Goodbye, summer...

Labor day weekend is already almost here! Which means Kyle's official first day of school as a full-time teacher is this next Tuesday. He's been spending this whole week getting ready, going to meetings and preparing for classes, and will probably spend a lot of this weekend doing the same. He was originally planning on reenacting at Fort Stevens in Seaside, but decided yesterday that he needed the time this weekend to feel prepared for the start of school. He's teaching a freshman geography class, two psychology classes, and several math classes. He's been buying and laminating posters for his room, hanging up borders, cleaning, moving desks, the works! I'm really excited for him, this is the culmination of 3 years of hard work for him. I couldn't be more proud of what he's accomplished!

This last weekend was Payton's last soccer game. My Grandpa Book and Dot came down from Salem to watch, and I was really glad they could come. The weather was beautiful, if only Payton would cooperate! Just kidding, although she didn't really show much interest at all these last few weeks. I know she's only two, but she's just not into it right now. She kept saying she needed to go get water, and would just stand there and watch everyone else. She picked up and threw the ball way more often than she would kick it, and wouldn't stray far from Kyle or I in the group activities. She's just SO shy, always has been but I feel like it's getting worse. She's really shown an interest in swimming, so I think next on my list for her is swimming lessons this fall. I haven't decided if we should do the Little Gym again... I don't want to overschedule or overwhelm her, but I like to try to get her active with other kids since she doesn't have any siblings or cousins yet!

We want to our friends the Boases Friday night for dinner. They have two girls, one is a newborn and Summer is 8 months younger than Payton. Payton was painfully shy for like the first hour, and even had to be put in time-out a couple times (she was yelling at Summer for playing with her toys... which were actually Summer's). After about an hour though, she really calmed down, and then her and Summer were like best friends! They were tickling eachother, giggling, and playing together really well. Payton was even singing her ABC's, and after she was done Summer would say "again?" and Payton would start right over! She really liked helping with baby Mattisyn too, I think she will be a great big sister someday. As long as the new baby doesn't try to take any of her toys! :)

Saturday afternoon we headed out to Riverbend, which is a campsite in Sweet Home. Most of Kyle's family was camping out there, and we thought we'd give it a try. They have these little cabins you can rent, so it wasn't tent or even RV camping, but pretty close. It's a one bedroom cabin, so we were hoping Payton would sleep ok in her pack 'n play. She was (of course) extremely shy with everyone at first, even though she sees most of those people all the time, it was in a different environment so it threw her off I think. Sue offered to put her down for a nap so Kyle and I could go with everyone else and float the river, which was very sweet! I usually have to stay behind for things like that, so it was nice to be able to relax for a while. We had a pretty good time, although the river was kind of low so we kept bumping the rocks and getting stuck. When we got back Payton was just waking up, so it worked out perfectly! She really had a great time riding her bike, and she's never pedaled so well before! It was the first time she actually rode it without one of us pushing her. She had a blast, doing it over and over!

After dinner and a campfire, we took Payton back to the cabin to go to sleep. I stayed behind and read a book so Kyle could go back to the campfire, and after a while Sue came back to the cabin so I could go too. I wasn't gone for long though, we were all pretty beat so about 20 minutes later we headed back to the cabin to go to bed. It was surprisingly hot in that little room so nobody slept very well, but Payton never woke up so we deemed it a success. We already rented two cabins for next summer in July, we're excited to go camping again!

Camping with my cousins Courtney and Sarah! Cheetah came along too of course :)

This weekend will be an interesting one... I'm really looking forward to it, but at the same time I'm not. I've decided to give a concentrated effort on potty training Payton this weekend. When we visited the Boases, Kate gave me a book that she recently used to potty train Summer, and I read it and decided to give it a try. I know Payton's ready, in fact I think if we wait much longer she's going to not want to do it at all. The other day I saw her pooping, and when I asked her if she wanted to sit on the potty she said "no, I stand". And then, very defiantly, added "I don't WANT to go in the potty!" If she's naked she'll let me know "I need a diaper" when she needs to go to the bathroom. So for the next three days, I'm basically going to have Payton naked from the waist down. I'll put her potty chair where she can see it, let her know she's a big girl and she doesn't need diapers anymore, and I expect her to go in the potty when she needs to go. I'm going to be cleaning up a lot of messes, but I think she will eventually get the point. Please wish me luck! I'll let you know how it goes!

I hope y'all like pictures, because this post is going to have a lot of them! We've had a few busy weekends, but lots of fun. Friday night before last, my friend Jamie met us in downtown Albany to try to take some family pictures. I am really pleased at how they turned out, especially considering my star subject was NOT on her best behavior! Jamie would ask "Payton, will you go stand by mommy and daddy?" and Payton would look at her and yell "NO!" and then run away! She has never really been disobedient like that, but I guess we've offically hit the terrible twos. For some reason Payton didn't want Kyle anywhere near her that night too, because he would go to put his arm around her and she would yell "Daddy no, don't touch me!" Totally bizarre! Kyle just wanted to end the session, but I persevered because I told him you'd be surprised what kind of photos you can get even when people aren't cooperating. Jamie did a great job, and I think we got some wonderful family pics! Thank you Jamie!

Saturday morning (the 11th) after soccer we went to Costco, then raced home to change so we could get to the Swanson Pool when it opened at noon. We were one of the first people there, and therefore got one of the prime spots in the shade! We took Payton here last summer, but she was a lot more excited about playing in the water this year! She kept yelling "that's a big wave mom! See it?" I'm going to look into getting her into swim lessons in the fall. She's definitely ready!

