Goodbye Tricycle, Hello Bicycle

At our yard sale a few weeks ago, we sold Rachael's tricycle. She was getting to big for it - when she pedaled, her knees would hit the handlebars. To make the transition easier, I bought a bike for her on craigslist before we sold her trike.

Ryan has been riding with her off and on this week. She's kind of getting the hang of it! She even figured out how to use her knee to help get the bike started from a standstill. She is just a little too small for it - the seat is as low as it will go, and she just barely gets her tiptoes down on the ground.

Off she goes.  My baby can't possibly be big enough for this!

(PS: Ryan and Rachael are off tomorrow to purchase a helmet.)

How Long?

Rachael is in this phase where she wants to know exactly how long she has to wait.  Apparently I have overused the expressions "in a minute" or "just a few minutes," because anytime I use either of those phrases she immediately shouts: "MINUTES?!  AUGHHH!"

Patience is a hard virtue to master.

Flashback Friday

Today we are bidding a fond farewell to
two trees in the front yard.

(Sidetrack here: can you believe in almost five years of living in this house, I do not have one picture of the front?)

The pear tree, front and center. This is what it looked like last year during the ice storm. We think the 17-year cicadas killed it by laying a few thousand too many eggs in the bark - a few neighbors have also lost their pear trees in the last two years.

The juniper tree on the side of the porch.  It was attacked by bagworms and completely died in less than two weeks. 

Bye bye trees.  We will miss you!

Out West

Highlights from our trip to Utah and Idaho...

On the plane: "Mom, what's that white stuff on top of the mountains?"

Also: "Are we above the clouds?"  "Yes."  "That means we can almost touch heaven from here!"

We loved the cold, dry, dry dry, dry dry dry air.  Well I did anyway. We went out to eat, did lots of shopping, worked on puzzles, jumped off the stairs, played games,  made cookies, fed the cows, drove the tractor, ran through the sprinkler, made cake pops and picked lots of flowers.

Some of our favorite restaurant hot spots: Famous Daves, Bajios, Costa Vida, Sweetly Divine, Maddox, Z Tejas, Arctic Circle, the Aggie Sandwich Shop (a new fav!) and Sees.  And of course our two favorites, Nana's house and Grandma's house.

Some of our fun shopping: everything at Gateway, Kitchen Kneads, Gygis, Dillards, Ulta, TJ Maxx, Deseret Book, Kohls, and Sportsmans Warehouse. (We went to Sportsmans just for Rachael.)

We enjoyed visiting with Nana and Grandpa, Grandma and Grandpa, and Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa.  Everyone spoiled us rotten and we can't wait for another trip back.

Flashback Friday

Hello?  Is anyone there?

Busy Saturday

We started out with a yard sale from 8-12. At our house. Because we are all just a little bit crazy.

Rachael was "helping" me make the sign earlier this week, so I found some paper so she could make her own. The popsicle sticks were her idea - she wanted them to stand up in the yard. At least two people said they stopped by because of those adorable signs, so Rachael felt like her hard work paid off.

Rachael spent the majority of the garage sale inside playing the Princess game on the Wii. Which worked well for everyone.

In the afternoon we went to her friend Clark's birthday party.  We have known their family since they moved to Richmond; Clark and Rachael are in the same Primary class.  They also went to preschool together this last year.

Clark flying through the air:

The whole gang:

Happy Birthday Clark!

What a fun, busy day.  Now it's off to church tomorrow.

Flashback Friday

Slip n Slide Edition

July 2009

June 2010