Park day

Our little girl is growing up so fast! Today we took her to the park where she tried to do everything just like all the big kids!

Yes, she tried to climb the rock wall

She was watching the other kiddos swinging and saw where they put their hands, so she copied them.

I was surpised at how little help she needed from Nick to climb up this wall.

Before we left for the park, she decided she needed a snack. So, she found the box of teddy grahams, took the bag out of the box and put it on the table, and then went to throw away the box. I think she was planning on eating the entire bag of crackers!

This morning while I was doing dishes, I heard the tv. I looked over, Nicole found the remotes, climbed on the couch, turned on the tv, used the Roku remote to turn on a show on Amazon Prime. She is getting so smart!

Playdate

Yesterday we went to a friend's house for a playdate. Nicole had soooo much fun playing with their two little boys (one is almost 3 and the other is two days older than Nicole). When we got there, Reed and Aaden were already playing in a little bounce house in the living room (how cool is that?!). Nicole couldn't wait to join in on the fun!

They were racing cars down the slide.

Nicole also found their powerwheels toy and had a blast driving that around.

We were sure sad when it was time to go for the day! Nicole didn't want to leave all the fun and the good food (what kid doesn't love a lunch of chicken nuggets, fries, and mac 'n' cheese?). Thankfully they live right around the corner, so plenty of playdates can take place!

Oh, yeah, Christine and I had a great time chatting while the kiddos ran around the house playing with all of the different toys!

Happy Father's Day

This year we celebrated Father's Day with Nicole and I both sick with colds. So, after we both got some good naps in, we enjoyed spending the day as a family getting things done around the house. We also had a yummy bbq dinner with mac 'n' cheese! On Saturday, we went up to Chino and Upland to visit our dads and we enjoyed a yummy dinner at Cici's. Nick challenged me to air hockey (which I won, by the way) and then he played basketball with Nicole.

She loved playing basketball!

 Nicole had a super cute I love dad shirt!

 Nicole also loves to help with any chores that she can! Including mowing the lawn.

While Nick and Nicole were working on the yard, I planted some new flowers for our flower bed.

Nick also used the day to rescreen one of the windows, checked his work on the sink, added a soap dispenser to our sink (which is awesome!!), added a lock to the back gate, and did a few other to-do's on his list.

Cabin Building

This past Saturday, we spent the day at my parent's cabin so Nick could help my dad get the chimney installed. This trip to the mountains was extra special because both of my sisters also came up. The last time our family was together at the same time was about 3 years ago. So that made this trip extra special.

Nick set up Nicole's swing so she could have some fun while everyone was working.

She LOVES to swing!

Here is the chimney inside the cabin.

There were also two people on the roof guiding it into place.

Nicole is practicing her skills as a future mom and offering her doll's bottle to....

...a very sad Samuel.

All the excitement of the day wore her out and she took an almost two hour nap outside in her playpen. Now, if you have never joined us for a cabin building day, I will tell you it is not a quiet and peaceful day in the mountains! She was sleeping through the generator running, tools making noise, and people trying to yell over the noise of the generator. I was very surprised that she napped for as long as she did!

After the chimney was installed, there was alot of waiting around time.

But then it was back to work.

Drew was supervising on the inside of the cab

Doug was acting as the supervisor.

 We were also treated to a yummy lunch! We had hamburgers and Costco hot dogs with all types of yummy side dishes.

 Look at all that food! Plus the table to the right was full of food!

Nick took a  break to spend some time with Nicole.

 All three of us enjoyed spending the day together.

 Nick also brought up his bow and arrows for a friendly brother to brother competition.

 Karissa was also put to work staining the wood on the porch.

 Grandpa took a quick break to have a little chat with his great-grandson.

 Nicole was teaching Samuel how to play with the cups. Her game consists of you putting the cup up to your mouth and saying, "ah ah ah" and then giving it to the other player.

 Samuel decided that a better game would be to knock Nicole down.

Nicole also enjoyed sitting in Samuel's chair.

 I think Samuel was trying to figure otu how to tie Nicole into the chair.

Greg also was put to work staining parts of the porch.

 My mom was so excited that she was able to spend the weekend with BOTH grandbabies, that she didn't do very much work. Nicole was willing to share her snacks with Samuel....and he was more than willing to eat them!

 My mom was willing to share her grandbabies with my aunt Annie!

 Here is my mom doing her 5 minutes worth of work!

 Later in the day, Hannah, Nicole, and I went on a nice little walk where we were able to throw rocks, throw pinecones, and smell the flowers. Nicole really loves it when she gets to spend time with her Aunt Hannah!

 I LOVE LOVE LOVE this picture of them walking! Nicole was chatting away with Hannah and it was so sweet to watch them interact!

One last story. At dinner that night, Nicole tried to grab food off of Hannah's dinner plate. Hannah said to Nicole, "I don't think you will like it" and Nick, Hannah, and I are all convinced that Nicole replied, "I like it". Too bad life doesn't have a replay feature so we could confirm that she said that!