in the water!

it is official – we have a mermaid in the family 🙂

happy memorial day!

i have big news!

the pool opened for memorial day weekend!  ok, so the news isn’t so big but we were all pretty excited 🙂

it was an overcast and slightly rainy weekend but if you think that stopped us from going to swim then you don’t know how much we like water!

it was wonderful and it will be even better when it is over 100 degrees outside 🙂

pictures will soon follow…  frankly, i fear for my cameras life…

but i do have pictures of a friend-filled memorial day cookout!

as jasper would say, “oh, awesome!  ‘avid, header and duncan are heuh!  hi guys!”

i second that 🙂

jasper has enlisted heather in helping her carry the wheelbarrow…

the kids ran around and the dogs ran around and the men grilled and us women just watched…  what a perfect way to spend an afternoon 🙂

ah, the two kids are inside and patiently waiting for the hamburgers and hot dogs to be ready…  jasper is showing duncan her current favorite movie (it is still spirited away – this movie has had quite the run at the top of her list!) and it looks like duncan has gotten sucked in too!

look at those two kiddos – all sprawled out and cozy…

and the food is done!

it is funny…  whenever, we have people over, we always gather around the peninsula instead of sitting at the big dining room table that is only yards away…

i guess one feels casual and informal and one feels a bit more family-time at the table?

jasper and her ice cream cone…  you have a little something on your nose, monkey cole medina!

yeah, like one picture of jasper messily eating an ice cream cone is enough?  nope, you need two pictures to get the idea 🙂

jon, heather and the kiddos hanging out at the penisula…

and here is duncan hanging out under the table 🙂

it was a late night for the adults (sooooo nice once the kiddos went off to bed!) and surprise, surprise, i didn’t pick up or clean before heading off to bed…

so this is the next morning (way too early, by the way) and here is jasper picking up for me!

i walk into the living room and she has a box filled with bits and pieces of flotsam left over from last night (thankfully, i had put the wine glasses up already!)

thanks, sugar!  but, uh,  can i have the remote back?

happy  memorial day everyone!  i hope yours was filled with happy smiles and lots of laughter!

my two peeps hard at work…

jon pulled out his leather to make a quick something-or-other and jasper lilith had to join her daddy 🙂

and she runs and gets her playdoh, some toys and a placemat (she is only allowed to play with playdoh on a placemat – she knows the rules!) so she can make a quick something-or-other too!

both of them were very busy, quiet and focused…  on their projects and on each other…

there they are…  my two peoples…