Early July

Romping around on the patio furniture on the porch.

My cousins, Emily and Hannah Gingerich, came down from Denver for the weekend of the 4th. We had a great time hanging out with them and tried to give them a taste of the best of New Mexico.

Sasha flying high with her sippee.

Helping me make oatmeal raisin cookies. Huge, HUGE help.

Indiana trip

Sasha and I went back to Indiana at the end of June for an Erb family reunion among other things. We started out the week driving to Ohio to visit my Grandma Yoder and other family there. Sasha got to pet a baby goat at my uncle's house which was the highlight of the whole week for her I think along with getting lots of attention from her Grandma June and Grandpa Fred.

Sasha is obsessed with cars. Phil is thrilled. One of her favorite activities is to tool around in the car, pushing all the buttons, rotating the mirrors, and pretending to steer. My parent's old VW van, which she referred to as a "Grandpa's cool car", was an endless source of fascination for her that week

It was a bonus that the reunion was at an inn on Lake Michigan and we had great weather. That's the thing I miss about the Midwest the most. I decided after that weekend that beach vacations are the way to go with babies/toddlers. The lake and sand provided hours of self-entertainment.

Sasha with grandma on the porch of the inn. Although it was a fun-filled week for us, Phil missed Sasha terribly and was glad to have us back.

Camping: Strike One

Ever since we moved out here last summer, I've been griping to Phil that we haven't gotten to go camping yet. From my childhood camping days, I know how different it is camping in the West verses the cramped flat campsites of the midwest and I've been dying to introduce Sasha to what I hope will be a family pasttime. Well, we finally had our chance a few weekends ago. We packed up our stuff and ventured to the state park just 15 minutes up into the mountains along with Megan and Uli.

Sasha loved setting up the tent, traipsing around the wooded site, eating outside and looking at the fire, but when it came time to go to sleep in the tent, she was not having it. We even took her little portable crib to put into the tent, hoping it would be just like home for her, but the combination of too much light, noisy neighbors, and the cold made sleep elusive.

Sasha unsure about going to bed in her crib.

We ended up going for a long drive up the mountain to try to get her to fall asleep and then transfer her to the tent, but this failed as well. We did see a spectacular sunset up there before heading home to sleep. We'll try again later this summer. If at first you don't succeed....

Fun around the house

These pictures give you a feel for some of the things Sasha really enjoys these days. I showed her the game cupboard one day a couple of weeks ago, which may have been a mistake in hindsight. She now loves to get out Yahtzee, Scrabble, and Boggle especially and manipulate all the little pieces. She exclaims "Yahtzee!" with delight when she walks into the room heading for the cupboard. Phil and I are big game people so I hope one day she enjoys playing them with us.

Ring Around the Rosy is a favorite. "Moy, moy." Translation: "more, more" after we all fall down. This could go on indefinitely if we let it.

Trying on our shoes....

Climbing into every chair and on top of any table...