August Allie

August is almost over and our glorious weeks of summer vacation are officially 'kaput,' but we're not going down without a fight. What better way to keep the summer feeling going than to schedule a family reunion for the weekend of your first full week back to work? We ordered up some fabulous weather, a beautiful park, a ton of cute second-cousins, and two tons of food and had a blast with our annual 'Kathleen and Richard Wintrode's Reunion.' These are my grandparents on my dad's side and Kathleen is 'Grandma,' the feisty lady who is Allie's middle-namesake. We think both would have approved of the day and what a great time everyone had catching up. We're also pretty sure that Grandma would have especially appreciated catching Allie on a regular basis doing things like this...

Wearing her bloomers around her neck, by choice.

What?

Mommy, seriously. I rock these bloomers.

 Or kickin' it old skool style with Mommy's hat and Daddy's race medal. For the record, she requested both of these fashion accessories.

'Wickee-wickee-wickee.'

 Or just workin' it for a photo shoot with her Abby.

'Cheeeeze'

'Chaaaahhhhze'

'Cheeheeeeze'

Seriously, where's the cheese?

OK, fine. If I can't have cheese, I'll take my Daddy.

Or every so often, giving us this little slice-of-heaven-smile. :o)

(While wearing no clothes and clearly getting ready to go shopping.)

Still with me? Grab a snack! Here come the reunion shots!

These brothers are SMOKIN'!

Allie couldn't get enough of the big girls. Kiersten was her bubble-blowing-icon.

And of course, she was thrilled to get the chance to see her buddy Lukas again.  This time they matched wits in  their nap-avoidance skills. We're calling it a draw.

Well, 'Hello!' Alice.

Enough resting. Bring on the bubbles, lady.

Um, I wouldn't play that card yet, girls.

Dad. You just throw it straight. I'll be over here staying hydrated.

And the newest member of the family - Jennie! We've had a wedding drought in the group while we were all busy populating, so we're thrilled to get to see these two tie the knot in March! (Plus she's a high school teacher, bonus points in my book  - nice work, Matt :o).

Just...a...little...higher. (Lukas has declared himself King of all things ice-cooler.)

Lukas: Crazy kids.

A true 'foodie' finds multiple ways to wear her food.

The Gang. (See Facebook for tagging :o) Toddler goal: just stay within the frame, kids. 

What a difference a year makes! 

2nd Cousins, 2011.

2nd Cousins, 2012.

In fact, we've grown so much, that we are officially...

A 2-ponytail girl :o). (At least for the first 20 minutes of every day.)

At the end of the month, we took Allie to her first baseball...stadium. Unfortunately, the Nats vs. Mets game was rained-delayed past our toddler's limit, but her Grandpop and Grammy made sure that she was inducted into the baseball world of stadium food and team-swag. Up until an hour past her non-existant nap, she was a HUGE fan :o). We'll give it another shot when we go to Wisconsin to visit the Chamberlains and catch a Brewers game. Can't wait!

Nattitude!

'Fan of the Game' nomination...in the bag.