To Claire Marie

Beloved friend, one time flower girl, sister of my heart, and all around rockin' chick, we sure wish we still lived near you. You would be Sophie's most beloved babysitter and confidant (think you could handle hearing butterfly, butterfly, butterfly over and over again?) We miss you and your family so much. Not a week goes by that we don't think of you and pray for you and wonder in amazement over the fact that you must be 17 or 18 now. Say it isn't so! Maybe we will try to visit you over the holidays. xxo

Sophie Goes Camping

It wasn't her first trip to the Rocky Mountains, but this time she roughed it in a tent with bears roaming nearby. Okay, there weren't any bears, but we did see a rattlesnake, and our friend Eric swears he saw a moose. We pitched tent a little south of Breckenridge--or maybe it was west, frankly, I have no idea--but as soon as we got there, Carl discovered that his hiking boots has disintegrated from disuse. Literally, the soles fell off. He found a fishing hook in the dirt around our campfire, a bit of string from his camping kit, and knit the soles of his boots back onto the leather. We feel he deserves a badge, so if any of you former Eagle Scouts have a "knows how to sew boots back together" badge, send it our way.

This backpack looks cool but hurts like heck!

At Garden of the Gods near Colorado Springs and where we saw the rattlesnake being prodded with a stick by a German tourist. Or maybe he was Swedish. Frankly, I have no idea.

Poor Casey and Eric had to do all the heavy lifting, while Sophie sat around doing this:

Recent Acquisitions

As Sophie nears seventeen months, her vocabulary is building slowly. Here's the current inventory:

Mama: applies equally to her Mother and her baby doll
Baa Baa: bottle
Book: pronounced "Bok"
Hot: pronounced "ot"
Hat: pronounced "at"
Ball: any round object
Dada
Bye Bye: also means good-night
Hi
Uh Oh: applies to food dropped on the floor purposefully as well as accidents
Quack, quack: pronouced, "ack ack," meaning duck

Sophie and me on the Maid of the Mist at Niagara Falls

More Wheaton Pictures

The Wardrobe

Sophie and I are in Wheaton, Illinois, a picturesque suburb of Chicago, visiting my sister and her family in their new home. One of the attractions of Wheaton is the Wade Center, a museum and library devoted to the works of C.S. Lewis and his contemporaries. The main attraction of this attraction is that it houses a Wardrobe, which inspired THE Wardrobe in The Lion and the Witch and the, well, you know. They've hung fur coats inside, but when we pushed through these, there was no magical winter to be found. I suspect once Sophie is old enough to read the books and we return, that will all change.

Below Sophie searches through one of the drawers in C.S. Lewis's writing desk, looking for a lost manuscript of course.

Here she is hiding underneath the desk upon which Tolkein wrote The Lord of the Rings.

Don't say you weren't warned:

Milestones Missed and Miles to Go

Sophie started walking at 13 months (yes, two months ago).
She said her first real word around the same time: Ball
But don't worry, you haven't missed anything: she's still toddling around and saying Ball.
Baaaaaallll.
That's what it sounds like.
Morning, noon, and night.
Nothing but Baaaalll. Baaallll. Baaaaaaaaall.

She also enjoys taking objects out of one container and putting them into another container. Including herself.

Declaration of Independence

Yes, the price of gas has risen sky high, violence has escalated in Afghanistan, people are losing their homes due to the mortgage crisis, but you've been up at night wondering why Prairie Cate has remained mum for so long. Well gentle readers, it's summertime, time for playing outside until the fireflies light up the woods and filling up the kiddie pool with the garden hose, not time for sitting inside in front of the computer (so yes, basically, I've been lazy and apathetic).

But never fear, I could never desert you, when there are luscious baby pictures to post. We spent a very laid back fourth of July hiding inside away from the stifling high plains heat, then went to Old Fort Hays in the evening to listen to an Old Western duet on the prairie. We went home early, ate spaghettios for dinner and put the baby to bed. Then when it finally turned dark outside, we woke her up again and watched the local fireworks from our front porch.


Little bitty baby, great big sky.