Grant cracks me up

This is one of my favorite moments from the parade: when a big green tractor came around the corner, and little Grant, the tractor lover, just stared, and pointed, with eyes as big as saucers. It was very exciting.
Then he entertained us with his instrumental accompaniment as a band went by. He just started playing along!
Just some of our group: the Kropfs, The Powells, & The Myers'
Back at home, we had a potluck lunch and sat around talking while the kids played. Dan Powell made homemade strawberry ice cream for us to enjoy- Mmmmm!

More Parading

Ally, Grant & Addie watch the parade.
Jen- you make a face like this for my camera, you end up on my blog.
Addie dances to "YMCA"
Daddy & Addie run across the street after looking at the horsies close up.

Newhall Parade on the Fourth of July

The latest blog silence is mostly due to the fact that we were too busy having fun with Niki's cousin Julie last week to sit down at the computer. Julie was down visiting from Washington, and gave us the excuse to go act like tourists. We went to Pink's hot dogs again on Tuesday, then the Huntington gardens on Wednesday, a big new thrift store on Thursday, and finally, on Friday, it was the 4th!

We started out the day by going to Newhall's parade. Several families from our apartment complex went too, and we realized that all of us going down the street looked like another parade! Here we are, getting ready to go.
"Daaaaad, do you have to take my picture right now? I'm HOT"
"Mmmmm- licorice in the morning!"
Here a few of us enjoy our shady spot in front of the local bridal store. Some of the other families/spouses/kids aren't pictured because they wanted to be closer to the parade (in the sun).

I Lied, There's More

STILL more camping pictures? Yes, sorry.
Do we have to sit like this for the picture? It's kinda bright!
A nice view from behind our campsite.
Cooking hot dogs for lunch
Self portrait: Mother & daughter

Last Few

OK, just a few more camping pictures!
Here's Greg, wearing Addie in a hiking backpack, up on a huge dead tree.
A nice family picture!
Ceana and Ally
Greg and Addie show me their "antlers"

The Kids Sure Had Fun

Camping as a kid is soooo much fun!
There's the marshmallow eating...


The dirt to play in....
(Ally's eyebrows are not normally dark brown like this)
And is you're Ceana, there's wildflowers to pick and arrange for a table centerpiece.
These purple flowers were all over the ground around our campsite, aren't they lovely?

Camping Highlights

There were so many good parts to our camping trip, it's hard to pick just a few, but here they are. The first night, with our appetites spurred on by the clean, crisp air, we enjoyed a meal cooked over the fire (we cooked over the fire the entire trip!). We made hobo packets and they were so good!
Here's Jen, serving dinner.
Addie and Ally at the table. See how much food is crammed in Addie's mouth?
Our glorious, deluxe fire pit. It's as big as our apartment's patio! It's so big because we were able to occupy a group camping site that was off by itself from the rest of the campground, so we had lots of privacy and lots of space!
Greg and Ben haul some wood for the fire- we burned this whole log!

A Camping We Will Go

We went camping and we liked it!!!
OK, so we went for just one night and only an hour and a half away, because we were a little nervous about how this was all going to go. But all our fears were laid to rest- it was sooooo fun!
To be out in the clean air, surrounded by nature, no sounds but the wind and the birds, the smell of the campfire... ahhh.
We went with our dear friends and neighbors, the Myers family. Seeing as how Ben is a former Forest Ranger, we decided they are our idea of the perfect camping companions.

Here is the Myers Family: Ben, Jen, Ceana, & Ally.
And the Spanglers: Greg, Me & Addie

I will post more pictures and stories about our camping adventures later, but I had to do this one first. Here is a shot of Greg and Ben- two men destined for friendship. Jen and I think it is pretty funny how alike they can be, and how many of the same activities they enjoy. Mind you, they didn't plan with each other what to bring so they could wear matching outfits, but here they are. Nothing says good morning like brisk air and a cup of camping coffee.

I Don't Do "Typical"

A "typical" baby would move from laying on their tummy, to crawling, to walking. Not our Addie! She hated laying on her tummy, and skipped crawling and just went right to walking.
Fast forward a year and a half. A "typical" kid would start the bike process on a little scooty-toy, then ride a tricycle maybe, then a bike. Forget that! Who wants to be typical? We have tried and tried to get Addie to ride a tricycle (and there are about 50 of them in our courtyard area to choose from), and nothin. She just didn't want to try, didn't get it. Then last week, she climbs up on the neighbor's bike and off she goes.
A few sessions of help in the department of "getting started" and now she rides like a champ!




