Summer Vacation #1

Last week I packed up the kids and a ridiculous amount of gear and made the 8 hour drive to visit my family in Utah. We were there for a week and managed to pack every day with fun activities, adventures, and plenty of cousin-time. Both kids got their first experience at a waterpark, and Riley went to a rodeo and rode a pony for the first time. Thanks to Grandma for being so accomodating, for helping with the kids so much, and for all the great food, of course!

Funny Words & Places

Five Months

Asher is starting to chub out a little. He has rolls on his thighs and the double chin you can see in the photo below. But my favorite are his big rosy cheeks. VERY kissable! I convinced a postal worker to let me set him on the scale, and fully clothed he is 15 pounds, 5 ounces, which is probably only about the 35th percentile.
He is laughing a lot more lately and can always be counted on for a chuckle when we pretend to eat his fingers or toes. While Scot and I often have to put on a little show to get him giggling, sometimes he’ll laugh at Riley for no apparent reason. The other day he was sitting on my lap on the couch and Riley was on the floor in front of us pushing around an empty baby bottle. I didn’t realize he was even watching her, but suddenly he started laughing and I noticed he was following her movements. Every time she would cross in front of us, he would laugh harder. I’m sure it’s only the beginning of him being entertained by his big sister.

Asher’s favorite place to spend time is in the bathtub. We nearly always bathe he and Riley together and he will lay on his back and just kick and kick his legs, splashing Riley like crazy. He doesn’t seem to mind at all when he splashes his own face. Asher is a pretty mellow guy, so he’s usually easy to take a long with me places. He’ll just hang out in his carrier and watch people.

As you can see, Asher and the bear are on much better terms this month.

Biker See, Biker Do

Teamwork

This bubble blowing is Asher's new favorite trick. He kept himself entertained this way for about 30 minutes in church last Sunday.

Denial

She Shoots, She Scores!

Sometimes she intentionally misses because she loves to hear Scot or I yell "Airball."

Let's Dance!

Who can name these movies? First, the movie from which I took this post title. And second, the movie Riley is rocking out to in these clips.

She Says....

More pearls of wisdom from Riley. These are in chronological order again, from late March through today.

My Mom was visiting and we were talking about my younger brother Nick. Riley overheard and chimed in, "Nick's a cutie." I think she's got a little crush on her uncle.

About M&Ms: "Chocolates are fun. Chocolates are tasty. I like 'em!"

Riley: I want some juice, Mommy.
Me: You already had juice today. Do you want some milk?
Riley: Always!

After she had done something she knew she shouldn't, and Scot caught her in the act Riley said in her sweetest voice, "Daddy, don't be made at me."

One Saturday Scot took Riley with him to run a couple of errands. As they were leaving Home Depot she asked where they were going next. He answered, "Sam's" but she corrected, "Daddy, don't say Sam's. Say Sam's Cwub."

Since she is allergic to strawberries I've been coaching Riley to say, "strawberries make me sick" whenever she sees them, in order to avoid people feeding them to her unknowingly. We had strawberry shortcake for dessert, but made Riley a small blackberry shortcake. She looked at all three plates as they were served, then stated, "Strawberries make me sick. Blackberries make me happy!"

"Thank you! It's my birthday!" when Scot gave her another slice of cantaloupe...two months after her birthday.

Riley learned a song called Smiles a couple of weeks ago and sings it while she's playing sometimes. Today she said out of nowhere, "If you chance to meet a frown, that's a naughty little kid."

Backyard Boy

Riley and I spend at least a little bit of time out in our backyard nearly every morning. I work in our garden while she plays on the slide, picks dandelions, or digs in dirt. In the past we have always spent our time out there while Asher is napping. But today he woke up earlier than normal and was in a good mood, so he joined us outside. He was content to watch Riley and the birds the whole time.