I hang out with my neighbor, Melissa 2, almost every day.  When we don’t hang out or talk/text it seems strange…like when you leave the house and forget your cell phone.  We share the small things of life…you know so that we get our word quota out of the way – as Melissa 2 says. hehe  Her son Von is a few months younger than Alyssa and they get along famously.  They chase each other around, share snacks and throw fits together.  It’s nice. :)

I took some really cute pictures of Von & Alyssa just hanging out in the yard.  Melissa 2’s front yard.  Oh yeah, and her name is Melissa 2 because she’s my second Melissa friend and I have to say that so that Luke knows which Melissa I’m talking about.  I usually just call her “Hey.” She calls me “Hey” too.  lol

Onto the cuteness…

Evans first word is the same as Alyssa’s first sign.  It was quite shocking to see him try to make all the sound placements with his mouth.

It’s a cute video, hope you like it.

Yep they’re swimming in a sandbox…and loving every minute.  They only get out when their lips are as purple as the sandbox!

Three big bowls of warm water mixed with hose water, but it was still a little chilly.

They were splashing and having a grand ‘ol time. :)

They look so calm, it’s because they’re under the influence.  They’re addicted to TV.  Mostly because when it’s cold I find myself letting them watch more TV than they probably should.  But it’s summer now!  Finally.  So the TV’s been off and the goofiness has begun. 

Normally if I’m trying to get something done, like start dinner, etc. I’d turn on the TV and know they’d be entertained and not get into trouble.  Well so the other day I was busy with something and I left them playing in the living room.  I come back a few minutes later to see both of my children playing INSIDE the bookcase.  It struck me funny so I took a few pictures of them.

Alyssa has recently become more interested in her dolls.  She pushes them around in her stroller and puts them in their baby bed.  Well the dolls have come to life! hehe

Warning to other 2yr olds: Don’t try this at home! A mommy was supervising! hehe

P.S. Yes, Evan’s shirt says “Future Prom King” – Compliments of my friend Rebeccah

She loves this doll bed that her Aunt Cindy gave her.  It’s a miniature “pack and play” and since it’s mostly fabric and plastic edges she can get in it without hurting the structure of the bed.  AND she loves that she can get in it all by herself ALTHOUGH she wants us to hand her blankets and dolls and such so that she can pretend to be a baby! :)  Said in a mommy voice - She IS a baby!

She is one goofy character.  Since summer has begun she has decidedly become interested in taking her shirt off.  She has one shirt in particular that is her “favorite” and asks to wear it often.  She likes it because it is stretchy and she can take it off all by herself.  She has also become extra interested in her toes or rather what is     in between her toes.  Bare feet are something new for her and I recently showed her ONCE that there was lint in between her toes.  Ever since she checks her toes for lint AT LEAST once a day if not more! 

Alyssa and I have matching work out balls…okay well so hers is just a bouncy ball…but they amazingly match.  She got her ball for her birthday from her friends Natalie and Sam.  She was pretty stoked when she realized she could sit on it and that it matched my work out ball.  She attempt so copy cat my work out moves…let’s just say I think she has more fun that I do!

Good thing she’s close to the ground, I’m guessing it doesn’t hurt when she falls?!

Speaking of getting hurt.  I have no idea how, but Evan cut his finger.  It looked like a paper cut and it was bleeding all over my shirt.  I couldn’t get it to stop bleeding to I asked Luke to put a band aide on it.  The band aide lasted about 10 seconds and then he managed to chew it off and it was still bleeding, so we had to call in for firmer reinforcements!  We kept it on until bath time and then it had stopped bleeding by then. He didn’t like it, but didn’t complain.  What a good patient he is. :)

Oh and did I mention he can crawl up stairs?! 

Yes, more than just one now! Before he used to hit his head on the second step and so he couldn’t get up onto multiple stairs.  But I guess he’s finally figured out a way to move the big head of his out of the way! lol

This is him at the top of the stairs looking through the baby gate.  He’s very proud of himself and doesn’t know his daddy is standing right behind him!

Well until next time…

P.S.  Do you see the weeds dying in our backyard?  Finally!  We’re almost ready to seed the yard with grass!  Yeay, so excited.

