Happy 4th of July!

Another 4th of July at the lake! We've finally gotten the hint though, and have decided that our lake weekends need to be further in the summer so that the weather will cooperate. We arrived Saturday morning, and it was super cold and rained most of the time we were there. We returned home on the 4th, and of course it looked like the weather was supposed to pick up and start getting nice from there on out (go figure). Oh well, we weren't going to let that ruin our fun!

Good morning!

We kept busy by (Payton) taking care of the dogs, reading, doing puzzles, and hopping on the jet ski whenever there was a break in the weather. Payton called them "jetta skis". She got really excited whenever she saw one! On Sunday, Daniel and Elena came out to hang out with us, which was wonderful! Elena also gave Payton her first haircut, which was a very momentous occasion. It was important to me that no one do it but Elena, so I was really glad she could do it! Payton was great, I think she really liked getting everyone's attention. She sat there and let Elena do her thing! She wiggled a little bit, but I wasn't expecting her to stay perfectly still. She thought it was fun! We didn't do anything drastic, just trimmed it so that her hair looks a lot healthier on the ends. I scooped up all the hair to save in a little baggy, and it just looked like fuzz! Payton went down for a nap after that, and the boys (Kyle, Dan and Richard) went fishing out on Dan's boat while Elena and I cuddled up under some blankets on the deck and chatted while sipping tea and watching the men fish. They stayed the whole day, which was so much fun! Dan and Kyle even took Payton fishing for a while out on the boat. She thought it was really cool, but did NOT want to touch the fish!

Getting my first haircut!

I sat like a good girl!

Thank you Elena! Actually I call her "Meena"

We survived the first haircut with flying colors!

The biggest fish!

I went fishing with the boys too. I kept saying "I'm on the boat!"

Helping reel one in

Hmmm... not so sure about it

Weeeee!

The next day we decided to pack a picnic and spend the day at the park. Shelton has a really neat park downtown that Kyle and I discovered last year, and since going to the park is Payton's favorite thing to do, we thought it would be a good way to spend the day and get us out of the house. Payton had a blast, and even spent a lot of time on the big girl swing! She has never liked it, so Kyle and I were really surprised. She loved it though! Aunt Chelsea even got to join us, she was singing at a bible camp in Olympia but came in between sets to hang out with us. I was really glad she could! :)

Super excited to be at the park!

Moms at the park with their Starbucks

Haha I love this one!

I even got on the tire swing

And the big girl swing!

By myself!

Grandma being silly!

Sillier...

Silliest! :)

Taking the jet ski out for a ride... I LOVED it!

I took Papa for a ride too!

And mom of course!

Our last day there Aunt Tanya came out to visit with us, and even though we spent most of her visit inside due to a torrential downpour, it was still great that she came out to see us. That afternoon, we decided to go into town to a bookstore. It was fun to just browse the aisles, and Payton really enjoyed looking at lots of different books. Afterwards we decided to go out to eat mexican, and finished the evening with ice cream. When we got back we built a campfire, but Payton actually wasn't very interested in it (she started walking towards the house and told us she was ready for bed lol). All in all, it was the end to a great trip!

Sitting around the campfire

<3

We left Wednesday morning, we wanted to get back to Albany at a decent time. Thanks to our car DVD player, road trips are a breeze! After Payton's nap Kyle went out and bought some fireworks, and we had the Hall family over to help us celebrate Independence Day. We've never done fireworks with Payton (and actually my experience with fireworks is pretty limited too), so it was fun to light some stuff off. Payton really enjoyed the little things that pop when they hit the ground and she liked sparklers, but she wanted nothing to do with any of the other fireworks. She kept saying "No, twinkle twinkle star!"

4th of July at the Halls!

Sparkler fun

Happy 4th of July!

As Payton is quickly approaching the half year mark already, she continues to amaze us. She can sing so many songs, which she loves to do at the top of her voice! Lately she's been impersonating a cat, after watching a baby jaguar on a Dora video. You'll be talking to her, and she'll just drop on all fours and start meowing. Pretty hilarious! She knows all her animal sounds, from elephant to lion to duck, and loves singing "Old McDonald" so she can name them all (and have us sing along with her). Her memory is starting to get really good too. You can't just tell her "we can do that later" and hope she forgets about something, she'll remember! Grandma Joy watched Payton for a little while today while Kyle went to help a friend move. Payton wanted to watch a video, but Grandma Joy said she didn't know where the remote was so they couldn't watch it. Payton told her "it's on the table" and pointed to it! Then when she said she didn't know where the movies were, Payton walked over and picked one out. Can't pull one over on her! :)

What better way to enjoy the sunshine...

So fun!

She thought it was hilarious to slide down on her stomach!

Whew! That was an epic blog. I need to go to bed, I'm officially a soccer mom in the morning! :) Payton's first lesson is tomorrow, which should be fun. It's a parent inclusive class, so one of us will be out there with her too. I'm hoping she enjoys it and isn't too shy!

On Sunday Kyle and I are going to take Payton to Enchanted Forest, which is a little theme park about 20 minutes away. Payton and I have never been, I'm excited. I'll let you know how this weekend goes in my next blog!