Playing in the rain

Leslie loves the rain. Good thing since we live in Florida and it rains practically every afternoon! Every time it rains she asks if we can go outside and play. Most of the time the answer in no because I'm feeding James, or making lunch or just don't want to have everyone get soaked. This last week though she got her wish! Daddy was home so it was even more fun!

Our Little Man

This last Sunday James wore a new church outfit and he looked so cute! He looked just like a little man. I can't believe how big he is getting. He is 8 months old but is wearing 12 month clothes! His personality is really coming out. He likes to do things his way and he NEVER gives up. It's pretty funny. The more you hold him back, the harder he tries to get things. He wants to do everything that his sister does. It is so cute to watch Leslie and James play. For the first time this week they actually played together! Not just playing around each other but playing together. It was so cute. James is so mobile now. He can crawl so fast and climbs up on everything. He barely has to be touching something to stand up. He will be walking so soon. He laughs all the time and not just when he is being tickled. He laughs at almost everything Leslie does. Except of course when she is pushing him over. He is so much tougher than she was. He is such a good eating. He basically skipped baby food and went straight for our food. If it doesn't come from our plate, he is not interested. He does great eating it though so I don't mined skipping the baby food! It seems like he has always been a part of the family. We are so blessed to have such a happy, loving boy.

California Dreaming

Our annual trip to the west coast this year was so much fun! It is always so wonderful to spend a month visiting family. This year the kids and I headed out to California first to stay with my parents and see grandma, Jackie and the boys. When Bryson dropped me off at the airport my bag was 10 lbs overweight so I had to ditch some things. One of the things that got taken out was our nice camera so all of these pictures are courtesy of my parents or from my phone. The kids did really well on the flight. I was nervous to fly for 5 hours with two kids by myself but it was much easier than I thought. It was a little cramped tying to feed a big kid like James in those tiny seats, and it takes some creativity to figure out how to fit 3 people in those itty bitty bathrooms but we made it. Here are some pictures of our adventures:

James started to get clingy to me during this trip but he loved his Aunt Jackie! They were so cute together. 

 Fourth of July fun. Leslie absolutely loves fireworks.

Before we left for the trip, James did not sit up well and he was just barely crawling but he got lots of practice at Gandma and grandpas house.

Ready for the playground!

Our timid girl is getting braver and braver every day. She loves to jump in the pool and likes to go under the water.

We went and checked out the California Science Center and it was awesome! It had so many things and it was free. Leslie had so much fun. We got there when it opened and stayed until. 5 when it closed. When we were leaving Leslie kept asking to go back inside!

She was in love with this place from the very beginning. They had pink lights at the entrance!

James wanted to see all the cool things too.

The space shuttle Endeavor was on display. When we went into the room Leslie was in awe. Then she said, "Turn it on. Go into space!". She is such a smart girl.

Lunch break. James wanted a French fry so badly. :)

At the Rose Gardens. Leslie wanted to jump into the fountain. She settled for running around it and getting misted.

Pictures with Great Grandma Sharon. Unfortunately Grandma wasn't feeling good while we were there so we didn't get to visit as much as we would have liked but we got these pictures.

Utah Visit!

We had such a great time visiting family in Utah this year. It is so great to see everyone and to get all the cousins together. James grew so much while we were away. He got so good at crawling and pulling himself up. Everywhere we went, he tried to get into everything. He also became obsessed with eating table food. He will not give up until we give him something that we are eating too. 

It was so fun to get all of these babies together. They were so wiggly!

Herding babies.

Leslie LOVED the trampoline. She wanted to be on it all the time. 

Fun in the pool with cousins and Leslie's favorite dog.

Fun at Thanksgiving Point. Leslie talked about riding ponies for the whole rest of the trip.

Leslie was so cute with Razz. She loved her so much. She would walk around the house calling her and would put a blanket on her to keep her warm. :)

Everyone loves pizza!

Playing dress up at Grandmas.

One night we attempted to camp out on the trampoline. We made it to about 9:30 before Leslie wanted to go in. :) But we had lots of fun up until then.

We spent a day at City Creek in Salt Lake visiting my brothers. The girls were so cute with Leslie.

James is blurry because he wouldn't stop jumping up and down. :)

Playing in the fountains.

Brothers are great!

James' first time jumping on the trampoline. He loved it as you can see.

Hiking at Silver Lake. Leslie is going through a phase right now where she hates to get dirty so she didn't want to walk on the dirt. Silly girl! But we ended up having fun anyways. She loves to climb on rock so that motivated her to get out of the stroller. 

While we were in town, we also got to catch up with some great friends and get the kids together. The kids had so much fun together.

Roommates together again!

Half of the BFFTAAE's back together again. I just loved these girls!

Bell Canyon hike. We totally wimped out half way up.

We spent a night in Park City and rode the gondola up the mountain. It was so beautiful. Leslie loved the ride.

 Playing in the river.

Grandma's back yard is the best.

Everyone wants to play on the phone.

4 wheeling in Saratoga Springs.

The perfect end to a summer trip!