Random things that caught my attention

I was driving to get Mike from work when I saw this beauty. I had seen really bad cars out there, but I have not see a van so beat up in awhile. I could even looked inside the van through some of the holes in the back. Poor thing, if I was the van I would demand to retire!

Then, today I was sitting at the dining room when I heard "thump". I looked out and it was a poor birdie that had hit our sliding door. I went outside and stayed with the bird for about 8 minutes until it was able to fly to the tree in the back. I got some beautiful shots. (The shots that are below were taken with my small camera, but I also got some shots with my new camera and they are better, but I could not find the cable to download right now). As I love bird watching; I was in heaven taken pictures literally about 1-2 in. from the bird. :) Oh, I was very happy. First , I was worried that it injured its right eye (it was closed) and she had the mouth open panting, but after a few minutes she was fine. whew!

PlayTown

So, we decided to go to the mall where they have the section for kids to play. We wanted to see if Arianna was interested or not in those kind of toys. When we got there, she sat by our legs for awhile, just looking around; there were kids, but it was not that busy.

Then, one kid was smiling at her and I think that got her moving towards one of the cars. He was really nice to Arianna and played for a bit (there were other kids that were not very nice, and you had to keep an eye).


Then, she went everywhere! Especially to this toy on the wall, where you can flip the pieces back and forth. It was hard to get to the toy because this lady had her stroller almost in front of it, even though we were squeezed in there playing, she did not move it. I kept trying to go somewhere else, but Arianna really wanted to play with that, and she kept walking back every time. Eventually the lady left and we were able to play, but Arianna was interested in something else by then ;)

She was interested in driving her first car! She sat there for awhile, and drove us to Indiana. I imagine that one day that may not be so far fetch either.

Then, she wanted to climb in top of the turtle, so I helped her. And when she was on top, she was fine for a few minutes, then she wanted to come down.

We also noticed that seeing other kids made her try to walk even more. There were three girls playing "your it", and running around screaming and were very excited that all the younger kids, started to follow them, including Arianna.


So, after about 20 minutes, we decided to leave. Too many kids had come into the place and was getting really crowded. Although the biggest problem was not how many they were, the problem was some of the kids that came by (2 especially) were very mean to the other kids and he was interested in the same thing Arianna was playing with so I did not want to risk Arianna getting hurt. Besides she was getting tired and quite frankly we were too. We were some "old timers" by comparison!
All in all, we had fun and Arianna loved it. I think she will like it even more when she can run!

What is wrong with this picture?

Sometimes I go to thrift stores to buy kid's books (that way I don't feel guilty if Arianna rips the book - some of the kid's books at the thrift store already have some nicks and small rips - and sometimes are brand new). Anyway, I had not been in one in awhile, but since we found that amazing desk (the desk was at an antique store, but sometimes you get lucky at a thrift store) and I was driving by one I decided to check it out.
I get there, not much really. Not many books, no small spoons for Ron, no good toys, etc... So, I am going in my way out and I see a leap frog toy (very similar to Mike's toy when he was a kid) the one that pops up when you hit the buttons is only 75 cents, so I take it. The only thing I need to do is to wipe it out with some clorox wipes I have a home (safe for kid's stuff). Then, I see beanies. Now, if you know me, you know I still like them, but I don't buy them at the stores unless I really like it. Most of the time, I can find them at the thrift store for a quarter, but this store (must still think that beanies are the most sought after item, has them behind the counter and in a nice box). So, I asked the lady if I can see them. She is the cashier as well , and tells me to give her a minute. While I am waiting I see 2 CD's that are nice, depeche mode and an acoustic guitar Christmas songs. Ok, so time is going by, Ari is getting tired. Then, I see this guitar for a kid. I think , wow for Arianna, it had written on it 4dls. Not bad, if I want her to play with it now (since she may not be as careful yet ). I go looking for someone else to help me. I find this guy and he says that the "lady" is the only one that can go in there? Then, why she does not call someone else to be the cashier while another lady and I are waiting for her? I go back and I said, can you help me now (has been at least 10 min. , but I want the guitar)? She finally goes behind the counter and I say I want to see the guitar, she picks it up with the worst customer service I had seen in awhile: "She says is not 4dls, someone erased the "0" (well hello, you are the only one that goes in there), so she "fixes" it and it is 40dls!"
Then, I say no thank you. Can I see the beanies, she has to go around the other way because the little hallway behind the counter is blocked in one side- so she says I 'll be there. I go around as well, and instead of going around to meet me, she goes back to the cash register and starts taking care of the people that are going to paid (mind you I was there before any of them) so I said to myself, it is a thrift store! High prices and bad customer service, goodbye. So, I did not buy anything.
I got home and went online and I saw a guitar that looks like the one they were selling for 30-40dls. The guitar at the store was a nice guitar and I would have considered buying it for 20 dls, but not 40dls. I don't remember the brand of the guitar and perhaps the guitar is worth 200dls, maybe 40 dls is not bad for it, but with bad service and a second hand store, forget it! At this point I prefer to buy from someone that cares about instruments! At the end, this is a guitar that someone donated to them. There are decent new guitars for kids for 30 dls and Arianna can freely play with it.
Well, thank God for some other second hand stores that are nice and fair!

