Anniversary+ Father's Day

I am forewarning everyone that there are no new pictures for this post. Let's say I have misplaced (instead of lost) my camera battery and haven't had a chance to get new pictures taken...but soon hopefully!

Miles and I just celebrated our 3ed wedding anniversary. We were going to go out, but then Autumn came down with a bug being passed around her daycare (anyone ever heard of hand foot and mouth disease?) Needless to say Autumn is feeling much better after a couple of days and we have no more daycare for the summer at least (thanks Aunt Nellie!) So Miles and I had a nice evening at home with takeout Indian food from Nameste. It was actually a very pleasant meal together even with Autumn feeling less than 100%. But I will take a rain check on a nice dinner out if there are any takers for watching the babers!!

For Father's Day we went for a family bike ride on the Montour Trail in Cecil. There's an old railroad tunnel you're able to bike under as well as a park just a couple of miles from our start point (off of the South Point exit on 79). After we situated Autumn in her bike seat and got her helmet on...a feat in of itself...we were off. We rode to the park and enjoyed a lunch before heading back to the cars. During Autumn's nap Miles took a side trip to Ohio for fireworks...don't ask...it must be some guy thing. In the evening Autumn and I went to Miles' soccer game and watched his team beat the number one team so far this season 3-2. On a side note: There's a park at the home soccer field Miles plays at. If I stand on top of the playground where the slide is I'm able to watch the game and Autumn at the same time!

Wild Woman

I dropped off our camera yesterday to be fixed at Best Buy...hopefully there will be no more issues and I can start to take more (clearer) pictures soon! We've been keeping busy here. Miles and Grandpa George have been working on the back patio and sidewalk getting it ready to lay concrete. I should have grabbed some pictures before I sent in the camera...but it'll be on my "to do" list when I get it back. So far the weather has been fabulous...let's hope it stays in our favor! So here are some pictures of Autumn...She's getting so big (and so CRAZY!!) We've really enjoyed being able to play outside this past week...
I just thought this was a funny picture. She had a loaded diaper so I rinsed her off in the sink to make sure she was clean, and then dried her off with a dishtowel. I think the picture speaks for itself! She loved the towel!

Here we are hanging out! Autumn thought my legs were the perfect bed, so silly!

Budapest and Vienna

We just got back yesterday from a trip to Budapest and Vienna to visit Matt, Hilary and Reese. This was a parents only trip (Autumn was able to spend some quality time with Grandma Lori and her Williams Grandparents). Our hug at the airport was awesome...when Autumn saw us she cam running over screaming with a huge smile on her face...too cute! I should have had my camera running!
We were able to check out Matt, Hilary, and Reese's home in Budapest and spend some time with them while they're in Hungry. Their apartment is really nice, and in a perfect location for Matt's work, Reese's playground, and of course sight seeing. We spent a couple days exploring Budapest before taking a train ride to Vienna were we stayed for 3 days. I enjoyed spending some alone time with Miles and checking out the sights. We had a fun night at a local pub just drinking some beers and talking. We had decent weather that didn't stop us from seeing everything we wanted.
We then came back into Budapest to finish off our trip. It was nice to spend a couple more days with the Dowiak clan. We were also able to catch some sort of festival the last weekend we were there. We had a wonderful time together...
Here we are after a fun around Margaret's Island in Budapest. It's about a 2 minute walk from Matt and Hilary's place. There are no cars allowed on the island, which is awesome because it makes it such a great park.
I believe this is a view from the top of the church in Vienna. Ask Miles about the stairs to get to the top!
This one's for Matt...you can see the castle in Budapest in the background.
This is an aerial view in Budapest. You can see the island in the center. To large building on the right is Parliament. Matt and Hilary's place is about 2 blocks from the end of the bridge on the right (behind Parliament).

I couldn't resist...here's a picture of Reese. She's so cute! She is doing very well and is a very sweet girl.

Valentine's Day

A quick update for those who need their fix! Autumn is picking up some new words. She will now try to say a word after you say it. It's very cute. She's got the body parts down pretty well as well as animal sounds. I love her crocodile sound....she snaps her hands together...also as equally enjoyable is the pig, cat, and monkey imitations. Some friends came over last night for pizza and conversation. We reached the conclusion that are conversations from now on will probably be filled with baby/kid news...(evidenced by the prior "big news" animal sounds)...Today she figured out how to open the fridge door, which isn't so convenient for us!

It's been a bit chilly here in the Burgh lately...around the 30's. Miles and my Dad were busy putting in the screen door for the back entrance this afternoon. It looks a lot better, hopefully it will help keep out all of that cold weather. Home improvements little by little.

We've kind of bunkered down for the rest of February waiting for March to come, and we can't wait. The days are getting longer...spring will be here soon.

Just a cute picture of Autumn. I must have taken it after a meal.

