Summer Backlog: St Edwards Park

St Edwards Park is just across the lake and has a great wooden play structure that the kids love.  You can also so a nice little .6 mile hike down to the bottom to a little beach area that is perfect for simming and picnicking.  We went with friends Willa and Otis.

 Leana and Willa on the trail

 Juju's favorite parts are the bridges and steps

 swimming in the lake (juju at shore throwing rocks in the water)

 taking a creak on the way back up.  Leana is treasuring a catepillar!

Summer Backlog: Twin Falls Hike

About 3 miles round trip.  The kids discovered thimble berries and that kept them motivated for most of the hike.  Mom discovered that lookout points over huge drops make her very nervous with the kids, even though there is no way they could actually fit through the barrier.  Juju discovered that the hiking backpack is not for him and that when he is tired he needs to be carried only in mom's arms.

 Hunting for thimble berries

Summer Backlog: Blueberry Picking (4th annual)

We've been keeping busy this summer with lots of adventures and "summer fun list" items that Leana came up with at the beginning of summer.  I've fallen behind on posting pictures from many of these things.  At the top of her list was our annual trip to North Bend to pick blueberries and swim and have lunch with my former colleagues Janice and Gardiner who have a beautiful house there with a nice pool!  Plus Auntie Janice spoils them with ice cream brownie sundaes and lemonade :) This trip was about a month ago.

We picked 11 pounds!  (And probably ate at least another pound while on the job)

 pool time

Last Day of Swim Class

I think the last swimming video I posted never really worked, so here is one from Leana's last day of summer swim lessons.  Leana is the one with the little bun popping up out of the water on the far right/front of the group of kids.  She really made a lot of progress this year and even started doing standing dives off the side of the pool!

Ballet Camp

The ballet fun continued for Leana with her first ballet camp: Ballet Stories Come to Life.  She absolutely loved it and was not happy when I told her it was only a week long!  Three hours a day for 5 days with a bunch of her neighborhood buddies, it was the perfect afternoon activity for her.   The last half an hour of the last class was a performance for families.

 Leana chose Juju as her partner when it was time to involve the audience.  He was thrilled!

Hmmm, who is that trying to steal the show?

Leana's Ballerina Party

Leana's ballerina party was a big success!  Special thanks to my friend Anna that dressed up as a real life ballerina for the kids and prepared a little lesson for them!  They also got to decorate their own crowns, whack a pinata, play "pass the parcel" to uncover their pink tutus, and eat cupcakes and lots of other goodies.  Julian was involved in every part of the party, loving getting to play (and dance!) with all the big kids.

Update: 5 Year Stats
Weight: 37 (25%) - up (almost) 3 lbs from last year
Height: 43.5 in (75%) - up 2.75 inches from last year
BMI: 13.75 (8%) - down .75 from last year
Blood Pressure: 96/56
HR: 80
Vision: 20/30 

Happy 5th Birthday Leana!!

Our baby girl is already 5 years old!

Equal parts sweet and mischievous, she loves getting fancy as much as she loves to dig her hands in the dirt to find bugs or plant seeds.  A future lion doctor (according to her)/professional negotiator (according to me), she tells me she was "born to climb rocks and trees".

A couple weeks ago Leana completed her first high monkey bars and now likes to try them at every playground we go to.  She has a new bike without training wheels that she pedaled by herself for a few feet yesterday for the first time.  She is loving swim lessons and swam about half way across the pool today with no help from her teacher.  Her special birthday request was to jump into the super deep end!

Leana will start Kindergarten in less than a month and I am pretty sure I am more nervous about it than she is.  She will continue her dance lessons with a new beginning ballet/tap class as well.

She still loves bugs and dinosaurs, and also anything in the fairy/princess/Elsa category.

 This dress has been a favorite for a long time!

Birthday Tea with Nana!

Monkey Bars

Crawl stroke with side breathing! This is the furthest she has made it without any help from the teacher.

Another California Adventure

Travel lessons learned on this trip:
-If you decide to have an "adventure" of going to the airport by bus and train with two kids by yourself, be sure to leave plenty of extra time in case you forget to put something crucial, like shoes, on your child before leaving the house and don't realize it until you drive to the bus stop just in time for your perfectly planned agenda.
-Don't pack a bottle of wine if you are going to arrive at the airport so late that you can't check your bag.
-Practice running while holding a child in one arm and a high backed booster in the other arm while also rolling a suitcase behind you.

Travel aside, we had a great 5 days in California, where I got to see a lot of old high school friends at Vanessa's wedding and the kids got to play at Dennis the Menace park for the first time.  Leana also enjoyed lots of swim time in Nana and Papi's pool, including her first jump off the diving board.  Juju liked to watch Leana and try to throw lemons and rocks in the pool.

 the bus to airport adventure

 Dannie and Sean at the pool

 Dennis the Menace playground - this same structure has been there since I was a kid!

Leana with buddies Fiona and Reese