What Is Daddy Doing?

Lately, the Baby Bee only has eyes for her dad. Most days, she devotedly follows him around the house, trailing her lovey behind her. On this particular occasion, Emma watched intently while he shaved. It was no easy task for Emma's Dad, as he kept a steady hand on his razor while Emma repeatedly tugged and pulled on him, as if to say, "I want to do that, too - whatever it is you're doing." Frustrated by her wee stature, Emma pulled her pink step over to the counter so she could get a better view. These are the moments that melt your heart...

Beat the Heat

Although these pictures were technically taken during the spring, I wanted to put them up, anyway. I am very fond of pictures of Emma in her pool (which, sadly, is no more because it has a tear in the bottom). And, when it's this hot, about all you can do when you're outside is either drink water or be in water. On this particular occasion, Emma was joined by her friend and neighbor, Addison. The girls splashed happily while Emma's Mom and Addie's Mom fended off bees and all manner of winged insects. They are no joke, here!

*I know this was taken a while ago because Emma does not have any teeth!
**I also want to take this opportunity to thank Lindsay and John for the adorable rash guard and board shorts! Emma was stylin' this day!

Oh, Sugar!

So, one fine summer morning, I was greeted by a puzzling sight as I came out of my room: a trail of white, powdery footprints leading from Emma's room to the kitchen. At first, I could not, for the life of me, think what they could be from. I was almost afraid to see the source, but continued down the hall in complete bewilderment. And, it was just a little too quiet around the house, which usually means the Baby Bee is having far too much fun with something that is normally off limits.

Sure enough, I round the corner into the kitchen and, "HOLY SUGAR, BATMAN!" It. Was. Everywhere. The footprints were just the beginning. Sitting in a pile of powdered sugar, looking like a little snow queen, was Emma, caked from head to toe with the stuff. When she saw me, the Baby Bee stood up, proud of her work. She had managed to work her way into our pantry, lift the newly purchased - and, regrettably, newly opened - bag of confectioner's sugar and dump it on the kitchen floor. As she walked toward me, little clouds of white powder wafted off her pajamas and settled on the floor, as if she were sprinkling pixie dust in her wake. So, naturally, after the initial shock wore off and before I realized what a clean-up job I had before me, I grabbed the camera.

>Sigh< why does the best blog material usually mean the biggest messes? I think my favorite part was the cats looking on in both horror and relief: horror that it was an epic mess and relief that they weren't the ones responsible for it. They looked for all the world like they were thinking, "It wasn't me! I swear!" I think it's safe to say the fun has just begun for Emma's Mom and Dad.

4th of July Parade

My goodness, it has been a while! The Bee family apologizes for the lapse in service, heh. We've been enjoying the hot Oklahoma summer...from the comfort of our air-conditioned living room. However, we have taken tons of photos during the last six weeks, and now I am looking at all of my image folders, wondering how to get all of these pictures up before 2010. Well, one at a time, I guess!

So, to herald the end of the break, here our pictures from the 4th of July parade this morning. The Bee family went with our neighbors, Emily, Addie and David. Emily decked out their wagon in a dazzling array of red, white and blue streamers, stars and bows. Cutest wagon, ever! David pulled the girls, who enjoyed the ride, pausing briefly every once and a while to play tug-of-war with their flags.

The parade started in our neighborhood on post, then proceeded to McNair Hall, where the Army was set up for a 50-gun salute to represent the 50 states. The 77th Regiment Army Band played sterling renditions of America the Beautiful, God Bless America and the Star-Spangled Banner. Each state was recognized with a blast from the Howitzer, which was moving but also alarming to babies within a two-mile radius. The Baby Bee reached her limit by the about the 25th state and started to cry.

After the salute, the base's commanding general, Major General Vangjel, gave a speech. Unfortunately, one of the 50 flagbearers passed out during his speech. Emma's Dad and several of the other soldiers said this was because the soldier was locking his knees while standing at attention for so long, which causes poor circulation. The 90-degree heat probably didn't help, either. I've never heard of or seen such a thing before! Poor guy.

When the festivities were over, we all headed back home to the escape from the heat and gear up for a block barbecue this afternoon and fireworks in the evening. Thanks for the wonderful parade, Fort Sill! Happy Birthday, America!