That’s right, 6 MONTHS! Our sweet little Allyssa is finally 6 months old today. It’s been a lot of fun being a daddy and it gets better every day. It’s so great to watch her smile when she sees me for the first time every morning. She is always so very happy no matter what. Even when she is just relaxing on the couch (and daddy is taking pictures) she has a big smile.

We know that before long this will change, cause soon she will start to feel the pain for teething. Neither mommy nor daddy are looking forward to that. As a parent, it’s just so hard to see your children in pain, especially when there just isn’t much you can do about it.

I took about a dozen photos this evening and there isn’t a single one of them where she isn’t smiling. People say we must be blessed since we have such a wonderfully happy baby. I think it’s just because she knows she has the love and support of both her mommy and daddy.

You might still be able to see the small bruise on her forehead above her left eye. She had her first accident earlier this week. She was enjoying some rolling time on the living room floor while mommy and daddy were getting dinner ready. She found the cord to mommy’s PDA recharger that was sitting on top of the entertainment center and pulled it down on herself. She cried for a few minutes until daddy picked her up and then she seemed to be fine. A little ice on the bump while she was eating and the whole incident was quickly forgotten. It think it bothered mommy and daddy more then it did her, so the task of baby proofing has gone into full swing.

This past weekend we spent a wonderfully relaxing weekend in Green Lake, WI where Aunt Joanne and Uncle Bob, as well as Aunt Kathleen and Uncle Stan live. We stopped by Kathleen and Stan’s first for a few hours and enjoyed the back deck as you can see in the first photo. It was a beautiful day with just about perfect weather. The ulterior motive for going out to Green Lake this weekend was to go down to North Freedom for a Fall Color Train Ride. More on that later.

While we were visiting with Kathleen, we decided that since the weather was so nice we’d take Allyssa out to the swing out back for her first ride. The swing she is using to the left is one that my mother had for her other grandchildren, and gave it to Kathleen a few years ago. Little did she know that she wasn’t done having grandchildren, but at least Allyssa was still able to enjoy the swing. Since she loves to move around and be moved around, she really enjoyed swinging. Guess we will have to get one for her.

After visiting with Kathleen and Stan for a while, we drove over to Joanne and Bob’s, who planned to join us for the train trip. We drove down on Saturday morning and picked up our reserved, first class tickets. To the right you can see that Laura seems to be enjoying herself, but Allyssa isn’t quite sure what to think. This is her first ride on a train, but I can assure you it won’t be her last.

We had reserved first class because the car was supposed to be air conditioned. Turns out the air conditioning unit had stopped working a few weeks ago, so we would have to endure the heat. Thought it was a bit warm out that day, the trip itself wasn’t too bad, and Allyssa and I truly did enjoy the trip.

The train ride is an out and back ride, and for the first half of the trip we were at the back of about an 8 car consist. The problems started at the end of the line, when the locomotive (diesel – they still don’t have steam running) ran around the train to pull us back to the station. This put us, still in the last car, right next to the locomotive. Allyssa didn’t like the sound of the horn – it was very loud – so that left me watching for whistle posts the rest of the trip so mommy could cover her ears. That seemed to solve the problem.

Grandma (my mother) went along with us for the weekend, though she didn’t go on the train ride with us. Here you can see Allyssa enjoying some quality time out on the deck at Joanne and Bob’s. I got in some quality time out on the hammock, but alas, nobody took up the camera and got a picture. Allyssa really loved swinging with daddy – next time I will make sure to get some pics.

The weekend away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life really did me a world of good. I have always enjoyed going to the lake, and I hope it can become a part of our regular family activities. It sure is wonderful to have such loving relatives who make us feel so welcome every time we visit.

She has since rolled from her back to her stomach a few more times, but other than that first time, she hasn’t yet figured out how to onto her back from her tummy yet. Unfortunately when we want her to try, instead she ends up frustratingly stranded on her tummy. I am sure though that soon she will be doing the full roll when she chooses.