I scream, you scream, we all scream for...

The Ice Cream Truck!

Ever since our trip to New York and my introduction to ice cream from the Ice Cream Truck, it's all I think about. That night we signaled to the driver and he pulled over and passed out some delicious cones of soft serve ice cream. Let me tell you, I secured that hypnotic song from the ice cream truck into my memory and every night when the truck drove by I let everyone know what I wanted. We only had ice cream once during our 10 day stay. It was torture!


Even after being home for 3 weeks and not hearing the repetitive sounds from the ice cream truck I still ask for it. "Ice Cream Truck, Mom?" It has been non-stop begging and I have not been getting my way. That stopped when Mom and Dad had the idea to make homemade ice cream from our mountain of blueberries we have been collecting.

So we headed out to the back yard and picked 16 cups of blueberries. We cooked the berries, added the cream and then headed to the store to buy an ice cream maker attachment for our Kitchen Aide mixer.


I was so excited I could hardly stand it. And if you thought I said ice cream truck all the time then, just wait. It's all I want and it's all I talk about! On Sunday and Monday "Ice Cream Truck, Mom" were the first words out of my mouth when I woke up!


Our blueberries are finally plump and juicy enough to pick. We've been picking them for the last 2 weeks but they were still a little tart. We are in full swing now!

Mom and Dad finished the evening off making blueberry jam. We had so many berries that they were able to make 2 batches. I tested it out this morning and it was D-lish!

Ice Cream!

Jam!

Beetles and Bees

I had my first bump in the rode today in my quest to catch all the critters in our backyard. I've gotten really good at catching beetles as they don't scurry away like the lizards do. This morning I captured a June Bug and let him ride along on my shirt for most of the morning putting him in my habitat bucket for closer observation. I gave him some rocks, grass and mulch to climb around on. After a while we let him go back to his real habitat in the woods.

While filling up a glass of imaginary lemonade from the screw at the bottom of the swing set I attempted to capture a yellow jacket. The yellow jacket must have sensed that I had lemonade in my cup. After trying to catch him I realized he wasn't the friendly kind. Dad was sitting next to me but did not see the bee until I turned and started asking for help. I patiently waited while Dad grabbed the bee with his fingers and then started to pull the stinger out of my pinky finger.

Amazingly, I didn't cry. I just yelled for Mom to come and put milk on it. As Mom put breast milk on my finger I just sat there and "oohed and awed" as the pain and swelling intensified. After a few minutes of ice I was ready to go back out. Mom and Dad were a little more scared than I was since they are both allergic to bees. So far, so good. My finger is still swollen but that is to be expected.

A little extra chubbiness

Pinky finger comparison

Pink Guitar

For my birthday back in May Mom and Dad promised me my very own guitar. They seem to get a little nervous when I want to play their Martin Classical or their Mandolin. For at least 2 weeks straight, I relentlessly begged Mom and Dad to let me play their guitar and mandolin. But after seeing the way I carelessly held them in my tiny hands they decided that I needed my own.

So off to the store we went. Dad had wanted to get me a ukulele since he thought it would be better suited for my body size. I wanted nothing to do with the ukuleles after setting my eyes on this pink guitar! I wanted it so bad that I grabbed for it without asking for help and suddenly found myself on the floor with a bump on my head and the guitar on top of me.

I have been playing it ever since we brought it home about two months ago! And if you ask me what I want to do when I grow up I say "play guitar"! I am completely fascinated with the instrument. If I see one, whether in person or in art, I want to hold it and strum it. I still don't understand why I can't play them all??

Below are some of our pictures from the Dan Zanes concert. Apparently, Stella Dot has started to play the drums so we may be on to something here. We'll be sure to videotape our first concert!

Headed down to get front row seats before the show

Observing from the second row

Gaining insight for our first band

Front and Center

Rockin' it at Dan Zanes

Last night we headed over to the NC Museum of Art to see Dan Zanes and Friends. We packed a picnic and met some friends for a rockin' dance party at the NCMA outdoor amphitheater. We took some photos but rather than upload them now we thought we'd link to Stella Dot's blog since they posted some good pics and made an awesome video that really captured the moment.

We'll post our pictures tomorrow if they're good.

Video:
http://stelladot.blogspot.com/2009/07/dan-zanes-video.html

Pictures:
http://stelladot.blogspot.com/2009/07/dan-zanes-concert.html

Quote of the Day

Overheard at the Science Museum of Minnesota in St Paul:

~7 year old Boy pleading to his Mom to let him participate in a guided lab exhibit: "Mom, I really want to do science, please!"

Mom to Boy: "Not right now, son."

Boy shrugs his shoulders and walks off with his head down saying: "I'll never be good at science"

Unfortunately, the Mom did nothing to console her son and give him any reasons as to why he couldn't "do science". I really hope this kid can forget that experience and not give up on his quest to "do science"!

Swing Set

Forget the playgrounds! I have my own swing set now! Mima bought me this swing set for my 2nd birthday. Mom and Dad really wanted to buy a used swing set so we had to wait until we found one on craigslist. We found one about 3 weeks ago and before we left for our trip to NY we had some friends help us break it down and haul it over to our house.

I worked on the slide while the rest of the crew disassembled the main structure.

If the fort can hold up 3 grown men it can hold me! The swing set is 8 years old and needs a little washing and sanding, but for the main part, it's in great condition!

The day after we brought the swing set home we left for NY leaving us no time to put it together. I was told the whole time that as soon as we got home we'd put it up. On Sunday, during my afternoon nap, Dad and our neighbor Ed added 4 posts for additional support and then began putting it back together. It was like magic - asleep one moment and then poof - I had a swing set! I wouldn't let Dad and Ed finish the roof without personally trying out the swing!

Helping Dad rebuild the sandbox and picnic bench that sits under the fort. We will post more pictures of the finished backyard playground soon.

Little Miss Pink Piggy

My hair is finally long enough for pigtails! It's a little hard to see them in this picture but it's the only picture we took so it will have to do. Our phone camera is so much easier to carry around and since it takes descent pictures (if there's enough light) we're using it more and more. Hopefully, the Google Phone will create an app soon that allows us to post pictures right to the blog from our phone.

This picture was taken in front of the statue of St. Francis at the St. Francis Heart Hospital.