July 31

This afternoon, Sophie, Gramma, and I headed to Burfoot Park to visit the beach. It turned out to be a very beautiful afternoon, perfect for searching for rocks and shells, but too cold to be in the water! Sophie did awesome on the hike down and back and was rewarded with a trip to the playground!

July 30

Sophie was in quite a mood today! I think she was punishing me for leaving her for four days! Right before bed time, we went outside to blow some bubbles and I turned on the sprinkler to water the lawn. Usually Sophie shys away from the sprinkler, but tonight she was all about it! She went in, fully clothed, getting drenched and loving every minute of it!

July 29

My romas are on their way! This is the first year that my tomatoes have done so well and it looks like I'm going to have quite a few! Sophie keeps saying that they will turn pink, not red, and I'm not sure why! She's just a silly one!

July 28

After work this evening, I headed to Issaquah to have dinner with Mara, Mike, and Soren. I unfortunately forgot my camera, but we had a wonderful time catching up and getting to spend time with adorable little Soren. He's such a cutie!

July 27

Mom came up for a night away this evening, and we did some shopping at Bellevue Square. That is quite a mall, I had not been there in ages! They have a Stride Rite store, and I've always wanted to get Sophie a nice pair of non hand me down shoes from there. Luckily for me, there was a sale and this pair is washable! Score!

July 26

I headed up to Bellevue for a week of work with OSPI. They put us up in the Hyatt Regency, and it was very nice! I had a room to myself which was very relaxing. I missed my darling girl a ton, but it was nice to have some me time!

July 25

After getting home from Portland, Sophie and I headed to Tacoma to see a Rainier's game. She behaved wonderfully after only getting a 30 minute nap and sat well through the game. The game started slow, but got really great at the end with the Rainier's winning! We ended with a run around the bases, a tradition that they do for kids each Sunday. It was a lot of fun to do it with my little one!

July 24

I had a wonderful day down in Portland with Becky and Karen. We shopped on 23rd street, ate some great food (including a fancy cupcake!), got gussied up for an amazing dinner at Le Pigeon, and had a drink with my cousin Lauren. All in all, fantastic day with fantastic people! Thanks girls!

July 23

My little driver in training! All of a sudden she has started to say "2 hands, mom" in regards to keeping both of my hands on the wheel while I'm driving. I'm not sure where this came from, but I'm glad she wants us to be safe!

July 22

This morning we stopped by Lattin's Cider Mill for a treat and a visit with the animals. Sophie loves going there and it's a cheap way to see well tended farm animals!

July 21

Max got his annual haircut today and looks as funny as ever! He has such uneven hair that tends to get matted in the back, so it's nice to give him a fresh start each year. His brother isn't too crazy about the change, and it takes him a few days of hissing to get used to it. He sure smells good and is oh so soft!

July 20

We spent the afternoon at Rayna's property and Sophie had a ball. It's like a little wonderland out there... backyard pool, large play house, beautiful flower and vegetable gardens, play structure, the list goes on! Sophie spent most of her time in the play house making "cupcakes," but took a little dip in the pool. She also was thrilled to feed the chickens some leftover food.

July 19

Gramma came with us to swim lessons tonight and got some pictures of us in action. Sophie moves around so much, it's hard to get good shots, but we have a couple for the memory books. She loves the water!

July 18

Today Sophie and I went to a church potluck and witnessed some baptisms. I spent a lot of time taking pictures while Sophie sat quietly on Marcie Hay's lap. She had a great time playing with the kids and I got to have some adult conversation time! This photo is of the darling McKena, such a sweetheart!

July 17

I ran the Lakefair 8k this morning, and it was Sophie's first chance to see me in action! Mom sat with her and took a few shots of me while I took off. Sophie just smiled as I ran by, but didn't say anything. Too shy I guess! As I hit the finish line though I heard her say "Go Mom!" and she told me good job when I saw her. It was the best thing!

July 16

Every once in awhile, we have a family fun night in which we get dinner to go and Sophie chooses a movie to watch while eating. Tonight's pick was "Elmo in Grouchland" and I have never seen her more engaged! In the movie, Elmo loses his treasured blanket and I think Sophie put herself in his shoes. She was so concerned about him losing his blankie and proceeded to talk about it throughout the evening. In this picture, she's telling me how she was so sad when Elmo's blankie got taken away in a helicopter. I couldn't get the sad look on her face, but believe me, it was priceless! This shot came out pretty adorable though too!

July 15

Today, Sophie hopped in the bike trailer and I rode to downtown Olympia. It's wonderful because I can take bike trails nearly the whole way. I thought about bringing my nice camera, but decided to opt out of any extra weight since I was already carrying so much! I shoulda done it though, my cell phone just doesn't cut it! We enjoyed walking around Lakefair before it was open and crowded, cruised down the pier, and made a pit stop at the park. I was worried about the trek home since there is a lot of uphill, but it went fine. In fact, Sophie fell asleep for most of it, so my huffing and puffing must have lulled her to sleep! It was a beautiful day for a bike ride!

