Day 341: Strolling

This worked great-- Zaria loves pushing dolls in the little stroller, and with her new monkey backpack on, Jamin could easily keep track of her and help her stay on the sidewalks.

Day 295: Evening walk

I was moving mighty slow today, but we made an effort to get out.

Day 290: Strolling

Zaria had more fun pushing the stroller than riding in it, I think. Inside is one of her twin dolls, who she's named Moses. His twin sister's name is Mitzi.

Day 265: Walking Boo Boo

Zaria and I went over to let Princess, now called Boo Boo, outside and for a walk. Mom and Dave were off to see Elvis perform up north and so Boo Boo just needed a one-time relief while they were gone. Zaria loves Boo Boo, so she enjoyed the visit.

Day 263: Wagon train

I took Zaria for a walk with this yesterday along with the twin dolls she has. Today I wasn't able to walk as far before feeling a little sore, but Zaria still loved it. She laughs whenever we hit a bump or change speeds.

Day 262: Library walk

It was a gorgeous day, there are benches on the way, so I decided we could make it on a walk to the library. My first attempt of the season. Zaria loved it, and I did fine, though Mom met us at the library so I didn't have to walk both ways (though I think I could have).

Day 248: Family walk in the park

It was so beautiful out today. Jamin got home in the afternoon, so we were able to eat dinner together and take a walk. Zaria and I had gone out earlier with Jamin's mom, but she was happy to push her stroller around and look for ducks and dogs again. I loved the sound of community softball players in the background.

Day 246: Forking a mess and quiet waters

Zaria sort of used the fork I gave her, but then she started having fun putting her hands in it, then rubbing her face. Oh, goodness. Later we went for a walk by the lake-- if you look on the other side of the water you can see a couple of deer.

Day 245: Walking the dogs

This evening Zaria and I went to visit Cassie and perhaps play games-- her mom and grandma joined in a game of Dominoes, but we ended up taking the dogs and Zaria for a walk because she was getting much too crabby and tired to let us play Dominoes in peace.

Day 213: Walking with Marla

Marla (my mother-in-law) came for a visit today. We had fun playing a few rounds of dominoes, eating some lunch, and taking Zaria out for a walk on a beautiful spring day. Zaria can say the word "duck" now, so was very excited to see the water fowl swim by on our walk.

Day 204: Walking on a nice day

We were visiting Mom and Dave this evening to play games and do some taxes, and it was so nice out we all decided to go for a walk. Princess (the dog) helped and actually pulled Zaria's stroller to a certain extent. Maybe spring is here?

Day 198: Walk in the park

It felt like spring might be here today, so we took a walk to the park. Zaria wanted nothing to do with the swing (which used to be her favorite thing), but she loved having a chance to push her stroller. We just had to be careful of the mega-puddles.

Day 188: Bug walking

Zaria is really gaining confidence with her walk. She was able to have lots of quality dad-time today, especially since he was volunteering in the nursery. I think all the kids, including the bigger ones that don't usually take morning naps, took naps today in the nursery. All their little time clocks were messed up with the daylight savings time today. We also got to visit my Dad and Dawn today. Zaria hasn't seen them much lately, so she was a little shy, but she really got to laughing when her grandpa acted surprised whenever she hit spoons together. I don't know if I've ever seen her laugh so hard.

Day 181: Walking and visiting

Arms usually out, Zaria is getting more and more confident walking around. It means she can get into more things, but so far hasn't gotten into any trouble. We also had a visit from Jamin's folks this evening. They came over and played Boggle with us and enjoyed some Pannekoeken that I attempted for the first time. (I tried it first to make sure it wasn't too much of an experiment-- it was pretty good, but not quite as fluffy as the real thing.) Marla enjoyed the family of Squiggles in the book she's looking at. I think Zaria will enjoy that one when she gets a little older and can appreciate some of the humor.

Day 176: A cold walk outside

It was a balmy 26 degrees outside, so I decided to bundle Zaria up and go for a walk. Just as she and I were ready, my mom popped by after work, so she went on the walk with us on some trails nearby. It was fun to see the tracks under this bridge over Shingle Creek-- it looked like someone had been down there with snowshoes. Zaria had a great time. All that peaked out in the cold were her eyes, so she was probably warmer than Mom and I. We didn't have any layers on our legs, so we were very cold when we got back, but Zaria had a full snowsuit and a blanket.

Day 174: Dedication Sunday

I just love dedication Sundays! I always have, ever since I was a little kid. Except for when I actually was dedicated. Apparently, I always slept through church or was very quiet, but the day I was dedicated I cried through the whole thing. Don't really remember that, but I believe my parents' word on it.

Below is Jamin walking with Zaria. She walked all the way from the nursery to the stairs and was so proud of herself. It was so cute to see her walking with those pink silk pantaloons and patent leather shoes.

Day 164: My walking Valentine

Zaria is walking on her own now, but still prefers having things to hold on to. I tried to find her the most Valentinesey outfit for today that I could, but Jamin and I did go out without her this evening. We didn't have small group tonight in lieu of Valentine's day dating opportunities.

So Jamin and I went to a movie at the cheap theater and talked about it over coffee at Barnes and Noble. We saw "The Golden Compass," which was fun and fantastic, though we didn't think it compared to Lewis' Narnia series, at least not in plot. I had gotten an e-mail warning about how evil The Golden Compass was because of the author wanting to make it into an anti-Christian allegory or anti-Narnia competitor. I also read an article by a Christian who thought it wasn't so anti-Christian after all, despite the author's intentions. So it ended up being good fodder for conversation and we had a nice Valentine's day.

Day 152: Art Shanties on Medicine Lake

For the second year, Jamin, Zaria and I have taken the trek to Medicine Lake to see the Art Shanties. It's really fun and I recommend it. Every year in late January to mid-February a bunch of artists put together ice-fishing houses, or shanties that are artwork. Some of them are just normal fish houses that contain art, and others are in fun shapes, like the robot pictured behind Jamin (below). Above was a shanty filled with mobiles. I made the one that has the toy sheep on it while we listened to a car accident story by one of the artists. Zaria had fun crawling around in there and watching their black Labrador. I was surprised at how well our little umbrella stroller did on the lake. There had been just enough melting and re-freezing to make it pretty smooth.

Day 133: A walk to the park

I've done very little walking outside since the snow came down. Zaria's stroller just isn't made to go over all the bumpy snow that covers all the sidewalks, and it's not real safe to stroll in the streets. So Jamin and I took a walk to the park while Mom watched Zaria. I was glad to see they've replaced the slide that some vandals had burned last summer. There was still police tape attached to the playground, but I'm not exactly sure why.

Day 83: Moon rising

We took a little walk just as the moon was rising, which is insanely early these days. It was a beautiful big moon, but it looks so small when you actually take a picture of it. Jamin got more of the sky's color in his shot of me.