Staying busy!

Daddy's been working nights, supervising a sewer line repair project, so we've been trying to stay out of the house during the afternoons to let him sleep. Kennedy gets the idea of being quiet, and she even says, "Shh! we have to be quiet because daddy is sleeping!", but actually keeping her voice down is another thing. Last week, the girls had lots of fun outings with Pamp, Grammie, Grandma Sue, Grandpa Brent and Mama to keep busy:

Monday - zoo!

Tuesday - Grandma Sue's!

Wednesday - playground and the farm!

Thursday - natural history museum and a visit to mom's office!

Friday - zoo and swimming at Pamp's!

Saturday - aquarium and the toy store!

Sunday - farm, family dinner, and swimming!

It feels like we're trying to cram in all these last minute adventures before school starts! Jake has the night shift again this week, so I'm sure we'll be visiting many of these places again. It's been a fun but exhausting week.

Spruces camp-out

We spent the weekend up Big Cottonwood Canyon at the Spruces for the annual family camp-out. Friday night when we drove up it was pouring rain. It had cleared enough for us to set up the tent by the time we got there, but it was cold, muddy and wet! We ate our Lonestar takeout in the tent and then ventured out to sit around the fire and roast marshmallows. Even with the rain hitting the tent roof, Macy slept all night long, but Kennedy woke up a few times. We all shared one big sleeping bag, so it was warm enough but not exactly comfortable. Saturday we woke up to more rain and some hail! We waited for breakfast, but decided to leave before it was finished cooking. With the two kids and the weather it just seemed better to head home for a while. I wish I had taken some pictures to show just how hard it was raining, but the idea of leaving the shelter of the tarp to get the camera seemed crazy! We had our own pancake breakfast and then everyone got a nap. After the storm had cleared we went back up for a steak and potato dinner. All the aunts, uncles and cousins sat around the fire telling favorite camp stories - mine was a trip Jake and I took to the sand dunes and his was our snowshoe trip with Lisha, Armando and Skip to the yurt in McCall, Idaho. Sunday we woke up to beautiful weather and the kids all had a great time running around the campsite. Huck and Kennedy were so cute playing ring-around-the-rosies and then falling down in the dirt. Jake painted some faces, we read books, made necklaces and hats and spent time chatting with the family. The weekend ended with a delicious dutch oven turkey dinner...and then the kids fell asleep in the car on the way home. When they woke up, it was straight to the tub!

A proud mommy moment

Hooray! I got to see Macy roll from her stomach to her back for the first time! She was napping in her crib tonight with her legs tucked up under her. When she woke up she was able to plop herself over and then gave me a huge smile! I felt so fortunate to be there just at the right moment! She's really mastered the back to stomach roll, so now that she can go the other direction too we really have to watch her more carefully! Macy is just growing up so fast. It makes me a little sad each time she outgrows something. When we started establishing a more normal bedtime routine, I really missed her falling asleep on the couch next to me while we watched tv at night. When she moved out of our room and started sleeping in Kennedy's room last month, I was sad and lonely for a few days. Jake took down the bassinet this weekend and I almost started crying. I love each new stage and accomplishment, but at the same time I want her to stay just as she is. Everything about our family feels perfect right now, but I know we're in for many more exciting things to come!

Goldilocks

Grandma Sue put Kennedy's hair in curlers. Doesn't she look adorable!? Let's get this girl entered into a beauty pageant (I've been watching too much "Toddlers and Tiaras" - there's no way that I would ever be that kind of mom!!!) Let's see, what could her talent be? She loves to sing, especially in the car, sometimes with actual words and a tune and other times in her own Kennedy language. If you sing with her she might say, "I asked you a question. Don't sing with me, mama!" She loves to dance, but it's mostly spinning around in circles until she falls down. She can recite way too many lines from her favorite movie "Ratatouille". The other night we were having dinner and she said to her dad, "Go to work, Little Chef!" She'll tell you that her favorite parts are when "the man dumps the wine on the rat's head" and when Little Chef smells the soup "he gets really big, fat cheeks and he goes bleeh." (We always have to rewind and watch that part at least three times). Kennedy will also let you know that " I don't like the scary parts" and she covers her mouth when they come on (even though I skip past those scenes). I love this girl!!! It's so much fun watching her mind at work. You never know what she's going to be talking about, but it's always an interesting conversation!

