Taylor's First Movie

On July 24, 2008, I took Taylor (21mos 3wks) to her first movie...Charlotte's Web. This was the Charlotte's Web with Julia Roberts as Charlotte. We met Lorinda with Anissa (3yrs 4mos) and Mackenna (9mos 3wks). We sat in the handicapped section with the big seats and lots or room for Makenna's stroller.

Taylor had her own little popcorn and HiC orange drink with a straw, which she liked. She sat content for a little while with me, enjoying her popcorn, and watching the animals talk. It didn't take too long before she found it a little more entertaining to run over and say hi to Anissa. Thankfully, Lorinda came prepared with lots of toys for Makenna, and Makenna didn't mind sharing with Taylor. I think Taylor did pretty good. She was not thoroughly entertained by the movie, but I think she behaved herself pretty well.

After the movie, we walked over to Red Robin for lunch. Of course there were lots of balloons available for the girls. Anissa picked an orange balloon. Taylor had a blue balloon. Balloons are very exciting for Taylor right now! Soon after we sat down, Anissa's balloon found it's way to the top of the room, and out of reach. Lorinda quickly ran over and got Anissa another orange balloon. This resolved the situation for everyone but Taylor, who was thereafter a bit concerned and would not take her hands off her blue balloon for the duration of lunch. Taylor and I shared a Whiskey River BBQ Chicken wrap, apples, and a strawberry lemonade. Her little mouth is full, but her hands are not off the balloon.She would watch the orange balloon and remind us, "balloon up high."
And here is the ever pleasant Makenna who sits content and happy while holding her own little water...straws nearby.

July 19th, Charlie and Margaret get married

This was another fun wedding. Margaret looked beautiful and I didn't get a picture! I'm not sure how I managed to miss that. However, I did get this cute picture of Taylor and her grandma. Taylor learned to be gentle with the flowers. She will touch them very softly and say, "gentle."

This was another great dance opportunity for Taylor as well. Here she's copying Uncle Dave...or maybe he's copying her...humm? Either way, it was great fun to watch and Taylor loved it!
And here she's dancing alone. She doesn't mind dancing with others, as long as they don't touch her. She has her own moves and does not like her hands grabbed.

July 17th...it's my birthday

Yep it's my birthday, I'm 28 (give or take 10 years). I loved getting my "happy birthday" phone calls. It's always nice to be remembered.

My cousin Cindy took Taylor and me out to lunch at the Coeur d'Alene Brewery. I love the beer cheese soup there! Taylor was very excited to "see Cinny...see Kalyn," but slept through lunch. She woke up as we were leaving and said, "wait Cinny...come back." We went back to Cindy's work afterwards where Taylor was quite entertaining running around and reminding the secretary "shhh...quiet." Taylor didn't think that pertained just to her.

I told Taylor, "it's my birthday." She would reply, "it's my birthday" emphasizing the "my." We would do this back and forth which I thought was very funny. If I would say, "it's mommies birthday." She would then agree, "it's mommies birthday." Later that evening, we met Matt at Olive Garden for dinner. Taylor sat with daddy, which was fun to watch. He kept her entertained so I could relax and enjoy my dinner...that was nice.

July 12th...Little Miss Ashley Peak becomes Mrs Bradley Reynolds

Ashley and Brad had a wonderfully sweet...and very fun wedding! Ashley is a year younger than Matt so it was so strange to see little Ashley all grown up and getting married. I think Ashley got herself a good man. Brad's vows were wonderful.
Thankfully, Taylor slept through the ceremony on her daddy's shoulder. Then she was all rested up for dancing later...and running through the field. She really loves to dance. She does it whenever she hears music. She has some good moves too.
Grandma did the catering...best lasagna and chicken parmesian ever...yum yum! Taylor liked being able to visit with her Grandma too..."go see grandma" she would say. And there's Great Aunt Julia and cousin Becca too.
The wedding was at Brad's parents home on five acres. They had these mowed paths through the grass that were great for Taylor to run through...as well as for Ashley to walk down for her ceremony, of course.
We had a great time visiting with everyone! This is Ben and Matt talking to "little" Mike Peak, who will be leaving with the air force later this summer.

Seattle...Matt's birthday continued

For Matt's 21st birthday, we planned a trip to Seattle to watch a Mariner's game. Daddy and Matt watched the game. Taylor and I watched, but also went on little walks now and then. We like to sit on the 3rd baseline in the view box seats. I would worry about foul balls if we were sitting any lower since I'm not able to pay attention to the game the entire time. Our seats worked out real nice for us with Taylor's love for walking. This is one of my favorite pictures. Taylor would say, "up a hill" and "down a hill." It was great to have this hill so close for us. I love how you can see Seattle behind her. After the game we went back to our hotel in Bellevue. Daddy and Matt were able to go to a wonderful Sushi restaurant close by while Taylor and I got ready for bed.
The next morning we went down to Pike Street Market and had crepes for breakfast...yummy.
We then went for walk down by a pier. This is Matt not wanting his picture taken.
This is me telling Taylor to look for an airplane so she would look in the general direction of the camera.
We drove over to Woodenville, where we went on a tour of the Red Hook Brewery. Taylor and I left that tour early so we could go outside and run up and down some grassy hills. That is always a lot of fun! I wanted to visit a winery too, but Taylor fell asleep. We thought it best to let her sleep so she could have a nice nap before dinner. Daddy stayed with sleeping Taylor while Matt and I shopped a little in Bellevue Square. We ended our little trip with a wonderful dinner at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse! Matt was pleased that this is not the type of restaurant where they come out and sing for your birthday. Taylor was so well behaved. It was nice to be able to all spend a few days together!

Happy 4th of July

We took Taylor downtown to watch the parade. What may have been even more exciting to her was the curb she was playing on next to the parade. When she had enough, we took her over to the park so she could slide.
This was the first time she really enjoyed the swings.
We went over to the family picnic area where Taylor was collecting what she called "baby pine cones" in her little bucket. Here she is showing them to Great Grandpa Dowers...
Grandma took Taylor for a little walk around the park to say hello to everyone. Taylor always loves to go for a walk with her Grandma.We were not too sure how she would like the fireworks so we stayed home. Daddy took her up on the roof, next to our deck. We have a great view of many fireworks displays from up there. That was exciting for her...for a little while. This year, she preferred to just go for a walk than watch the fireworks.

An afternoon with Anissa

Taylor and I went to my cousin Lorinda's to play for the afternoon. Lorinda and her husband Chris have two girls. Anissa is 1 1/2 years older than Taylor and Makenna is 1 year younger than Taylor. Makenna's not playing with them too much yet. They have this wonderfully big backyard for the girls to run around in with a little hill on the side. It's one of our favorite places to go play. Taylor gets excited when I tell her we are going to see Anissa.
The girls had so much fun running up and down this hill! I love this picture because you can see how Taylor was almost a little frightened. She was having so much fun! She would run down the hill so fast she was almost out of control. She would run and grab me at the bottom of the hill, giggling and saying "whoa." I couldn't help but to just laugh at how much fun they were having.
Taylor says, "up-a-hill" as she climbs up...and..."whoa, that a big hill."
This is Lorinda with little Makenna...I thought this was such a cute picture.
After playing outside, the girls came in for a little snack. We stay until it's time for Taylor to take her nap. They have so much fun!

Play and Exercise

This was Matt's room. Now it has a Little Tykes Country Kitchen in it, along with many other little Taylor toys. We were so grateful to get this kitchen from a friend of Ben's.
Taylor likes to take her turn exercising as well.

Who is that tapping at our back door?

We heard a tapping sound so Taylor and I went to the back door and this is what we found. Ben said it is a California Quail. It tapped at the sliding glass door. It didn't hurry off while we watched. It took it's time....made it's way down the stairs and across the yard. Later it came back and tapped again.

Camping at Priest Lake

Taylor likes riding in the truck. She sits in the middle of the backseat and can see so much more. She says, "weeee" and "oh wow."
We took our trailer and 4-wheeler up to Indian Creek at Priest Lake to meet Erin, Jason, Olivia (4) and Nathan (3) for the weekend.
Taylor had fun running around outside with the kids. She would say, "Livia wait" and follow them between the campsites. They would also pick up rocks....one at a time.
On Saturday we went for a 4-wheeler ride. Me and Taylor rode on the back with Daddy. Erin had the kids with her and Jason had his own. It was very pretty! We stopped to have lunch and let the kids run around and get water.
Taylor thought the 4-wheelers were loud. She would just put her head on my chest and snuggle in for the ride. She would say, "big rock," but was mostly pretty quiet. She fell asleep on the way back down the mountain. I did spot a moose shed on our ride down. I was so excited! It was the first time I ever found anything like that while we've been out.
Daddy helping Taylor with her breakfast. She's being silly...
I love the Indian Creek Trail. There is a nice little path through the forest along the creek with bridges. It is so peaceful and pretty! Taylor is pointing to the water and telling daddy about it.
She liked walking across the bridges. She would walk back and forth across them. It's a great little path for her because she can do it all be herself.
There is a little playground down by the lake. It was a little too cold for swimming, but we let her play on the slide, which she loved. She would climb up all be herself. Daddy waited at the top of the slide to help, just in case. I waited at the bottom to catch her...and take pictures.
It was a fun weekend! Taylor slept on the way home.