Beginning of Summer in Washington

This summer is a little crazy for our family. Ben is interning for Bain in Dallas (which can mean he travels 4 days a week, can work 12 hour days, and it's 100 degrees there), I am very pregnant, and we have a toddler. So we decided it would be easier for me to stay with my parents in WA so they can help with Paige and I don't have to be so hot. We knew it would be hard living apart, but his internship is only 10 weeks and we planned many trips back and forth to see each other.

So mid-May we flew out to WA. Ben's dad happened to be teaching a conference in Seattle and his mom was joining him, so we were thrilled at the chance to meet up with them. They came down and stayed a night with us, and Paige was thrilled to have so many grandparents around. She loved playing with "Grandma Jo" as she's fondly started calling Joann. 

She's also loved all of her playtime with my parents. Grandpa took her out for her first fishing trip on the lake. She tried to reel in her fish and then grab them.

Grandpa also took her on a date to his schools' band concert. The highlight was getting candy from his office :)

We visited Great Grandma Jean for a walk around Waughop Lake. This is when Paige decided she is on a first name basis with her great grandma, and now refers to her as just "Jean" (which is hilarious to hear).

We got in a lot of play time with daddy, including Monkey Joes and swimming on the lake.

And (thanks to my parents for being willing babysitters), Ben and I squeezed in a few movies, miniature golfing, temple trip, and a "Super Market Sweep" date. Ben combined my love of shopping and game shows, and we picked out strange items we liked, swapped carts, then the other person had to find a double of those items as fast as they could. Then we also had to guess on total prices. We are both competitive, so we were quite the sight racing through the aisles. Then we finished the night off with Grandpa's ice cream shop. One of my all time favorite dates!

Ben was able to fly to San Francisco to visit his brother, Marcus, and be there for baby Lyla's blessing. 

And then Ben headed off to Dallas and our summer of sending pictures to daddy, Facetiming, and Skyping began.

Making Ben sing "Itsy Bitsy Spider" for the 20th time over Skype