Hi Dad

6 Months!

My little girl is 6 months old already
It makes me a little sad that she is getting so big

She can:
Sit up by herself
army crawl
Roll from front to back and back to front easily
Blow raspberries
Get up on her hands and knees and rock back and forth until she is propelled forward
Eat solid food
Dance and sing with music
Say mama and dada not knowing what it means but still saying it
make robot noises (sadly I think this is her singing voice because she does it most when there is singing going on)
look for a dropped toy
look for us if we hide
Pull herself up on my leg if I'm sitting on the ground
and drink from a cup

She likes:
Barney, the Wiggles and Veggie tales
Vegetables
Bath time
Books
Music
Strangers
Black Electronics
and Mom and Dad

She dislikes:
Grass
Fruit
Her Bumbo
Clothes
and being left alone

ADD Baby

I think my baby must have ADD. It's 3am and her little head is darting from side to side, back and forth, back and forth. Never quite focusing on anything but just going, going, going. Only stopping for a split second to pull my hair, itch her nose, and then finally Was that a yawn???

Attempt #1 of putting the little monster back in her bed failed miserably. The screams even woke her Dad who has the amazing power of NEVER hearing her cry at night. "Is she OK?" Me "Yes she just wont sleep" Dad "Oh ok goodnight" Hmmm... I need a sick day. She just rubbed her eyes. Lets try this again.

Attempt #2 is still in process. She has the thumb which is a really good sign. I'm just scared to go back to sleep because I know her tricks. The minute I fall back into my blessed slumber it'll happen again. It always does. *sigh*

Ha Ha Tonka

This weekend we thought it would be fun to go and see the Ha Ha Tonka State Park. I had seen online that they had castle ruins there so we went to check it out. It turned out to be a beautiful day. We spent it hiking and exploring the ruins. Here's the story behind the ruins:
Robert M. Snyder, a wealthy businessman, first visited the site in 1903 and was so impressed that he eventually purchased more than 5,000 acres. He envisioned a private retreat with a European-style castle, with a center atrium rising three and one-half stories to a skylight. Snyder also planned an 80-foot-high water tower, greenhouses and a carriage house. Construction began in 1905 only to be halted a year later with the untimely death of Snyder in one of the state's first car accidents.

The Carriage house

Snyder's sons finished building their father's dream, though not quite as elaborately as originally planned. Eventually, the property was leased for use as a hotel, until tragedy struck in 1942.
The entire interior was gutted by fire when sparks from a chimney ignited the roof. The carriage house burned the same day and in 1976, the water tower was burned by vandals.

The Water Tower

This building supplied water to the entire castle and carriage house by the use of gravity. The workers at the castle lived in the bottom of this tower.