Little daredevil

We finally decided to take advantage of the fact that we have an amusement park for kids 15 minutes away. If we had thought about it sooner, we would have gotten a season pass to Dutch Wonderland, but it is kind of pointless now that summer is almost over. We did get a 2 day flex pass, though, so we can go again. We already knew after going to Waldameer that Camryn loves rides. So, we were looking forward to some fun at Dutch Wonderland. It is a very cute park and it wasn't crowded since it was a Monday. She was able to ride most of the rides - I think there were only a few that she wasn't tall enough for yet. I can't wait until we can ride the roller coasters together!! There were family rides that we could ride together and rides that she rode all on her own. She still enjoyed the Frog Hopper a great deal, but found some new favorites. She LOVED spinning in the Turtle Whirl (tilt-a-whirl) and couldn't get enough of the Wonder Whip. After her first ride, she decided it was much more fun to put her hands up as she whipped around the corner! Needless to say, I was very proud! The other parents were getting a kick out of her screams of delight and the fact that she wasn't holding on! We all had a really fun time together and look forward to when we go again.

In other news, potty training is going well. We have been at it for over a week now. She is really good at home, but we are working on when we are out of the house. We are probably making a mistake by using pull-ups when we are gone, but I am not ready to deal with accidents quite yet. She is getting good at telling me when she has to go, though. She has told me while we were at Gymboree and while we were at a friend's house. When she becomes more consistent with telling me while we are out and she is distracted, we will back off on the pull-ups. I was totally dreading the whole process, but she is making it fairly easy so far.

Chris and I were also able to get away for a night last Thursday thanks to my sister. Camryn had another sleep over with Connor and Ella and Chris and I had a night of a romantic dinner, Green Eggs (a band), and slot machines. We haven't seen Green Eggs since right before I found out I was pregnant, so it was nice to see them and it brought back good memories. They played at the new casino near here, so it was a watered down performance, but that is ok. Then, I got addicted to Jackpot Party - I could play that all night! It was a great night away and much needed!

Chris and Camryn are back from Gymboree and Roots (a wonderful farmer's market), so my alone time this morning is over. At least I was able to get everyone caught up on what we have been up to!! Oh yeah, check out the new pictures on the website as well!!

Taking the Plunge

We are officially delving into the process of potty training. This is the one aspect of being a parent that I was NOT looking forward to at all. Camryn has been showing signs of being ready for a while, but we kept putting it off. We knew that once we started, it was going to take a lot of commitment. We didn't have anything planned this weekend (except for Gymboree), so we decided it was a good time to start. We started on Friday by letting Camryn pick out her own big girl panties. Of course, she picked the Sesame Street ones. I explained to her that she was going to be a big girl like mommy, Ella, and her friend, Sarah. She was very excited at the idea of getting to wear panties. She started Friday night by going #2 in the potty! We made such a big deal out of it that I think we scared her!! Then, when she got up on Saturday morning, we told her that we were done with diapers. We made sure that she knew that she had to sit on a waterproof mattress cover on the furniture and our fun began. Surprisingly, it has been going very well! She had a slight accident on Saturday and she did not like the pee running down her leg. That afternoon, she stopped playing with her toys and said, "Potty - hurry!" Sure enough, she went in the potty!! She even told us that she had to go #2 after her nap! Of course, we still ask her a million times if she has to go, but she is catching on really well. We have only had 2 "slight" accidents today, but she managed to get to the potty. We were trying to figure out a reward system, but it seems as if just getting the opportunity to wash her hands after she goes potty is working just fine! She has her own step stool and soap, so I guess she views that as a pretty cool reward!! It works for us!! I know we have only been doing it for a weekend, but she is making wonderful progress. I just hope we can keep it up! I am not looking forward to what this means for when we are out and about, but I am trying not to think about that right now.

Lots of Stuff

It has been forever since I have written anything. It is partly because we have been busy traveling, partly because we have just been busy, and partly because I haven't been motivated to do it. We currently have no electricity due to storms, so I don't have much else to do. There is a lot to write about, so I will do my best.

First, we made the long 5 hour trip to Meadville to visit my parents over the 4th of July. We stayed from Thursday to Monday, so Camryn had plenty of time with Dam-ma and Papa. Even though it has been a while since we have seen them, it took her no time at all to warm up and attach herself to both of them. They both enjoyed her a great deal and were very impressed with the little girl that she has become. She was very flexible with sleeping there - it was if she goes there all of the time. Although, she did try her best to go to bed as late as possible by cuddling with Papa on the couch - how could I tell her no to that?? While we were there, my parents had a picnic on the 4th. My grandma came up to the house, which I was very happy about. She is currently battling lung cancer, so I was glad to have her spend time with us. My brother also came with Zachary, so Camryn had a playmate for a while. He enjoyed giving Camryn a ride on his four-wheeler around the yard. She even had another birthday cake that day - what a lucky girl! On Saturday, Connor and Ella were also in Meadville, so they came for a visit. Camryn always loves playing with them, so she was excited. On Sunday, she got an early nap and we drove to Erie to go to Waldameer Park. It is a small traditional park on Lake Erie that reminds me of when I was little. It has a lot of old classic rides as well as some newer ones. Camryn enjoyed all of the kiddie rides and the big rides that she was tall enough to ride. She is just like me - she LOVES rides! She was such a big girl and rode the kiddie rides all by herself. Her favorite was the Frog Hopper. She rode that about 20 times and giggled every time she was on it. The last time she rode it, she even stopped holding on and put her hands in the air! That's my girl! I missed it, though, because I was off riding the new roller coaster with Papa. Luckily, Chris got a picture. We all had a really good time and Chris and I were thankful to have grandparents to take advantage of. They would keep her entertained while Chris and I would ride rides together. We don't have the grandparent luxury at home, so it was nice while it lasted! Unfortunately, our visit had to come to an end some time. We made the long drive back on Monday and it was good to be home. We just need to figure out a time to go back and enjoy more Dam-ma and Papa time.

We relaxed at home for the next few days, spent time at the pool, went to Gymboree, and had some friends over for a game night. On Thursday, we got back in the car to travel some more. We went to PSU for Arts Fest for the day. We always love a reason to go back to State College. Camryn is starting to love it just as much as we do. She was very excited to see the Lion this time and gave it lots of hugs and kisses. We walked all around Arts Fest and even bought 2 paintings from an artist we like. She has several PSU paintings, so we added to our collection. We already have one of the Elms on the mall and we bought one of the old creamery and one of Old Main. The artist told us that this is her last year at Arts Fest, so we took advantage while she was there. My friend, Erin, joined us that day and we all had a great day together. Even though Camryn didn't get a nap, she was very good and enjoyed her time in Happy Valley. Although, who doesn't have a good time in Happy Valley?? In fact, Camryn asked us this morning if we could go bye byes to see the Lion today! Chris was very proud.

I have been working very hard on completely changing our website. I am very close to being done with it. We just have keep our fingers crossed that it all works. If it all goes as planned, it will be much easier for me to post new pictures and can do everything solely from our new laptop. Some of the old pictures will no longer be on there, but I don't think anyone cares about anything other than new pictures of Camryn anyway! I will make sure to let everyone know when it is done!!