Fun with the cousins

Kennedy loves to play with her cousins Eliza and Huck. She and Huck are just three months apart and when the two of them get together it is so fun to watch. A few weeks ago they were having a ball pouring water on the kids picnic table, while Eliza was trying to dry it off. They giggled each time they dumped another container of water on, knowing very well that they were making her mad. On Sunday Kennedy and Huck were playing some game that involved counting, jumping off the porch and throwing their plastic utensils from dinner. They were both so cute in their boots, but they wouldn't cooperate and pose for pictures. Then later they were filling up the trunk of a bike with rocks. I don't know how they come up with these games, but they just seem to understand each other so well - it's like they are in their own little world.

Meeting Uncle Andy

We missed Andy and Meg in Sun Valley, but Andy came to visit us and do a two week internship at a vet clinic here. This was his first time meeting Macy. I think they hit it off (and I think she looks a bit like him). We went on an adventure to Cabela's, and I wish that I'd had the camera. Kennedy loved all the animals and has been talking about it non-stop. We also found some really cute pirate bear and moose rain boots, which she insisted on wearing right away. We played some guitar hero, had lots of family dinners, and went running in the park. It was so fun to have him here, but the time went by too fast. Hopefully Andy and Meg can come back soon.

Sun Valley

We went to Sun Valley for our annual family vacation - we've been going there over the 24th of July for the last five years! It was nice to have our new car this year for all of the extra kid and baby gear (not to mention two sets of golf clubs) that we brought along. A stop at the Twin Falls Costco is also part of the tradition to get gas and load up on food and drinks for the week. Everyone was very well behaved in the car, which means that they both slept most of the way!

We stayed in the Lake Cottage at the Sun Valley Resort this year. We ended up in the master bedroom because it had a giant bathroom/closet where we could set up the port-a-crib and roll-a-way bed for Kennedy - which she refused to sleep in, preferring to share the king bed with us. Most nights the only way we could get her to go to sleep was to read lots of stories and then finally resort to turning on a movie and lying in bed with her. My aunt learned that the woman who used to own this home used to do some entertaining in the bathroom/closet. I have no idea why anyone would want party guests to spend time in this space! It was great for us all to be together in the house, and we took advantage of the patio and cooked on the grill almost every night. Jeff and Kennedy built some amazing things with the blocks they found in the toy closet. The adults spent lots of time around the dining room table doing sodukus, crossword puzzles and playing a game called bananagrams (very fun! it's like scrabble, but you each build your own board). We watched the Tour de France in the den. Grandpa Ray was a little lost, forgetting where his bedroom was (and sometimes even that we were in Sun Valley), but the house worked well for all eleven of us. We were sad that Andrew and Meg couldn't make it.

Of course we also spent lots of time outside in the pool, on the golf course and on the tennis court. Jake and Jeff found some geocaches in Hailey. Jake and I took the kids on a nice walk to Elk Horn and we took the required pictures of everyone at the Hemmingway statue and with the three bears. I'm not sure why, but the picture with the bears is a big deal and is always the last thing we do before leaving. No biking, bowling or ice skating this year. I have to say that I missed riding my bike because Sun Valley has such great bike lanes. Macy is still a bit too small for the bike trailer. She did have a great time playing on her mat on the floor, pushed in the stroller, and being carried everywhere. She's one happy baby!

Kennedy managed to get hurt just about every day - she tripped going down the patio stairs and skinned her knee and nose...those are not freckles on her nose in the pictures :) She scratched her thigh on a dresser drawer while jumping on the bed. She tripped again and scraped her elbow and other knee. And the worst was when she pulled the swinging kitchen door over her toe. She was really in pain from that one, and the toenail wouldn't stop bleeding, so we took a trip to the St. Luke's emergency room. Kennedy kept saying through her sobs, "My toe is bleeding! It really, really, really hurts!" It turns out that everything was just fine, but they soaked it in a cleaning solution and gave her some tylenol. We're still waiting for the nail to fall off, but it will be any day now. Even with all of the injuries, Kennedy did NOT want to go home. She loved Sun Valley so much and cried when we packed up to leave. She said, "Let's not go home. I want to stay in Sun Valley!" I guess we'll have to come back next year!