A Summer Wrap Up...June

With fall just around the corner I figured it's about time for a summer recap. We had a great summer. Jefferson had 3 and 4-day work weeks and we took the extra time to be together as a family and have some fun.

June

Dad brought a dog home from work for Emery. She decided to give him a bath.

This girl truly loves broccoli. I can't even get it cut up fast enough most days.

Loving having Daddy home more over the summer. 

We went to a Rattlers' game (arena football). She was pretty pumped until we got in there. Then, it was a little lot too loud for her and has currently scarred her for life about sporting events. I'm confident she will get over it. In all fairness, it was really loud in there but lots of fun...maybe without a terrified toddler next time.

Emery helps Dad with the yardwork and pulling weeds. One day she went into the laundry room where Jeff's outside work shoes are, put them on, and started pretending to pull weeds. I asked her what she was doing and she said, "Being Dad!"

Our first carrots of the season. We didn't have the heart to thin out the cute little things so most of them were pretty small but delicious.

Getting ready to play outside.

Just hanging out waiting for new tires on the car.

Emery loves Minnie Mouse. She got two for Christmas so they are now Millie and Melody (Minnie's twin nieces...in case any of you aren't up to date on your Minnie Mouse trivia).

Swimming lessons with Aunt Jennifer. This look is about how they went all week but she picked up more than you'd think. She still just uses her knowledge to teach the ducks how to swim in the bath tub. It's actually really cute..."I'm Jennifer and I will teach you swim lessons. Abba dabba dabba dabba..."

Beach Pictures

For a 2 year old (and her mama and daddy) nothing is better than spending hours at the beach. I was a little surprised about how much she loved it since sometimes she's a little reserved when trying new things but she jumped right in and never looked back.

Our room was right on the water and there was a breaker wall so there were all these sea lions that would hang out right in front of the room. Emery's favorite part was watching all the boats. She was out there any time we were back at the hotel.

And with that, our first family beach vacation was over. Hopefully, not for long!

Vacation #2-- California!

We were lucky enough to get to go on vacation with both families this summer. This time we were headed to California. The 3 of us left a day early to spend time in California before heading up the coast to meet up with my family in Hermosa Beach. After much preparation for the longest car ride for Emery to date, complete with new toys from the Dollar store, plenty of snacks, and a borrowed DVD player we were off. Of course, no amount of planning can prepare a sweet 2 year old for the bumpy road around Gila Bend. However, I'm sure that we looked ridiculous pulled over on the side of the (basically) highway, changing clothes, washing toys, and trying our best to clean out the carseat. Some nice man even stopped and asked if we needed help. Luckily, we got a laugh out of it before getting back in the car and Emery crashing for over an hour. Someone did forget to stop in Gila Bend once Emery was asleep so that I could hop back in the front seat.......oh well, all's well that ends well and we certainly had a fun time in San Diego that night.

We checked into our hotel and then headed out to start our adventure. First stop was the Mormon Battalion and Old Town San Diego. Before we headed in we had a picnic and let Emery stretch her legs. Poor girl was terrified during the whole Mormon Battalion presentation. There was fake thunder and lightening and the pictures moved and talked. It was all just too much but she did like panning for gold and absolutely loved pumping water from the 'well.'

Emery is obsessed with trolleys, thank you Daniel Tiger so we followed the tour trolleys around.

There may have been a picture that specifically said not to try on sombreros just to take pictures. The hat may have already been on her head so one quick picture before moving on.

This place was on Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives. El Indio. It was pretty good.

Pictures on the pier and then walking around Seaport Village. Emery loved looking at the boats and the water. She was pretty disappointed that she couldn't get in the water that night because we were going to the beach the next morning. She did like the spinners so that helped the cause. We ran around until it was dark and then headed back to the hotel.