Visitors: Sharolyn and Tyler

 To start our summer off we had visitors all the way from Utah- Sharolyn, Tyler, Emmitt, and Grant came to visit us for almost a week! We love having them visit us and we love showing them the things we love about living here.

They got here late Wednesday night. Then Thursday was Paige's last day of school so I got her to school and we just played inside and I took them over to the park before I had to go get Paige. In the evening we spent a lot of time outside playing with the balls and bikes. This is something we did almost every day- balls, bikes, and go to the park. 

Lots of airplanes fly over our house on a daily basis and every time Grant heard one he would grunt and point up to the sky. It was pretty cute!

Usually my girls are pretty shy and take awhile to warm up to people but Paige and Baylor warmed up to Tyler and Sharolyn really quick!

Then after dinner on Thursday we all went to Covington Community Park and took a little walk to enjoy the beautiful scenery and find some frogs.

Someone had left pennies all through the trail on tree stumps and fallen over logs and Paige and Emmitt probably found all of them and loved looking at each stump to see if a penny was there.

Friday we made our way up to Seattle. We had lunch on the pier overlooking the Puget Sound before getting on a ferry to Bainbridge Island.

On Bainbridge Island we walked along the water to a park. We found some little sea creatures along the water and I enjoyed the walk through this little park. It was new since the last time we were here and was really pretty.

Waiting at the ferry terminal to go back to Seattle.

It was super windy on the ferry rides but Baylor loved the wind blowing in her face and hair. It was so cute to watch!

The cutest little ferry passengers in my opinion. :)

Watching as we landed back in the terminal at Seattle.

 We stopped and got some fish and chips at Ivars and took them home to eat. Nate says I am a changed woman since marrying him since now I get fish instead of chicken strips.

 Then we went over to the lake and the kids fed the ducks and played at the playground again.

Saturday morning we went over to Black Diamond to get some donuts for breakfast. 

 There is a little museum next to the bakery that wasn't open yet but we wandered around the outside of the train and took some cute pictures.

This girl loves to sit and pick up rocks and grass when she is outside.

Then Saturday afternoon Paige had a tball game so we went there and Sharolyn and Tyler and the boys stayed home and took a nap. Then we ended the day with some kayaking. I love to kayak and it is so relaxing when you get out on the lake.

 Baylor loved to sit in the wagon and then on the beach playing with the rocks and splashing her feet in the water while everyone took turns on the kayaks.

Sunday morning we had church and then after lunch we went to Saltwater State Park to enjoy the Puget Sound beach and play in the sand. I was originally thinking of going at low tide so we could see more sea creatures but being there at high tide was beautiful too and the kids loved playing in the sand for about 2 hours.  

Finding more little rocks to grab and she loved moving sand around in her fingers and toes.

 When we first got there we just walked around and found some small sea creatures before the tide came in too far. Then it got pretty hot and we wanted to find a good spot to play. I went back to the car to get a blanket to sit on and an umbrella mostly for Baylor since I forgot sunscreen. As I was going back to the car I thought to myself that I should have brought some sand toys so I looked in the car for anything that would work. I found some plastic cups and spoons and they worked perfectly and the kids loved them. Who needs fancy sand toys when you have plastic cups and spoons? :)

Monday was our last day and we went to Point Defiance Zoo in Tacoma. It was a fun day seeing all the animals. I loved the aquarium and the walrus. I helped Paige pet a little sting ray and she got to feed a bird and some goats. She also really liked seeing the monkeys swing. 

It was nice for Paige to have Uncle Tyler there to lift her up high to see the animals.

Baylor did so great and just chilled in the front pack most of the time until my back got tired and then in the wagon. She just enjoyed being outside all day.

We started with the aquarium and then we also ended the day at the aquarium since I wanted some picture with Baylor in front of some of the animals since most of the time she was in the front pack and not in any of the pictures. I am so glad we went back because these pictures with the kids and the sharks are so cute!

We got home and had some dinner and then just enjoyed the last evening together being outside and the kids loved the bikes, threw some balls and water balloons to each other, roasted some smores, and blew bubbles. It was so nice to have them travel all this way to come and see us and I hope they enjoyed their time here because we loved having them here and hope they come back soon!

Memorial Day, Garden, BFF, and More

 We had a great Memorial Day weekend. It was a beautiful weekend. We the garden all planted, did our yearly tradition of going to Tahoma National Cemetery to go see all the flags set out, and had a barbecue with Adam and Chelsea. It was a nice relaxing weekend and it was Nate's first paid holiday and he loved it. 

