Swim Lessons

This week we started our swim lessons and Peyton has had a ball! They have a zero entry pool so she can walk right in and wil get all the way up to her belly before reaching back to hold my hand, what a brave girl! She has "jumped" off of the side and gone under several times, learned to kick, blow bubbles, splash and glide on her belly & back. Wow, what a week it has been!

On the way home last night I asked Peyton what she did at our lesson for the night and her response was - "spash" (splash), "bow bubbles" (blow bubbles) and "ick" (kick). Each night when we are waiting for our lesson to start she just stares at the pool and works her hands over and over. When I ask her if she is excited she says "yes, yes, yes" and then tries to run to the door to go out to the pool! I really think we need to not get there as early because the anticipation is almost too much for her! Love that she is so excited to swim!!!

Baaaa

On Wednesday, Daddy picked-up Peyton from school and she was in a sheep costume. Yep, a sheep costume! And its not like anyone else was dressed-up, just Peyton! And when Daddy took her from the teacher she just looked at him and said "baaa" - SO ADORABLE!

Happy Father's Day

We had an awesome Father's Day weekend and it was full of fun activities!!! Saturday, Daddy planned on playing golf with some friends in KC so Peyton & I headed to Clinton to celebrate with the Arthur/Mintun families! About 3/4 of the way to Clinton we got a call that it was POURING rain in KC so Daddy ended-up checking several things off of his list and watching some of the US Open. Peyton & I had a GREAT time in Clinton - we were surprised that Granny was over at Grammy & Grandpa's house when we arrived but Peyton jumped right in to playing with everyone - she obviously loves the attention! ;) After a little inside play and, of course, a snack ;), Peyton threw on her swim suit to take a dip in the pool. Peyton had a ball splashing in her pool and was pretty upset with the storm started to move through Clinton! Luckily she was able to go back out to the pool once the storm passed.

Grammy & Grandpa with Peyton "at the pool" - she could have splashed for hours I think - she even laid-down some on both her belly & her back!


While the rain was coming down Peyton & I provided a little musical entertainment -


And Peyton, the big helper, helped Grandpa get the table all set for dinner! She walked backwards across the entire house - what a big girl!


We enjoyed a tasty dinner with Grammy, Grandpa, Granny, Great-Grandpa, Uncle Mark & Aunt Mary. Peyton even cleared the ENTIRE table and was so proud of her self for doing so! After dinner Peyton rode "Harvey" the horse (apparently more in just this one day than I ever rode him when I was a kid) and played ball with Uncle Mark.


Followed by some serious coloring with Aunt Mary -


And in general making Granny her personal jungle gym! Granny told me on the phone this week that it felt great to have Peyton crawling all over her!


And here are Grandpa's two girls -


And since we had a fair amount of the family together we thought we'd get a pic.


Then on Sunday Peyton told her Daddy after a lot of practice "Happy Daddy's Day" - so cute! We headed to Lexington for lunch to celebrate with the Todd/Sanders family. Peyton again slept the whole way and was ready to party when we arrived. We had a delicious lunch and enjoyed visiting with Grandpa, Grandma, Nana, Papa, Uncle Landen, Aunt April, Wyatt, Whitney, Uncle Clint, Christy, Great Aunt Linda, Great Aunt Connie, Lindsey, Kelli & Danielle - hope I didn't miss anyone!

Here's Daddy helping Peyton feed the fish!


And Peyton helping Grandpa finish-up the homemade ice cream, yum!


I bet you can't catch me Uncle Landen!!!


Tetter - totter time with Whitney


Peyton wasn't so sure about the slip-and-slide but she had fun watching Wyatt & Whitney run down it. Daddy is trying to convince her it is ok here-


Instead of a game of Where's Waldo, how about a game of Can you find Grandpa, Peyton & Whitney in the corn??


And some more color time with Uncle Clint -


We had an awesome, busy weekend and loved visitng with everyone! Peyton is now saying Grandpa more, pulled Grammy out a time or two and even said Grandma this weekend! Her vocabulary is expanding quite a bit here recently and will randomly repeat or say things that we've never heard her say before - too cute!!!

Yogurt, Yummo!

Lake Time

Ok, so again, I have some catching up to do, oops! Two weekends ago we headed down to the lake for the weekend. Since Friday was my birthday we had a tasty dinner with Grammy & Grandpa to celebrate and even finished it off with some strawberries and dip, one of my favorites. Peyton of course loved the strawberries and liked the cream cheese dip after giving it a try. :) We played for a little while and then said our good byes to head down to the lake, fully anticipating that Peyton would conk-out before we hit the highway. Well, we were WRONG! We left the DVD player off to start thinking she would fall asleep but when she was still awake at Cole Camp we decided to turn on a movie. She obviously loved Toy Story as she stayed very tuned-in to the screen for the remaining 45 minutes of the trip. I still don't know how but she was super happy the entire trip down even though it was WAY passed her bedtime!

