A week at the lake
We went to Long Lake (by Alpena) for a week, arriving home yesterday. I think I spent more time preventing Cordelia from eating *too* much grass and sticks and leaves than doing anything else, but there were many other highlights for the week.
I discovered that Cordelia's first tooth (bottom left) cut through on Saturday shortly after we arrived. It must have cut through on Friday or Saturday. I believe the second (bottom right) will cut through any day.
I got to spend lots of time with my parents and some time with Greg's parents and sisters. This is always nice as, apart from being nice to talk to, they are also a second set of eyes and hands on the girls.
Cordelia perfected going from sitting to crawling and crawling to sitting either early in the week or just before we left. I also saw her trying to get down from standing to sitting or crawling many times. Sometimes she fell forward, but I saw her fall onto her bottom (into sitting position) a few times. I cheered. Before we left, she kept pulling herself up onto things and falling and hitting her head. Her falls are less frequent and more controlled now so she is hitting her head much less. I am very happy about it. I think she is too as she seems quite happy when she manages to get where she wants to go.
Now that crawling is no problem, we really have to watch her. She's gotten quick. This is how she managed to get lots of leaves, sticks, bark and grass into her mouth. She was definitely not content to sit on the blanket I spread out for her.
Valerie had lots of fun (and became rather spoiled) during the week. She had two sets of grandparents and two Aunts to spend time with her. I was very proud of how well she did in the water this year. Last year she wouldn't go above mid thigh, but this year, with the help of Grandma and Daddy (and a noodle) she went in water deeper than she was tall. She wanted to go out to the raft, but they didn't have the life jacket handy at that moment, so they didn't go. I don't know if Daddy took her later. Still, it sounds like she had lots of fun and was doing some floating in the water.
Valerie also went out in the sail boat with us. We had to talk her into it, not because she didn't want to go but because Nana walked to the shore with us and she wanted to stay with Nana. We knew she would have fun on the boat, so we told her that her Daddy (the captain) had important jobs for her. She helped with the jib ropes.
Greg and I went out two other times in the sail boat. The first time we went a ways up the lake which was very nice except that I had missed my back with the sunscreen. I didn't get a bad burn, but I did get burned. It didn't hurt, but man did it itch! I captained the boat for the first time for a short while.
I took Cordelia swimming a few times. The first time we sat at the edge of the water and what she wanted to do was eat the sand. She went straight for it and seemed to ignore the water lapping at her. I took her out into the water to swim with Daddy and she seemed to enjoy (or at least not hate) being out there. The next couple times I took her out she was a bit tired and got fussy quickly. The last time I tried to take her out, she was well rested but the water seemed a bit too choppy to go out with her. We were going to sit at the shore, but Greg wanted to chase after his Dad and sister in the sail boat. I find turning down a ride on the sail boat difficult.
I didn't get much exercise while there. Watching Cordelia occupied much of my time. I did take her for a walk almost every day. It often helped her get to sleep.
It was horribly hot a few days and none of us slept well those days. I had to strip Cordelia down and put a fan in their room so she could get some sleep. Neither girl got enough sleep any of the nights, but on cooler days Cordelia managed a couple good naps. This weekend we're trying to get them caught up on some sleep. It didn't work yesterday. Tonight (so far) seems to be going better. Valerie fell right asleep. Cordelia has done a bit of fussing, but after Daddy fed her, she seems to be asleep...although one of their puzzles just crowed. They have a puzzle that makes animal noises when you put the puzzle pieces in the right spot (it has a light sensor). It must have just gotten dark enough to go off. sigh. Greg claims it isn't in their bedroom, but I heard someone shifting around.
On July 4th, my parents and I took the girls to see the parade. Valerie enjoyed being there and chasing after candy until she took a misstep off of the curb. She had a very minor scrape but was tired by then. We had gone the long way around the block to where we sat in the shade and for watching the parade we moved away from the shade so Valerie could see and get candy. Some groups were handing out freeze pops, which I thought was a good idea (something cool and somewhat hydrating) until we ended up with 3 of them. Mom stayed back in the shade with Cordelia, who enjoyed people watching most of the time, while Dad and I went to watch the parade with Valerie. Before the parade, we tried walking to where my Uncle John said he might be, but he wasn't there yet. Oh well, we'll see them in a month or so.
We allowed Valerie to stay up to watch fireworks over the lake. I think she enjoyed watching them. We sat at the shore and could see them in several places. I liked sitting with her on my lap and pointing them out or have her point them out.
