June Photo a Day Week 4+

June Photo a Day inspired by Fat Mum Slim

6/22

From a high angle


Just another day at the park.

6/23

Movement


This is the day we went to Minnehaha Falls and Riley clogged the creek up with rocks. Ok, so it wasn't quite like that, but I was ready to host an intervention as she did not want to stop throwing rocks into the water. Maybe she'll be a geologist when she gets older... or a shot put thrower. 

6/24

On your mind

I own a duplex that I rent out and I've been lucky enough to have the same (reliable) renters for the last couple of years. However, due to one couple buying a home and another running off to grad school out of state I was facing two empty units. I've been through the process of finding renters for many years. I've owned this house for about 10 years and then have helped my dad with his rentals for the last 22 years as well. Let's just say it's not my favorite thing to do. Sometimes you don't get much of a response or the people who do respond are undesirable tenants. You set up appointments and the potential renters decide to just not show up. You have multiple people wanting the unit and you have to say 'no' to someone. It can be a headache. This year I posted the ad on Craigslist and removed it a day later because I had too many people calling. It was insane. I've NEVER seen it like this before. I had heard there were a lot of renters out there, but I didn't know it was quite like this. I ended up scheduling two days of showings. Each day I blocked out two hours and scheduled people every 15 minutes... and then had to double book because that's how many people called in 1 day. 

I was lucky to have a lot of great potential renters apply. Unfortunately, I only had two units available so I had to turn a lot of people down. I hope I made the right decision with the ones I did choose.

6/25

Something cute

After I get home from work I try to get Riley outside to play most days. This night we were drawing with chalk on the sidewalk when she decided she wanted to hang on my back... then started chewing on my hair. Weird kid. 

6/26

Where you shop

This shopping trip was sort of out of the norm. On a normal Tuesday I wouldn't have gone anywhere to shop... or on most days to be honest. My husband does the grocery shopping while I am at work so I don't usually go shopping. I've really been wanting to pick up a book on parenting a toddler and I had a few hours in the morning before work so I headed out to Barnes and Noble. When we walked in the door Riley said "look at all the books" with a look of amazement on her face. I let her pick out a book (she loved this Dora one that came with a play cell phone) and then we headed over to the parenting books.

I've been struggling with being a parent of a toddler lately. Riley is a spirited kid which is in conflict with Jesse and my easy going personalities. I figure it's mostly because she is 2, but I also worry that Jesse and I aren't consistent enough in our parenting styles. I think there are things that both of us could improve on so I was hoping to find a book that would help give us a little guidance. I picked up The Happiest Toddler on the Block by Harvey Karp, mostly because I couldn't find the book I was looking for (probably because I can't remember the name). If anyone has a good book suggestion please let me know.   

6/27

Bathroom

Riley had a few days where she was all about trying out the potty and even went #2 on the toilet so I thought I would introduce potty training to her more. We give her opportunities all the time, but she never seems very interested. She's at least now willing to sit on the toilet more often than not, but I don't think she's ready for us to go all in so for now we are adding stickers to this new chart for even sitting on the potty. At least she seems pretty excited about getting stickers. We are making little steps so I'm not too worried about her general lack of interest at this time. 

6/28

On the shelf

Books, books, and more books.

6/29

Soft

My other baby, Diablo.

6/30

A Friend

Or two friends. My friend, Susannah, was in town from Duluth to represent female veterans at the MN Twins game. We had a chance to go with her to the game, but decided it would be a bad idea to take a two and a half year old to an open stadium game during her nap time while it was 90 degrees. But we did get to hang out the night before with another high school friend, Joanna. The three of us, along with my hubby and Susannah's boyfriend, Jim, went to dinner at Salut in Edina. I had been wanting to try this place for some time. It was pretty good, but I think I had high hopes as it wasn't as good as I thought it would be. I will totally go back if anyone wants to sit on the patio and share the calamari with me. Nummy and a little spicy.

See June Photo a Day week 1, 2, and 3.