A special visitor

Yes, this sweet little girl was only a visitor. I think it has mom and dad thinking though.


I had a great time with her. She was abandoned at a friend of my dad's and they couldn't keep her for the night. So, dad said she could come home with him. We borrowed a leash and a kennel and had a great visit. She was extremely sweet and let me walk her, pet her, and even feed her treats.




She now has a great home though!

Cookie Baker or Cookie Monster

Many of my faithful readers know that I am a very lucky girl, my Papa has been living with us and Gigi is coming soon! One of the perks of having Papa here is that he loves cookies! So, mom tries to keep the cookie jar full for all of the cookie monsters here, not just my Papa.

Today, my mom and I made our second joint attempt and baking together. This one, did not include the industrial strength mixer. I used the mixer last time to sends clouds of flour through the kitchen. Mom laughed. (As all readers gasp, really, she laughed.) But yes, I have fully broken her into life with a toddler. So, with wooden spoon in hand I started off by mixing.


Mom thought it would be better if she rolled out the dough. So, I watched as mom rolled though dough (I said dough numerous times) and waited anxiously for the moment to push the cookie cutter in.)


Today, we made pumpkins and jack-o-lanterns. Papa was such a good helper.


Here we are tasting the fruits of our labor.


I can't wait to Christmas for cut-outs, but thankfully mom said we could do it again soon. Next time though, she said we'll be using the toddler table!

Caterpillars and Butterflies

Today I went to "Little Sprout Storytime" at Powell Gardens. The whole lesson was about butterflies, Monarch butterflies. We learned how they grow, how they sleep, and how they start off as eggs, then turn into caterpillars, and then turn into butterflies! But the best part was all of the activities...

Making my butterfly wings so I can pretend to be a monarch butterfly.


Making my butterfly snack. It was pretty neat to watch celery, peanut butter, and pretzels turn into butterflies right before my eyes. Mom made sure I knew that real butterflies don't taste nearly as good.


But then came the best part. We all got our own butterfly catching net. I walked around and around the garden looking for a butterfly. If we caught a monarch, our leader was going to help us tag them for tracking their flight to Mexico.


I caught one. But it was a look alike monarch butterfly. I still got to let it go though.


I was the only one who caught a butterfly out of our whole group, of course with mom's help. We even caught a second one and gave it to another little girl to let go. Mom said it was a good lesson in sharing and I enjoyed watching the girl laugh when she let it go.

Mom said I was her sweet butterfly.

The Potty!

Today was a big day. Mom, in uncharacteristic fashion let me run around in bath attire prior to bath time. At one point I disappeared and when mom finished filling the tub, she came looking. Where did she find me but on my very own potty! Yes, I went, all by myself! Mom could hardly believe it. This is definitely a big step for both of us. Mom's sure it's just the beginning of potty training, but it is definitely a big step in the right direction.

Golfing with Dad

Awhile back Papa and Gigi bought me my very own set of golf clubs. I liked to play with them but had never truly gotten any lessons. (Mom finds this quite hard to believe.) Well, Wednesdays is my night with dad (Mom goes to Bible study) and he's been giving me some lessons.


(Hmmm, no one has their eye on the ball.)



The best part of the lesson is watching dad run to get the ball when we've hit it across the street. Just like in the real game of golf, if it doesn't go in the street, I'm not very happy. I suppose this is how adults feel when they can't get it in the hole. Thankfully, my target is much larger.

A Visitor!

I had a very special visitor from Austin, Texas come and stay with me this weekend. Haley and her mom came just to see us and we are so thankful! We had a fabulous time despite some car trouble (more on that later) and are very much looking forward to our trip to see them in October.

We started the trip out at the spray ground. Just a few pictures to show off the girl's spray ground fun!










































We also went to the zoo on Saturday. Mom forget her camera though. Check out Haley's blog for a recap of that adventure. I must agree with Haley, the lions were by far the most exciting!

On Monday when all the water parks were closed. We went to Paradise Park. We both had a blast with the many things they had to offer. Here we are doing an art project together. Stamps with pictures of my favorite thing, bus! We also tried out the car, bicycle, train, and boat. But my favorite is bus. I say it to the trucks and buses that drive by our car!