Looks like we'll be purchasing a bike soon...

Time to Try Out the Tent!

We're going camping tonight! Considering that we'll be bringing a two-year-old who isn't the best sleeper and neither Greg or I have gone camping for several years, we're taking it easy and going just for tonight. We're also going to an area just about an hour away from us, so that if it goes REALLY BADLY (which it won't), we can come home. I think we'll actually really enjoy it- especially since we're going with our friends and neighbors, the Myers family.

Addie's reflux was acting up earlier this week, but the last few nights she's slept thorugh the night and the whining has died down considerably. She's not asking for Cheerios all day (this is what she does when her reflux hurts her), and ate a normal breakfast this morning, so that is good news.

We'll try to take plenty of pictures of the camping adventure for your viewing pleasure! Ah, I can smell the campfire already!

Big Girl Bed

Yeah! Addie has moved from a crib into her "big girl bed." Now, as you can see, this bed is still just her crib, with the front rail taken off, but it'll do! She is very proud and excited about this accomplishment and we are excited that it's been almost a week and she hasn't gotten out of her bed! We were prepared for battle if needed, but the motivation of turning the bed back into a crib if she has a problem with getting up was enough for her.

If you look closely, you can also see another new thing at our house- Addie's hair in french braids. Amazingly, I had never learned to do this when I was yonger, so Addie has been my french braiding gineau pig. Not an easy task to perfect on a two-year-old, but we're making progress.

Other new things in the last week? She's been calling me "Honey," which has caused us some good laughs. We told her that in order to be respectful, she has to say "Mommy Honey." (I just couldn't bear to have her stop- I love it!). Also, we're turning into professional pool mooches- thanks to the hot weather. We spent the morning in the pool with our friend Ashley this morning and it felt great! Addie loves to swim and loves her water wings.

She's also out of sorts yesterday and last night. She was a mess of whining and meltdowns yesterday and was up every three hours last night, just crying. We couldn't get her to tell us what's wrong, so we'll wait a few more days and see if she can explain what's bothering her. Today she's been telling me she has "yuckies" in her mouth and it hurts, so it's probably reflux. We'll hope it passes within a day or two, like it did last time. We'll keep you posted.

Our Anniversary Weekend

Yesterday we celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary! I can hardly believe so much time has passed! We spent a quiet weekend at home, since we got away to San Diego just a few weeks ago.

Since a whole bunch of our neighbors were out of town this weekend, we decided it would be a good quiet weekend to set up our tent. We bought a used tent several years ago and haven't managed to go camping yet, but that hopefully will change this summer. We thought we'd get it out and set it up and make sure all was good. It was, and we were delighted to find that the tent had all kinds of features we would want, like plenty of space and a zip-in wall that divides the inside. Here's Addie, Greg and some neighbor kiddos enjoying it.
Yesterday Greg and I exchanged small gifts and cards. He was delighted with his gift- can you tell?
Now he can proudly display his love for "The Office"

Greg gave me some clothes too. I had been needing and wanting some clothes I can exercise in in the hot weather. I am STILL working out 4-5 days a week (even I am surprised) and my makeshift workout wardrobe just isn't working. So I was delighted with new exercise clothes.
For dinner, we stayed in and worked together to make risotto for the first time! During our wonderful dinner in San Diego, we finally got to try some and loved it, so we committed that we'd learn to make it at home. Here I am showing off my Risotto Alla Primavera- it came out great! We also had Greg's favorite Dijon Chicken.


Our evening ended up including an unplanned party outside our front door. We sat out with our friends and neighbors, Ben & Jen Myers, and Robert & Gerri Dupee, on Robert & Gerri's last night in the complex. They leave today for Tennessee. We got to share some of our dinner and then Greg and Ben made a Bananas Foster Upside Down cake and we all enjoyed in thoroughly. What a nice evening- sitting out in the cooler temps and eating dessert and talking and talking. I don't know if we could've planned a nicer night if we'd tried!