July 4th weekend

We were able to go up to Payson for the three-day weekend and enjoy the cooler weather with Justin's parents. Lauren LOVES spending so much time outside and just had the best weekend! We pushed the girls to their limits with early mornings, late nights, no naps for Lauren and fewer naps for Paige - but other than the occasional emotional breakdown they were both troopers and really enjoyed our little getaway!

Daddy and Lauren fishing - she finally got to break out her birthday fishing pole and was very excited!

Paige hanging out in the shade.

The girls all dressed in their patriotic best! Lauren was able to go see her first fireworks show with Grandma, Papa, and Daddy - but Paige was SO tired that Mommy thought it best to stay home and put her to bed!

On Saturday we went to Flagstaff for the day (yay!) to see the horse races. It was really fun and a beautiful day weather-wise! Lauren loved watching the horses and was always ready to cheer for the one wearing PINK! ;o)

Grandma Nel and Papa Jody were able to soak up some much needed Paige time!

Lauren playing with Grandma Nel's "sparkle beads" - all the little girls seem to just love this activity at Grandma's house!!!

New wheels

Well, J finally sold his truck last week - a good thing overall, but still very sad. After a few days of shopping he found a very good deal on an Acura TL! At least it will get better gas mileage - and we can still all fit in it if necessary! Lauren was very confused that Daddy didn't have a truck anymore - but was pretty excited to go sit in the new car, especially once she realized what a sunroof was! :o)

To be fair...

Lauren looked like him too!

Good thing I birthed them, so we know I am in there somewhere! ;o)

Maybe they will have my eyes...

Ahem...

OK - I give.

She looks like Justin, that much is obvious. Even with the superb picture quality of the 70's!

Lauren's summer 'do!

She was SO zoned into the Care Bears show playing that she wouldn't even acknowledge me or the camera! Whatever works, I guess!


The back - I had actually just cut three inches off her hair six weeks ago, but the waves in the back have been crazy and tangled lately, so I decided with 110+ degrees out, it'd be nice for her to have a cooler length.


The front - we are going to try and grow her bangs out as well - I figure it will catch up faster to the shorter hair. ;o)


The back is much more even and manageable now!


Paige is just growing like a cute little weed! She jabbers away all day long, smiles at EVERYONE, eats all kinds of foods, is teething like crazy, loves to sip cold water, and is trying really hard to crawl!

Springs Preserve

This last weekend we drove to Las Vegas to see my parents, and they took us to the Las Vegas Springs Preserve on Saturday morning. It was really neat - right in the middle of town, but beautiful like you were in the middle of nowhere! There are two museums, which we didn't go to - we just walked along the trail and took Lauren to their really neat kids play area! They also had a big grassy pavilion where a kids bluegrass band was setting up for a concert. Unfortunately, we didn't stay for that - it was just TOO hot at 11AM! But, what a fun place for people to take their kids for the day!

Paige getting some snuggle time in the shade with Grandma Linda.

This neat train made life-like sounds and had lots of neat gadgets to play with!

"Sand!" They had several sandbox play areas, and Lauren LOVES sand - we should have brought some toys because she could do this ALL day!

Once she found this sand and water table, she was hooked! We had to pry her away with promises of juice and a snack! :o)

This place was pretty amazing! Next time, we have GOT to see what they have that they actually charge you for!

Playtime

I'm sorry it has been so long since I've posted! We are all doing great just nothing too exciting going on! Today we went and watched Justin's sister's kids for a few hours, Camryn and Lauren had a great time playing dress up and with the play kitchen. Wouldn't life be fun to cook in princess gowns every day? ;o)

Love this black and white of the pretty princesses!

But the colors of these dresses just had to be shown!

Sitting up playing with a doll... how is Paige getting SO big?!?

Enjoying some time outside on a beautiful day!