Here's the new back door. I'll paint it white when the weather breaks and gets a little warmer. When the screen door is in I'll put up a new picture. We put in a lock with a keypad so you can just enter a number to unlock the door, a personal favorite.
Here's our Valentine's Day pictures...all kisses! I worked on Thursday so we went out Wednesday night to the neighborhood diner for a beer. It was nice to catch up and spend some alone time together. Dad and his baby girl...
Flowers!!
Kisses!!

This one's for Miles

Miles has been in Korea now for a couple of days, and we're really missing him!! I can't wait for you to come home babe, so keep on working hard and we'll be here when you get back. It's awfully quiet without you around, and not as entertaining! Autumn and I have been keeping busy running about and meeting up with friends and family.
We went out to eat with Grandma Dowiak and Hank this evening. Hank's showing Autumn the ropes on how to get a stuffed animal. No luck this time, but Autumn did have fun pushing the button. We've been really busy and I had been meaning to stop by Grandma Dowiak's, so it was nice to spend some time together so she could see what Autumn has been up to.
I was cooking in the kitchen and when I turned the corner Autumn was reading her book on top of the table. We grabbed the camera and took a picture (It was before Miles left so he took the picture and that's how I got in the picture below). The book she's looking at is called First 1000 Words...she loves it, and will study it all day long (I think they should re-title it Reading to Baby 1000 Times A Day :))

Spoon+Cate visit+ Grandpa Dowiak visit

Here Autumn is learning to eat with a spoon. She's a little messy, but it's fun to watch. I think she's starting to get the hang of it...
After a couple of minutes with the spoon Autumn thought of another technique to get her yogurt...
Aunt Cate came in for a weekend visit to catch up with the growing Autumn. We had a wonderful time. We were able to sneak out Friday night for a girls night out. Saturday we saw the Bodies exhibit and made our way to the South Side later that night. Autumn got some awesome books that she hasn't been able to put down...here they are...
We had a wonderful Thanksgiving break with Grandpa Dowiak and Lucus. Here is Grandpa Dowiak putting together the machine to watch some old home videos. I got to see him getting ready for his high school prom, very fun...(a personal opinion but I think Matt and Miles look similar to a younger Grandpa)...As always we had a nice visit with Lucus and look forward to seeing him soon.
Here she is...all smiles!!
Just a quick update...Miles is not going to Japan this week, we get to keep him around here, very exciting!! Poor Autumn has the sniffles. She's upstairs taking a nap, hopefully a long one, right now. My semester is almost over, I have one more class Tuesday and then I'm done. Classes start again the first week of January. The weather here has been pretty mild so far this year, but we're getting ready to bunker down for the holidays!! Hope everyone out there is staying warm!

Trax Farms

Over the weekend Grammie and I took Autumn to Trax Farms while the guys worked in the backyard. The weather had finally cooled off a bit reminding me that fall was here and it was not to be replaced by summer. Anyways, Trax Farms had different sections outside for the kids to explore, kind of a fall festival thing going on. There were huge mounds of pumpkins the older kids were crawling on, a petting zoo (we just looked...but it not only had the staples of goats and sheep but there was a baby cow, a lama, and pig!), a hay ride, corn maze, a train ride, blow up jumping things the kids could go into, and a corn and hay pit (pictured below). I had a great time just being outside enjoying the atmosphere. Autumn was too cute exploring the grounds. I do have to say that I had the best cinnamon roll from their farmers market, yummy...

An update on the work outside...Miles finished laying the drainage pipes around the house on Monday night right before the rains came. I'm happy to report a dry basement...Yeah!!

Chihuly at Phipps

Last night (Thursday) we finally got around to going to Phipps Conservatory to see the Chihuly exhibit. We couldn't have picked a better night...the weather was awesome (I think it only dropped in the high 60s). Anyway...Chihuly works with glass, and his pieces were throughout the conservatory. Some pieces looked like centerpieces and some were mixed in with the vegitation. If you ever get the oppurtunity to see his work I would recommend it. We went to the night showing which was really fun because we were able to see them with the lights. Autumn was too cute looking at all of the different sculptures. She was imitating our sounds while we were walking around...I think she liked it! If you want to see better pictures you can google "Phipps Conservatory" and browse their web site.

This is one of the main pieces that was hanging from the entrance to the conservatory...

The next two pictures are of pieces that are mixed in with the vegitation...

These two pieces were outside.... (the first one reminds me of rock candy)

Dormont Park

I think Dormont Park is my new favorite park around. Autumn is old enough now that she has no problem walking (or running) around. She loves to explore the whole castle area. It is really fun just to follow her around to see where she'll go next. The park is cool because the castle part is like a really big maze for the kids with slides and climbling things coming off of it. Here is a picture of the park...to the left there's another castle type area for the kids but I couldn't get it in the picture. (My U key is stuck on this computer...you wouldn't believe how many times you actually press it....)

