New house

Well, we did it! After three and a half years in our old city four square, we have passed the torch onto a new family. We are sad to leave our old neighborhood and wonderful neighbors, but mostly we are excited to begin a new adventure. Our new house was built in 1962 and has not received a single update. Amazingly, it is in pretty good shape, so we are looking forward to just settling in. We'll see how long we last before swinging a sledge hammer and pulling out the nail gun. Stay tuned...

For now, here are some shots from our last days in the city

Last time waking up in her old room...
Mommy got sentimental and had to take a picture.

It's OK, Nickel, you'll like our new house just fine.

A box!

More boxes!

First and last family photo on our old stoop.

Bye, house!

This picture pretty much sums up our new gem of a sixties ranch house.

Yes, a pink oven. There is also a pink stovetop and sink in the kitchen, pink walls, a bathroom entirely clad in pink tile with matching tub and sink, and a second bath that is 100% tic-tac green...and we love it!

Jane approves of our new grocery store because they have these shopping carts (which are surprisingly difficult to maneuver). It was her first time to ride in the "baby vroom" so she thinks our new Kroger is pretty awesome.

This last picture is random but I didn't think it warranted its own post. I just think it's funny that Jane wanted to put blocks on the cat. Nickel gets an A+ in Toddler Tolerance. (Although, the part of the course where Jane was trying to pick Nickel up by grabbing two handfuls of fur was a little rocky.)

Sun and sand in Destin

Well, July seems to have become travel month for the Cowan family! After our journey to the Pacific Northwest, we made a short stop back in Tennessee before heading south to Destin, Florida. Jane was at such a great age for the beach this year. (Click here to see the change from last year!)

She loved the sand and the water, which was a relief because otherwise it would have been a long week. The first evening we arrived, we headed down to the beach to stretch our legs and get our feet wet (another great opportunity to use the word "literally"... see previous post). As soon as we got to the fluffy sand, Jane started falling backwards and rolling around in it, as if it were a giant air mattress. Still in her clothes, we took her to the edge of the water to dip her toes in, but after a few minutes Jane somehow managed to get completely soaked.  Here's a little compilation from our first evening on the beach:

The rest of the week was equally fun with plenty of sun and a nice breeze to cool us off.

Why are we learning about shapes on vacation?
Because your parents are teachers. Now, which one is the circle?

First koozie experience

See the yellow plane? That was a HUGE hit with Jane.
"Lello bane!" she exclaimed every time it flew by (about every half hour).

All clean and dressed for the evening... legs getting a little sandy...

... and now for the hair.
(That made for a total of three baths this day.)

Here's Daddy on the same beach at the same age as Jane!

Check out the pictures at the end of this old post to see Richard and Jane at the same age last year.

As much as Jane liked the beach, the pool was definitely her favorite. The activity she enjoyed most was sitting on the edge of the baby pool and then leaning forward until she plopped into the water. Then she would plow forward across the baby pool and belly flop back under water. She learned pretty quickly how to tilt her chin up and get her head out of the water, which made it much less stressful for us! She was having a ball and was so much fun to watch. Here's a little clip of her graceful entry into the water:

This slightly cheesy walking-away-footprints-in-the-sand shot seems like a good one to end on: