Hiking and Catching Up With Old Friends

 Last weekend Carl's friend Pete came to visit us with his family. It is always fun to meet up with college friends now that we all have kids.When Pete visited last, we did a lot of hiking- we thought it would be fun to do that again. We thought wrong.  It was really tough.  Between the 3 kids we had 6 scraped knees, and lots of tears.  We joked that with all the crying we were keeping the bears away.

 Seeing the gorge.  This was always fun to see, but now with kids a little scary as there is a sudden drop off.

 Sophie did a great job hiking and only cried when she fell.  She walked all 5 miles.  She did awesome!

We made it to the top!  The kids had fun splashing their toes in the freezing lake.  Now we have to get back down...

Quick Portland Trip

 We did a super quick 3 day trip out to Portland.  We crammed a lot of stuff into those few days!  One of the kids favorite spots is the Portland Children's Museum.  This summer they added a whole outdoor section with climbing trees, water features, sand boxes, and fun climbing rocks.  The kids were in heaven!

 We should have came prepared for the water- If I had thought it through I would have packed their suits.  Since I didn't they had a blast running through the water and getting their clothes all wet. At least it was a nice day!

 Cade at the clay station.  He had messy clay and a hammer.  He happily sat for a good half-hour.

 It was great fun to meet up with cousins Claire and Miranda again!

 Rock wall climbing.

 For whatever reason, my kids love to dress up in hats.  This always freaks me out since I am afraid they will catch lice.

 The construction room.  Another favorite spot, another hat.

 On our last day we met up with Claire and Miranda again for some good old fashioned slip-n-slide fun.  This was a lot of fun!

Perfecting the belly slide.

Frozen Dance Camp

This summer has been the summer of trying new things.  Now that Sophie is 5 she seems to have hit a magic age where they offer lots of camps and classes.  So far this summer she has done dance camp, karate camp, VBS, and swim lessons.  Sophie has such an outgoing personality that she will try anything and does not care if she knows anyone or not. Her absolute favorite so far has been the Frozen dance camp.  The girls danced around to Frozen songs, dressed in costumes and made a frozen craft everyday.  It was great!

Trip to Cincinnati

 We had a fun trip to Cincinnati.  It is so nice playing with Jen's kids- the older kids are sooo much help with our little ones.  Sophie follows Bekah around everywhere and thinks she could do no wrong. Jonas was real sweet with Cade and helped us chase him around, it's nice to have an extra set of hands!  Since we drove all over Ohio, we had lots of time in the car.  Sophie and Bekah  sang along to the Frozen soundtrack- over, and over. Cade would get in the car and say," No, let it go. " We all felt that way.

 We went to the Children's museum- it is wonderful.  The kids played and played.  There are a lot of hands on/physical activities that are perfect for our kids.

 This was Sophie's favorite spot- they had a giant rope climbing course.  We were very thankful that Bekah was willing to do it with Sophie for an hour straight- and we didn't have to!

 We also went to the aquarium.  The kids had a great time watching all the sharks, fish, jellyfish, penguins, and playing in the touch ponds. For whatever reason, my kids always try to get into the touch ponds and I end up carrying them away embarrassed and dripping wet.

 I am not sure why, but Cade was mad at this 15ft crocodile.  He kept going up to the glass, tapping his finger on it and yelling, "NO, NO."  I was thankful that there was a thick plate of glass to separate them, because lets face it- Cade would have made a tasty little snack.

 Wanting to swim with penguins.

 Posing with penguins.

 We had a girl trip to American Girl. I think I loved it almost as much as Sophie.  It was such fun!  They brought chairs for the dolls to sit at the table, and served the dolls tea.  Everything was pink, flowers and stars.  They also treated our girls like princesses for the day.  I would happily go back.

 There are stations around the store that will fix your dolls hair, pierce her ears, and even a doctor station where they can repair dolls. These stations were fun to watch, but we did not do them as they cost roughly the same amount as your first year of college tuition. 

Sophie and her doll in matching outfits.  It is so much fun being with the Yu family.  Our kids play so well together that I always leave wishing we lived closer together.  Luckily, the kids are getting older and easier to travel with so hopefully we can continue to see them often.

Tooth Fairy!

Sophie has officially lost her first tooth!  She came out from her room one night excitedly telling us that she had a loose tooth! 2 days later, out it came!  The night the tooth fairy came she was so excited, it could have been Christmas Eve. She had her room all clean and ready for the fairy to come- she wanted to make a good impression!

I have a jewelry box, that the kids always steal when they are playing pirates, Sophie quickly decided that was the box that she wanted to put her tooth inside. We set it next to the bed, and in the morning she had a pack of princess rings inside.  She was thrilled!  The tooth next to the missing one is now loose.  She might have a toothless grin for her Kindergarten picture!

My First Ice Cream Cone

 The days of sharing ice cream with Cade are officially over. He will no longer be satisfied with a lick or occasional spoonful of ice cream, he now demands his own.  For the record, he is a complete disaster at eating ice cream cones.  He will take some off the top, then bite down on the bottom, and gradually work his way to the middle.  He ends up with a mess of ice cream in his hand, proclaims that he's done, and hands the mess off to me. We go out for ice cream a lot, and his skills are not improving.  I don't recall Sophie ever being this messy of an eater.  Now when we go out for ice cream, I always make sure to bring lots of wet wipes.... For his face, hands, shirt, pants, table and floor.

 Going in for another big bite.

 Taking a look at Sophie's cone.

Cheers!

Sophie's 5 year old stats

We have seen a lot of changes in our Sophie this last year, here are her current stats:
Height- Sophie is just under 4 ft, at 47inches.  This puts her off the chart for her height percentile. She is currently head and shoulders taller than anyone in her preschool. Most people are shocked to find out that she just turned 5, people usually assume she is in elementary school. She is growing so fast that she often wakes up and complains that her legs are sore.

Weight- 43 pounds, this puts her at the 70%. Sophie weighs the exact same from last year. In fact, she has only gained 3 pounds in the last 2 years. This is not lack of eating- she comes home from preschool, where she just ate, and will eat a second lunch with us. I am scared to think of what she will be like when she is a teenager.

Favorite things- Sophie is into princesses, anything Disney she instantly loves.  She also loves books, and is now reading independently.  It is fun to pick her up from preschool and see her reading while she waits for me.  Sophie is such a good reader that she follows along with the text while I read, and often corrects me. There is no way to skip a few words or paragraphs anymore. Sophie also loves playing outside, playing in the pool, and playing her Leap Pad.  Sophie also has a strong imagination, and still has imaginary friends. She is constantly making up new games.  Dont worry if you dont know how to play, she will tell you everything to do and say.

Dislikes- Sophie likes to be the boss, and to have everyone do exactly as she wants- really, this is how life should be.  She has always been strong willed, and continues to be. She both likes/dislikes playing with  Cade because he is more than happy to do anything she wants, in fact he thinks anything she does is wonderful, but she gets tired of having him follow her around everywhere.

Sleep- I have no doubt when Sophie is older, she will be one of those people who only need 4 or 5 hours of sleep every night. Sophie has never been a long sleeper, even as a baby. It takes her a long time to wind down every night, and she wakes up bright and early.

Food- Preschool has helped tremendously.  Sophie will eat almost anything they serve, and will now order off a menu at restaurants. Her favorite meal is a quesadilla, she loves fruit and cheese.  She is also really good at eating her veggies.

Sophie has grown up quite a bit this last year.  Gone are the tantrums, the pickiness, and impatience.  She can now wait easily at a restaurant, or in line.  She is working on writing her letters and doing basic math.  She is already reading and picks up on things extremely easily.  She is almost too ready for kindergarten, and is already talking about when she goes off to college. But she always asks that I come along to college with her- this lets me know that she is still 5. I doubt she will want me there when she is 18.