artist in training

My little artist

Stella loves to make pictures.  We've been making homemade cards and mixed-media projects lately.  If you ever get one someday, hang on to it!  It'll be worth something someday.  :)

trip to Charleston

We took a trip to Charleston this weekend.  It was a quick trip (we only stayed one night) but we did a lot!  We were so glad to finally get there.  We've been wanting to go since we moved here.  We took off Friday morning and stopped in Columbia, SC.  A point which is about half way between Greenville and Charleston.  There we went to Riverbanks Zoo.  Stella really enjoyed it and I was impressed that she actually fed this goat.

Then on to Charleston...We stayed in a really great Inn downtown Friday night.  So we took some time that afternoon to walk around a bit.  I loved seeing all the old homes.  Unfortunately the museum and some of the tourist attractions were closing at 5, and we didn't make it.  But Stella really thought this big submarine outside was cool.  And we had a fabulous dinner.

The next morning we headed out to Folley Beach.  It was a very pretty beach and very clean.  Stella had a great time here.  And we were very glad to get her to the ocean one more time this summer. It was a beautiful day and she loved walking with us along the beach and insisted that either her Daddy or I hold her hand.  She enjoyed getting out in the waves, but a couple of times got splashed in the face.  At that point she'd say, "done now".  And we'd have to go for a breather up on the beach.  But she'd be ready for action again after a minute or so.  Her Dad went for a little walk a one point and Stella and I stayed behind.  We went down to the water and sat down she sat on my lap and hugged me tight and we just sat there together like that for 5 or 10 minutes.  It was wonderful and I'll remember that moment forever.   By about 1:30 that day, she was really worn out and I could tell.  She was getting pretty crabby and not wanting to go in the water anymore.  She looked at me and said, "home now", it was time to go.  Bye bye ocean, see you next year  +one more Kruse.

Please visit http://1krusefamily.blogspot.com/ to actually see this video if you can't view it from the e-mail.

ice cream man stops by

Okay, so it wasn't the best idea ever to call out to the ice cream man after bathtime, but....

it sure was good and fun!

July 4th

Happy 4th of July!  We had a great time at a friend's house.  The kids loved playing in Chase's new sandbox/playset.  There was some sand throwing later in the evening.  Stella and all of her friends just played and played.  Later that night we got set up for some fireworks.  Another couple and Randy brought some to set off.  Stella DID NOT like them; not even the sparklers.  She buried her head in my chest and had me cover her one exposed ear with my hand.  She was so terrified she didn't move a muscle, except to breath.  We stuck it out for a couple, but then she and I went inside.  I felt so bad subjecting her to something she was so scared of.  Poor thing.  Maybe next year. 

In other news:  I'm now 27 weeks and embarking on my third trimester!  Woohoo.  It's going by very fast!  The little girl in there is super active, kicking and moving and jabbing all the time.  I thought if you had one extremely active child it was only fair that the next one be very docile.  I don't think that's going to be the case for us at the Kruse household.  Stella will be able to show her lots of fun tricks I'm sure.  And what on earth would Stella do with a docile sister anyway!?

Here are Stella and I putting our feet up to rest a bit.  You can see that Stella has a hard time even keeping both feet down.  She's always got to be moving something.  It was very cute though, she climbed right up beside me, put her pillow down on the recliner and made sure she was in the same position as I was.