At one point watching the fireworks, I noticed a red dome in the trees across the lake. I wondered what it was for a while before I figured out that it was the moon. It was almost full and very red. The lake was quite still so it was a beautiful sight seeing the red moon with fireworks near where it was rising and the reflection on the lake. I sort of wish I had gone to get my camera (Mom had a tripod) but I was enjoying watching the fireworks with Valerie. I do wish that she had gotten to see fireflies as I don't think she's seen them yet. Usually she's in bed before it gets dark, but she was allowed to stay up until she was quite tired. Cordelia was too easy to wake in the heat.
One evening when Greg went to put Valerie to bed, I noticed it was quiet, so I went in to see what was going on. Greg was in the shower and Valerie was asleep on the couch. Later I found out that he was so hot that he didn't want to cuddle with her to read to her. He said she could stay up until after his shower, but she didn't make it. She woke when I put a pull up on over her underwear (she was wearing a dress with no shorts. That helped) but went right back to sleep when I put her in her bed. Later I tried moving her away from the edge of her (higher than she's used to) bed she woke in a bit of a panic. She sat up and it looked like she was trying to grab something in front of her. I think she then sort of realized that she was sitting and started grabbing at the sheet. I think she was still mostly asleep and trying to grab her blanket. She couldn't hear me when I asked a few times if I could lay her back down. Eventually she allowed me to. It was very strange
Valerie enjoyed riding her bike around the circle. We let her do this on her own since we could see her the whole way except for behind a couple trees. She had trouble at first since the training wheels perfectly lined up with her back tire and she would just spin her wheel in the looser gravel, but Grandpa fixed that.
Both girls were quite good on the way up. Cordelia slept quite a bit and Valerie also took a nap. On the way back, they were both grumpy. Cordelia fussed for a half hour between naps at one point and Valerie didn't nap at all. She just kept complaining about how long it was taking. We kept telling her that we understood and wished the journey was shorter too, but there was nothing we could do about it.
I really enjoy being at Long Lake. It is such a nice peaceful week...at least for the first part of the week. By the end of the week everyone is somewhat tired (our bed was soooo hard!) and getting grumpy. The heat didn't help.
We lost power at home while we were away, but it looks like it must not have been for long. The ice cubes we had in the bin in our freezer were still ice cubes and not even stuck to the bottom.
I discovered that Cordelia's first tooth (bottom left) cut through on Saturday shortly after we arrived. It must have cut through on Friday or Saturday. I believe the second (bottom right) will cut through any day.
I got to spend lots of time with my parents and some time with Greg's parents and sisters. This is always nice as, apart from being nice to talk to, they are also a second set of eyes and hands on the girls.
Cordelia perfected going from sitting to crawling and crawling to sitting either early in the week or just before we left. I also saw her trying to get down from standing to sitting or crawling many times. Sometimes she fell forward, but I saw her fall onto her bottom (into sitting position) a few times. I cheered. Before we left, she kept pulling herself up onto things and falling and hitting her head. Her falls are less frequent and more controlled now so she is hitting her head much less. I am very happy about it. I think she is too as she seems quite happy when she manages to get where she wants to go.
Now that crawling is no problem, we really have to watch her. She's gotten quick. This is how she managed to get lots of leaves, sticks, bark and grass into her mouth. She was definitely not content to sit on the blanket I spread out for her.
Valerie had lots of fun (and became rather spoiled) during the week. She had two sets of grandparents and two Aunts to spend time with her. I was very proud of how well she did in the water this year. Last year she wouldn't go above mid thigh, but this year, with the help of Grandma and Daddy (and a noodle) she went in water deeper than she was tall. She wanted to go out to the raft, but they didn't have the life jacket handy at that moment, so they didn't go. I don't know if Daddy took her later. Still, it sounds like she had lots of fun and was doing some floating in the water.
Valerie also went out in the sail boat with us. We had to talk her into it, not because she didn't want to go but because Nana walked to the shore with us and she wanted to stay with Nana. We knew she would have fun on the boat, so we told her that her Daddy (the captain) had important jobs for her. She helped with the jib ropes.
Greg and I went out two other times in the sail boat. The first time we went a ways up the lake which was very nice except that I had missed my back with the sunscreen. I didn't get a bad burn, but I did get burned. It didn't hurt, but man did it itch! I captained the boat for the first time for a short while.
