Mamaw & Papa Baker come to visit!

So my mom and dad came for a visit this past weekend. Alexa warmed right up to them as well, just as she had with Kevin's parents earlier in the month. It also didn't hurt that "mamaw" had a sucker for Alexa as soon as she got in the car!! :-) Gramma also had some presents for Alexa as soon as we got back to the house. Here she is opening some shoes and some clothes, two of her favorite things already!!

And of course, she had to try on and model her new presents!!

The second day they were here (the 29th), we went for dinner at Lynn's Paradise Cafe, a funky little restaurant here in Louisville. Kevin and I have been wanting to try it out for quite some time and finally got the chance. And it didn't disappoint. It's very eclectic but very, very good!

We didn't know they had a store attached to it where you can buy all sorts of fun stuff. :-)

Alexa didn't like being a shark! Poor thing!

On Saturday, we went to Fall of the Ohio, just across the river in Indiana. It was pretty interesting but very hot and muggy outside so only Kevin really ventured down onto the slate and rock.

We had a great time with Gramma & Grampa Baker and hope their enjoying the cruise that they're on this week! Thanks for coming to visit us in Kentucky!!

Who needs a bathing suit???

We went to Tyler Park this morning with Taffney and her boys. It was a little overcast so I didn't really think Alexa would want to get in the water, which means I didn't bring her bathing suit....but following Olan around was too much temptation. And then when her shirt got wet, she didn't want it on anymore. She was having so much fun, who am I to deny her that??? At least I did bring a change of dry clothes!!!

Kentucky State Fair

We went to the Kentucky State Fair today but, unfortunately, didn't take many pictures. We spent the majority of our time looking at the animals as we knew Alexa would really enjoy that this year. However, our main reason for going to the Fair this year was to get the DEEP-FRIED SNICKERS!!! I know, I know...you may be skeptical of a deep-fried candy bar...we were too the first year we lived here. But then we thought, well why not at least give it a try??? And lo and behold...OH MY...it is to die for. It really is amazing. We should have taken a picture of it, and of one of us enjoying it!! We'll remember that for next year. Anyways, if you have the opportunity to try one, we definitely recommend it...it's a week's worth of calories in one shot, but hey, it only happens once a year!!! :-)

This little piggy went to market, this little piggy stayed home, this little piggy had roast beef, this little piggy had none and this little piggy cried...weeeeeeee, weeeeee all the way home!

All Growed Up!!

It really does amaze me how big Alexa is getting. She has grown up so much this summer.

And she really is a girly-girl...loves anything girly, like jewelry...and shoes, and handbags, and makeup!!

Happy Birthday Nathan!!

Today was also Alexa's friend, Nathan's, birthday! He turned the big 2!! He had his birthday party yesterday, it was a John Deere theme, very cute. Rachael, you did a fabulous job on everything! We had a great time and we know Alexa did too, especially eating the green icing on the cookies!!

Happy Birthday Waveney!

Today is my fabulous friend, Waveney's, 30th birthday! If you remember, she is the one who accompanied me to the Bon Jovi concert in April (that was both of our presents to ourselves for our big 3-0!!). Anyways, on Friday, we had a surprise party for her. It was a fun evening with some yummy treats and good company. HAPPY BIRTHDAY WAVENEY!!

Left to Right: Me, Sarah Ripperdan, Waveney Taylor, Brinn King and Rachael Ice.

I love these girls!

Naptime!

Alexa loves to play out on our balcony and this is what I found today. She was having a nap with her "baby", the moose! Don't you love the little area rug as her blanket. And she's not trying to hide from the camera, she's actually pretending to sleep and saying "shhh, shhh". It's pretty cute!

Who lives in a pineapple under the sea...

SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS! Absorbent and yellow and porous is he...SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS! If nautical nonsense be something you wish...SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS! Then drop on the deck and flop like a fish...SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS!!

Yes, that's right...I have the words memorized to the opening of the cartoon! How could I not when Alexa is obsessed with Spongebob or "ba-bob". She LOVES him. And so it was only natural that when Spongebob made an appearance at our zoo today, that we had to take Alexa to meet him. We didn't prep her at all beforehand as we wanted to see her reaction (see below picture). She wasn't overly excited just curious. But she didn't act scared at all and even was touching him to see if he was real, I think!

We then spent the rest of the morning exploring the zoo...here are some of the highlights:

CHEESE, please!

I think these pictures are pretty funny! Alexa was running away from me, I must have been wanting to change her diaper or something...so she escaped to her "safe" place. I took advantage of her hiding to grab the camera and as soon as I came around the corner of the piano she said "cheese". Hahah..that's the first time she did that and it made me chuckle! What a silly kid we have!

Mamaw & Papa Mortenson come for a visit!

This is going to be a long post...sorry!!! Last Saturday, the 2nd, Kevin's parents arrived for a visit...their last since they'll be leaving on their mission to Mexico in October. Alexa warmed right up to "mamaw" as Grandma was smart to bring cookies with her in her purse!

As you can see, Alexa enjoyed having more attention!!

And she loved giving more attention too...here she's doing Grandpa's hair! (Not sure what Kevin was doing!!!)

PURE JOY!!

On Sunday after church, Alexa was hangin out with Grams and Gramps in their room and was being rather quiet and good, so Kevin and I went to investigate....and this is what we found, Alexa having her very first sucker! She took to it like she'd had one a thousand times before and she wouldn't let go of it! I think Grandma had fun spoiling her while they were here!!!

On Monday morning, we went to the splashpark and there was hardly anyone there. Alexa finally got her turn on the merry-go-round since it's usually overrun by older kids and too dangerous. She absolutely loved it! She loves anything that goes "weeeee"! We had a great day down by the river, enjoying the beautiful weather!

Weeeeeee!

Again with the shoes! The entire time grandma and grandpa were here, Alexa was fixated with their shoes, whether they were wearing them, where they were, that they needed them on, etc., etc.! Here she is trying on grandpa's flip-flops!

While Kevin's parents were here, we decided to take advantage of having a free babysitter so that we could go on a date! We went and saw The Dark Night and thoroughly enjoyed it AND our night out! Thanks Dale & Marial for giving us a nice break!

On Tuesday morning, we headed to Cherokee Park to have a barbecue and to play at the park. Alexa always loves the opportunity to be outside playing, especially the swings...those are her favorite!

The weather forecast said partly cloudy with a 10% chance of rain. Well, this is what we saw within minutes of unloading our gear and picnic items!! It moved in soooo quickly, we had to take shelter in the pavilion (we should have started there in the first place)...however, Kevin had already started the coals and so, like a trooper, her tried to shelter them from the rain so our picnic wouldn't be ruined!

Alexa had so much fun with grams and gramps sitting in the back seat with her, that's a rare treat to have company back there and they did a great job of entertaining her!

That night, we went to dinner at the Tumbleweed down by the river. Our meal was okay but it took forever, we were a little worried Alexa wouldn't make it through the meal. But she did great and then we took her out on the patio to give her a break while we waited for the check.

PEEK!!!

She was thoroughly enthralled by the ducks who were desperately hoping some of the restaurant patrons would through food over to them...sorry to disappoint!!

Ready, Set, Go! Alexa really enjoyed having Grandma & Grandpa Mortenson come for a visit. And we enjoyed the extra hands to entertain and help out...thanks so much! We miss you already!