Corinne

Two weeks ago we went to the Poconos for a long weekend. We stayed at a family friendly lodge with an indoor waterpark. The suite we stayed in had a separate room for Corinne that was set up like a camp site. She seemed to especially like the little bear friends that shared the room with her. Although I hope she wouldn’t be this friendly if she ever encountered a real bear.

When we first arrived at the waterpark she was a little overwhelmed but she eventually settled in had a good time. It seemed like she enjoyed floating around in the lazy river the best. There was some fun stuff to look at as you float by like the beavers behind us in the picture below. I think Corinne thought they were dogs though because she barked at them each time we went by.

There was also a big arcade. We didn’t think there would be anything for Corinne to do there but it turned out they had this little fire truck that she loved.

In the evening they had a little show in the lobby and then they read a story for the kids before bed. Of course we also had our own extended storytime afterward.

All the excitement must have caught up with her because on the way home we were treated to a rare sight, Corinne sleeping somewhere other than her crib.

Last Saturday morning Corinne met up with her friends Madison and Novelle at a Rocknoceros kids concert. Corinne took this opportunity to show off her relatively new walking skills as she wandered around during the concert. She did really well although a couple times she tried dancing while walking which she hasn’t yet mastered so she wound up falling a few times. In the picture above Corinne is pointing at the bubbles that I was blowing to keep her entertained until the show started. After the concert we all headed over to a playground at Schuylkill River Park to really let the kids tire themselves out.

Last weekend Cynde’s mother’s side of the family had a reunion at a park in New Jersey. I had to research some of the terms used in genealogy to describe the relationship that Corinne has to some of the people she met. If I have it right Corinne met some of her great aunts and uncles, first cousins once removed, and second cousins for the first time. Below is a picture of Corinne and her second cousins Vera and Christabelle on their way to the playground.

(The photo credit for the next two pictures goes to my niece Katie)

Corinne had a blast crawling in the tunnels, going down the slides, and even seemed pretty happy getting a ride on this turtle.

It looks like she liked the slide a bit more though.

Besides being fun to play on, the slide gave us the opportunity to learn a little lesson about static electricity.

After spending the afternoon at the playground Corinne shared an ice cream cone with her cousin.

We decided we weren’t up for fighting traffic over the holiday weekend so we stayed in the city. On Saturday We checked out a craft fair and tried out a new restaurant in the recently opened piazza down the street from our house. On Sunday we wound up back in the piazza to watch the Phillies game on the big screen. Corinne wasn’t into the game so much but she got to do some dog watching. There are tons of dogs in our neighborhood and Corinne yells DOG! at every one of them and then she usually makes a barking sound or two. In the picture below we are chilling at an outdoor restaurant where we watched the game from, although that’s not the game on the big screen it’s some kind of strange bird.

On Memorial day we went to Corinne’s buddy Cameron’s house for a BBQ and pool party. The pool has been hit or miss for Corinne so far. This time she wanted nothing to do with it. Hopefully the swim lessons we are going to sign her up for will get her more comfortable with the water. In the picture below Cameron is showing off his dog riding skills.

At a recent check up Corinne’s pediatrician asked if Corinne liked to color. Cynde and I looked at each other and laughed because we realized that we had never really had her try. So for the last couple of months we have offered her the chance to color from time to time. At first she really only wanted to put the crayons in her mouth and tear the paper into pieces, which if we allowed her to would also end up in her mouth. Lately though she has started scribbling a bit. Below is a picture of her and one of her first masterpieces (mom helped out with outline of the heart).

Cynde found out that The Franklin Institute has free admission one Wednesday a month so a couple of weeks ago we brought Corinne there for the first time. We weren’t sure how much there would be for Corinne to do at this age but we literally had nothing to lose. I think of everything she seemed to like the train exhibit the best since there were a lot of things that moved and made sounds. The picture below is this area where you can build cars and race them down a hill. I had a hard time figuring out how the heck to make the parts fit together so I swiped one that was already put together from a kid who’s mom made him leave. Although, as you can see in the picture Corinne ratted me out. It was him!