I looooooved the water!

Practicing my kicks!

Swimming!

I asked Payton if she would like to go down the big water slide, and she looked at it and was like "yeah!" Kyle and I were afraid she would get to the front of the line and then not want to go, but she walked up the stairs, waited patiently in line, and went down (on Kyle's lap) without any hesitation! She had the biggest grin on her face, and the second it was over she was shouting "again!" She went down it over and over, until it was time to leave!

The big slide!

Waiting in line

Weeeeeeeee!

I went down with Mommy too!

We had a lot of fun!

On Sunday (the 12th) we decided to head out to Lewis Creek in Sweet Home again for a picnic and some swimming. It was a lot hotter than it was when we went before, so the water felt great! It was a lot more crowded this time too, so Payton wasn't quite as interested in galavanting in the water on her own.She wanted up a lot of the time, and the heat seemed to make her a little sluggish (I know I certainly felt that way!). I can't wait for fall to arrive. I like summer, but it has just been too hot for me. I like it in the mid 70's, not this heat wave! It has finally started to cool back down this week, which is wonderful. It's 80 degrees in our house right now, but it feels great compared to what it has been!

Payton has now officially entered the stuffed animal phase. They are like her posse, and they go with her wherever she goes. Her favorites are her cheetah, a dog she calls Charlie, her Dora doll, and a few other assorted "babies". When she goes to bed at night, her crib looks like a zoo!

I took a picture for "pajama day" at school... with my cheetah of course!

Daycare has continued to go well, except for when I drop her off. She did great the first week or so, then for some reason she seems to have regressed and now freaks out when I'm leaving. When we go to pick her up though we can't get her to leave, she wants to stay and play! For some reason the morning transition just really gets to her. On a positive note: Payton pooped in the potty at school last week! Yahoo!

This last weekend was wonderful as well. Payton and I headed up to the lake house Saturday morning; Kyle had bought tickets to a concert a long time ago for Sunday night, so he stayed behind unfortunately. Payton and I had fun hanging with the family though! I wish the weather had cooperated a bit more; the joke this weekend was that I'm jinxed (the weather was terrible when I came in July too). But nothing would stop Payton from getting on that boat! 

Hanging on the dock with Papa Scott :)

For some reason my cell phone pics of Payton on the boat won't upload, so I'll try to include those in my next post!

Sunday the weather finally started to turn nice, but it was time for us to pack up and go. We headed to my parent's house in GH Sunday night, because we were heading to Tahoma National Cemetery Monday morning. I got to be a part of what my mom called "tucking Grandma in" to her final resting place, which was near and dear to my heart and I was honored to be present. We all went out to lunch afterwards, I was so happy I got to see everyone. It just so happened to be my birthday, and it was special to be able to spend it with so much family. Payton and I headed home after that, and I picked up Kyle at our house and headed over to Sue's house for dinner, where I got to see even more of my family! Humble reminder of how I am a very blessed and lucky girl. 

P.S. Happy 30th birthday Kyanne! 

Another school year...

Hard to believe, but it's already happening... Payton started her new preschool last week, and Kyle started summer school Monday morning. He has summer school for two weeks, has a week off, and then reports back to start the official new year as a full time teacher! He's excited to get back in the swing of things, and is really busy getting everything ready for his new classroom. Other than that, we've been staying up way too late watching the Olympics, and trying to stay cool in this heat wave (A/C is definitely on the priority list for next summer).

I am happy to report that we are really loving Payton's new daycare! When I dropped her off the first time I played with her for a little while, and then I told her I had to go to work but her dad would be by to pick her up later. She didn't start crying but she looked kind of upset, so I asked her if she would like to watch me drive away and I would wave to her (we do this at home sometimes). She surprised me by saying "yeah"! So her teacher picked her up and she watched out the window as I drove away, and was waving goodbye! I called Kyle later to see how her first day was, and he was actually kind of embarrassed... Payton hadn't wanted to leave at the end of the day, and threw a big fit! Although that's never something you want to hear, I was so glad that she really enjoyed it. She talked about it a lot that night, and one of the first things she said when she woke up the next morning was "I go see friends?" SO cute! Now all I have to do in the morning is ask her if she's ready to go see her friends, and she'll yell "YEAH!" She has really connected with a little girl named Mya; the other day when Kyle went to pick Payton up they were sitting together talking back and forth, and the other night at dinner when I was asking her about her friends she said "I love Mya!" I asked her if she loved one of the little boys, Alex, and she said "no, he's silly!" When I dropped Payton off on Monday they were strapping all the kids into one of those six kid strollers, they were headed for a walk to go feed the ducks (love that!). Mya, of course, saved the seat next to her for Payton :) I just love watching Payton interact with other little kids and cultivate those relationships, it's really neat. Oh, and a potential positive of the new daycare: Payton went potty in the toilet two days in a row last week!! Yahoo! Apparently she was watching other kids do it and told the teacher she could too, went into the bathroom, sat down and peed! I know she's capable, she's just not very interested whenever I ask her at home. That's putting her on the right track though!

I don't have any pictures this post unfortunately, I had to work this weekend and was really busy so we didn't get to do anything fun, we really just hung around. My fellow photography loving friend has offered to take family pictures of the three of us on Friday though, so I'm excited to see how those turn out!