June- still a month behind

June was a really good month filled with lots of fun things! The first week of the month was Girls camp! The theme included pirates as you can see below... the poor girls had to endure temperatures of around 95 with 90% humidity. I'm glad I didn't have to be there the whole week to suffer that heat!) but it was a good time!

Me and some leaders in our pirate outfits

I just had to throw this one in because I think Millie is so funny. She's always doing something crazy! She LOVES goggles and wants to wear them all over the place. She'll just put on a pair and sit and watch T.V. or want to wear them to the store or whatever.

We've had some hott weather! we've spent several days at the sprinkler park- such a great FREE thing to do! (we don't have any actual swimming pools here in memphis for some reason)

Tried out this fun new activity- paint stomping. pour some glops of paint on the butcher paper and let kids paint with their feet (which of course ended in paint all over Millie's body and a nice mustache! but it was outside, so we could get as messy as we wanted!)

The zoo alows kids to "swim" in their fountains. It is kindof disgusting to me, but as you pass by, and about 20 other kids are in the fountain, it's pretty much impossible to keep Millie out!

We got to head out to Utah for a bit for my sister Tracy's wedding!!!!!! It was a blast! She looked amazing, her reception was about the best i've ever been too, and her and Kyle make such a great couple! (p.s. Sorry I didn't get with any utah friends while out there, we just visited with our families the whole time)

Kyle had a Niece who was just a few months older than Millie. They were such good little playmates! We also have to give her a big thank you for getting Millie to eat something new! Ham (Deli Meat) such a great thing for her to eat!!! so easy to pull a piece out and get some protein in that little body! (she is still hesitant to eat it at times, but we just have to remind her, "remember you ate it with abby and it was so good!")

Tracy's reception was in my parents back yard. I really wanted to do mine there, but alas, I got married in February. The yard looked amazing and all the decor (which tracy did ALL by her self) looked sooo good! She had kindof a woodland/rustic theme which was so fun and also looked amazing!

Josh and Sunny (Kelly's hubby) eating the yummy belgium waffles (choice of vanilla, cinnamon or chocolate) served with fresh blackberries, strawberries and raspberries...

After the wedding we were able to do some fun stuff. My mom and I took millie up to sundance and took her on the tram up the mountain! besides the fact that I was a little paranoid about millie falling out, It was a relaxing, peaceful and BEAUTIFUL ride! I miss the mountains alot and just don't see how some people can live with out them!!

Kyle's mom has a bunch of horses. She was so nice and let us come over to the stables so millie could go for a ride. First millie rode with her, and then she got to ride all by herself!!! Of course, Millie was not scared or apprehensive in any way. She had no problem with the fact that she was on this big horse, all by herself. Mill loved this and everyday we have to pretend to "be Anita" and "be Smarty" (Kyles mom, and her horse)

We flew from Utah to Eugene Or. for Josh to race at nationals. It was so pretty up there! (Eugene is possibly the hippy capitol of the U.S. and you see the most awesome and hillarious people up there! Like old old men dressed up like Gandolf walking along the freeway with a walking stick, or a group of hippies riding on their bikes that they have modified so their seat and handle bars are 10 feet high...)Anyways, the race went ok. He ran his best time of the year which was good, but he ended up 4th (for those who are interested this means he will not necessarily get to go to worlds- which is what he was hoping for. Top 3 normally get to go on to worlds in August, but only the first place finisher had run the "A standard"- which is a time standard that they have to have hit within the year. So- now the 3rd place guy and the 4th place guy- which was Josh- will have to try and hit the "A standard" if 3rd place hits it he gets to go to worlds, if Josh hits it and 3rd place doesn't then Josh will get to go to worlds. Complex stuff huh? So- Josh is off to finland this next week to try and run a couple of fast races and earn the "A standard")

Josh's parents moved from clevelad to utah this last year so we were able to spend some time with them too! They made the long drive up to Eugene to support Josh in his race! Thanks! Millie had a blast with them. She just adores all of her Grandma's and Grandpa's!

May

For some reason I feel a need to document what we've been doing in the time that I haven't been posting...

We worked on our garden alot in May, tore out a bunch of bushes, pruned stuff, planted etc. These are our first few strawberries. We love having a garden but it's pretty intense in memphis... it's hard to compensate for all the heat, storms/winds, bugs and BIRDS!

This is my mothers day meal! Josh is a great cook- I love that he likes to cook because it's a fun thing for us to bond over! He made pork loin, rolls, garlic mashed potatoes, and asparagus with a brown sugar sauce. Yum! He also made this amazing white chocolate fruit tark that is pictured below! What a good husband!

Aside from the fact that Millie's hair is pretty ratty in this picture, I love her little blonde curls! She is 2 1/2 and I still haven't cut her hair because I'm afraid the curls will go away!

We took a family Vacation to the Smokies during Josh's week break. It was so amazing to be in the mountains again! That is something that I really miss! Look how amazing! so green! We went on a tram ride up to the top of one of the mtns.

We rode some alpine slides while up on the mountain.

We ate a bunch of good food including this homeade ice cream from a creamery at the apple barn cider mill (also had the best apple cider EVER)

I just like this picture because it's sooo green. It almost looks fake. I love the green out here in TN. ("Greenest state in the land of the free" -from the Davey Crocket song), but once and a while I feel like I'm being smothered by too much green!

I wasn't too creative in May, but this was one thing I did- felt hair clips. Super easy.

fun activities

I've been trying harder to find new fun activities for Millie to enjoy. I always want to do fun stuff but find that unless I have it planned ahead and written down it doesn't usually happen. So, I finally got around to making a plan. I wrote down some fun ideas and searched online and penciled them in my planner: 1-2 activities each week (and I found enough so that I could schedule 3 months worth of activities). ANYWAYS, here are some of the things we had fun with.