Anna and Scott met us at the cemetery and were there for a little bit. It was fun to walk around and I love the feeling when I walk around there. It is so peaceful and I feel so close to heaven. I love teaching my girls at a young age the importance of respecting those that have served our country.

This year we actually knew someone buried at the cemetery and it was cool to go see his gravestone and Paige put a penny on it to let him know we paid him a visit.

Nate loves the garden and we have been excited to get it all planted and to watch it grow. Nate goes out every day and checks on his plants. He loves it and I am excited to eat all the food from it. The blueberries, strawberries, and raspberries are getting really close. We planted russet potatoes, red potatoes, snap peas, pumpkins, zucchini, carrots, onions, green peppers, jalapeno peppers, roma tomatoes, and cherry tomatoes. It looks so nice all planted! Paige also loved to help and she has her own area of dirt to play in and she loves being outside.

 Nate created this cool little fence to go around some of the plants to prevent the rabbits that roam around to not eat our garden. It looks really nice.

 Addison came over to play Memorial Day weekend too. These two have so much fun together and keep each other busy. We went over to the lake to feed the ducks and they played inside and outside all day long. 

They both really loved riding these bikes. It was so cute to watch there big smiles and listening to them laughing and squealing.

Paige is still loving tball and is going to be sad when it is done. I am so glad she loves it and she look so cute in her uniform.

The past few weeks I have been working on this project for Paige's kindergarten musical. They are doing the three little pig opera. So I created the three little pig's houses and a forest area for the wolf to be at. They turned out so good and it was so much fun to do!

Nate turned 33 on the 5th of June! It was a simple day but we tried to make Nate feel as special as we could and he seemed to really enjoy the day. Paige insisted on having 33 candles so it was a lot of blow out. I love this picture with Paige helping him. 

Then this past Friday was the school's carnival. It was a pretty rainy day but Paige had a lot of fun. They had some fun carnival type games, Paige got her face painted, she got some cotton candy and other prizes. They also had some big blow up slides and obstacles outside. Paige and Addison spent at least an hour going back and forth between the two. They had so much fun! The first time Paige went down the big slide one you could see the pure look of terror on her face when she got to the top and I wasn't sure if she would go down but she did and loved it. By the end her hands were up in the air every time she went down. It was a fun evening for these two!

7 Months

 I love having this little baby around! She is so much fun and starting to laugh more and have more personality. I can't believe she is already 7 months old. Time is going by way too fast and I wish it would slow down. She is just the cutest little thing and we all adore you Baylor!

 Here is what Baylor is up to at 7 months:

• She is getting really good at sitting on her own. She still topples over at time but prefers to be sitting up and playing with anything within her reach.
• She grabs everything in sight and loves to touch everything around her- one funny thing she does when Nate is holding her is she scratches and plays with his beard.
• She is getting much better at eating and opens her mouth much better for food. She is still trying to figure out what to do with her tongue but it is progress. She loves to lick real food that we give her like fruit, ice cream, and the other day Nate did a pickle and she kept licking it.
• She hardly ever rolls over now but Nate and Paige got to see her roll from her back to her belly once. She twists and turns in a circle but doesn't like to roll.
• She still wakes up every two to three hours at night and nurses. It is tiring but I would rather nurse her and have her go right back to sleep then listen to her whine and cry. I know one of these days I may have to train her more but I have to be ready to do it.
• She laughs quite a bit mostly for Paige and Nate. They are both pretty funny.
• She still loves to kick her legs way up in the air and bring them down hard onto the ground. She does it when she is excited and happy, she does it when she wakes up in the mornings and also when you put her down to sleep if she isn't quite out she will do one big kick and then go to sleep. I call them her crazy legs and it is so cute to watch.
• She loves to bathe with Paige and when Paige splashes, Baylor goes crazy splashing with her legs. Its gets pretty wild and is to fun and cute to watch. I usually put a towel over me so I don't get too soaked.
• She loves to use her feet to hold onto things and kick and push on things. She has also realized that she can suck on her toes.
• She loves to be outside and will just sit in the grass and play with the grass. She likes to sit up in the grass but doesn't like to lay in it.
• She loves to go grocery shopping and be in the front pack and look at everything going on around her.

And here is some more cute pictures of the most adorable 7 month old around. I love this little baby of mine!

 Pictures are getting harder with putting her on her blanket because once you lay her down on it she likes to grab it and cuddle with it and hang onto it.

Pure look of adoration for her sister.