We also played at the water table. Thank heavens they have smocks or we would have been drenched!














And in closing....


Yes, this picture sums up the car trouble. Throughout the course of the weekend, we had moments of waiting. Waiting for mom to get the car jumped. Dad, on Sunday gave us his best effort to try to get it fixedy, but the battery just wouldn't fit. But on Monday, when even a jump didn't seem to start that tired battery, Dad left work and got us a new battery before taking Haley and her mom back to work. We are so thankful we have such good friends who stuck by us with a smile through it all. The tally at the end of the day was: 1 on Friday, late to the airport, 1 on Saturday, off to the zoo, 2 on Sunday, to church and back, 1 on Monday during our trunk snack.

Little Butterfly

Today mom took me to Powell Gardens for the butterfly festival. What an experience! We walked through a tent that had thousands of butterflies flying through it. Then, we waled the gardens and explored all of the flowers and the dinosaurs that were on exhibit. (They're fake dinosaurs, thankfully! But they look very real.)

The highlight of the trip though was the master gardeners who brought butterflies and caterpillars to a special tent. In this tent, you could touch the butterflies and let caterpillars crawl on you. This was my absolute favorite and I learned that I am much braver than mom. (She promptly returned the caterpillar to the gardener when she stopped it from crawling down my onesie and instead let it crawl on her.) The gardeners were all shocked as I kept coming back for more and more butterfly feet on my hands and arms. Plus, the wings were really soft. (Mom didn't mind that part.) The gardeners all said I was the bravest little girl they had seen my age.

At the end of the morning we went for a craft and I made my own antennas.

Through the Tunnel

That was our lesson for the day at our trial Gymboree class. Yes, it's so hot here that we're using our free trial coupons now instead of the dead of winter. It was fun, not too busy which was sad for me, I had only one friend to play with, Davis. However, we did discover that with my high energy level and desire to explore everything maybe a class like this isn't really for me. What a great way to beat the heat though! And, I must admit, even I stood still while mom helped the parachute to fly over my head.



So, mom called the Gage Center and we're going to go try out preschool gymnastics on Monday! Stay tuned for more updates on that. Mom is hoping it's a hit so she can enroll me for the winter class. Something to look forward to when it's cold (or brrrr as I say it) outside.

Beauty Shop

This has been one of my favorite activities as of late. I love getting my hair done and doing other people's hair. Mom needs some lessons from Mrs. Pacheco when she comes next week with Haley (We are so excited!) on little girl hairdo's, ribbons and bows, pigtails and more. But in the meantime, you'll have to settle for me playing beauty shop with dad. He's such a good sport.

He has quite a few bumps on his head. My little arm gets tired and the hair dryer often falls and knocks him on the head. Ouch! or Uh-Oh.


But dad doesn't mind because he really likes it when I wash his hair with my pretend soap. (Thankfully, Ainsley has not yet figured out how to get the soap out of the pump bottle. I don't suppose it will be that much longer though before I find a trail of lotion or baby wash in the house.)

"Waow" the Water Park

Wow. Or "Waow" as Ainsley says. It sure is hot here! We're under a heat advisory so this morning at 8:00 when the weatherman said it was 81 degrees already, mom said we had to have a plan. And "waow" we went to the water park. A new one we hadn't been to before and I loved it. They had an awesome play area for kids and three different water slides for me to attempt. Aunt Trish caught me at the end of the big kid, superfast one and I think I finally have a healthier respect for the water slide. But just enough to keep me off the yellow tunnel slide for awhile. I loved the foam water tunnel slide and the frog slide though. On the frog, the slide is his tonuge and you go through the mouth.




They also had water falls and spray areas. I didn't want to leave but I was getting tired. Mom promised we could go back, so I'll make sure we go. We're under a heat advisory all week!

Chanie and Me

Today I got to hang out with my cousins. The basement at my house is under construction and we had to evacuate as they prepared for insulation. So, mom took me over to Aunt Markie's and we had a blast at the pool. I love playing with my cousins and mom loves it too, I'm always tuckered out at the end of the day!

