It's just not the same...

Wearing her Hawaiian shirt that Grandma and Grandpa Francis brought back from spring break, Brielle was all set to go outside and play........
.....unfortunately we couldn't find the sandbox!
Brielle still thought she'd like to play but that only lasted a few minutes.

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens.....

When it's too dark or cold to play outside, Brielle just plays with her wagon indoors. She'll go throughout the house pulling things off shelves and out of cupboards to put into her wagon. Anything and everything that catches her eye, TV remotes, phones, DVD's, toys, books, empty juice bottles, sidewalk chalk, tupperware lids, the list goes on!

Eventually, once her wagon is all filled up with her favorite things, Brielle will stop to play with something from her wagon. Here she's pulled out a book, which she looked at for a few minutes then carefully placed back in her wagon, stood up and continued foraging room to room for treasures!

Almost like a beach...

Right now Brielle's favorite place to play is the sandbox. We go most every day that's sunny! She likes it because her mom let's her play in the dirt AND there's always a bunch of other kids there to play with as well.

"Don't wait up, Mom...."

Brielle likes to go outside most days, and now that she has a little wagon she can bring all of her toys with her. Most days she'll pack up her wagon with all the things she wants to take,


...then head off in whichever direction looks the most promising, (with or without me), pulling all of her worldly possessions behind her!


(note the look of grim determination on her face, that wagon is heavy!)

Usually she tries to find other kids to play with (such a social little thing!) and since we're surrounded by playgrounds often she'll hear little voices one way or another and set off in search of the kids they belong to.

Would you, could you in a wagon??

We bought Brielle a little wagon and it is her most favoritest thing in the whole world! The night we bought it she couldn't take it outside because it was already dark, but she pulled it all around the house putting things in it, taking things out, putting herself in it. Definitely the best toy ever!

Grasshopper or Fudge Striped???

Brielle has learned that whatever Dad is eating at night is something she wants! Cookies, ice cream, soda pop, candy, Dad is always eating the good stuff!! Last night Russell decided to give Brielle the choice between a Fudge Striped cookie and a Grasshopper cookie. He held one up in each hand, and told her to choose a cookie. Brielle looked from one hand to the other, then grinned, and quick as a flash reached out with both arms and grabbed both cookies out of her dad's hands before he could take them away!! What a smart little girl we have!!

Russell the Photographer

At the zoo Russell practiced his National Geographic skills! Sadly there aren't very many pictures of Brielle, but that's ok, she was enchanted with the zoo!! She was a bit overwhelmed with the size of the elephants, but every new animal was exciting, and she liked each one better than the last. Below we have a picture of her trying to call the giraffes over.

Great Grandparents!

Brielle visited her Great Grandparents last weekend. She got to stay with Great Grandpa Francis, and we visited Great Grandma and Grandpa Streadbeck. (unfortunately we didn't get the camera out much on the trip and we don't have a picture with Brielle and her Francis Great Grandparents) She also played with her cousins Emma and Jonah, which Brielle LOVED!! She would gladly follow Emma around all day! We really should have gotten our camera out of the car more so that we could have documented all of the cuteness!

It's TWINS!!!

Just kidding! We got pictures today so we thought we'd put a couple on the blog, how CUTE is that little creature!!!

Dancin' the night away!

Recently Brielle has started dancing. She'll push a button on one of her musical toys and just start twirling and saying "das" "das!!" (dance). We're still not quite sure where she learned to dance , we're thinking maybe from king Louie on the Jungle Book! She holds out her arms and starts spinning around, interspersed occasionally with little hops, but the hand placement is crucial!! We know she's about to dance every time she puts her little arms out like the picture above!

little mechanic

Brielle insisted on "helping" Daddy fix his bike!!