Nature Box: paint each compartment of an egg container with diff. colors then go on a nature hunt and find objects that match the colors. Mill Loved this one!

Bead Butterfly: all you need is beads and wire- make sure the wire is thin enough that you can fit 2 strands of wire inside the bead hole (so you can make your feelers). I obviously had to shape this but Mill enjoyed trying to string the beads on the wire.

Easter Chicks: 2 diff sizes of pom-pom's, yellow and orange felt, beads for eyes. I used hot glue- then after I put the glue on I let M. press the pieces together.

Flower cupcakes: Mill loves to mix up cake mixes and cookies etc. and also loves to put sprinkles on stuff (I think all kids love that huh? it's just the best thing ever!) Then we just put dum-dum's in for the flower and cut out some scrapbook paper leaves.

Back Yard Picinic: I put her food in an easter basket b/c we don't have a real picinic basket- ha ha. The dress she is wearing is her "picinic dress" (it's something I made in a sewing class in college) I'm not really sure why it is her picinic dress but she has clearly stated this to me several times.

Strawberry mice: slice the bottom of the strawberry on a diagnal so the mouse can sit flat. poke 2 almond slices in for ears, I used chocolate sprinkles for the eyes and mini chocolate chip for the nose. The tail is pull and peel licorice (this was my attempt to get millie to try nuts- but sadly, it didn't work)

Science: This one was super fun! We made "Oblec": 1/2 c. cornstarch and 1/4 c. water. She LOVED playing with this. We also did Volcano's: 1 T. Baking soda, then pour in 1+ Tbsp of vinegar. Also: color mixing: get a clear glass cup/jar and fill it with water. put drop's of food coloring in and watch them swirl around! Oooh!

Pink bath: probabally not a great idea because now she wants it all the time... She fell and scraped up her knee pretty bad and wouldn't take a bath b/c it hurt her knee. After a couple days with no bath I was getting desperate.

But- now I need to plan some more activities so what ideas do you guys have?

California

Last week we took a little trip to N. California. Josh had a race at Stanford so Millie and I bummed along.

This was his first steeple of the season. He did take a little fall, but was fine & still ended up winning! (I can never get clear shots of him while running, so you get to see the starting line line-up.

I had a hard time keeping an eye on the race and an eye on Millie (I really need one of those kid leashes) Above is her pullin some "grumpy faces" because she didn't want to watch the "running race" she wanted to go to the "Man Village"

We went out to Santa Cruz for several hours. The drive out there was georgous-- it's so nice to be out of the city and on the relaxing coast. Mill literally had the time of her life!!! The day was pretty cold so we didn't bring her swim suit but she loved running from the waves and of course ended up gettin soaked- we took off layer by layer, and she ended up like this.

Yes, those are boys underwear. ha ha. I let her chose her first pair of undies, I figured they all do the same job when it comes down to it. (but really, they need to put girls and boys undies in different places so we don't have this problem)

One of the beautiful spots on the drive out to Santa Cruz

We also spent a day in San Fran. Although I could never live in San fran, I really love it there! We walked around the piers and had a good time. We loved the candy shop (I love salt water taffy, Mill does too, but Josh doesn't care for it.)

Of course I have to talk about food right? It really just sets the mood to sit at Fishermans Warf and eat some warm clam chowder served in sour dough bread bowl (although still not as good as market street grill's- in SLC)

Chasing Pigeons was also a blast!

Merry-go-round at pier 35 (this little girl got to be really spoiled this day)

oh yeah, and I'm pregnant! 22 weeks and it's a boy! We're SO excited and feel very blessed to finally have another one healthily on the way :)

Paper dolls

I loved paper dolls when I was a girl. I though i'd get one for mill and came across these cute (free) paperdolls. Just thought I'd share.

click here if you want the above doll

or to get the full size of this doll, click here

also check out this darling paperdoll website

Mardi Gras

We headed down to New Orleans for Marti Gras this last weekend. We had a GREAT time! I know what you are thinking, 'they must be crazy, Marti Gras is pretty riske' '. But we had a few friends and also ward members who've said it is really a family freindly event, just don't go to the french quarter at night and you'll be fine. We went to one of the night parrades, (tonz of other kids there) We scored about 100 sets of beads, 6 stuffed animals, gold coins, and several cups. Mill was in heaven!

Next day we went to the aquarium. Mill is so brave and didn't mind petting the sting rays at all.

Below is Millie on a "Fishally" She was in heaven this trip because we got to go on so many "fishally's" (ie: an exploration. I have NO idea where she came up with this- her vocab. is in no way limited so it's not because she can't pronounce something??)

We ended up gettin rained out. I was sooo dissapointed because we left early and didn't do our sight seeing because, well, we couldn't see anything b/c the rain was so thick. needless to say, this is about the best pic. we got.

We were able to grab a bag of Beignets (cross between doughnut and scones, covered in tonz of powdered sugar) that New Orleans is apparently famous for.

I thought the architecutre and culture was so awesome down there! (wish I had more pictures to share) Everything was old, and bright, and cool, cajin/creole food and all that. I've always wanted to see the Bayou, so one of my fav. parts was driving into the city. The freeway goes right through the Bayou-- it's all built up on stilts. There are a few neighborhood areas built on stilts with their means of transportations being boats. So crazy! I'm sure Gators just show up on their doorstep and it's no bigger deal to them then it would be to us if we found a spider in our house. Loved the trip!