Backyard Work

Here are some pictures of the backyard. Miles (with the help of Grandpa and Jeff) already ripped out the concrete pad. He's now in the middle of digging to get the area ready for a new concrete pad. Here's our work in process

The Zoo

The weather here has been awesome this past month. It has been warmer here then I can every remember. We took advantage and went to the zoo with Grammie on Sunday. It was so much fun to take her to the zoo this time around. We went early in the morning before her afternoon nap, which must have been perfect timing because all of the animals were awake. The coolest was the tiger (I think it was one of the cubs~14 months, 200+ pds) was pacing in front of the observation window. No kidding we were about 5 inches from this thing...Autumn was amazed. We also saw a giraffe run, an elephant give itself a dirt bath, the snow leapord was playing with a cardboard box, and in the new polar bear exhibit the two bears were wrestling in the water (which was so cool because you can walk under the water and watch them swim). It was crazy...all the animals were so active. Autumn was so funny...she was watching them all. I think her favorite was the ducks and fish in the pond because she was able to get so close.

Miles was busy busting out the concrete in the backyard to make way for a new patio. I'll have to post a picture of all the hard work he's doing out there. The guys had 4 dump truck loads of cement taken out of the yard, crazy hard work.


Here is a picture of Tessa after running around outside...she fell asleep before she could eat her dinner...funny...

Weekend Away& New Puppy

We had a wonderful parents-only weekend visiting Erie and the Niagara Falls area. We brought our bikes and were able to go on two different rides. Friday night we stayed at a B&B in Erie, and Saturday we stayed in Lockport, NY. It was a nice side trip to our sometimes crazy home! We saw the Falls from the Canadian side, and picked up some nice bottles of white wine at a winery.


And here she is...a soft coated wheaten terrier...Tessa (do you like the name?) So far she's getting use to the loud noises Autumn makes with her toys, but she's adjusting well. Tessa loves being outside and running around. She's a little more low key in the house, which is fine by me. Autumn is doing well with the dog, she was giving her hugs this morning and laying down next to her. The poor dog was a trooper...



And here is a picture of Autumn...I had to put one in here for the Grandparents!! She's eating her lunch of sweet potatoes and a cracker...

Apple Picking

We went on our annual (two years in a row) apple picking day Thursday afternoon at Simmons Farm. Last year Autumn was only a couple weeks old, how things change! This year she was double fisting apples and walking around. She did grasp the concept of picking and throwing the apples into the bag, but learned it was much more fun to throw the apples on the ground or eat them. After apple picking we had a fabulous dinner cooked by Jason, including...applesauce. It was a fun day...

This morning Autumn had her one year appointment, including 3 shots. I don't have her updated stats in front of me but if I can recall she's in the 80th something percentile for height (30 some inches, does that sounds right?) and the 7oth something percentile for weight (22pds 6 oz). She fell asleep on the way home. This time at the doctors she was more leery of them assessing her, but she was a trooper...

September 17, 2007

We had a wonderful trip with the whole Dowiak clan...I can't figure out how to post any of the pictures my sister took on the blog, but we were able to get together for some nice family portraits. I do have one of the girls together, and a picture of Lucus babysitting Autumn. We hope Hilary, Matt and Reese have a fabulous time in Budapest...we'll see you next year!!

We've been busy here trying to get some work done around the house before winter comes. The weather cooled off this week somewhat reminding us that fall is coming. Here is an older picture of Autumn that was too cute not to post, she was very excited when we put Miles' shirt on her when he got home from work.

And for some fun news...Autumn is officially a year old!! How awesome is that? We had a birthday party last Friday night, and if I do say myself it was a fun time for everyone. It was nice to catch up with some friends we hadn't seen in awhile. Autumn did the whole cake eating thing and made a big mess on her highchair, very cute. We ended the night around a fire outside. Here are some of Autumn's one year pictures from over the weekend. (PS...Autumn hurt her nose when she fell down the cement step in the backyard-the small one. It's getting better, poor girl!!).

Trip West

We had a wonderful trip out West to visit everyone...it was very enjoyable. Below are pictures (I really didn't take too many...bummer...but I did get some good ones!) Here is Autumn's first time in an airplane. She actually didn't do too bad. The last airplane ride home she slept the last 2 hours. When we finally got home she clapped her hands in the backyard when she saw her play-set...it was really cute.
Here is a picture of John, Amois, and Paloma near the duck pond in Ashland. We had a nice afternoon touring the town and drinking some fancy drinks from the coffee shop, yummy!! We enjoyed the sun during our picnic...
Here we attempted to get a better picture of Paloma...she really was a sweet baby!! Plently of smiles for everyone. This picture was taken at our campsite in Harris Beach. The tidal pools during low tide were really cool to explore in. The coast was beautiful with a more private beach and the large rocks coming out of the ocean. No picutres...but I have a fun video of wrestling soccer. I love this picture of the Dowiak group. We made our way back into the Redwoods for our last night camping. We got our first taste of the forest on a horseback ride through the Redwoods and wanted to come back for a hike. The trees were amazing...
This was a cute picture of the brothers at the campsite (They missed you Matt!) Having fun...