What I'm Into (May, 2016 Edition)

What I'm Reading:

Fiction:

May was even more INSANE than April. Nevertheless, I still read three fiction books. 

Best mystery: The Last Mile by David Baldacci. 

Non-fiction:

I also read two non-fiction books during April: Colors of Goodbye, which is I loved, and Lessons in Belonging from a Church-Going Commitment Phobe by Erin Lane (also excellent!)

Kid's Books:

We continue to read LOTS with Hope. This month our favorites were Your Personal Penguin by Sandra Boynton, Don’t Let Auntie Mabel Bless the Table by Vanessa Brantley Newton, A is for Activist by Innosanto Nagara, and Ivan: The Remarkable True Story of the Shopping Mall Gorilla by Katherine Applegate. 

Things I Love:

Nursing: As Hope approaches her first birthday, I'm acutely aware of how fleeting these times are. 

Legos: After watching Hope with the legos at the library, we broke out our own duplos at home. They've provided hours of fun for her (and Doug!) 

Swinging: We walk across the street at least once a day to enjoy the swings. 

The way Hope communicates: When it's time to nurse, she hunts down her nursing pillow, drags it across the room, and hands it to me. 

Seeing wildlife: Yes, we even celebrated the moment in the arboretum when Hope saw her first deer. Don't judge us. We live in the suburbs. It's the wildlife we have. 

Celebrating my 1st Mother's Day as a Mom: I preached in worship, we came home and took a family nap, headed to Ivy for a late lunch, and then Hope and I boarded a plane and headed to Minneapolis for my work with Arbor Research Group. 

Exposing Hope to new things: Like swimming. While in Minneapolis we gave the hotel splash pad a try... She hated it. In fact, she was terrified of it. We've since taken her swimming a handful of additional times and are pleased to report she's done well. 

A morning at Cosley Zoo: This is a strange little place, complete with a caged cardinal and raccoons on display. Nevertheless, Hope enjoyed her morning with the animals. 

The Shedd Aquarium: Nancy & Keith spent a weekend in Chicago and we joined them for a day at the Shedd. While there, Hope walked through the entire basement! 

Celebrating Doug's birthday: I'm so thankful for him. He's a loving husband, a great provider, an amazing encourager, and an incredible father. 

Reading the Lift-The-Flap Bible: As a youth pastor and mama, seeing Hope excited to read this little Bible warms my heart. 

Surprise visits from Mel and Jim: My aunt and uncle flew in from Arizona to surprise us for Hope's 1st birthday. It was so good to see them! 

Celebrating Hope's 1st birthday! 

The rides at the Taste of Glen Ellyn. 

Dinner at Seasons 52. Hope tried salmon for the first time and since then, she's wanted nothing but meat! 

The Henry Villas Zoo in Madison: We spent Memorial Day Weekend in the Dells. On the way there, we stopped in Madison at the Henry Villas Zoo. It was delightful and free! Hope rode her first train. 

The Tommy Bartlett Show: Our hotel was right next to the Tommy Bartlett Show so of course, we had to go. Hope did well, even posing for a picture with one of their skiers and Aqua the Clown. 

Devil's Lake: We go to the Dells primarily because of it's proximity to Devil's Lake, which was super crowded as well. Nevertheless, we enjoyed our hike around the lake. 

Paul Bunyan's Restaurant: It's got amazing donuts. Need I say more? 

The Dells Duck: We wanted to get out onto the river while in the dells so Monday morning, we took a duck tour, which was a surprising amount of fun. 

The International Crane Foundation: On the way home from the Dells, we went to the International Crane Foundation. It was so fun to see the diversity within God's creation. 

Today I'm linking up with Leigh Kramer to share what I'm into. You can join the conversation here.