So yeah, we had a blast and enjoyed spending time with our family and friends far away, but oh how good it feels to be home.    Lauren and Peyton were in my friend Mandy’ wedding, so we had fun dressing them up and parading them down the aisle.  This was Lauren’s first time, and I was quite worried how she’d do as an 18 month old with a job.  It worked out – I set her down at the end of the aisle.  She stood there.  I gave her a nudge.  She walked a few steps, then noticed the pretty petals on the ground.  Of course we can’t leave pretty petals on the ground, so she started picking them up.  I gave her another nudge and reminded her to bring her flowers to Daddy…so she ran down the aisle to Daddy and that was that. 

Of course, she also contracted some disease a few days before, as her runny nose got a little worse each day.  On Sunday night she didn’t sleep well and we could tell she didn’t feel well at all, so I called our insurance and our old doctor and ended up in a walk-in clinic in Artesia.  We got there at 9 when it opened only to find that the doctor doesn’t come in until 10.  We put our names down and left to fill out the paperwork and wait, only to find out at 10 that our insurance wouldn’t cover their particular clinic, just other walk-ins.  The receptionist bargained with me over the price (I guess cheap business is better than no business from her perspective, and I didn’t feel like sitting in an ER for who knows how long) so we got in.  Lauren had an ear infection and is now recuperating.  She still has a really gooey nose, but she seems a lot more comfortable. 

And that was our summer.  Can you believe it’s over?  The fair is next week, then only one more week before Peyton starts kindergarten.  Forget about where the summer went…where have the last 5.5 years gone???

That’s really all I have to say.  It’s Friday.  We have no plans for the weekend.  The weather is terrible – gray and rainy and 60*.  I think we’re all suffering from sunshine withdrawals, or it could be that Lauren shared her cold with me…at any rate, I’m off to have some Famous Amos cookies to cheer myself up.

So when she saw the container of salsa from our mexican take-out, she had to have some.  I tried to discourage her, but she’s about as stubborn as her mom and dad and begged to try it, so I let her.  She went through the typical range of expressions when one eats something really hot, only she didn’t try to disguise it like the rest of us do.

Wanna know a secret?  These pics didn’t come from her first taste.  See the mostly-empty container in front of her?  She ate it.  Crazy girl! 

The next evening Uncle Gordon and Aunt Jenny had some hot cheetos, so we let Lauren try them.  “NUM!”  Yes, she needed a drink of water, but she loved them and wanted more than we’d let her have.

Maybe I ate too much salsa when I was pregnant with her.  Who knows.  Crazy!

Here are a few other pics from the last few days:

Last week it was REALLY hot again – high 80s/low 90s for a few days – so we spent a lot of time in the kids’ pool and went to the YMCA often to swim.  Here’s a cute pic - there are quite a few other expressions if you’re my facebook friend, but I’ve already uploaded quite a few pics tonight…

On the 4th we went to Uncle Gordon’s for a BBQ and bonfire and fireworks and motorbike rides   Steven is SUCH a great cousin and Peyton LOVES when Steven offers to ride him around on his toys. 

If the tongue wasn’t in the way you’d see the funky tennessee teeth Peyton has right now – one bottom tooth is missing (see previous post) and the other is loose as well, and, since the two adult teeth are coming in behind, the loose tooth is being pushed sideways and out…as loose as it is right now it sticks straight out when he smiles with his teeth closed.  He laughs hysterically about it because it’s so gross (and because I make a big deal about how funny/gross it is), which is probably why we haven’t just pulled it out yet.  He likes the disgusting boy humor of his buckish tooth.  Watch for a new pic in the next few days, though…every time I brush his teeth I’m afraid it’ll fall right out.

And two more things: Lauren had her measurements checked again today at the doctor – she’s tracking right along, so doc says we needn’t come in again until her regular 2-year checkup.  Great, she’s considered normal again

That other thing: James had a mole removed from his stomach today…a few weeks ago I noticed for the first time that the brown was “bleeding” out in a ring around the mole - NOT good.  He thought it’d always been that way, but with the number of moles I have I know what to watch for and feel like I wouldn’t sent him into the doc before if I’d seen that, so we made the appointment and the doctor removed it.  It was quite the surgery – 6 stitches - and is bothering him tonight (and will probably bother him for a couple more days).  Doc thought it looked okay, but it’s better to remove it and be sure for peace of mind than to leave it and find out when it’s too late.  Anyway, when the lab gives us results I’ll let you know.  I’ll probably also post another pic of his stitches when I get a chance.

G’night!

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!

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)

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!