Summer time on the lake!

I've said it before, I'll say it again, you can't beat a good summer in Washington. We had amazing weather while we were home, and basically lived in our swimsuits. Paige was much more independent this year in her life jacket and trying to keep up with all the older cousins. She is my fearless girl and loved going on the tubes (and fell asleep on them multiple times!). Deacon, on the other hand, was not the best age for the lake. No babies really love the infant lifejacket, and since he could crawl it was a little scary having him on the dock. But, in following grandkid tradition, he loved a good sleepy boat ride.

All the Warning cousins

A new toy added this year... "The Monster"! Paige apparently found it very relaxing and fell asleep while being pulled on it multiple times.

The mini jet skis were also a hit.

Jumping tricks...

Everyone had to take turns helping with this little boy

The kids loved all their cousin time!

I got to see some friends! Elise, Amanda, and Anjelica and I stayed up way too late chatting. So fun to catch up and reminisce with those girls.

And I saw Emma and her cute boys!

We played hard and my kids were usually exhausted from skipping naps and playing in the sun.

I'm also glad I got these sweet pictures of the family dog, Leo. As crotchety as that old dog can be, and as many times as he's nipped at the kids, peed on the carpet, etc, I love that dog. He's getting pretty old, so I was a little teary saying bye to him when we left. We love our Leo.

It is always so much fun staying at my parents'. This time felt a little stressful as we were trying to close on a house and I was sending papers, etc, but I'm so glad we got that time with my family. Thanks mom and dad for hosting us for yet another summer.

Peace out, Washington, time to move to Texas!

Paige's 3rd Birthday

(Better late than never...)

For the third year in a row, we happened to be at my parents' house for Paige's birthday. This year was different though (and so sad!) because Ben wasn't there for it. He had just started his job in Dallas and we were still still waiting to close on our house, so unfortunately we had to be apart for Paige's big day. We were so lucky to have all of her Warning-side grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts & uncles, and cousins there to celebrate!

Paige had been asking for months for a scooter and ladybug helmet, so we went with it.

Our first activity was pin the wheel on the scooter (thanks to Grandpa's excellent cardboard cutting skills)

Then we made edible scooters (there was definitely more eating than constructing going on)

 Then time for presents! Paige was completely spoiled by family, with princess dolls, princess nightgowns, a wand, stick on earrings, all kinds of fun, girly things!

Facetiming with daddy in Texas so he could be part of the party.

 Have to document her sweet hugs with the GREAT-grandparents, since how many kids get to have them at their party?!

Then her big final gift: the scooter (or "scutter") and ladybug helmet! We had all the cousins bring their scooters and they all rode up and down the driveway.

And we finished with cake and ice cream! And I was saved again by my brother-in-law, Brandon, and his sweet cake decorating skills.

Deacon was right there, trying to grab a piece.

Happy birthday to our sweet Paige! At (a little over) 3 years old:
-takes after Ben in height- 95 percentile!
-has so much and we're still holding on to some curl
-is still our drama queen. She has quite the acting skills and imagination. So funny, and yet so exhausting.
-is very excited about learning letters and now has all but 4 down.
-her pictures are starting to look like things- big circles for heads, eyes, crazy arms...so fun!
-loves to sings and easily catches on to radio songs: Shake it Off and All about the Bass are unfortunately some she bursts into
-still loves nursery, but every week tells me she's old enough to go to the "other class" (sunbeams)
-is a very sweet older sister, usually willing to help me with Deacon, and usually treats him very nice
-favorite shows: Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Sophia the First, Doc McStuffins
-favorite books: changes weekly, but currently likes her Mickey books
-favorite foods: she is getting pickier, so biggest requests are PB&J, quesidillas (chase-a-dillas), strawberries, and pancakes
-is learning how to do more and more on her own, like recently learning how to buckle her sandals
-when asked what she wants to be when she grows up, she responded, "Mom I don't want to grow up"

We love this sweet, entertaining, imaginative little girl.

4th of July in Washington

Since we only had a month of corporate housing, and we still had a month before we could move into our house, the kids and I  flew to Washington to stay with my parents while Ben stayed with friends and started his job. This was not the ideal situation to be apart that long, but there wasn't much of an option. Strangely enough, every summer since we've been married there has been some reason, whether it's buying or selling a house, internship etc, that I have lived with my parents for a few weeks (or months!) during the summer. Yep, I'm that kid that just keeps coming back :)

The first weekend we were home was the 4th of July. This was tough to be away from Ben, but we were glad we had so much family to celebrate with. A lot of my mom's family came over and we played on the lake, BBQ'd, made smores, and watched fireworks on the lake. USA! USA!

Corporate Housing in Los Colinas

At the beginning of June we finished our vacation in CA and flew to Dallas. We stayed in corporate housing for a month in Los Colinas. Our apartment was nicer and bigger than we expected, and we got quite the workout living on the 3rd floor. We had a few mishaps: the moving company not bringing our stuff for about a week, them not bringing half of our assigned corporate housing boxes, and me never getting my suitcase, resulting in me wearing the same 5 outfits for 2 months.

While we were there we did a whole lot of house hunting, craigslisted, furniture shopped, dealt with another one of Deacon's ear infections, saw some kid summer movies, and enjoyed the pool. We tried to explore a little bit and mainly just soaked up our last few weeks of fun-employment with Ben.

Deacon learned how to stand up!

Jen's birthday present:

Costa Vida!

Splash pad!

Sending Ben off to his first day of work at Microsoft!