A Family Day...

Very rarely, do we not have somewhere we need to be on a Sunday. So when Sunday rolled around and we had absolutely nothing planned, we thought, why not take Sophia to the park? If you recall, Sunday was quite hot and we were thinking there would be a ton of kids at the park. We grabbed lunch at Subway and took it to the park to eat. We were pretty surprised when we drove up and saw only one other family there. Then we realized everyone else was probably near a pool keeping cool. Once we sat down at a picnic table under the shade, the temperature wasn't all that bad. After eating our sandwiches and trying to get Sophia to finish hers, we finally gave in and took her on the swings. She hasn't been to the park for a few months now, and seeing her expression when Jeff started pushing her on the swings was priceless! She was having an absolute blast and was grinning from ear to ear and laughing. Next we took her on the play structure and down the slide. Last time we took her we had to help her, but this time she was able to go down the slide all by herself, and it made me realize just how much time had passed by since our last visit to the park. After that we took her for a walk around the park and though she's a busy girl, we were able to capture some recent pictures of me and Jeff with her. We had such a nice, relaxing time at the park, just our little family, and we hope to start simplifying life and taking time
for these family days more often.

Our Anniversary Trip...

Though, our 7 year anniversary was back in June, Jeff and I waited until last weekend to take our trip to Redmond, to ensure that we would get nice weather. Well, there was no question about that! After dropping Sophia off at my parents on the way, we headed to Redmond, Oregon where we would stay at the Eagle Crest Resort for the weekend. Last year Jeff surprised me with a trip to Lincoln City, for our anniversary, so this year it was my turn. Jeff had no idea where we were staying and was quite surprised when I had picked a golf resort as our location (Jeff loves golf!). When we arrived we stepped out of the car and into a dry hot 90 degrees. It felt wonderful and I couldn't wait to enjoy all the resort had to offer in such gorgeous weather! Our first night we got settled in and then took a nice relaxing walk along the path that paralleled the golf course. We saw deer, rabbits, and ground squirrels. There was a light breeze, but it was still warm, and it was so perfect! Then we headed back to our room where we had a pizza delivered and watched a movie. The next morning we slept in until 11:00 (the first time that has happened in forever!), got breakfast at the resort and then headed off to the spa to get full body massages. Neither Jeff or I had ever had a massage before, and man were they amazing! I had so much tension in my shoulders and back from lifting and carrying Sophia. She ran her hands up my spine and it felt like she completely realigned my entire back! Jeff and I were both so relaxed after wards. We were wondering why we had waited so long to get a massage. I think we're both addicted now and will be having another one before the baby is born. After our massage, we went to one of the three outdoor pools to cool off and do some tanning. The sun felt amazing and it was so nice to lay out in the sun and just relax! After cooling off in the pool we decided to go for a bike ride. This resort has 22 miles of paved biking trails and they also have different styles of bikes you can rent to ride. We rented two bikes and off we went. While on our bike ride, we just decided to follow the paths and it would lead us back to the resort. Well, we were very wrong, lol. After 10 miles and two hours later, we finally arrived back at the resort (who knows where we had ended up?). By that time, it was 8:00pm, and we were starving! We had a yummy dinner at Niblicks (a restaurant on the resort), and then headed back to our room to watch another movie. After all the bike riding, Jeff and I were exhausted and fell asleep the moment our heads hit the pillow. The next morning (Sunday), we checked out and went to a cafe for breakfast. We still had one more thing to do before we headed for home. Jeff had really wanted to play their putting course. It's like a mini-golf course for familes with real grass and real sand bunkers and water. We played the course and had so much fun and I didnt even do half bad! I only got two over par, which is pretty good for a beginner. We had so much fun the entire weekend that we both wished we could stay one more day. But then on the other hand, we really missed Sophia and couldn't wait to see her! It was a very relaxing and romantic anniversary trip and we cant wait to go back. But next time we'll be taking the kids :)

My Little Fishy...

Sophia loves the water more than anything. So yesterday when it was so warm out, I thought I would fill up her little pool and let her cool off in it and have some fun. While she was taking her nap, I filled up her pool and let the sun warm up the water. When she woke up from her nap and saw the pool all ready to go, I could barely keep her from climbing in! I got her changed into her swim suit (as fast as I could), and it took her only a few seconds until she put her arms up in the air and said, "Mom", to have me pick her up and put her in the pool. It was nice, because the sun had warmed up the water quite a bit and the temperature was very comfortable.

Little Lady Bug

Going down the slide

Playing with her sand toys in the pool

She splashed and played and had so much fun going down the slide! She even got in on her tummy and laid completely in the water. She has been getting more and more brave in the water and her new thing to do is stick half of her head in the water. Jeff and I clap for her and she feels like such a big girl. It's so adorable. Because the pool is plastic, it can get pretty slippery, and Sophia did slip and fall down a few times, but it didn't bother her. She would just get up and wipe her eyes and continue to play. I am so glad I don't have a kid that's afraid of getting water in their face. She wold have stayed in all day, but when she started to shiver, I thought she had been in the water too long. But boy did it get out some of her energy! She came to me with her blanky in hand at around 7:30 (which is early for her as of lately), and wanted to go to bed. I rocked her for about 10 minutes and she snuggled up to me and went out like a light!

Showing off, sticking her face in the water

Laying on her tummy and having a blast!

I am really looking forward to when I quit at the end of July so me and Sophia can spend many more days like this together playing in her pool outside and enjoying the summer sun!

Gymnastics and Tumbling...

Last Saturday me and Courtney took Sophia and Elle to a tumbling class in Portland. When we got there, the girls saw all the fun stuff to play with and we could barely hold them back! We were a few minutes early (well, actually a few minutes late), so the girls were able to play for a bit just the two of them. They went from one ball to the next and had a blast on the tumbling mats and the balance beam. It was as if they didn't know what fun object to play with next! Soon other kids started to arrive and the girls continued to run around and play and interact with the other children. This was the first class, so it consisted of a half hour of free time to see how all the kids played together.
Sophia and Elle seemed to have a blast running around getting all of their energy out! They were smiling and laughing and getting so excited about all the new things to play on. It was so good to see them so uninhibited and free to run around and be themselves. Of course, me and Courtney were running around after them trying to capture a few photos of the girls playing together. Lets just say, easier said then done. They were even more busy than usual, so it was hit and miss. But I think we were able to capture a few of them together.









Sophia and I had so much fun with Courtney and Elle! It's so nice to see Sophia playing with other kids, because she doesn't have any kids her age around to play with in the family. So to see her and Elle running around together, just makes my day! Sophia and Elle are little buddies and when we went to leave Sophia gave Elle a hug good bye. It was so precious! What a fun day for both the girls and me and Courtney. We can't wait to do it again!