At the J. Paul Getty museum in Los Angeles.

Sierra, Aunt Lari & Lexi donning some homegrown daisies.

Dave took Lexi for a spin on the Vespa!

We always wondered what Lexi would think of the 2 big Newfoundland dogs that Dave & Lari own. Turns out, she loved them!

Lexi & Katie taking a bath.

We spent some time at the Gateway in Salt Lake City. They have a great Olympic Plaza with this giant in-ground water fountain. Every hour on the hour the Mormon Tabernacle Choir blasts through the square singing the Olympic Theme, "Call of the Champions," composed by John Williams. "Citius! Altius! Fortius!" (Faster, Higher, Stronger) as the water dances to the music and slowly reaches for the sky. When the water/music show is not going on, there is a continual array of jumping water that shoots up from the ground. All the kids loved running through it.

On our way back from the reunion, we stopped off at Uncle Todd & Aunt Amy's house. We let Lexi out of the car to run around on the grass with her cousins for a little while. Lexi got a bit curious about the sidewalk and the iron slab that covered the gutter at the end of the driveway and ended up stepping right onto the iron that had been baking all day in the HOT Utah sun. Startled by the sudden heat and pain, she was frozen in panic. So her little feet just kept right on cooking. Cousin Cole ran to the rescue and swept her up into his arms. Thank goodness he was there and reacted so quickly! As it was, Lexi formed several little blisters on the bottoms of her feet and was in too much pain to walk for the rest of the day. Over the next 3 days, she gained back all her walking and running capability after lots of first aid and tender loving care. Here she is with her feet all bandaged up (Neosporin to the rescue!)

Dad, Mom and Lexi on a paddle boat

Lexi loved this little goat. At one point she tried to throw her leg up and onto its back so she could take a ride.

Taking a rest in the bouncy air castle

Grandpa & Grandma Cope with Lexi

Lexi riding a mini-horse at the reunion.

Vacation

Today we are off on a trip to see some of our family and friends in Utah & California. This will be Lexi's second airplane ride, but her first real experience since she was just 4 months the last time we flew anywhere. We will be at a family reunion for Matt's family in Altamont, Utah (see http://www.hiddenspringsranch.biz/), then off to California! We'll post some pictures and anecdotes when we return to the Big Apple...

Rock Star

Dad has had the summer off (sort of- he doesn't have to teach at the Middle School, but has been taking classes towards his Masters degree). So in his spare time, he has been playing the guitar more often. Lexi & I LOVE IT!! Sometimes dad will let her strum the strings, and sometimes she attempts to "tune" the guitar (much to Daddy's dismay), but mostly she loves to listen and dance to the music. Here she is enjoying a good time in the guitar case. She climbed in there all by herself.

Toenail Painting!

When Lexi got up from her nap the other day, she came running into the living room and spotted me with those crazy toe-separator thingys on my feet while my newly painted toenails dried. Being the utterly femenine little girl that she is, she just HAD to have her toes painted to. I always wondered when that day would come! Here she is waiting for the paint to dry. And although we didn't use the pink things in between her toes while we painted she absolutely insisted on wearing them, if only for effect.

After her toenails were dry, she tried to get down and walk, which wasn't too successful. Here she is attempting to put the toe things back on her feet. Because we all know how undeniably comfortable they are to walk around in!

Dentist!

Today, Lexi had her first visit to the Dentist! I was a little nervous about how it would all go... The first thing we did was show the assistant how we brush teeth at home. Unfortunately, for the most part Lexi DOES NOT want to brush her teeth and most attempts end in her sucking the bubble gum flavored paste off the toothbrush. The assistant gave her a new pink brush with a duck on it and helped her to brush her teeth a little. We then ventured on to the big room where Lexi played in the big chair while the assistant raised and lowered it to Lexi's squeals of delight. She was fascinated by the hanging overhead light as well and pointed to it everytime the assistant turned it on saying "Yite, yite". She grabbed a big stuffed Ernie and headed back to the chair where she was raised up and the back reclined. Lexi dutifully laid down with Ernie next to her and promptly opened her mouth to our chorus of "Ahhhhh" and received a lovely teeth cleaning with cookie paste. Lucky girl. She doesn't even get cookies at home very often. Maybe it helped that the assistant let Lexi touch the spinning head of the cleaning tool before it went in her mouth. Dr. Rob came in and examined her teeth after the cleaning, stating that she has 16 BEAUTIFUL pearly whites. Yeah!! She is still awaiting 4 more molars. He was so impressed with our routines at home that do not include milk or juice before/at bedtime.

We got an overall good report, and were urged to try and brush 2 times a day. Ever since then, Lexi has been happy to stand on her stool at the sink in the bathroom and brush her teeth! She even lets me help her a little. She is so grown up. Where did our baby go?

Independence Day

Today we went down to a free concert by Yo La Tengo (http://www.yolatengo.com/) in Battery Park. Then we headed over to the "Shake Shack" (http://shakeshacknyc.com/) in Madison Square Park for some YUMMY burgers and shakes. We ended up watching the fireworks from the rooftop of our apartment. We could see some of the big show in Midtown, as well as the neighborhood shows. Here is a family picture from our day.

Lexi with a chocolate mustache/beard

Corn on the Cob

Lexi has a new talent for eating corn on the cob!