Family visit

Great Uncle Marc and Great Aunt Ellen came to visit Emma this weekend. Emma had a great time, though she took a little while to warm up. Here she is actively trying to escape a picture with them:

Here she is looking dubious about having to sit next to Uncle Marc:

Eventually, she warmed up enough to share her cupcake with them both:


Thanks so much for visiting. Emma can't wait to see you again!

Computer nerd

Emma loves playing on the computer (just like her daddy). Thanks to Mimi and Papa, she has one all her own now; and boy does she love it:

Thanks Mimi and Papa!

Emma's career?

Emma has been investigated potential careers while in Grand Rapids. The children's museum gave her many different options. Here she is as a dog washer:

And postal worker (she might be a bit too short for this one yet):

Bank teller (at least here she gets to play with a lot of money):

Gardener:

And construction worker:

Cast your vote for Emma's future career now.

Emma at play

Emma had a great time playing on our vacation. Mommy found a local playground and Emma had fun riding the animal bouncers. Here is her "giddyupping" an elephant:

Here she is bouncing the frog:

Here she is sharing her bouncers with her best friend Maria:

Mommy took Emma to the children's gardens, where there was a story time going about a mouse. Emma was lucky enough to get to try on the mouse ears:

Emma and Maria: the trouble twins:

Playing is really hard work:

Pool play

Mommy and Emma went on a minication to Grand Rapids with our friends, Mrs. Gwen and Maria. The hotel had a great kids pool. Here is Emma enjoying the water animals:

Here she is sneaking through the tunnel:


And walking around with her friend, Maria:

And finally, Emma got her first ride on a waterslide. She loved it and spent hours on it:

Around Grandma & Grandpa's house

Emma loves to water gardens; here she is giving Grandma's plants a very good bath (actually, she was mostly getting herself wet):

Emma loved playing in the sandbox; mommy has been very mean to her and refused to open the sandbox at home:

Grandma and Grandpa installed a serving shelf from the kitchen into the porch. Emma discovered it was great to play peekaboo over it:

Emma seemed very surprised by the toy truck that made noise when you pushed it:

Emma tried to help daddy roll up his sleeping bag; Emmarito anyone?

Here she is playing with cousin Dave in the Learning Tower (or possibly trying to shove Dave out of her way):

Finally, here is daddy with all of the kids:

Lincoln Park Zoo

Emma got to check out yet another zoo, the Lincoln Park Zoo, while in Chicago. Emma was very excited to watch the sea otters with her Aunt Stephanie:

Emma loved sharing her picnic lunch:

Aunt Stephanie was kind enough to spoil Emma by getting her a chocolate chip cookie after lunch, which she clutched like a prized possession:

Dinner with the Wurtzel clan

The Wurtzel clan were all in Chicago over the 4th weekend and we were lucky enough to join Mimi, Papa, Aunt Stephanie, and Uncle Mike for dinner. Here is Emma enjoying her after dinner ice cream:


Here she is wearing her Aunt Stephanie's glasses; while she looks very cute, mommy and daddy think Aunt Stephanie was very trusting with her only pair of glasses:

And while Emma always loves to see the family, her favorite thing about dinner was the frog and fountain outside the restaurant:

Happy 4th of July

Emma had a great time at the O'Shea family 4th of July party. Here she is going "jumpy jumpy" with her cousin Alexis:

Here she is enjoying the kiddie pool with Maggie:


And here she is enjoying her dinner at the kiddie table. Unfortunately, she is so short, we had to give her chair a boost with the trampoline so she could reach the kids table:

Long day?

This is what happens when mommy doesn't get enough sleep:


All right; it is what happens when Emma gets ahold of a diaper to play with: