Today was the 1st day of the new Lion exhibit at the Zoo. It was pretty cool- even though this picture says otherwise!
I really liked the Cheetah's the best- they were fierce and almost scary!
Ryley on the other hand- well, he liked the statues of the Lions.
The baby.
The cutest part of the morning, was watching him get so excited over the Sea Lions- and the other little kids who were just as excited as he was!
There he is!
He will definitely get his sister with this new one when she gets home today!
At the start of summer she wouldn't touch anything that wasn't human, and now she is busting out of her 'shell!'
Pretty darn surprising... Now I just have to warn her, like I have her dad for the last 9 years, that we are not going to be a pet family! These pictures were taken by Chad at the recent Reptile and Amphibian featured exhibit at Omsi.
The first thing I made was the Chicken Parmigiana.
It wasn't much fun peeling these tomatoes, but it was well worth the hassle. However, next time I will be leaving the peel on.
And the latest, BBQ Chicken pizza- Yum!
Sage exercising her muscles and holding Herbie.
Wendy and Bryce- he looks so relaxed.
Kristy and Jazlyn- so photogenic. 
Mallory and Courtney kickin' it on the noodles.
Ciara- oh so small at 5 months pregnant- and believe me, this is with her showing!
or climbing up on something,
he's putting things in the toilet! 
He is also the reason I haven't taken many pictures lately! Seriously, he is too quick for me!!! He wears me out the 3 1/2 hours we spend at church on Sundays!
Here is a picture of the cousins minus Eliot. 
(I am in need of some direction because I can't enlarge this collage because I have no clue)! 
A couple weeks ago cousin Colby stayed the night with Maisey and the two played great together. They are only 5 months a part, and that is usually the case, but their time together was precious because there weren't any other girls to steal away the attention with the curling iron and make-up. These two played a little bit of everything and it was sweet watching them interact. I think they will be friends forever. 
The following week cousin Peyton (Colby's sister) stayed the night. The first thing on the agenda was going to the fabric store to pick out material for pillows. The girls wanted to take a shot at sewing and things went well. They enjoyed their soft flannel pillows all night long.
The following day we saw the movie "Kit Kittredge: An American Girl" and swam before taking Peyton home. It was an exciting day because Peyton missed out on a lot of swimming this summer since her arm was casted for about 5 hot weeks!
During the hot spells we've enjoyed lots of pool time! If you haven't been over to swim, your missing out on some fun catching up.
These days Ryley is VERY much into animals, reptiles, and anything that moves and looks new. We went to the zoo last week and I can already tell our zoo pass is about to get a big workout in the upcoming months. Maisey also loved the zoo at this age and I enjoy watching little ones' faces light up in excitement. 
The kids have been doing what little ones do best and that is growing. Mine have never been 'right' on the charts and it has always been annoying but the gap is slowly closing. Ryley has maintained his average 75% for height and 11% for weight (I am worried about the upcoming seasonal change to Fall because 12 month pants fall of his bum and he needs 18 month length). And Maisey, she is still 50% for height! She has grown up a lot over the last year, and it is bittersweet to see her develop into a young lady. She may only be 6, but she acts 14... I'm hoping when she is actually 14 she might act even older and we can just 'skip' the teen years all together!
Maisey is the youngest one in her swim class by a couple years (at least 3) and she is doing a great job with her side breathing and isn't at all intimidated by the fact all the other students are much bigger and male.
Ryley isn't talking much and seems to be following in his sisters footsteps. However, according to the pediatrician, he is 'on track' and is where he should be. He thinks he can talk and constantly looks at you, points, and mumbles on and on. He is a busy climber and was so happy in the picture above that he could mount this pony and rock it back and forth without help.
I failed to get a complete family photo, but here we are in our Red, White, and Blue.
Maisey spent lots of time in the water since it was so hot and we just baked.
She loved the fireworks my grandparents set off and I loved that Ryley slept through them.
One day we took the kids to my favorite kiddie pool at my favorite park. Grandpa stayed home but Grandma, Uncle Chase, and Aunt Erin came too. I was sad to find out this is the last year any of the outdoor kid pools will operate since under a new ordinance they would be required to put in an expensive new filtration system... I guess we better enjoy it all we can this season!
Four days is never enough time to see everyone and I can't wait to go back again!
When I think about marriage at this time the first thing that comes to mind is Jesus saying, "I never said it would be easy, I only said it would be worth it." I wouldn't dare say it's easy, but I do believe it's worth it.
Before the show.
Maisey is on the far left! I was worried after watching rehearsal because the adorable little kiddos seemed to freeze on stage...
But in the end, they all did great! She did awesome and I could tell I had a cheesy smile on the whole time!
After the recital with her trophy and flowers! 
That little baby loved everything about it. The freedom to roam about and to choose whatever was pleasing at the time was all so exciting.
The freedom to climb and explore mischievously is the most liberating part. Well, eventually all the thrill wore off and at about 4 years old Maisey refused to visit the libraries. Lucky for me, now she reads and once again she likes the libraries... And for the times she's not so eager, I now have another little one who is!
On the dark rides he is a quiet observer. Here he is on It's a Small World After All.
Here he is on the tea cups for the third time.
When he gets tired he just sleeps.
And when he wakes he knows there is still more fun awaiting him. Ryley also started walking on our first day here! This is a funny but lengthy (1.53 minute) clip of him as he attempts to toddle over to me after a long day at Disneyland! Hang in there, he gets it eventually and his determination is commendable!
* I filmed the clip wrong and I can't turn it, nevertheless it's still entertaining!
