The Webers Do Wisconsin

This year I was ecstatic to celebrate the Fourth of July in Whitewater with my family. I'm feeling nostalgic toward my hometown and couldn't have thought of a better place to be. Mira did very well at the parade despite missing her nap to be there. She did cry once when the fire trucks blew their sirens directly in front of us, but her fear was short-lived. She gained a new appreciation for suckers and eventually learned, through much experimentation, which end to hold. Quite a while after she'd polished off her suckers, she managed to find a piece stuck to her tummy - as if she'd been saving it for later all along.
While we were in Wisconsin, Mira got to visit her first zoo and have her first picnic lunch. Although she would eat nothing I tried to give her, she ate quite well for Grandpa. A girl after my own heart, she loves her Red Vines and made them her main course. While Mira was intrigued by the animals and watched them closely, she was equally enthralled by the flowers at the zoo. Each time she'd say "oooooooo!", we'd expect to find her gazing at some majestic animal. Nope -- just flowers! Although I'm sure Mira would disagree, the highlight of our zoo visit was the carousel. On our first ride, I tried to have Mira sit on one of the animals. Silly Mommy. After only a short bout of screaming, we scurried to the stationary bench and waved from there. Never one to give up, Ryan made an attempt. While he did convince Mira to ride a giraffe with him, her cries on the back side of the carousel eventually wore him down, and they finished the ride standing next to said giraffe.

Our new favorite "trick" at home is asking Mira to follow directions. We're amazed at how much she understands. She will happily follow directions to put toys away, throw things in the garbage, and my favorite: "put some water in the cup" and then "get Daddy". Good times. We're still working on the concept of "gentle". Poor Ruby is seeing the brunt of those lessons.