July 14

Becky and I met up at a park and let the kids play for awhile. Sophie had a great time watching Hannah's every move, learning from her. We then walked to Rainier Vista where the kids got to play at another park! Hannah was so proud that she climbed up a tough climbing wall on her own! It was good exercise for the moms and a lot of fun for the kids!

July 13

My two cats Guster and Max, were hanging out in this cute position on my bed, and I couldn't resist to get a picture of them. Max had disappeared from the house for a week and I think they're happy to be back together! Sophie and I played this afternoon with her blankets (she now is carrying two around with her!) and she thought it would be fun to drape them over me. Once she did, she realized that this would be a nice spot to curl up and cuddle! I didn't mind, but did start to get a little warm under there!

July 12

Slacker, none today!

July 11

Today was a busy one since I decided to clean my carpets. I debated over having a professional come in, but in order to save some $$$ I tried out the Rug Doctor. It took me about 3 hours to do my entire house, but they look great! They're not perfect, but so much better than what they were. I'd definitely do the Rug Doctor again if I have the time!

July 10

Lauren and Andy came up for a visit today and we had a nice Cuban themed dinner in the yard. The grandparents came over too, and Sophie loved being the center of attention. It was wonderful to have some of our little family together!

July 9

It was another hot one today, so we hit the park early! Jodi's niece came to town for a visit, so we had a little playdate. The girls mostly played on their own, but they came together for a ride on the airplane. Cute!

July 8

This is Sophie's "Maggot (magic) Stick," but really, any old stick would do! She loves to carry it around when we're playing in the backyard and to swat the leaves on the trees. She has several other toys that should coule play with, but she sure prefers the sticks! Go figure!

July 7

A streaker in training! It was cooler outside than it was in the house, so we ran through the sprinkler a bit before bed. This was Sophie's first time being brave enough to run through the sprinkler with me and didn't mind doing so in the nude. Unfortunately, it was difficult to get a picture of her in action, so that's why this one is so blurry!

July 6

Sophie was silly, silly, silly tonight! She has been in the mood to show off whenever someone comes over, and tonight my mom got to see her in action! She had just finished singing "Throw it all away" by Brandi Carlile, one of her (and my) favorites. I am amazed how she can memorize songs! Just like her momma!

July 5

Today was a fun day spent at home with my little one. That's what I love about summer, we're on our own agenda!! We ended the day at the neighborhood park, with Sophie enjoying the toys.

July 4

Happy Fourth of July! I got back from Lilith Fair in time to meet mom and Sophie at the Tumwater parade. It's become our tradition and Sophie loves it from year to year. This year she was a bit nervous about the clown situation, "I don't like scary clowns," but her thinking changed. She met a nice clown named Bubble Trouble who she really liked. She loved her pink hair and the fact that she was a woman! Silly girl! Her favorite part of the parade though... the city bus and the school bus. She's obsessed! We ended the holiday at Grandma and Papa's for a BBQ and fun!

July 3

Trina, Cami, Shelly O'Dell, and I headed to the east side of the mountains yesterday for Lilith Fair at the Gorge. It was hot and beautiful and I managed to get A LOT of sun, more than I wanted! I didn't burn too bad thanks to sunscreen, but we did spend something like 14 hours in the sun. The concert was amazing and so fun to be at, even if we were a million miles from the stage. I thought I wasn't allowed to bring my DSLR in (which everyone else did), so I left it behind. I will post some of the pictures that the girls took with their point and shoot cameras when I get them!

July 2

For the first time in a very long time, Sophie fell asleep in the car! We had been doing a little garage saleing in the morning and I looked in the rearview mirror to see her sound asleep! It wasn't even 10 in the morning! She usually takes her nap after lunchtime, so I was very surprised to see this. I went home, grabbed my book, and let her rest in the car. She slept for probably an hour and a half and was good to go for the rest of the day!

July 1

We didn't do much today other than hanging out around the house. Sophie was her normal goofy self, so what is a better shot of her being herself than this?

June 30

Sophie and I went over to Karen and Will's today after her last day at daycare. It was much tougher on me leaving daycare than it was on her. We had fun hanging out with our friends even though it was a bit chilly to play in the pool.

June 29

Today was my first full day of vacation and Sophie woke me up bright and early! That's okay because we enjoyed being together today. We ended the day at Huntamer Park watching a silly magician perform. Sophie wasn't totally into the magician, but she sat quietly and did a great job!

June 28

Slacker today... no picture!