Enjoying summer

Emma and I have been enjoying the summer sun while Daddy teaches classes in the afternoon. Today is his last day of teaching, then we can all have fun together. Last summer seems like so long ago when I think about how much Emma has grown and changed. At this time last year Emma was not walking on her own, which made any kind of yardwork extremely difficult! If we stepped more than 10 feet away from her she would scream. She just wanted to be a part of the action. She is such a wonderful helper, and this year she has the chance to help in every way. We have been planting a rock garden with a few plants disbursed throughout. Emma is so great at taking the plants OUT after I have put them IN the hole! She also loves to take the dirt and throw it around the black plastic to create her masterpiece (thankfully there is the Shop Vac)! We really have enjoyed Emma this summer. She loves to pick the very green apples off of our trees and eat them (EEEWWWW!! They are SO sour...but, she loves them). The slide is her newest love. She has a little one that she can completely do on her own, but now she has moved onto the BIG slide, which is just hilarious when Mom goes down with her....again....and again....and again....and again! It just amazes me to watch our little peanut walk all the way back to the back of our property with us (only an acre, but a HUGE feat for those tiny legs). She is just such a trooper.



As always, here are some pictures! Enjoy!



Here is Emma, on a cooler day, picking flowers for her Mom:







Emma's new found love....her sprinkler:





I just had to capture the little princess that FELL ASLEEP on her big wheel! She was just SO tired!






And, last but definitely NOT least. Emma's newest "friend"...and my newest "enemy". The deer LOVE the flowers that we have planted in the rock garden (the black plastic you see in the picture will be covered with rocks...that is our rock garden). Now, most of our yard is behind the fence (the fence is to keep Emma in), and the deer have NEVER come inside the fence until this summer.

When I come to the door and BOOM there they are...they scare the crap out of me!!! However, Emma thinks they are fantastic, and she loves it when they come to visit her! I think the deer in this picture is thinking about riding Miss Em's big wheel!