Crafts and Tacoma Nature Center

 Paige truly has the most amazing imagination and can create anything that she thinks of. She wanted an apron to do her own pretend cooking and also to have one when she helps me cook. She created these aprons, one for her and one to match for her baby doll.

Paige loves to play with her baby dolls and pretends they are her sisters or her own babies. She also at times as pretend friends that she plays with. Being the only one she entertain herself most of the time and is really good at playing by herself. She created this paper sister and named her Lacey. She made sure Lacey had matching clothes with her and she played and danced with her. She had Lacey be her sister for a few days and I am sure Lacey will come out again.

 I love to see the way Paige thinks to make her creations better. She put popsicle sticks on the back to make it stronger on top and got the white stick to move her around.

 A new day= a new outfit.

 She even slept next to Paige at night on the floor.

 We are now into school and Paige is loving every minute of it. She makes friends so easily and I love it when I walk Paige to school and see all her friends saying hi to her. It is cute to hear her daily stories from her day and her excitement to do homework. This picture was her first day of homework. I like kindergarten homework- coloring and reading. :) 

 This past Saturday was a beautiful fall day and we decided to go on another little adventure before all the rain this week. We went to the Tacoma Nature Center. It has this fun, nature inspired playground, a interactive and information center, and this beautiful mile walk through the trees and with two bridges.

First Paige explored the playground

 We then went into the information center and they have lots of kid activities and some turtles which is what Paige really liked. 

Then we went on the walk. This was the first bridge and it goes over the water and we spotted four turtles swimming around.

 We then went back and Paige played on the playground for a little bit before we had a little picnic. It was a nice little outing.

Kindergarten

 I can't believe that I have a little girl that is old enough to go to kindergarten. I love seeing her grow, learn, and develop and I have loved every stage of raising this little one but I wish she would stop growing up so fast. I have had a hard time coming to terms with the fact that I have a child old enough to go to school and that she would be gone all day. I love having her as my constant companion and having our daily adventures together. I know that she will love school and she going to excel. She has been pretty excited about it but also nervous. We had a teacher meeting last week and I think that helped her see that it is a lot like preschool and it made her even more excited. I am so glad that I she did the preschool program last year. It has helped her grow and be more confident and it made this transition to kindergarten so much easier. 

Here are some things about Paige as a kindergartner:

Favorite Color: Pink and Teal

Favorite Food: Spaghetti and Chicken Crescents

Favorite Thing We Did This Summer: Staying at the hotel this past weekend and swimming in the hotel pool and also swimming at the local pool

One Thing That I Love: My baby sister

What I Want To Be When I Grow Up: A Mom

We did a little back to school photo shoot Monday evening. She is just so cute and I just love her with all my heart!

 It was her idea to bring the books for props and I love them. She is my little reader and loves books. This summer she read a lot and her reading improved so much over the summer.

 And of course with this silly girl there were some silly pictures mixed in there. She is so much like her dad and loves to be silly and make people laugh.

 Rapunzel joined us on this photo shoot since according to Paige she is starting preschool the same day that Paige starts kindergarten.

 Paige was so excited last night to get everything ready for the big day. She picked out what outfit she wanted to wear. We got all her school supplies organized and put in her backpack and then she enjoyed helping prep her lunch. Nate gave her a priesthood blessing before she went to bed which is always so sweet to witness. It was a smooth sailing night and she is ready for school to begin.

This morning she woke up to notes all over from her dad. It truly made it her day and made her excited for the day to begin. Nate is one amazing and loving dad!

 This one was her favorite and she thought it was so funny. It was on the toilet lid.

 All ready to head out the door for her first day of kindergarten!

 Waiting in the line with her new class waiting to go into her classroom for the first time this year.

 All the parents got to walk into the classroom so it was a bit overwhelming. I could tell Paige was excited but also a bit nervous and overwhelmed. While we were waiting outside her preschool teacher happened to be helping with her class for today and it was so nice of her to come up and talk to Paige. Paige did great at listening to instructions even though she was a bit hesitant. I helped her get settled and then they all got coloring pages to focus on. While they were coloring parents said their quick goodbyes. I didn't want to prolong it too much since I knew that would make it worse for her and me. I said a quick goodbye and I love you and she waved to me as I walked out. She was so brave and didn't have any tears. 

Nate came home early from work so he could see Paige come home from school. He made her some more notes this time to welcome her home. She was one happy girl and had a great day! She was excited to see some friends from preschool and from our church ward in the other classes at lunch time and got to play with them at recess. 

I hope the entire school year goes as well as her first day did. I knew she would love it. Sweet Paige I hope you continue to be brave and confident. I hope you are a good listener and a helper to those around you. Be your sweet self and everyone will love you!

Labor Day Weekend

 We decided to end our summer with a fun little vacation before Paige started school. We left Friday once Nate got home from work and our first stop was in Seattle at the Goodwill and then we found a small park in Marysville to eat a lunch I packed and Paige got to play on the playground for a little bit.

 Then we made it up to Bellingham and went to this awesome park called Whatcom Falls Park. This was my favorite park of the whole trip. It was a beautiful forest area with a nice walk along a river with a waterfall and lots of wading areas. It would be fun to go up another year and stay longer and swim.

 Then we checked into our hotel in Bellingham. Paige loved staying at the hotel and her favorite part of the trip was swimming in the hotel pool. It was pretty cold but it was fun to have it to yourselves.

 The next morning we slept in and enjoyed the hotel breakfast before heading out. We first stopped at Larrabee State Park which is a little south of Bellingham. It is right on the Sound and we enjoyed looking at all the little tide pools and seeing all the smalls creatures. There were lots of little crabs under all the rocks. Paige really liked the hermit crabs and even held a couple.

 We then enjoyed a little lunch before driving down to Mukilteo State Park. It was pretty crowded and hot here but it is also on the Sound. This beach is a rocky beach but the water felt really good. It is right where a ferry stop is so we got to watch a couple of ferries come and go.

 There is also a lighthouse here that Paige and I walked up to the top and got to see the beautiful view.

We made a few more stops on the way home at some thrift stores and to get dinner. It was a really fun little getaway. We had a nice and restful Sunday and then Monday we went to the Labor Day parade in Black Diamond with Anna and Scott and their family and got lots of candy. It was such a nice weekend and we are now ready for school to start. I can't believe I have a little girl going to kindergarten!