Lions & Water & Beasts, Oh My!

We had a great weekend at the Worzala house - Made even greater by the fact it was a three-day weekend for me! It was kicked off Thursday evening by attending "Beauty and the Beast" at the Clinton County Youth Theatre - another fantastic performance! I'm amazed that each show gets bigger & better! Julie is truly living her dream, as she has wanted to direct childrens' theatre for years. This was their ninth performance (I believe), and was fantastic!

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Friday, I "helped" at the 5th annual Matt Smith Family Golf Outing. I don't think I did much helping, but once again, it was a great reminder of a wonderful man's relationship with God and his family. Needless to say, Laura & I had some fun cruising the golf course all day. Melanie & Jeff joined us in Frankfort for the dinner portion of the golf outing.

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Saturday, Mel took a trip to West Park for some water fun, and then she & I went to see the Flying Toasters at the Lebanon park. We met up with friends from Frankfort (yes, and Whitestown, Ali!) - but Mel also got to dance with cousins Lily & Bella. She was fast asleep before we even had the car headed south to go home!

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Sunday, we went to the zoo, but quickly realized Mel was too sleepy to enjoy the animals. We still got a good lap around, and then headed home for nap time. Pepper in some running-through-the sprinkler time and a trip to the outdoor water park at Monon Center, and I think it can safely be said that everyone had a great weekend! Melanie loves water so much that tonight (Monday), on our way home from our walk, she ran through Tom & Paula's sprinkler with all of her clothes on.

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This week, we're in prep mode for our trip to North Carolina! It will be Melanie's first airplane trip - wish us luck!

Melanie's "si" faces

When Melanie is told she's "silly" she repeats it back - missing a couple of letters. It's fun to hear her vocabulary develop. She probably doesn't have 10 real words, but she sure can talk! I just liked these photos showing a bit of her personality. She has been meeting lots of kids in the neighborhood, going to West Park - the "water park" around the corner from us - about twice a week - and loves being outdoors. Her new bedtime is close to 10pm (!!) and let me tell you, she does NOT like mornings lately! (maybe due to the 10pm bedtime!) However, she is napping better at school.

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The above pictures just make me smile, so I wanted to share them; Diane's caption on the top one captures what is surely going through Mel's mind: "Ok, so tell me why this cat won't use this straw!" - she was having so much fun with that straw & Grandpa Worzala!

Happy Fathers Day!

Melanie is very blessed to have such a great Daddy! Jeff played golf on Fathers Day (and shot par!) while the girls hung out by the pool - maybe there's a pattern here?! We enjoyed dinner with my parents, and so Melanie & I both got to celebrate our fantastic fathers!

Weekend with Grandparents Worzala (aka, Golf Weekend)

Jeff's parents came down over the weekend of June 12, for a boys' golf weekend. The guys played on Friday, twice on Saturday, and again on Sunday. The girls had some pool time, and Mel loved hanging out with her grandparents - AND her Uncle Randy, who stayed with us for the weekend, too. She & Uncle Randy enjoyed eating each other's "piggies," and Mel loved getting undivided attention from him (see middle picture). Melanie loves getting to hang out with her Grandparents Worzala, and is looking forward to North Carolina with them next week!

West Park

Sunday, the day of virtually no naps for Miss Melanie, we headed to West Park, right around the corner from our house on 116th Street. The zoo was planned for the weekend, but the napping situation was getting in our way. Mel loved playing in the water at West Park; we weren't even sure how she was doing it, the water was so cold. It didn't stop her - or the other kids - though!

Friend Time!

In the midst of lots of Melanie time over the weekend, I was lucky enough to spend time with great friends! My friend Erika came over for dinner on Friday night, and it was good to get caught up with her. Saturday night, Christal & Laura came over and we celebrated Chris' birthday by walking to Stone Creek for dinner on the patio, followed by a visit to P.J.O'Keefe's. It was a great weekend of girl time on top of family time :)

Where did Sleeping Beauty go?

Last week, after bragging on what a great sleeper Melanie has been, she turned a corner. Starting last Monday night, Melanie and her crib seem to be on the outs. I'm not sure who made who mad, but somewhere along the line, they parted ways. Mel wants nothing to do with said crib. Not for bedtime, not for naps..... it's making Mommy & Daddy very sleepy to have to rock her to sleep and ensure she is definitely sleeping before putting her down. Zzzzzzzzzz.......
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Last week, Mel had a playdate with Aya, a little girl around the corner who turned one on May 15. They ate strawberries together, watched bunnies in the backyard of Aya's house, and generally got used to each other while Aya's mom, Lida and I, got to know each other. By the end of the event, they started warming up to each other (more than Melanie's initial shove of Aya), so progress was made.
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Melanie has gotten good at picking up her toys - she's a big help at daycare, and now she's picking up at home too. This, too, shall pass, I'm sure; but it's fun to see her memory develop for where things go. She really likes playing outdoors, so we make sure to get plenty of outdoor time in each day. She likes to go for walks - whether she's walking herself, or being pushed in her little "car." Tonight we walked to Marsh in her car, and then after dinner took a long walk around the block, where she was on a major hunt for puppies. One of her favorite toys right now is her sets of puzzles. She can't quite put them together, but she loves playing with the pieces. Tonight she got major joy out of putting one or two pieces in their slots. She also loves playing with her ball. Whether it's a Cubs baseball or her cousin Wyatt's kickball he left over here.... she loves saying - and playing with - "ball."