I'm Playing a Baseball Game

We finally had our smushed garage removed, which means we had to find place to put all the stuff that was in the garage.   A lot of stuff was damaged from being exposed to rain for a month.  Some of it we threw away and some we wanted to let dry out, but there was a threat of rain so we pitched our tent and put everything in there.  Including the pack-n-play.  Charlotte thinks it lots of fun to have a camping tent in the backyard and she likes to sit in the pack-n-play and look at books.  The other day she wanted Happy in there with her.  

Also, when retrieving our things from the garage, Charlotte discovered a couple of whiffle ball bats and decided she would play a baseball game.  Charlotte's baseball game consisted of each of us hitting a large rubber ball with our respective whiffle ball bats.  Charlotte has become so much more active lately, it's really fun to see

One of two rugs drying out in the backyard.  It looks like we live in a trailer park.  Our neighbors love us.

Ice Breaker

Snow and ice mean two things to Charlotte: shoveling and chopping the ice.  Like father like daughter.  We took her out on a sled once but she is pretty happy helping shovel the snow and breaking the ice.  I can only hope she still enjoys these chores for the next 16 years of her life.

Child Labor

Charlotte, Emily, and I had a very fun weekend in Des Moines with Emily's family.  We got back today with enough time for Charlotte and I to rake the leaves in the backyard.  Here are three videos of Charlotte helping and playing.

In the first video you can see that Charlotte has yet to grasp the notion "work smarter, not harder," but I'll let it go for now.  The second video jumps for some reason, but I finally was able to capture her chasing Pancho down to give a stick to Pancho and saying "thank you" after he takes it.  It's one of her favorite things to do.  And the last video has a few funny moments too.