I took Cordelia swimming a few times. The first time we sat at the edge of the water and what she wanted to do was eat the sand. She went straight for it and seemed to ignore the water lapping at her. I took her out into the water to swim with Daddy and she seemed to enjoy (or at least not hate) being out there. The next couple times I took her out she was a bit tired and got fussy quickly. The last time I tried to take her out, she was well rested but the water seemed a bit too choppy to go out with her. We were going to sit at the shore, but Greg wanted to chase after his Dad and sister in the sail boat. I find turning down a ride on the sail boat difficult.
I didn't get much exercise while there. Watching Cordelia occupied much of my time. I did take her for a walk almost every day. It often helped her get to sleep.
It was horribly hot a few days and none of us slept well those days. I had to strip Cordelia down and put a fan in their room so she could get some sleep. Neither girl got enough sleep any of the nights, but on cooler days Cordelia managed a couple good naps. This weekend we're trying to get them caught up on some sleep. It didn't work yesterday. Tonight (so far) seems to be going better. Valerie fell right asleep. Cordelia has done a bit of fussing, but after Daddy fed her, she seems to be asleep...although one of their puzzles just crowed. They have a puzzle that makes animal noises when you put the puzzle pieces in the right spot (it has a light sensor). It must have just gotten dark enough to go off. sigh. Greg claims it isn't in their bedroom, but I heard someone shifting around.
On July 4th, my parents and I took the girls to see the parade. Valerie enjoyed being there and chasing after candy until she took a misstep off of the curb. She had a very minor scrape but was tired by then. We had gone the long way around the block to where we sat in the shade and for watching the parade we moved away from the shade so Valerie could see and get candy. Some groups were handing out freeze pops, which I thought was a good idea (something cool and somewhat hydrating) until we ended up with 3 of them. Mom stayed back in the shade with Cordelia, who enjoyed people watching most of the time, while Dad and I went to watch the parade with Valerie. Before the parade, we tried walking to where my Uncle John said he might be, but he wasn't there yet. Oh well, we'll see them in a month or so.
We allowed Valerie to stay up to watch fireworks over the lake. I think she enjoyed watching them. We sat at the shore and could see them in several places. I liked sitting with her on my lap and pointing them out or have her point them out.
At one point watching the fireworks, I noticed a red dome in the trees across the lake. I wondered what it was for a while before I figured out that it was the moon. It was almost full and very red. The lake was quite still so it was a beautiful sight seeing the red moon with fireworks near where it was rising and the reflection on the lake. I sort of wish I had gone to get my camera (Mom had a tripod) but I was enjoying watching the fireworks with Valerie. I do wish that she had gotten to see fireflies as I don't think she's seen them yet. Usually she's in bed before it gets dark, but she was allowed to stay up until she was quite tired. Cordelia was too easy to wake in the heat.
One evening when Greg went to put Valerie to bed, I noticed it was quiet, so I went in to see what was going on. Greg was in the shower and Valerie was asleep on the couch. Later I found out that he was so hot that he didn't want to cuddle with her to read to her. He said she could stay up until after his shower, but she didn't make it. She woke when I put a pull up on over her underwear (she was wearing a dress with no shorts. That helped) but went right back to sleep when I put her in her bed. Later I tried moving her away from the edge of her (higher than she's used to) bed she woke in a bit of a panic. She sat up and it looked like she was trying to grab something in front of her. I think she then sort of realized that she was sitting and started grabbing at the sheet. I think she was still mostly asleep and trying to grab her blanket. She couldn't hear me when I asked a few times if I could lay her back down. Eventually she allowed me to. It was very strange
Valerie enjoyed riding her bike around the circle. We let her do this on her own since we could see her the whole way except for behind a couple trees. She had trouble at first since the training wheels perfectly lined up with her back tire and she would just spin her wheel in the looser gravel, but Grandpa fixed that.
Both girls were quite good on the way up. Cordelia slept quite a bit and Valerie also took a nap. On the way back, they were both grumpy. Cordelia fussed for a half hour between naps at one point and Valerie didn't nap at all. She just kept complaining about how long it was taking. We kept telling her that we understood and wished the journey was shorter too, but there was nothing we could do about it.
I really enjoy being at Long Lake. It is such a nice peaceful week...at least for the first part of the week. By the end of the week everyone is somewhat tired (our bed was soooo hard!) and getting grumpy. The heat didn't help.
We lost power at home while we were away, but it looks like it must not have been for long. The ice cubes we had in the bin in our freezer were still ice cubes and not even stuck to the bottom.