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All of this plant and not a single blossom. I’m thinking there will be no naturally-grown loofah sponges in our house this winter. I’ll give it until the first frost and then I guess I have to pull it up. Sad…I was really looking forward to harvesting my first sponge.
Next year, I will try again and 1) plant it somewhere far far away from the flower bed and front porch, and 2) plant it earlier in the season.
The loofah sponge plant has suddenly burst forth and is growing like crazy. Two of my entire packet of seeds took root and have really grown. They seem to grow like watermelon/pumpkin plants. I am watching daily for the first sign of a bloom that will mean at least one sponge before winter. Fingers crossed!
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Kira is finally starting to talk. Real words. Words that you can understand and are in context. She still jabbers up a storm, but real words are finally starting to emerge.
Latest words:
Talking on the phone
She’s 18 months old now. I can’t believe she’s been around for a year and a half already. She’s so awesome – I could just watch her for hours.
 Watching daddy mow the lawn |
 I think I'm pointing at daddy |
 Back from a walk, getting ready for supper |
 See my elephant? |
 Pretty sure I can get into this cabinet |
 Or maybe not |
 Mommy put all my toys away, but I found this box |
Here’s a video clip of her trying to get into the cabinet.
http://s514.photobucket.com/albums/t348/mpurkis/?action=view¤t=18months-Climbingincabinet.mp4
Due to the weather (seriously hot and humid, 89 degrees) forecast, we decided to scrap the beach idea. It probably wouldn’t be much fun for any of us, and Kira wouldn’t really enjoy it enough to justify the 90-minute round-trip drive. Instead, we took an impromptu trip up to Great Wolf Lodge in Traverse City for a mini-family vacation. Our first trip to a kid-friendly family place.
It was a really good time. We found that kid-friendly family places are actually fun when you’re a family yourself and not just a childless couple wondering why these kids are so noisy! LOL The room was really nice. Kira had a little wolf cave in the corner where we put her port-a-crib so it would be secluded and dark. She wasn’t so sure at first that she was going to sleep in it; she just kept running from end to end. Finally, since Joseph was tired too from working the night before, I left the room so all the lights could be out and she took the hint and went to sleep. I went down to the bar & grille and had a hot fudge sundae and hung out for an hour or so.
In the morning we had breakfast at the kid-friendly family buffet. Kira didn’t eat very well; she tends to eat horribly when there’s too many distractions. But at least she was good and got a little bit into her. After breakfast we changed into our swimming duds and checked out of the room. The waterpark in the hotel is really nice. I can definitely see kids about 3 and up just wearing themselves out over an entire day playing in there. Kira seemed to like it, but it was a tad overwhelming. She “swam” and played in the water for a little over an hour before she was finally wiped out. We had a bit of lunch at the snack shop while we dried off and then loaded up to go home. Kira was so tired. I tucked her into her carseat with her pacifier, blankies, and new stuffed baby wolf and she was asleep within 10 minutes.
All in all, it was a fun trip. It was our first family adventure just the three of us to a family place and we decided that it’s going to be fun repeating the experience as she gets older.
Here are the pictures:
 Checking out the hotel room |
 Daddy's in my bed |
 Look at me! |
 Who says I'm too little for this bed? |
 Having a bedtime snack |
 All pretty and ready for breakfast |
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 I'm heading to the waterpark...anyone else coming? |
 Wow - look at that! |
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 Waiting for elevator |
 Gonna steal this from the gift shop if no one catches me |
 This lifejacket is too big |
 This is more like it |
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 Floating on daddy |
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 Vacation makes a baby so tired, but I love my new stuffed baby wolf. (Was asleep within 10 minutes) |
And now my little baby is 18 months old!