Happy 2nd Birthday to ME!

Happy Birthday to ME!!! I'm officially 2 years old. While Grandma and Grandpa were out visiting, we had a barbeque to celebrate my big day. Mommy made my cake and who did it look like? HERBIE!

It was everything I could do to wait for everyone to finish singing Happy Birthday before I stuck my finger in the cake.

I couldn't wait to dig right in!

My friend Olivia came to the party. She liked the cake a lot too!

What? Do I have something on my mouth?


I'm pretty good at opening presents by now. Toys, books, clothes, even a cool travel bed! I'm a very lucky girl to have such nice friends!

Grandma and Grandpa Come to Visit

We went out to dinner one night at the 320 Guest Ranch. After dinner we went out to see the horses and Mommy fed them some grass. I can't say horse, but I can make the noise for them!

We went for a hike to a place called Windy Pass. Here I am giving directions.

Mommy, me and Grandpa. It was a long hike so Mommy and Daddy took turns carrying me in my hiking pack.

Grandma and me - we're best girlfriends.

We went to the park and I drove Grandpa on the train. He asked where we were going and I said,"Herbie," as in we were going to see him!

Nothing better than some milk, your blankey and Grandma and Grandpa to end the day.

White Wolf Picnic

We took a picnic lunch up to Dad at the golf course and went to White Wolf Knob, which overlooks the front 9. It was a really nice day for pictures!

Just telling Dad a few things... That's Lone Peak in the background.

Every night when Daddy gets home from work, he asks me, "Allie, did you get cuter today?" I automatically answer "No."

Dad showed me how to put a wood chip in my mouth just like he did. He also lets me chew on long pieces of grass when we go for hikes. Mommy always looks at him like he is crazy. He's not crazy; he's my Dad!

Mom and I are going for the wind-blown look.

Fun at Home

Sometimes there's hardly room for me on the lap once I get all my guys and blankeys up for storytime. This night I picked out ALL my Herbie cats.

Me and the guys in the tent. Everybody had to be in just the right spot.

I really like to do "pretty" on my toes. I haven't quite mastered the technique, so Mommy only lets me paint the clear kind by myself.

Here is more proof that I LOVE HERBIE.

Camp Grandma 2010 - Home at Last

Mommy and I had such a good time at camp this year - 10 days was almost enough time, we may have to stay 2 weeks next year! But, once I heard we were going home to Daddy, his name was all I could say. Everyone on the flights home knew I was going to see my daddy. We got off the plane and once I saw him, he got the biggest hug of his life!

Camp Grandma 2010 - Tractor Time

Check this out! I'm driving a John Deere gator just like Daddy does! Grandma found this at a garage sale and said I had to have it. After a few tries, I figured out how to push the pedal all by myself. It's super fun.

Camp Grandma 2010 - Lots of Fun!

Mommy and I made brownies one morning. I've got this licking the bowl out down pat!
We visited Grandpa at his office one day. Here Mommy and I are by the giant Clydesdale bronze in the front lobby. They are really special horses. I hope to meet them one day.

Grandpa and I are reviewing some Dalmatian reports in this picture. It's industry lingo. You never want to run out of blue cans!

We went to Lochland one night for dinner. I ate my dinner during cocktails, so while Mommy, Grandma and Grandpa ate their dinner, I had ice cream!

We visited Great Grandma one day and saw her new apartment. Then we went to feed the ducks. There were lots of them and they quacked loud.

Good thing we brought lots of bread. There were all sizes of ducks and they ate all the bread.

Grandpa read my Elmo book to me. It's a classic.

My stuffed Herbie had a camp injury. I might have left him on the ground for a little bit and Harrison got him and ate part of his ear off. Lucky for me, Grandma is a great "surgeon" and she was able to make him all better.

