Hanging Out at Home

The weather here has been so unpredictable.  Some days are beautiful and sunny and other days, it's pouring like cats and dogs.  It's actually nice on those rainy days because it does force us to stay at home and relax.  Usually by the afternoon, the sun comes out and we can spend some time in the yard. Lexie's sunflowers are getting bigger.  This was taken at almost 3 weeks.

Lexie has been showing an interest in baseball.  We have a Little Tikes T-ball that she loves to play with, not always the right way, but she has fun with it.  She pretends it's a pogo stick.

She has been practicing to keep her eyes open and to make contact with the ball.

Lexie is doing pretty good at hitting the ball straight.

She's learning to throw the ball.

We enjoy playing in our yard and love these long summer days with Lexie.

Summer is About Friends!

The zoo is always one of Lexie's favorite places to visit, but it's always fun when she goes with a friend.  We were sitting at the dinner table and I told Lexie that we were going to the zoo and she told me very convincingly, "I'm sure Savannah would like to go with me to the zoo."  And we were so happy that she did want to go because Lexie had a ball with her.

No matter how many times we go, these kids just love climbing on this giraffe.

Lexie loves the huge fish tank and she got her daddy to go into the tunnel with her.

Then it was off to the fair with our favorite Taiwan brothers!  Last year it poured on us and this year it didn't look like the weather was going to be any better.  Luckily, for most of the night, it was just a drizzle.

We rode the merry go round only once this year.  She still has the biggest smile when she rides the horses, but she was quite a daredevil and chose to ride the roller coaster several times.  She rode the cars all by herself.  The first time she chose this gold convertible.  The second time, she was going to ride with Nolan, but she didn't like the car he was in, so she sat by herself in a purple one.

Lexie finally rode with Nolan on the helicopter.  These two are so funny because several times they were practically hanging out of the copter.

The highlight of the night was the petting zoo.  Lexie was in heaven being around so many animals.  Her favorite animal was the bunny rabbit.  She kept saying, "It's just like my Thumper."

She also liked following this cute little piggie around.

Lexie and Nolan ended the night by tormenting this poor Teddy Bear.  Poor guy, he didn't stand a chance with these two.

We are so fortunate that Lexie has wonderful children to call her friends.

Choo Choo All Aboard

Lexie has always had a fascination with trains.  There is a train every summer at the mall.  She rode it for the first time when she 16 months.  She was so little that she slid out of the seat belt and was almost hanging out of the train.  I remember they had to stop it to reposition her in her seat.  She was very excited to go this year especially with her best friends.  When the train ride started, she sat so lady like.

As the train went around the tracks, she started putting her hands in the air.

Then the crazy in her emerged and she just let loose!

I think we need to take her back to Disneyland.  She loves these rides so much!

I guess Lexie's enthusiasm was contagious because Peyton starting putting his hands in the air.  He's just adorable.

This train ride didn't seem like it was going to end.  They went around many more times than usual.  Then the train conductor asked, "Who wants to go around again?"  Of course, they all raised their hands!

Not a happy camper when the ride was over.  We sometimes have a problem of getting her off rides!

A Sliding Day

Whenever we drive by a playground or park, Lexie gets really excited.  She has always loved the play structures, especially the slides.  She likes when it's slippery and she can go down really fast.

And she knows if she goes fast, she can zap me because of the static electricity.  So as soon as she jumps off the slide, she's chasing me to zap me and she'll start laughing if she gets me.

Look, ma, no hands!

Lexie could spend the whole day at the park.  She must have gone down the slide about 20 times.  

She has always been great at climbing ladders.  As soon as she was strong enough to pull herself up, she was climbing on 6-foot ladders.  Now these ladders at the park are a piece of cake for her.

While she's playing, she'll stop and say, "Take my picture!"  She loves to pose and will act very goofy.

She went on this slide a few times, but it wasn't as fun as the bigger one.

I love how a simple day at the park makes my baby so happy!

When my Lexiebug is happy, I'm a happy mommy!

Chuck E. Times Two

The last time we went to Chuck E. Cheese, Lexie was one.  She was too small to climb in the play structure, didn't understand how to play games, was afraid of Chuck E. and only wanted to ride the merry go round.  Fast forward two years later and what a difference time has made.  We were invited to two birthday parties in the same week and both times, Lexie did not want to leave.

Thank you Aunty Kristie for always throwing the best parties.  Lexie loved the balloon, "all you can drink" cup, and goodie bag (especially those little chocolate chip cookies)!   Of course, she had to ride the merry go round!

She also drove the bus and the trolley!  Her favorite ride was a roller coaster motion simulator.  She stayed on it forever and loved how bumpy it was.  She was even putting her hands in the air like she was riding a real roller coaster.

Lexie was so happy that she was big enough to climb to the top of the play structure.

It was even more fun that she had Nolan to play with.

We had to grab her when she came down the slide because she didn't want to stop playing.

Lexie chased down this doggie to take a picture.

She had fun playing this water game with daddy.  It was just like using the hose to water the yard.

Our 2nd outing to CEC was to celebrate Madi's 5th birthday.  It was a girl's night out for Lexie.

She played some games with Kaylie and daddy.  And rode some rides with Faith.

And before we left, Lexie took a picture with Chuck E.

Hopefully we don't wait another two years before we visit the mouse again!  We still have lots of tokens and tickets to use!

Little Things Matter

We have been doing so much this summer that it's hard for me to keep up with all of activities that we're doing, let alone the small stuff that happen each day.  Those little things may seem just a part of everyday life, but they are just as important to remember and cherish.  We go to the mall each week and one day they were lots of characters there.  Even though we've been to Disneyland, Lexie was a little hesitant at first to go up to them, but her shyness disappeared and she was giving them high 5's.

Uncle Ray had given Lexie special chopsticks to use.  She caught on really quickly how to use it.  She is actually better at eating with those chopsticks than with a fork.

Grandpa sent Lexie an egg.  When it is put in water, out hatches an alligator.  It was pretty slimy as the water made the alligator expand.  Now that it's dry, it has shrunk to the size of Lexie's hand.  She has an alligator and a duck and she carries them around everywhere.

In a short time, Lexie has gotten really great at puzzles.  We started with a 12 piece one and she was putting it together within a few minutes.  We moved up to 24 pieces and once she did it a few times with our help, she was putting those together in record time all by herself.  She got this Princess puzzle for her birthday and it has about 30 pieces that are pretty small.  I did it once with her and one night she was very quietly working on it and completed it all by herself.

I'm so happy that Lexie loves books.  She looks forward to going to the library each week.  She likes to find one book and will usually carry that book around with her.  She is now memorizing the words to the stories.  She can go for weeks without hearing the story but as soon as we read it, she can read each page along with us.  

Even though these are things we do each day, I don't want to forget any of these precious moments.