One (of several) good things about living here in Washington is the fresh fruit! Our family is fond of fruit – especially Alyssa and I.  Together we can take down any 2lb Costco container of fruit in 1-2 days maximum…often times in one sitting. I think I’ve mentioned it before, but if Alyssa and I are sharing a bowl of fruit and it comes down to the last few pieces, it becomes an eat-off.  She notices right away that the bottom of the bowl is showing and she begins to take larger fist-full’s of fruit and shoves them in her mouth.  It’s pretty hilarious.  And of course I egg her on by pretending I’m taking more and more each time.  But alas, she is younger than me and I always let her have the last of the bowl.  I much prefer to share with my husband because he always lets me have the last of the bowl. hehe

The strawberries are one of the first U-Pick fruits to ripen here and we were there to pick despite the cold weather.  Alyssa was very excited about the strawberry picking.  I was trying to explain that we were picking them to eat later and not to eat them because they are covered in dirt and we need to wash them first.  She would have none of that.  She was eating them almost faster than I could pick them!  She did finally get the hang of being able to picking ripe strawberries herself – which took a lot of coaching on our part.  In the end we paid $3.00 for our 3.7lbs of strawberries.  They weren’t the most amazing strawberries you’ve ever tasted, but Alyssa and I didn’t mind.  It took us 3 days to eat them. 

Alyssa helped me pick for a while, although most of what she picked was unripe and thus promptly discarded from our box.  She had fun exploring in the fields with her daddy.

Luke took one for the team and held Evan while I picked the strawberries. :)

Here we are with our box of strawberries at the end of our assigned row. 

I have two friends who’s husbands are in the military.  Just a shout out to you: Nathan Morales, Mark Mason - you guys are awesome!

Happy 4th of July!

We spent this 4th of July at our Pastor’s house.  Their backyard is perfect for this kind of event because they have a huge deck, big lawn area, pickle ball court and even a fire pit area.  We spent the better part of the afternoon hanging out there with church friends and then headed to our house for fireworks with our neighbors.

Evan was so tired.  We had thought we could give him a nap at their house on the floor somewhere, but that didn’t quite work out well.  I forgot that he could crawl!  So when I laid him down on the floor he immediately crawled away.  I carried him around in my Moby wrap until we left and he was pretty content with that.  He was quite the sport for not having a nap though.

They had a kiddy pool there that Alyssa loved and the teens had a massive water balloon fight that ended with a lot of wet people.  Hence the picture of Luke blowing up one of the water balloons for Alyssa to play with. There was also a pie eating contest – it was quite the party.

--------->>>>>>Fireworks!!<<<<<<-----------

Being from California we’re not used to the “do it yourself” fireworks.  We played the part of the observers this year and just watched as our neighbors lit off 5 hours of fireworks in our cul-de-sac!  We even invited a few of our church friends to our cul-de-sac because our little town of Duvall is one of the few cities that are legally allowed to shoot off fireworks in our county. 

OH!  And Alyssa had so much fun that afternoon, that by the time we got home she was asleep and slept from about 7:00pm to 8:00am the next morning!  She was one worn out little girl. I kept running inside the house to see if the fireworks were waking her up, but she was snoring away the entire time. 

You can’t really tell from this picture, but that firework is a moving dump truck that shot off a firework then dumped out some more fireworks that went off…it was actually really cool.

Our neighbors were totally gung-ho into these fireworks.  They even hand crafted a wooden stand that held the firework containers so that they wouldn’t tip over.  You can see it in the background of this picture below.

Evan stayed awake the entire time and seemed to enjoy watching the fireworks in the sky.  The 2nd picture is a firework from the next street over.  Sometimes they would light off a firework at the same time as ours, which had a pretty cool effect for our “show.”  I had no idea it was legal to shoot off the fireworks that burst into the sky…I’ve only seen those kind at a professional venue.  It was pretty neat to see them a little lower and up close.  I’m totally in for next year! :)

The second half of our trip began with a visit to Irene.  She was really excited to meet Evan for the first time and was amazed at how much Alyssa had grown.

We were greeted with a huge thunder and lightening storm, but at least it was a warm shower.  The rest of our trip was pretty normal…you know:

EAT

Play Games

Work

(I mean have lunch with my Speechie friends)  My old boss asked if I would please come back to work or else clone myself. hehe  I wish.

Playing Tag With Grandpa & Cousins

Cousins

Lots of Parties

Gage’s 5th Birthday Party (Luke’s Nephew)

Aaron’s High School Graduation Party (Luke’s Brother)

Bible Study Reunion

The Newest Boys on the Block (Jonas, Evan, & Elias)

Someone did actually get a good picture of All the kids, it sure wasn’t my camera!

Alyssa, Evan, Ellie, Leia, Rafa, Jonas, Eden, Elora, Elias…and that yellow spot is supposed to be Cayden! :)

But even more crazy than a kid picture was getting a picture of ALL of us! :)

Our time felt squished and short, but we had a great time visiting our family and friends which is good because it will probably be a very long time before we have the chance travel to San Diego again.