Lauren learned a few new words on the 4th – “Wow!” and “Woah!” are now part of her regular vocabulary.  Very cute.

Happy Independence Day – or something like that.  Did anyone see how much tribute we have to pay just to cover the cost of the interest on the national debt?  Ridiculous.

Been a while: here’s a quick update:

Peyton shaved his head, lost a tooth and had his first trip to a waterpark this week.  He was proud of his haircut and especially glad of the fact that he no longer needs to comb it, very sad to say goodbye to his tooth (but glad to see the dollar under the pillow), and super-excited about the water park.  There were really only 8 slides at the park we went to, but because Peyton is young they let him go down on my lap without a tube, which meant we could skip the line for tubes and go straight to the top.  Wait time for each ride was probably about 5 minutes including the walk time, so we hit up the main slides 2 or 3 times each before we got bored (and cold – cool breeze on wet body, even in the hot sun, doesn’t feel so good).  We spent about 3 and a half hours there before coming home.  Meanwhile, Daddy and Lauren had a grand time at home…

Lauren keeps learning new words, including Peyton, or ”pee pee.”  Another favorite is “dookit,” or “look at!”  She’s learning to say “sorry” since she likes to hit and kick brother (though it’s usually in her own defense, since brother likes to get in her face).  She also knows who she is, but when she says her name is sounds kind of like “doggy.”  So we’ve got a kid named after urine and the other after our pet.  Go figure.  She also got a new pair of shoes for her growing feet – size 5 baby!  Woot!  She’s also developing quite the personality, as you can see:

What mischief!

Peyton and I had a wonderful time in Reno for Uncle Gordon & Aunt Jenny’s wedding, and James and Lauren had some great daddy-daughter time while we were away.  Here are our pics, and I’ll give you more updates later.  http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=vv8ykdd.3ox341ll&x=0&y=-zgiw8&localeid=en_US

Really, Peyton?  Do you REALLY have to keep growing so fast?  You learned how to read and ride a bike, and you feel comfortable walking two doors down to see if the neighbor boy wants to hang out at in his backyard for an hour, and you insist on ordering things and paying by yourself and asking adults for help at the store; isn’t that enough?  No?  Now you’ve got to prove you’re growing up by getting rid of those baby teeth, too?  Seriously, boy, slow down!  That bottom middle tooth is loose, and the adult tooth is already popping through, but that does NOT mean that you are an adult.  Don’t touch that baby tooth.  Mama’s not ready for you to grow up yet.

Today was the Farmer’s Day Parade.  We don’t usually go to the parades in Lynden, but this time Peyton, as part of the YMCA soccer league, was part of the parade!  We dropped him off on his float at 9:30 and went to sit by Marlin, James’ coworker, and his wife Nelly and their kids and grandbaby.

Though Lauren didn’t want to smile for the camera, Marlin’s granddaughter Addison was more than happy to.  Lauren and Addison are 2 days apart in age! 

We had to wait about an hour for the parade to start – Mom and Dad shared a huge coffee while Lauren had a yogurt and some animal cookies.  Then we discovered the Krispy Kremes.  Camp Shiloh, a Christian camp for teens, was selling boxes of Krispy Kreme donuts, so Lauren got her first taste of those.

FINALLY the parade started at 10:30…it was fun, but we wanted to see brother.  Half-way through his float came …

(look for the gray jerseys)

As mentioned before, Peyton is riding a bike by himself! We’ve been practicing starting and stopping and turning in the parking lot of the school across the street. Here are a couple pics.

Here’s how we did it:

1.  Peyton wanted to learn

2.  We started out on the grass – that way if he fell, it wouldn’t hurt.  It was harder to pedal so I mostly ran and pushed him, but he did the balancing.

3.  I started him out on the cement in the parking lot, and he rode in circles.  When it was time to stop he coasted to me and I helped him to stop.

4.  I taught him to start on his own; though I still give him a bit of a push, every time I help less and less.

5.  I taught him to stop on his own; though I still make sure I’m there to catch him, I help less and less every time he stops.

Tonight he actually coasted into the driveway and stopped all by himself (without crashing).  A bit more practice and he’ll be street ready!  Oh, and Lauren thinks it’s great to ride in the wagon, dragged at sprint-speed to keep up with brother.  My next step: figure out how to tie the wagon to brother’s bike   I’m sure Lauren and I can both fit inside!

Time is going by so fast.  My little baby Peyton is going to kindergarten next year.  He knows how to ride a bike by himself (although stopping and starting need a bit more practice).  He can read…really read, not just explain pictures…to himself.  Last night he read me the entire book “10 apples up on top” by dr. Seuss.  He can write and sound out words.  He can help fold laundry and clean his own room!  We’re starting to think about piano lessons for him…wow.

He wanted to give his teachers flowers to thank them for teaching him.  He carefully picked out 3 different kinds, one for each teacher.  When we filled out the cards, he was very particular about what he wanted to write: “I’m sorry I have to go to a new class.  [heart] Peyton”  Yes, perhaps it sounds a bit arrogant, but he didn’t mean it that way…at least I don’t think he did.

And Lauren has discovered her self.  Instead of just “up,” “all done,”  ”juice,” “eat,” she now says “up me,” “all done me,” “juice me,” and “eat me.”  Nice.  But she’s hit a very interesting milestone, and it’s interesting to see how she combines ideas together.  Watching the development of language in Lauren and of reading in Peyton has just been amazing.

As the year is ending, Peyton’s had a lot of excitement at school.  Tomorrow is the culmination of their pre-school skills as the students participate in the shoebox float parade.  Each student gets a letter, number or shape and has to decorate a shoebox to match their assignment.  Then the students pull their floats around the elementary to show off their creations.

Last year Peyton has the triangle.  Only we never got the paperwork (out of the back of daddy’s car) and didn’t realize it was such a big deal, so mommy quickly pulled together a shoebox decorated with triangles to look like a crocodile.  It was pretty sweet, but Peyton wasn’t involved.

This year we made sure to take care of things in advance.

Peyton had the letter P, so since receiving our assignment, we’ve been brainstorming, discussing, and drafting his shoebox.  Here are some pics:

First step: paint the cover for the shoebox.  Peyton chose Purple and yellow – a nice pair of complementary colors.

Step 2: affix some wheels.  We chose an extra-large model-type car.  I was going to tie the car to the top (upside down) of the shoe box, but the pencil stuck nicely.

Another view of the wheels:

Step 3: Wrap and decorate the box!  We went with a “Party” theme – you see Pepsi, Presents (a pig, puppies and a wrapped present), a paper plate with pepperoni pizza, popcorn, pretzels, peppermints, and don’t forget the pumpkin pie!  Peyton is SO proud of his project!

Funny how this project has somehow made me the best mamma ever   I’ll let you know how it goes tomorrow!

This is a special weekend for Peyton. This is his very first tenting adventure.
Okay, so the tent is in the backyard, but it’s a TENT! TENT! How cool is that? And not only does he get to sleep in a tent for the very first time EVER, but DADDY is sleeping with him in his super cool TENT!

And what perfect weather for his tenting adventure. Today was gorgeous! We went to church together, and since we’re on unity services now we had no trouble getting out the door on time – well, half hour early, actually! Thank you to all the veterans out there who gave their lives so we could do a simple thing like go to church. After church and lunch Lauren napped nicely (yay) while Mommy ate in peace and rested in the recliner. Half-way through Lauren’s nap, Peyton came to sit by me and ended up falling asleep (yay!). He even stayed asleep when Lauren woke up at an appropriate time (how good can life get!).

We played outside AGAIN today, and let me tell you, sunblock hair has a mind of its own.  Despite the ‘do, Lauren is getting the hang of driving Peyton’s tractor. Yes, you read that right. Remember Peyton’s Gator HPX truck? Lauren figured out how to drive it. Yes, she has to stand up to reach the pedal, and stand ON the pedal to keep it down, but she is SO pleased with herself when she drives around in circles on the lawn!

[making faces with brother]

At 4 I popped our wonderful tri-tip de Cosco in the oven and ran to the grocery store for graham crackers, roasting stick-thingies, and then to Uncle Gordon’s for wood…can you see where this is going? YES! We had our very first bonfire (okay, maybe it wasn’t a bonfire, but it was fire nonetheless) in our very own firepit (a second-hand gift from some friends) in our very own backyard. On the way back from those errands, however, we noticed a very strange sight: on the main street leading to our street there was a naked toddler in the middle of the [30 mph] street! I pulled over and got out, expecting his momma to come running out of the house after him, but no one came. Another driver pulled over – she’d been coming down the small street and saw him before I pulled over. She thought maybe he was mine, but no, and still no mummy. Poor little guy – he was probably 2, and he couldn’t speak (or understand us?) when we questioned him about his home. There was a cat he was chasing – probably the reason he got lost. Anyway, the woman’s sister lived a few houses down, and though she didn’t recognize the boy, she thought maybe he belonged a bit down the street from her. She wrapped him in a towel and the sisters took him…hopefully. I would have loved to go along to see him home, but my own kids (and Ji Young) were in the car, so I went home. I hope there’s a good reason why mom and dad didn’t see the little guy sneak off, and I hope that never happens again.
After dinner we struck up the fire (which took a while but was well worth it) and Lauren tried her very first marshmallow ever…and loved it, of course – “num-nums!” But alas, it was bedtime and she was super-crabby, so to bed she went, and Mommy, Daddy, Ji Young and Peyton (and Bella) enjoyed the fire and a few smores (each) while it lasted (a bit shorter than we hoped, but perfect at the same time, since we didn’t have to put it out ourselves).

I think Lauren wanted to sleep in the tent, too.  Unfortunately, I think that’d mean no one else would get to sleep in the tent.

Peyton loves s’mores.

Lauren enjoying her first marshmallow on Daddy’s lap.

It’s 10:30 now; Daddy tucked Peyton in at close to 9 (after the basketball game).  I expected daddy to come back in, as he left the TV on Sports Center (no, Ji Young and I aren’t big fans).  But now, and hour and a half later, he hasn’t come out.  They must have both been exhausted.  As I am – it’s time for bed…but Ji Young is watching Jumanji, and I’ve seen the hook…and now I’m not sure if I want to go to sleep…I’ll let you know later…