First Day of Summer

The first day of summer actually felt like summer! Super warm and sunny and perfect. Here is how we spent that glorious day.

Grandma bought them squirt guns for Easter so they tried those out.

And squirted the trees,

and each other,

and the roses.

And each other some more.

The girls had a picnic.

Levi's bitter beer face.

He enjoyed playing on the blanket outside, both clothed.....

....and unclothed.

Sun River Vacation

Last Wednesday, we left for a vacation to Sun River. It was fun, a little relaxing/little stressful, and definitely something we want to do again! Now we'll spend the next few days getting used to our at-home routine again.


This is how we roll with three kids and a dog on vacation.


Levi got to sit by Wyatt.



We rented a house in Sun River for the long weekend. We love vacationing in rented homes because we can bring our dog instead of putting him in a kennel and we can bring all the food we need instead of going out all the time. The kids also have much more room to run in a house rather than a hotel room. The house we rented had a cowboy theme with western/cowboy decor all over. Erika kept referring to "when the cowboys come back home".

Breakfast time.

The vacation rental is part of the homeowners association that has access to the community pools. We definitely took advantage of it! The girls absolutely love the water....as do Matt and I. Levi liked it okay, but only stuck his feet in. We swam almost every day and had such a fun time. They had this kiddie pool that was only one to two feet deep. Erika liked it because she felt comfortable to put her face in and swim a little bit. Laurel lost her footing and went under water once, but Matt was right there to get her. She was a little more hesitant about the water after that, but is pretty fearless about most things so it didn't bother her much.

Erika in the pool. Please note the lady's hat in the background. Funny.

This was Laurel's first real time in the pool. Last summer, we tried to get her into a swimming pool, but she didn't like it much. She loved it this time, though!

Perfect depth for non-swimmers. There was a deeper pool that Matt and I went in. I even went down the water slide....super fun! There was a little slide for kids to go down so we strapped on life vests on the girls and let them do the slide with Matt catching them at the bottom. That was a huge hit!

Levi got to be the chubby kid at the pool who had to wear a shirt! Since the weather wasn't super hot, but the sun was out, we kept him covered so he could stay warm and not get burned. He did like putting his feet and legs in, though.

Water baby.

The pool was really warm, almost too warm to be refreshing. But, it was not super hot out that day so it was a good temperature mix.

The house we rented had a hot tub so we let the kids play in it. They loved it! Levi just got to put his feet in, but Laurel and Erika went in completely. Laurel thought it was a bit hot. Erika had no problem with the temperature!

Levi is ready for his hot tub adventure.

Excited for the hot tub!

Getting used to the hot water and the loud noise the drain made. Even Wyatt wasn't sure about the new noise.

Dipping his feet in.

"It's hot!"

Seriously!? Isn't he the cutest ever?

The resort area that we stayed in had miles and miles of bike trails. It was beautiful and so much fun! We borrowed a bike trailer from some friends so the girls got to ride in the back of that. Matt went on a two-mile bike ride with them ending at a park to play in. I walked the two miles with Levi in his backpack. Bad idea for me. He is super heavy and two miles is a long time to walk with a baby on your back. The fun part was, when I reached the park, Matt and the girls were already done playing so they were heading back. So, Levi and I turned around and walked the two miles back home. I took advantage of the hot tub that night. I was super sore! After a couple days of recovery, I took the girls on a bike ride in the trailer. We only made it a few minutes away from the house before they started moving too much and making it difficult for me to pedal my bike. Definitely an activity they can enjoy with Daddy rather than Mommy....he is a better bike rider with little people riding behind him! They really liked it, though.

Library Card

Erika was very proud to get her first library card last week. She got to sign her name with a pen, which she thought was very grown up! She requested a joke book as her first check out and we have been reading knock-knock jokes for a few days now.....good times.

Half a Year

Levi is half a year old today! He went to the doctor yesterday for his well-child check and he is doing great. He weighs 17 pounds, 4 ounces and is 27 1/4 inches long.....big healthy boy! It seems like the last month he had really developed, grown, and matured a lot. His whining and crying has gone down considerably and is a lot more content to be left on his own. Especially at naptime and some days during bedtime. It used to be a screaming treat for me to leave him alone on the floor, but now as long as he has some toys, and maybe a sister or two, to keep him occupied, he's pretty good! He is working on sitting up by himself, but can only do it for about 10 seconds or so. The main problem with sitting on his own is that he is so active that he throws himself backwards and then topples over. He loves jumping and rolls to get to a toy he wants. He is showing signs of wanting to crawl and will scoot a little while on the floor, but I don't think it is intentional as much as it is the fact that he just won't be still! He is starting to push him bottom up in the air when he's on his tummy, though, so maybe he will get the hang of crawling soon. Levi is a super cute little boy and is well behaved and content for the majority of the time. We are very lucky that he is part of our family!

What's that, you say, it is my half-birthday?

Do I get any cake?

Fishing Trip

We spent the first gorgeous weekend of the year fishing at a lake close to where Matt works. It was a perfect Saturday activity! We told the girls a few days ago our plans and they were pretty excited this morning when it was actually time to go. Erika went fishing with Matt last season, but this was Laurel and Levi's first trip out. Laurel loved it! Erika tolerated it for a few minutes, but just does not like to sit still and wait for long. Once she got bored, we hiked around in a small grove of trees right next to where we were fishing. The fishing spot we chose was on a small cliff that had about a 2.5 to 3 foot drop to the water. I spent the majority of my morning worrying that one of the girls was going to go over the edge. We fished for about 30 to 45 minutes before the girls scared me enough that we packed up and left. We drove around the lake looking for a place to dip our feet in the water, but the water was too high and all the beachy areas were covered. We brought a picnic lunch and ate that and played for a while before heading home. It was a lot of fun and we are really looking to going back!

Laurel can't wait to begin her fishing adventure. I love the girls rubber boots with their shorts.

Daddy getting the princess fishing poles ready.

Erika was excited at the beginning of the trip.

Laurel turned out to be quite the little fisherwoman.

Mommy and Levi didn't fish, but did enjoy the day.

Love them!

Daddy teaching Laurel about fishing.

This is what we do when we get bored fishing. We pick flowers.

Spiderman

About a year ago, Erika went to a little boy's birthday party. He got quite a few Spiderman items as presents. So, in her little 3-year-old mind, she assumed Spiderman meant "boy". She always wants to buy Levi Spiderman paraphernalia and makes comments about how much he will love Spiderman when he is older. The latest manly Spiderman reference came yesterday when she told me we should make Spiderman cookies for Daddy for Father's Day. Amid all the princess, Barbie and My Little Pony stuff in our house, it will be fun to have some Spiderman thrown in!