New Friends...

Tessa made some new friends in the neighborhood this week...

She is enamored with the ducks that frequent our neighborhood pond.

Let's just hope she doesn't decide to swim in after them!

A Little Randomness

Mother Nature blessed us with some HOT weather this past week.  Like heat indexes in the upper 90s.  So wouldn't you know that Sullivan's class had an outdoor field trip on the hottest day of the week. I wasn't able to go, but my friend sent me a couple pictures of Sullivan.

Sullivan is a hot mess.  An adorable, super sweet, hot mess though!

*****************

Ryan and I went to the Black Crows & Matchbox 20 concert this week.  

We have an outdoor amphitheater just a few miles from our house.  We had never been to this amphitheater before, but really enjoyed our time at the concert!  We can't wait to see who will play there next summer so that we can take in a few more concerts!  

During this slow song everyone took out their cellphones and turned on the flashlight to wave around.  Who needs a lighter these days when you have a cell phone, right?!  It was pretty incredible to see.

*******************

And finally, Quinn gets a few snuggles from Tessa.  I'm not sure how much longer that will be able to happen.  Tessa is growing like a weed and doesn't necessarily appreciate all the snuggles that she once did! 

A New Purpose...

Sullivan discovered a new purpose for those baby gates we've been using to keep Tessa contained.

She learned that if you can't keep Tessa out of the Legos, you can keep yourself caged in!

Pampered...

I came home from running an errand the other day to find four children walking someone in a stroller in front of the house.  Whomever they were walking looked very small and didn't fill much of the stroller.

Upon a much closer look, this is what I found:

That is one pampered, spoiled rotten dog! 

She MIGHT be loved by all the kids in the neighborhood.

A Glowing Friendship...

Quinn spent the night at her friend Whitney's house this weekend.  Our community was hosting a Glow in the Park event downtown on Saturday and Whitney's mom was kind enough to take the girls.

What is Glow in the Park, you ask?!  Think black lights, glow in the dark paint, glow sticks, a DJ and and dancing!  Quinn said it was an absolute blast!!!

Here are the girls pre-glow paint...

And afterwards...

Apparently there were people with giant squirt guns filled with glow-in-the-dark paint.  They were squirting the paint into the audience.  As you can tell, the paint most definitely made contact with Quinn and Whitney!

Growing Fast...

This little peanut is growing too fast...

At just a little over 9 weeks, she weighs 10 pounds.  That means that in the two weeks that she has been with us, she has gained 3 pounds. She loves to eat.

Some other highlights:

*She has made an incredible friend and wrestling partner with the neighbor dog, Zoey.  The fondness they have developed over the past couple weeks is fun to watch.

*She loves to play and nip - especially at the girls' pants. For whatever reason, she loves pants.

*She is beginning to warn us that she needs to go outside.  Knock on wood - no accidents in the house in 3 whole days!  (The crate is a different story...sigh!)

*She loves people.  People walking down the street.  People on bikes.  People just standing around. Really, just people.

*Sadly, she is not crazy about being held anymore.  She wants down to explore and play.

*She also does not really like to be walked.  We joke that we go for our daily drags rather than our daily walks.  But funny enough, we drag her on a walk for the first half and the INSTANT that we round the corner to head home, regardless of where we are at in the neighborhood, she becomes a completely different walker.  She can't wait to get home.  It's quite funny to see.

Really and truly, she is a great puppy.  I can't wait to see how her personality develops over the next couple months!

Friendly Football Rivalry

For months and months, Ryan and Scott have talked about wanting to go to the Notre Dame vs. Georgia football game that took place this past weekend.  Sadly, with the cost of a ticket at over $500 a piece (yikes!!) it was not in the cards to make that happen. 

It seemed unfitting though, for them not to be together to watch the game in some capacity.  Because Tessa being so little threw a wrench in our ability to travel to STL to be with the Boyles, they were MORE than generous and kind to travel our way once again.

On Saturday afternoon we went to Connor Prairie, an interactive historic park near our house.  The weather was absolutely perfect, which made our visit that much better.

The kids really wanted to ride on the hot air balloon at Connor Prairie, but sadly the day's tickets were all sold out.  We had to settle for this photo op instead...

A silly version of that same photo op...

After Connor Prairie, we headed back to the house for pre-game festivities and libations.  

There was even a little chocolate fondue action at halftime...yum!

It turned out to be a very good, close game, but in the end Georgia pulled of the victory.

It was absolutely food for the soul to see the Boyles and spend some time catching up with them. It goes without saying that we value their friendship in ways that words just can't describe.  The time passed far too quickly this weekend, but we were happy for the time we did have! 

Labor Day...

We celebrated the unofficial end to summer this past weekend, although we've been back to school for a few weeks now.  Labor Day is always a welcomed holiday after a few weeks of school.  It is the break that is desperately needed.

Quinn was invited to go camping with her dear friend, Maddy.  Maddy's family is a die hard camping family. We are quite the opposite.  I don't know that Quinn knew what she was getting into when she signed up for this adventure!  

Quinn had a fabulous time camping - lots of card games played, scavenger hunts, candy bar bingo, grilling out and so much more!  

She did say that although she had a good time, it will be a LONG time before she goes camping again.  It might have been a bit overwhelming - 8 people and 2 dogs all under one roof in the camper! That is a lot of togetherness!  Nonetheless, she enjoyed her time with Maddy and her family!!

While Quinny was busy getting her camping on, we held the fort down at home.  We enjoyed a couple of dinners out (no pictures) and splurged with ice cream for dessert.

Sullivan played with Jack quite a bit, and of course got some snuggles in with Tessa.   

Our neighborhood pool closed on Labor Day.  After Quinn returned from camping, the girls asked if they could go to the pool for one last swim.  We headed up to the pool after supper.  Apparently the water must have been freezing because Quinn literally lasted 2 minutes in the pool and Sullivan lasted 4 minutes.  So much for swimming!

All in all, a great unofficial end to summer!

Puppy Update...

Life this week has been crazy - thanks to the sweet and adorable, Tessa!  

I shared that night #1 was overall pretty good.  She howled a little bit, but nothing to write home about.  After night #2, I asked Ryan what the return policy was on the puppy.  I was prepared to drive back to Wisconsin to drop her off.  Okay, not really.  But let's just say I wasn't her biggest fan.  

I "slept" next to her that night, and when I say "slept", I use that term VERY loosely.  Tessa just wasn't a fan of the crate and really wanted us all to know it.  She didn't sleep a wink that night and made noises that you wouldn't think a 6 pound creature could make.

But looking at her adorable face, I can hardly stand to be mad at her!  I keep telling myself that she is a baby.  Things are new and scary for her.  She isn't trying to figure out this world and adjust as well.  

Everyday is getting better and better.  The howling isn't near what it was.  And to say that we've fallen in love is an understatement!