Chanie had her sunglasses on so I got mine on as well. Here I am saying "Uh-Oh", my new favorite word. Though I really need to learn to distinguish between a real "Uh-Oh" and "Sorry mom, I did that on purpose."



We took a wagon ride to the pool together and played forever. I was a real dare-devil and jumped off the edge to mo. We rolled in the water, went under, and flew high in the sky. I love the water. I think my daring moments gave Chanie some more courage in the pool too! I even prepped to go under water by wearing my cousin Will's goggles. Mom thinks I'm still a little young for this move though. It was a good thing we were in the baby pool at the time.

Crown "Clown" Center

Before this post gets too far, Happy 6th Anniversary mom and dad. And what a great anniversary it was as we celebrtaed with the clowns at "clown" center. (It's really Crown Center, Hallmark's headquarters.) And, the clowns were there because it was National Clown Day! I must say, I really wasn't too sure about these funny dressed people, but I sure did love my balloon puppy and clown nose that I acquired while we were there.


(Oh, and for as many traits that I have just like mom, I'm definitely dad's too. I twisted and twisted that balloon puupy to figure out how they made one long balloon into an animal. Without any fear, I successfully untwisted that thing back to it's original shape on the way home.)

While we were there, I also got to experience the fountain. It's a lot bigger than the sprayground sprinklers that I normally go to. But, I braved it anyway! We all got a little wet and had a really good time.



Mom and dad couldn't think of a better way to spend their anniversary than with their precious gift from God. The Lord has truly blessed us with a wonderful marriage, child, and family. (Well, they did manage to make it to dinner (alone) as well.)

Rankin Reunion 2007

With the promise of many more to come, this post has been dated. This year, we went to Lake of the Ozarks and met at Tan-Tar-A. It was a lot of fun had by all, though it really was too short! I got to meet my second cousin, Sophia, for the very first time! She'll be 2 on the 11th. Happy Birthday early, Sophia! Everyone was there and it was really good to see everyone.

Here's a picture of just me and Sophia.


Here's a family photo of us. (This is just our immediate family.) Unfortunately we weren't able to get a group photo of everyone this time around.


We also had some fun at the pool. There was a sprayground, which of course I loved.


But my newest adventure was the water slide. I loved it! Mom and dad had to take me down over, and over, and over again. We even came back for more right before check out!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Happy Birthday to mom today. She turned the big 30. We celebrated in the morning with lots of presents and then got in the car to drive to the lake for a family reunion.

The Petting Zoo

Mom took me to Deanna Rose petting zoo today. Nether of us could get over the fact that this was a free activity (well, except for the gas...it's a 40 minute drive). They have all kind of animals at kid level and some that you can pet or feed.

So, I was really interested in watching the cows eat. They eat a lot of hay in one bite! And they look kind of messy. I definitely couldn't eat with them....I ask to get my hands and face wiped after each bite.


I also really liked the goats, though I wasn't much for feeding them myself. I did enjoy watching them eat from mom's hand though. Wow, mom sure does love me...she would have never done that otherwise. There's also a section were you can walk around with the goats. I wasn't so sure the first time we went in, but I started petting them the second time around! Although, be it known I was saying "woof, woof" and thought they were just dogs. Or, I was fooling with my mom in yet another attempt to get a live dog instead of a stuffed one.



They also have multiple play areas for when you want to take a break from the animals. I loved riding on the tractor (mom pushed me around the track), checking out the tepee, and most of all the tunnel slide! I wouldn't even wait for mom to catch me at the bottom (I needed help getting up to the top). This became particularly stressful for mom as I love to go down head first. I'm so daring!




I liked this zoo so much, that we (mom, dad, PaPa, and Gigi) went on the 4th of July! We had a great time despite it being incredibly warm and sticky. Mom will post some pictures of that later.

For those of you who keep us with us regularly. I renamed my Grandma Randall, previously Nonni, to Gigi. I walked up the steps with mom and declared "Hi Gigi" to the right person. I could not find her if it wasn't, "find Gigi", so Gigi she became.