Saturday, July 26, 2008

Ayla's First Trip To Tahoe

Today we decided to have a family adventure day & took Ayla up to Tahoe for the first time. We went to the Taylor Creek Visitor Center where we took the Rainbow Trail along Taylor Creek & the Lake of the Sky Trail out towards Tallac Point & the Visitor Center's beach.

Here are some pics of the Rainbow Trail... gorgeous views of marshes & meadows while winding through Aspen groves.




The trail takes you through an educational interpretive center that allows you to see underneath Taylor Creek. It is full of Rainbow Trout & Catfish. We thought Ayla would LOVE this given her recent excursion to the fish tanks at PetSmart!


We were definitely right!


Here's little miss concentration watching the fishes... (btw, she has mastered sucking on 2 fingers, still working on the thumb!)

Ayla also got to go down to the lake for the first time!


The proud papa!



Splashy Splashy! She received her Tahoe baptismal!

Having fun sure takes it out of a girl!

Friday, July 25, 2008

Little Milestones....

Are BIG news around here...

Did YOU know Ayla had feet? Well, apparently nobody told HER! She had to go find out about it all by herself. Always the last to know! Well, now that she's been let in on the secret, she will be determined to get them into her mouth (where everything else goes, of course!) Yes, this is big news around these parts... FEET! Who knew?!

We also went to PetSmart today, and let me tell you, those fish tanks are a hit!!!! We spent about 20 minutes looking at the fishies and the bubbles... OH, THE BUBBLES!!!!! The parakeets were also mildly entertaining, but they make so much gosh darn (pardon my language) noise! Plus their brightly colored toys are awfully distracting. A LOT TO TAKE IN! We did however spot a fabulous toy for Henry & Wee Wee... when Ayla saw it... we both knew we had to have it!

Monday, July 21, 2008

Random Cutie PIcs

Ayla goes Hollywood... truly a California girl


And... SCENE!

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Ayla and Teryn had a play date today while their mommies enjoyed some lunch!
It was so much fun!


Here are the two crazy girls striking a pose!


Here is Teryn enjoying a ride on the exercise ball... so much fun! She's 13 months old & can do AMAZING things!


They had such a great time (I have to admit that the mommies had a pretty fun time as well ;)

Monday, July 14, 2008

The Happy Haps

We have been in a sort of "lock down" here at the old Gimpel homestead. If you live in Cali, then you know what I'm talking about. The wildfires that surround us are making breathing very difficult. The temps last week also peaked around 108 degrees... you could literally chew on the air! It is beginning to clear out some & the temps are slowly making their way back to normal... FINALLY!

We are also winding down our annual Gimpel summer extravagnza... we celebrate Papa G's birthday, my birthday, Mama & Papa G's anniversary, Ross' birthday & Mama G's birthday all within a month of each other. Ross celebrated his birthday on Saturday with a BBQ and pecan pie!! Mmmm... pie... and in true party animal style he will continue his celebration on Thursday when he gets his wisdom teeth out! YIKES! He is NOT happy about this but I know everything will go smoothly. Hey, at least it's a couple of days off work!

Ayla continues to grow & change before our very eyes! She amazes us everyday with something new. Her personality is coming out more & more... she has a VERY silly side as well as a concentrated, serious side. I now live for her giggles & belly laughs which come quite often!


Here's Ayla with her ladybug blanket. I LOVE this blanket & would steal it from her if she didn't love it also! It is silky on one side & fuzzy on the other with a big (soft!!) ladybug stuffed animal in the center. It's the PERFECT size & weight for carrying around (someday). She loves to feel it & put it in her mouth.

Here she is grasping her new wooden toy (thanks Auntie Kim). She is definitely doing more reaching & grabbing for things. Some of it is accidental, but the look of surprise on her face from catching something is priceless!

She also loves songs & books (when her mommy isn't distracting her with that darn camera!) We are starting to run out of songs to sing to her. Thank goodness kids love repetition! Among her favorites are our rockin' renditions of "I've Been Working on the Railroad" and "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star". "Isty Bitsy Spider" & "If You're Happy & You Know It" are close seconds. She is beginning to enjoy Peek-a-Boo games & has a few Peek-a-Boo books that are becoming favorites.

The most exciting news is that last night Ayla slept uninterrupted from 8 p.m. until 4:45 a.m.!!!!
Then she ate & slept again until 7:45 a.m.!!!!! She has been consistently sleeping for 6-7 hours every night, but this is a new record!!! Of course, if I were smart (and that's a BIG if) I would also go to sleep when she does, but as it is I am getting more sleep than I have in months. I don't know what I'm going to do with all this extra sleep! My body has been deprived of REM for so long, it may just go into SHOCK!!!!

Monday, July 7, 2008

Random Cuteness


Henry gets BUSTED!!


Going for a stroll


The new jogging stroller (and Ayla eating her hands)


Ta Da!!!


Extreme Relaxation

Thursday, July 3, 2008

Ayla: 9 weeks, 4 days old


I swear she gets more & more beautiful everyday! And I don't think I'm saying that just because she's our daughter! Here's our gorgeous girl doing some of the things she's been working so hard on...


Now before you judge, please note that while perhaps not the smartest look we've ever captured, blowing spit bubbles is an honest to goodness developmental milestone... REALLY!



Gazing upon her beloved ceiling fan! We should all be so lucky to fall THIS head over heels in love!

Play Mat

She's reaching a lot...


and grasping a lot...

Just today she started pulling things towards her mouth to explore

Tummy Time


Ayla is beginning to spend more and more time on her tummy... she's started doing mini push-ups! Hooray!!!!!


She's nothing if not determined!


Good job baby girl!!!!

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Free Bird

Ayla SO belongs to this family!


Here she is standing... she likes to put her feet down & push off with them... again, genius baby, I tell you! GENIUS!!!!!!