Uncle Jeff's dog, Harrison, came to Camp while Uncle Jeff was working some really long hours at Indigenous Landscapes . He came home for the weekend so we could hang out. I helped him feed Harrison his dinner one night. I can't say Harrison's name, so I just called him "dog."

I helped Grandma water her flowers every day.

One night, the ice cream truck was in the neighborhood! I chose a lime, orange and cherry sherbet push-pop. Boy, did it taste good! I got quite a few bites, Uncle Jeff sneaked a bite, and the rest melted all down the front of me.

Grandma and Grandpa have really big pine trees in their yard, so I helped pick up the pine cones (it was a little taste of Montana!) Their yard was really nice to play in. Notice Grandpa's shirt - always supporting those K-State Wildcats :)

After a long day, nothing beats your jammies and a Popsicle with Grandpa. I chose blue - it's my favorite color right now.

Camp Grandma 2010 - People to see!

There were lots of people to see while we were in Nebraska. Great Grandma Audrey came for a barbeque one day for lunch. Here's a 4-generation Hoch picture - Great Grandma Audrey, Grandpa, me and Mommy (and Herbie!)

The night before we flew back home, we went to Aunt B and Uncle Ronnie's house for a quick visit. Aunt B got on my good side because she had my favorite red popsicles and we played Cheerios together! When I get older, she said she'd teach me how to play scarves. Mommy said it's a really fun game.

Then we went to dinner at The Cheesecake Factory and met my godmother Michaela and her husband Cole. They were very excited to wear the Mickey Mouse stickers I gave them, probably because Aunt Michaela's last name used to be Mickey! I knew I liked her :) Mommy was very glad to be able to see her.

Camp Grandma 2010 - County Fair!

One day, Grandma, Great Grandpa, Mommy and me went to the Adams County Fair! There were lots of animals there to look at. It was really fun and I'm so glad Great Grandpa came with us. He told me these big green tractors were like the ones he had on his farm. I recognized the green ones because that's the kind Daddy has on his golf course - yea John Deere!

The tractors were HUGE.

I liked this donkey so much I wanted to share my Goldfish crackers with him, but Mommy didn't think that was such a good idea.

These were my favorite animals - the "boing-a-boings," otherwise known as bunnies, but that's a hard word. Now when I'm out for a walk and I see one, I make that noise and bounce up and down. We saw chickens, sheep, cows, llamas, ducks and pigs, but I did NOT like the pigs.

Camp Grandma 2010 - Grandma's Kitties!

Here's me and Floyd one morning watching cartoons. Floyd only liked me when I gave him treats. I have on my official Camp Grandma 2010 t-shirt!

This is "Ahh...," as in Oliver. He's old and slept a lot while I was there, but I liked petting him when he took his naps. Oliver likes to get a drink from Grandpa's sink in the mornings while Grandpa reads the paper and shaves. I tried to help one morning, but I ended up spilling the water on Grandpa's newspaper. Luckily, he was already done with that section!

And this is Herbie. If you asked anyone on our flight to Nebraksa who we were going to see, I said "erbie." (The h is a hard sound to make!) He is my FAVORITE kitty ever, probably even more than my own cats Moose and Rocky, but don't tell them that :) No matter what we were doing, I had to know where Herbie was. He didn't like me at first, but we became friends. He even let me brush his fur!

One day when we went to the store, I picked out a new bed for Herbie. He likes sleeping in it because it has tall sides so no one can find him. I love, love, love Herbie!

Camp Grandma 2010 - Tea Party!

One of my camp surprises was my very own Tupperware tea set! Tea party became my new favorite game and I got really good at pouring "tea." One afternoon Great Grandma and Great Grandpa came over and had tea party with me.

Great Grandpa got the green cup since he had a green shirt on.

Grandpa got home from work in time for some tea too. That's Oliver in my other hand. He was my co-waitress.

Harrison wanted to join the tea party too. He was being very polite in shaking Grandma's hand, but it didn't get him any tea. He did manage to snag a cookie though!