It's a Ball World

Arianna has a few favorite items, but the one thing that she loves to play the most is the "ball" (or "da-l" as she calls them)... As you can see we have a couple, and sometimes we cannot find a single one of them :) hmhm... I guess we need to get a few more. She also loves her doll. I guess we are not gender oriented; dolls, trains, cars, blocks, etc... everything goes.

Arianna's "New" Desk

We went to Frankfort on Sunday. It was a nice day even though it was raining a bit. We started by going to the Fresh Market they have every Sunday until the end of October then we went to a barn style mall - very quaint- we had not been there in a long time. I don't even remember when it was the last time we went. They used to be antique stores and arts and crafts style stores. Unfortunately, most of the stores and a nice used book store were gone. They did have a new guitar store. Of course the guitar I liked costs 7ka. I think I will keep admiring it only :) They also have a new place for kids- some kind of museum and arts and crafts activities for children. Pretty cool, but it was closed. We looked through the windows.



















The one store that caught our eyes was selling all of their stuff at 50% because the owner was retiring after 12 years of business. I found a nice decoration for the wall - a set of 4 small bird theme plates with the hanger (all I need is a nail to display). Also, a couple of nice cards (like birthday cards), and I was very tempted to buy a small tiffany lamp style - but I did not.
What we did buy is a beautiful desk for Arianna! Check it out.
Hopefully she will like it for awhile. It looks like a small version of my "desk", so maybe one day we can do something together. :)

Fall is here...

I know that summer ended awhile ago, but the weather was still pretty nice. These pictures I took last Monday when I was waiting for Mike to come from school. It was the first day that got a bit cold for me (wearing short sleeves, and no sweater), and I realized that I had not paid attention to my beautiful flowers in the front of the house. Pretty soon they will be gone and I decided to share with you. They are dahlias - two types- I forgot there specific names, but they are huge and beautiful!



I think Mike was confused to see me outside taking pictures. I went outside just a few seconds before I saw him coming into the driveway. Talk about timing...

Arianna's Recent Activities

This is a picture for Ann and Barry. I left the merry-go-around toy on the floor while I was cleaning, and she liked it. I caught her playing with it.
Around and around it went... (Mini-update : She is doing a lot better, at least she is able to keep the food in her tummy. I am still giving her light foods and hopefully we can be back to normal pretty soon - food wise).












Halloween is coming and I bought some pumpkin heads for my sister's kids that are not going trick or treat (I am putting some candy in the pumpkins for the kids). I left them in one of the corners of the dining room. Next thing I know they are closed to Arianna's play mat with lots of toys in them. mmmhh... I wonder if I have gremlins in the house! :)






It's a bucket world! Yep, my cabinets are no longer safe with the super power of Arianna's hands! All her toys end in my Tupperware, you know...blocks, babies, books...












This is her new "winter coat" for when it is cold, but not freezing! She got it as a gift in her birthday from her Uncle Tony and we love the color and she loves her big buttons. We still need to get her a new snowsuit for this winter since all the ones she has are no longer her size. My baby is growing so fast.
























We had gone to McDonald's a few times now with Arianna, but this is the first time that she played with the slide and had tons of fun like you can see in these two pictures. We had a hard time leaving the place, she wanted to keep going up and down. I took some video that I will be posting later.

We also went outside sometime last week and she decided to be a "child" and played with gravel and dirt. She kept going up the stairs (by herself) then I will help her down and she will played again. She loved it and after getting really dirty, we went inside to take a shower and to have dinner so she could go to sleep. You'll see how tired she was when she was going to eat. (Yes, that is one of her grandparent's coaster...the other one still is MIA)

Oh, puke....

It has been a few hectic days, so time has gone pretty quickly so no posting lately. After Arianna's cold (much better from that) today she threw up after having lunch. First time ever that she throws up! I am not sure what got her sick :( , but she was in good spirit (meaning we were playing with toys). After Mike came from school, we tried to give her some liquids (some milk) which I guess was not a very good idea in retrospect and a few crackers, but she threw up that as well. Thankfully she was able to sleep and get some rest. We went to check on her after about 1-2 hr. after she felt asleep, and she woke up (I blame it on our creaky floors). She loves water (more than juice), so I was able to give her some much needed liquid and some rice cereal. I could tell she was hungry for more than cereal, but I did not want to upset her stomach. Hopefully, she will be better tomorrow. I think there is a bug going around. Mike felt sick to his stomach too (and no, they did not eat the same thing) :\