End of July Adventures

 I can't believe that it is already the end of July. Summer is flying by way too fast. I am not ready for summer to be over and for Paige to go back to school. I love having both my girls home all day and that we can do whatever we want whenever we want. It has been pretty hot so we have spent a lot of time outside at the lake, inside enjoying the air conditioned house or waiting until evening to enjoy the slightly cooler evenings playing on the grass. I love summer evenings with my little family and just the little moments of drawing with chalk, throwing some sort of ball around, or watching Baylor play in the grass while Paige does gymnastics. 

Baylor got to try out the cart seat at the store for the first time and loved it and of course big sister Paige had to be the one to push her. Paige is a big help with Baylor. Paige will watch her so I can take a quick shower. If Baylor is fussing Paige will find her pacifier or even pick her up to soothe her. She loves to pick out her clothes for the day and even gets her dressed on occasion. She will also change her diaper every once in a while. Every mom needs a good helper like Paige!

We have been enjoying lots of berries for the past few months. First it was strawberries so I made lots of jam and I found out that I am allergic to strawberry leaves. Every time I would pick them I would get a rash on my arms and it would be super itchy. The delicious jam and berries were worth it though and the next batch of strawberries should be coming on soon. Then came the raspberries. Every few days I would go pick them and then I have been freezing them. Now is blueberry time. I will probably freeze them but haven't gotten to that point yet. We have been enjoying eating them right now.

 My two little cooking helpers. Paige loves to help me cook- pour things in and turn the mixer on and off. I am sure Baylor will want to help more as she gets bigger. Right now she just wants to grab everything in sight!

 This past week we went and played in the lake three different days! It was a lot of fun and both girls loves the water. One of those days was with Julia, Wyatt, and Jessie. They came over and picked some blueberries then we went to the lake for lunch and swimming. They had a lot of fun and it was cute to see them interact and I always love to visit with Julia.

Babies in swimsuits is just the cutest thing!

 Then Saturday for our weekend adventure we went to Saltwater State Park. We got some fried chicken from Safeway and had some lunch once we got to the park. Then we spent time exploring since it was low tide and then they girls played in the sand for awhile before heading home. It was a hot day but the breeze off the water felt great and I always love going to the Sound.

Notice all the mussels that we walked through.

 Seaweed and hermit crabs. Under a few rocks there were hundreds of little hermit crabs that we would pick up by the handful and just watch them on our hands as they came out of their shells.

We even dipped our feet in the water and it felt so good on the hot day!

 Baylor loved digging in the sand!

 Paige wanted to be a mermaid with a sea shell fin. The sand was pretty dry so this is how far we got but she still liked it.

 It was a fun little outing with my fun little family.

Remlinger Farms

I got a groupon to Remlinger earlier in the month and I decided it was best to take Addison with us so that Paige always had someone to go on the ride with. It was the perfect day and we were there from the time it opened until it closed. The weather turned out perfect. It was cloudy most of the day so it wasn't too hot. It was so much fun watching these two cute girls go from ride to ride with big smiles on their faces.

Baylor and I got to go a couple of the ride but mostly just watched. We got to go on the train and Baylor liked being out of her stroller and really liked it when we saw the goats.

They went on the horses twice. 

Then this one last ride before we took a break and ate the lunch that I had packed.

I love this car ride and the girls did too. It was fun that Baylor and I got to join them and Baylor loved holding onto the steering wheel in the back. We went on this ride like 6 times and each time Addison and Paige would take turns who would drive and Baylor and I went along for the ride.

Next up was the hay maze and hay pit.

 Baylor wasn't quite sure about it.

 Then they discovered the joy of the roller coaster. When they first saw it they weren't sure if they wanted to go on it. I'm glad they tried it because they loved it. After the first time they got off and ran to me yelling "again, again!". They went over and over and loved it. It was so cute watching them and catching their reactions on camera. I would have loved to go on the roller coaster with them because I love roller coasters. I enjoyed watching them though and seeing them have the joy of it. That is what parenting is about- sacrificing things you want to do and seeing the joy of your child experiencing things.

 While the two older girls went on the roller coaster over and over, Baylor got a nap in her stroller. I'm glad she was able to get some sleep even with everything going on around her.

 They took a short break from the roller coast to see a few more things like feeding the goats.

 And going on a little ferris wheel- they were so cute going around as they were holding hands.

 They did the bike track a couple of times.

And they went on these two spinning rides a few times each. Rides like these I am so glad that I didn't have to go on them and Paige had someone to go on them with her. I hate spinning rides and get sick so easily. They were all smiles with it!

 Then to end the day they went on the roller coaster a few more times.

 It was such a fun day!

Titlow Park

 Friday we checked out a new park on the Sound- Titlow Park in Tacoma. This park has a playground and splash park but also if you got on a little walk then you go to the beach right on the Sound. When we first got there it was super crazy! It was a hot day and the parking lot was full since everyone wanted to go to the splash park. Nate ended up dropping me and the girls off while he drove around. I packed everything and found a great spot under a tree for shade to have our picnic. During this time someone happened the leave at the right time and Nate found the perfect parking spot in the shade. We had our lunch and made the short walk to the water. It was super busy at the playground/splash park but on the Sound it was so quiet and peaceful and just a couple other people. We got out there close to low tide for the day and it was amazing. There were so many little sea creatures to find and look at and the view was perfect.

 Paige was brave enough to hold a little crab this time. She is much braver than her mom when it comes to creepy, crawly things.

This was my first time seeing sea cucumbers and there were also these little eels under some rocks. They were so cool. Along with these we saw some different kinds of sea anemone, hermit crabs, small to medium crabs and even a couple larger crabs about the size of my hand. There were lots of little shells and barnacles too.

 Hermit crab

 I held a sea cucumber!

 Baylor loved splashing her feet in the water.

 Perfect day with my amazing family!

 She loves playing in the rocks with her hands and feet- digging and swishing around the rocks along with throwing them.

 These two girls enjoyed digging in the sand and sit in the shade for awhile. The weather wasn't too bad since we were right on the water. We were at the park for about 4 hours and most of the time we spent on the Sound.

 We then walked back to the playground and let Paige explore the playground and play at the splash park for a while before heading home.

 Baylor enjoyed a nap in the shade while big sister had fun on the playground.

It was such a fun day and a park I would definitely go to again!