Toddlers in Tiaras, anyone?

Dyl modeling the awesome, personalized tiara that Sheri made for her. (It has to be worn unfashionably high up on her head like this, otherwise she rips it off immediately.)

My pretty, pretty princess. :) This is what passes for a smile these days - she can't quit chewing on her tongue long enough for anything else. I think she's definitely getting her two bottom incisors! She does look awfully cute in a tiara... ;)

Dyl & Daddy up on the hilltop of the Howdyshell farm - checking out the very impressive Howdyshell/Dickerson/Martin garden.

It's been a lovely, relaxing weekend so far. Last night, Grandma & Grandpoppy were kind enough to babysit while Chadmo and I went out to dinner at 'Rhapsody' in Nelsonville. I think I've mentioned it on here before, but it's a restaurant that's run by the culinary program at Hocking college - and it's truly delicious! We split an appetizer of beer pretzel bread dipped in a cheese fondue made with cheese curds from the local Snowville Creamery Dairy. For entrees, I had Ohio Proud Cornish hen with bamboo rice, and roasted carrots. Chad had Tri-tip (tasty steak?) with grilled asparagus, and sweet potato with bruleed marshmallows. My meal was delicious, but after tasting Chad's I'm pretty sure I want all of my food covered in marshmallows from now on! For dessert we split chocolate crepes with butter pecan filling, and as our complimentary after dinner treat they us each a chocolate strawberry macaroon. Not to mention we each had delicious glasses of wine to go with our meals. I had a sauvignon blanc from Washington - Horse Heaven was the name I think - it was truly tasty. The beer pretzel bread and the macaroons were so tasty that we brought orders of each home to Mom & Poppy as a little thank you for Dyl-sitting. I think they enjoyed them, now we just have to hire a babysitter so we can take them to dinner there with us sometime! Oh yes, and the restaurant also had a guitarist/singer again - last night it was mostly Neil Young /Bob Dylan/Buffalo Springfield songs, right up our alley. It really does something great for the ambiance to have live music. Thank you again, Mom & Poppy, for watching Dyl! :)

Tonight, after a lovely, relaxing, & productive day at home, we went over to Heather's parents house for dinner. The Dickerson clan is currently displaced from their home in town while they're installing hardwood floors and redoing the ceiling and lighting in the living room, and they're staying with Heather's parents. Heather made a delicious dinner of spaghetti & meatballs, salad, and bread - yum! Thank you, Heather! Dyl sat in a highchair and nibbled on her new favorite food throughout the meal - cheerios! She had them for the first time yesterday, and they're definitely the biggest hit so far in the solid food category.  After dinner, Greg with Greta in the backpack, Heather, Emrie, Henry, Chadmo with Dyl in the backpack (see above), and I went for a walk up the lane and then up the hill to check out their very impressive garden. They're growing tomatoes, green peppers, banana peppers, sweet potatoes, red potatoes, regular potatoes, corn, watermelon, pumpkins, sunflowers, green beans, cucumbers, zucchinis, and probably more things that I can't remember - it's vegetable heaven! I learned how one finds potatoes at the base of the potato plant and then following the roots, and Emrie and I played a fun game of "hide the tiny potato in the corn rows and make the other person find it". I think she could've kept it up all night! Luckily we both like to give each other hints as to the potato's location, or that could've been a seriously challenging hunt. After the garden tour we walked back to the house to have slices of the pecan pie I made (your recipe as always, Grandma McMillan!) Then Dyl was quite the sleepy girl and it was time to head home.

On our way home, Chad got pulled over for driving 59 in a 45 zone - eep! They asked for my ID too - my driver's license was in a different purse from dinner last night, but my Buck ID was accepted. :) Luckily Chadmo just got a warning, and was instructed to watch out for deer. Thank you, kind police officer!

Dyl was extra exhausted after our pulled-over detour, so she went straight to bed with no bath tonight. Here's hoping she sleeps well after a super fun evening! Thanks again for having us over, Dickersons and Howdyshells! :)