A Camping We Did Go

Earlier this month we went up to Idaho to go camping with my family. I love camping. I grew up camping. And I recently realized that I've only been camping 2 (now 3 times) in the last 9 years. That is just wrong. This was Paige's first camping trip sleeping in a tent. We camped on the middle fork of the Payette River near Crouch, ID. We had a great campsite with the river close by. It was shallow enough that the kids played in it and could ride tubes down the little current. Paige loved having her cousins at her every command. Paige says her favorite part was sleeping in a tent. I loved it all.

Of course, I had to start the trip with a photo shoot. I told Paige if she let me do pictures when we first got there, when we were done, she could get as dirty as she wanted.

I love this picture of my brother carrying Paige across the river. He was helping her catch a fish. These fish only liked flies, so later he caught a few and let Paige reel them in. Once we got back to Boise she went fishing with Poppa at a pond and caught her first fist by her self. At least that's the story she tells me. I wasn't there, so I don't know.
Paige in her cousin's boat. She would ride down the current and then the kids would drag her back upstream to do it again. Oh, to have everyone do things for you.
My nieces and nephew. Out trip was with my parents, my brother and his family, my sister's daughter, and us. My sister didn't come because she doesn't get along with the outdoors (really bad allergies, dirt, roughing it...)
The first fish Paige reeled in with Uncle Brian.

It was great and far too short. Next year we will have to plan for a longer weekend. To see all the camping pictures, click here.

The Zoo

We have enjoyed going to the zoo this summer. I thought I would share a few of the pictures I've taken.

A baby giraffe was born in the end of July. The giraffes are mine and Paige's favorite, so it was especially fun seeing this new addition. There is also a baby snow leopard, but I haven't been able to get a good shot of him yet.

I noticed that one of the giraffes has a heart patch on his rump. Cute.
My favorite snake. A tree python, I think.
Christie the elephant. Since this picture, she gave birth to a 250 lbs baby girl. They are hoping to have the baby elephant on display mid-September. We can't wait!
It was fun catching this interaction between these bears.

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

We've recently started going to the local baseball (pioneer league??) team games. The Orem Owlz. Paige loves them. It is in her Puerto Rican blood to love baseball. Her great-grandfather and dad would be so proud of her. I think we've gone to 4 or so over the past couple weeks.

Enjoying the game..

This is Hoots, the mascot. There is a girl owl mascot too, Holly. Paige loves them! We actually attended the wedding of Hoots and Holly after one of the games.

Enjoying a hotdog.

Perfecting the art of eating sunflower seeds.

Little Fish

Today was Paige's last day of swim lessons. She is a little fish. She passed her level 1 class, and has a couple more things to work on before passing her level 2 class. She doesn't like making big arm motions. So we will work on that. Here are some cute pics from today's class.

Back floating. Like the thumbs up and trembling lips.

Class was at 9:30 and the water was cold.

Good Morning Beautiful

I think this catches me up on the blog. This is Paige's July portrait. I love pajamas. I have a weakness for buying PJs for Paige, I've had to show restraint. I had visions of pictures of Paige jumping on the bed, but Paige had visions of doing everything but... This month she did her first session of swim lessons. She passed on the first try and started in on Level 2 lessons. She decided she didn't like her dance class and went back to taking gymnastics. She still wants to do ballet, but not the tap and creative movement. I told her she could try a ballet class in the fall.

A Visit from Shelbie and Hannah

My sister and niece were here this last week. It was fun to have them and boy we kept busy. My favorite part was last Saturday. We had put the girls to bed and then at 10 we woke them up, put them in the car and drove over to the park to watch the American Fork Steel Days firework show. The girls thought we were crazy putting them in the car in their PJs. But they loved it.

Here are some other high lights. Making our own pizzas.

Hiking in Cascade Springs.
Feeding the sting rays at the aquarium.
Playing at Kangaroo Zoo.
We also went to the dinosaur museum, swimming at the pool, the zoo, breakfast at IHOP, shopping, and the girls spent hours playing in the backyard. It was great having you guys down!!

4th of July

Like I said before... I'm behind. Here is a glimpse into our 4th of July celebrations. My nephew got baptized on the 4th, and my Mother-in-law was visiting from Virginia, so it was a day full of family.

We started the day with red, white, and blue waffles. Yum!

Paige chillin' with her cousins.
I took Paige to Stadium of Fire when she was 2 and I don't think she has forgiven me. She is very nervous around fireworks. She has decided that they are okay if they are not close to her and they don't make noise. As soon as the noise begins, she is out of there. On the 5th we had our traditional tank wars with friends. Paige hung out in the basement watching a movie. She wanted nothing to do with those loud tanks. But she did like the sparkly fountains that didn't make noise.
The kids decided to "bomb" the ants in the drive way with poppers. Paige was so cute. She had a popper in her hand and said, "We're going to bomb the ants because they are having a BAD day."

Lavender Fields

I'm going to try and catch up on some blog entries. My pictures have been piling up. Back in June I did Paige's portraits in the Lavender fields in Mona, UT. I had never been down there, only heard of them. It was kind of a weird shoot. The people said we couldn't take pictures in the fields, but that we could do pictures on the grounds by the visitor center. Then the manager came out and said we would have to pay the photography fee. Oh well. I got some great shots of Paige and I did family pictures for my friend's family.

Here is Paige and N. Since they are both only children they have formed a little brother-sister bond. It is cute to watch them interact.

By the visitor's center there was a maze made out of lavender. This is what I ended up using for Paige's pictures. The colors and everything turned out great. It was especially helpful having friends there to help get Paige smiling and working the reflector.



My little sassy girl. Love her!!!

Quote of the Day

The other day, Paige turned to me and said, "Mom, when Cosmo (our cat) turns 5 (she will in September) will she get to go to kitty-garden." Then Paige laughed.. "Get it, kitty-garden." I have a comedian in the making.

Cherries, Cherries, Cherries

Our trees have been overloaded with cherries this year. So much so, that I actually ventured canning. It was fun. I have no idea if I will actually eat that many canned cherries, but I have them.

Here is a link to some pictures of our trees.

YUM!!!