Woof

Parker is starting to say a few things. Duck, dog, good, and cat are the only ones we really understand, but sometimes Dad, too. (I'm still na-na, and only when he's mad at me!) My favorite sound, though, is his woof for the puppy. It's just a burst of air, but I think I'll really miss it someday when he learns a more accurate noise.

Wedding Season is Upon Us

Here's Kenzie with the wedding cake at our neighbor Adrienne's reception tonight.

Parker fell asleep on the ride up to Red Butte Gardens, so he was a tad wiggly - luckily there were crackers on the snack table! (This is Parker's latest face. He opens his mouth like this to say hi or get excited. It's also handy because I can check the status of his teeth - we're still holding steady at 8)

It was hard to get Kenzie to stand still for a picture because she wanted to turn around and look at the fountain!

Kenzie's First Swimming Lesson

Kenzie was so excited for her swimming lesson today! Once she actually got to the water's edge, though, she was extremely shy. After a minute, she was having a blast jumping up and down, but she jumped so high that she got water up her nose on the way down - she went back to being very cautious after that.

If you look really closely (click on the picture to make it bigger) you can see a big smile on her face. I thought she did pretty well for her first lesson - she at least attempted everything. Her instructor tried telling the kids he'd changed the pool into ice cream (to get them to "scoop" with their hands). I could hear McKenzie, though: "It's not ice cream! It's just water!" She was not fooled.

Parker hung out in the chair with Dibble (Kenzie really wanted her stuffed dog to come watch her). He was quite interested watching the kids in the pool, and it wore him out! Usually he doesn't take a nap until 11:30 or noon, so I chose the 10am lesson time. We got home at 10:45 and Parker was already half asleep!

Happy 4th of July!

Tonight we had a little Lambert/Arnold get-together and lit off some fireworks in the street. Parker on Uncle Arnie's lap. He watched the fireworks for a few minutes, but then decided they were too loud. I couldn't blame him, they are loud!

Kenzie ran around with her hands over her ears most of the night. She claimed she was having a good time, though! (I was too slow to get any in-action shots that actually involved the fireworks! I managed to get a few blurry ones of smoke, but that was about it!)

Random picture of the day: our nephew, Josh, gnawing on the pork bone left over from dinner. He was a good sport waiting for me to grab my camera!

Ham

I wanted to take a picture of Parker watching Star Wars because it was funny to me how mesmerized he was. He'd lose interest for a bit, but once a noisy scene would start he'd look up, point, and start jabbering. He clapped for fight scenes. Once I got out my camera, though, he was more interested in showing off than the movie!

Case in point! What a goober.

Renovations

Here's Kenzie with my old Barbie house. It was originally my mom's Barbie house, and it had been sitting in the attic for many years. It needed a little TLC!

Seiko didn't mind it just the way it was. He has slept on that scrap of carpet for a week straight now!

Tonight I finally finished fixing it up. I painted and wallpapered the walls, re-covered one floor, and put new carpet in. It's not perfect; one wall is very warped and I had a hard time with the wallpaper, but Kenzie was thrilled. I got a big hug that made it worth the work.

I still want to do a few more things, like make a tablecloth for the table, but for now it's livable again!

Mommy's Entourage

Can't go anywhere without 'em. All I'd done was go downstairs to answer the door, and when I turned around they were both watching. I try to remember that it's flattering to have such a devoted fan club!