The Mees Family: More July Fun!

This first picture is one of my all-time favorites. Hannah has recently become SO independent. She loves to do things by herself, which is great most of the time! This particular evening, she told me that she was going to go downstairs but she didn't want me to come. I said ok, and that I would check on her in a few minutes. I didn't hear any major crashes coming from the basement, so I assumed everything was fine :) When I went down to check on her about 10 minutes later, this is what I saw. Amazing! She had gotten all of the paints out, unscrewed the lids, set them all neatly out with a q-tip in each container to paint with. She had even gotten herself a little cup full of water for painting. She had painted a masterpiece. And was so proud. Love this girl!! She is creative, independent, and full of energy and brings us so much joy :)

Here are some pictures from the month of July--it's been busy, fun, HOT, and full of daily adventures in the life of a 2 year old. Greg was off most of the month, so it was wonderful for the three of us to be able to spend a lot of time together each day.

4th of July!
We had several family get-togethers on the 4th. We went to Papa A's house on July 2nd for fireworks with Gigi, Nanny, Aunt Linda and Uncle Stuart, cousin John, Uncle Dave and Aunt Geni, and Maggie and Sam. Then we had an Alexander family lunch at Frieda's house on the 4th. Then we had a Mees Family 4th of July BBQ that evening at Uncle Jeff, Aunt Teresa, Jensen, Evan, and Caleb's house. A fun extended weekend was had by all. Hannah did pretty well with the fireworks, even though she usually doesn't like loud noises. She covered her ears a lot, but she seemed to be having lots of fun. She stayed up about 2-3 hours past her 7:00 bedtime most nights we were in town, so we had plenty of time for fun!

Fun at Gramma Jan and Grampa Bill's house!
Gramma Jan painting Hannah's nails for the 1st time (and drying them with the blowdryer). She rarely sees someone put on makeup or nail polish (I know...this is kind of sad?!) so watching Gramma Jan putting on makeup is very interesting to her...and she even gets to try on a little blush once in awhile!

Grampa Bill demonstrating the art of the mortar and pestle.

Going Fishing!
We had a great time going fishing at Papa's pond over the 4th of July weekend. Here are some pictures of Hannah "digging" for worms with Papa. She caught a bluegill :)

Gardening with Papa. Planting pumpkin seeds in the pumpkin patch. We told Hannah we were going to plant pumpkins. After we were done with the whole process, when we were walking back to the house she says "Aren't we going to plant pumpkins??". I guess we weren't specific enough about planting pumpkin seeds...not actual pumpkins :)

Hannah feeding Cooter. She loves cats and dogs and always loves to feed Cassie, Cooter, and Marley bones (she's liked to do this since she was probably just over 1 yr old. She also loves Spunky, Papa's cat...recently she said "We're going to Spunky's house? Is Papa going to be there? :)"

Oklahoma Joe's BBQ with cousin John...waiting for fantastic BBQ. We were there for probably 45 minutes (the line was out the door) but Hannah patiently waited for her food. I of course didn't get any shots of her eating because we were all too busy savoring the yumminess! We always have great culinary adventures when John is in town :)

More fun with cousins!

The trampoline provides great entertainment to everyone! Hannah recently learned how to do a "seat-drop" and now (despite our efforts to stop her!) does "seat-drops" anywhere and everywhere...the bathtub, concrete floors, on the bed, etc. Ouch! Apparently her pull-ups must provide the necessary padding, because she thinks it is hilarious :)

Back in Liberty, we attended "Cow Appreciation Day" at Chick-Fil-A. Everyone in a cow costume gets a free meal! There were tons of little cows and a few adults dressed as cows too. Lots of fun! The big mascot cow even made an appearance...Hannah still hasn't decided if she likes him or is scared of him.

A visit from cousins! Grace, Kate, and Alex came for the weekend and we had a great visit! Outdoor fun with the pool, slip and slide, and sand table. Art projects, board games, play dough, and even bowling! Exhausting, but it was lots of fun!

Gramma Jan's visit: Gramma Jan came to visit for a couple of days and we had lots of fun! We went to one of Hannah's favorite places--Paradise Park! She showed Gramma Jan how she could cook, do art projects, play in the water, etc. We also went to the T-Rex Cafe and Nebraska Furniture. It was a great time!