Here's a pic of Peyton on the trip down - gotta love the "ejection seat" stance!


Then on Saturday morning Peyton slept in a little which was awesome! After breakfast we headed down to the dock to enjoy a little peace and quiet - here's Peyton hangin' with Grandma. She did great with wearing her life jacket any time we were on the dock which was a relief.


Peyton even got to take a ride around the cove on the jet ski with Dad. She was super excited to get on the jet ski but as soon as she was one she wasn't quite as sure. I think she had a good time and I know Daddy enjoyed taking her for a ride!


Earlier in the day Grandpa had shown Peyton how to throw rocks into the lake - this was an awesome activity for Peyton, one that I'm pretty sure she could do ALL DAY LONG if we let her, who would've known?


And in the afternoon it POURED down rain so we were house bound. Here's Peyton & Grandpa checking out the river along the sidewalk next to the house -


And after the rain, Peyton enjoyed splashing in some puddles!


On Sunday we headed back to Clinton to pick-up Apollo and visit with Grammy, Grandpa, Granny & Great-Great Grandpa. Peyton slept most of the way to Clinton so was ready to play when we got there! After a great lunch we went out side to blow some bubbles and Peyton decided to take time to "stop and smell the hosta!" Later we headed to Granny & Great-Grandpa's house where Peyton entertained as usual!


Big accomplishments from the weekend included saying Grandpa & Grammy for the first time!

Like We Have Never Been Apart!

Last weekend we traveled to Des Moines to visit with the Mayberry's in their new town! Although it took about 2 minutes for the kids to remember each other, in no time they were back to creating mischief together! We had a wonderful time dining at some tasty restaurants, checking out the Farmer's Market and the Science Museum. The Daddys even had a chance to play at an awesome course - The Harvester - and check-out a round of the Senior PGA tour that was in town for the weekend. The Mommys and kiddos enjoyed playing at the park and going to the YMCA for a swim. Peyton even went down the slide at the pool and went under the water on her own - a huge step! Apollo greeted us at home on Sunday with Grammy & Grandpa after his Clinton vacation and I was pleasantly surprised to arrive home to a clean house - thank you!! Peyton was a FANTASTIC traveler sleeping the entire way up and slept most of the way back, taking in a little bit of a movie and snack to entertain her the rest of the way home. What a fantastic weekend all around!!!


Best of Friends -
FANS!!!!!

BUBBLES!!!

Bess You

So I have been fighting my allergies the last few weeks so I have been sneezing a ton! Apparently we are very good about saying "Bless You" around the house because Peyton now responds after anyone sneezes "Bess You" - man, we need to get this on camera because it is stinkin' adorable!

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!!!

Wow - we may have had a 3-day weekend but man was it jam-packed with all kinds of fun!! Saturday morning we were up bright and early to welcome Apollo's girlfriend for a visit - Peyton LOVED having two dogs in the house and very clearly can say Sadie. She is still talking about Sadie visiting! Anyway, after Sadie arrived we left the dogs to play and we headed to do a little playing of our own at the zoo! This was our first trip to the zoo and we had a ball!

Right when we arrived the Sea Lion show was about to start so we hung-out to take a look. Peyton had a ball watching the show and clapped several times - so cute!

Afterwards we headed toward Africa to see lots of animals. We managed to cover both continents during our visit - and for those that have not been to the zoo for a while that means we did a LOT of walking but it was so much fun!

I couldn't resist this picture -

Peyton was a little so-so about the carousel but when we were leaving the zoo she pointed to it again and said more-more so maybe next time we will give it a try again! :)

And Peyton's favorite part of the zoo - the "baa baas" - she even pet this nice sheep!

Later in the day after a quick nap we headed up to the pool for a quick dip. It took Peyton a while to warm-up to the whole pool concept but eventually she came around.

We had a pretty relaxing Sunday which was nice after our busy Saturday! Sunday night Grammy & Grandpa came up to spend time with Peyton so that Chad & I could go out to dinner to celebrate our 8th anniversary - my how time flies! We had a delicious meal and I think Peyton kept the grandparents pretty entertained! Monday brought a round of golf for Grandpa Arthur & Daddy while the girls did a little shopping and took another trip to the pool - a great time was had by all!!