Photo problem

Just

can't

get

enough of

Sydney.

July: Indiana Dunes

We briefly visited the shore of Lake Michigan before we hiked one of the Indiana Dunes State Park trails. It was a great short hike and Syd slept in the hiker. But, she was basically bug bait - I forgot the bug spray, so the hike was cut short :(. I'll remember next summer!




*** In my defense ... There has been some buzz about the Chic-Fil-A and Sydney-chasing-chickens post. Some viewers expressed shock at the graphic post. If you missed it, I'm sure you are now quickly scrolling south.

Of course, the post was meant to be silly.

During the B.S. era (Before Sydney), I didn't think much about farm animals. Now, Sydney has a number of farm animal-related toys, books and stuffed animals. It's kinda creepy. After all, we're teaching her to adore pigs, cows, chickens and sheep: creatures that we enjoy eating. (Disclaimer: I've never ate a sheep). Why isn't there more baby kitsch with badgers, cougars, muskrats or capybara (world's largest rodent)?

She loves pigs almost as much as puppies. Well almost, I'm not sure she loves anything as much as puppies. But, it is close, and how/when do I tell her, that we eat pigs? One of my first reporting assignments as a journalist was to cover a hog farm controversy. I toured a hog farm, then didn't eat anything bacon or pork for more than a year. I also wasn't allowed to tell Jackie what I saw.

My cynicism is showing, but I'm just not as convinced at how happy those animals are in "The Big Red Barn" or "I'm a Pink Piggy."

Just food for thought ...

The Olympics are bad for your health

Before I start my Olympics spiel ... Here are more photos from July:


We debuted our 'hiker' at Purdue's Horticulture Park.


Sydney's free ride.


She's got my back.


Taking a break.


The dark things that look like exclamation points are dragonflies. They were beautiful.


Lucky for us, Sydney likes to sleep/doze in the hiker.

Back to the Olympics ... in theory, shouldn't the Olympics inspire viewers to be athletic studs? As an active person, the Olympic Games have sidelined me to our couch. I have watched more TV these past 12 days than I have in months. I'm serious. This TV time is cutting into my usual running/gym time. Not to mention, I'm staying up later than usual. Exhaustion is setting in. And, despite watching these athletes who eat nothing but celery that is fortified by water, I can't get enough junk food. Let's blame the Coke commercials. After all, the Olympics are marketing at its finest. Good thing the Olympics are every four years ... I don't think my body could handle any more.

July: What's for dinner?

Mmm. Chicken sounds good.

Mmm. It is good.

July: Lafayette wildlife

The Lafayette city zoo is a favorite hangout, especially on a Friday night in July.



Sydney as a lemur.

My little pony.
(This is the petting zoo. We did not drop Sydney in an exhibit.)


The goats really liked Brian.


Sydney pets Pretzel the python.


A side note: Sydney likes snakes as much as any animal. When we were in a visitor's center in the Smoky Mountains, Sydney was carrying a toy snake around the store. A woman exclaimed, "Little girls aren't supposed to like snakes." I hope Sydney didn't hear her. :) That anecdote is a reminder for me that she picks up on our likes, dislikes, fears, apprehensions, etc. Our goal is to educate her and keep her safe, then let her make her own choices. She can like or dislike any reptile she wants.

A train ride, obviously.

Still the train, again, obviously.


Our own Kelly Clarkson: Miss Independent.

July: It's not FAIR

Sydney loved everything about the county fair, especially the pig barn.

"Hey Sydney! What does a pig say?"
"Oink, oink."

"Oh, Sydney! What does a pig say?"

"Again, for real. I'll just tune Mommy out ..."

"Sydney, please make a pig face at the camera! What does a pig say?"
"Good grief lady. Look around. There are hundreds of pigs in here. Ask one of them what a pig says. "

Next year, we're hitting the slide.

June backBLOGGED

Ten days into August seems like a good time to wrap up the June highlights. At this rate, expect July and August images to appear between pumpkin and turkey days.



If the alarm doesn't wake Brian, then I bring in reinforcements.


She's still cute later in the day too.


The 'computer' grandparents visited in June. We call Brian's folks the computer grandparents because Sydney gets to talk to them using Skype on the computer.


Her other grandfather is known as the Diaper Fairy. And, just like most holiday elves and fairies, we never know when he is going to stop by.


Amy studying. This is what I will be doing a lot of the next few weeks/months. A couple weeks ago I was looking for a photo of myself to post on my Facebook site. It was difficult to find a photo of just me, and I actually went back to one from our 2005 Yellowstone trip.

Coming soon ... (well, depends on your definition of soon) July and August photos.