Roaring Camp

We spent day 2 at Roaring Camp.

This is truly one of my favorite places.

It is located in the beautiful redwood forest.

And my husband and daughter get to bond over trains.

Alright, I guess I will admit, I think they are awesome as well.

On our way in we stopped for a picnic,

Daddy found Lily a fun fuzzy little caterpillar.

We played with him some and then let him go free.

After lunch we played before our train ride.

How could she not smile amongst her favorite things in the world.

It is so exciting we must jump for joy.

We finally board!

And head up the hill.

The ride is nothing short of extraordinary!

Once you make your way to the top

they let you out to have a walk among

some pretty impressive trees.

Some of these trees started growing before

Christ was born.

Amazing!

Just because he is so handsome.

I am a lucky girl!

Didn't I say that our first day was a little overdone.

Among the very loud train whistles

this little one tried to get some sleep.

Goodbye Roaring Camp

Oh, how we love thee!

To end this long post I have a long story:

When we arrived back to our hotel after a full day of Roaring Camp

and then a few hours at the Boardwalk

Lily was way over tired.

Before the cranky, whiny, overtired girl presents herself

there is a window.

This window is full of hysterical laughter and super silliness.

I happen to like this because it is a warning.

Kind of like a yellow light.

So, we are in this yellow light state of being.

Lily is shaking her booty and repeating the words booty, booty, booty!

Followed by extreme fits of hysterical laughter.

Which is funny for the first five times or so and then

quickly gets old.

Daddy puts a kibosh on the hysterical state

which sounds something like:

"no more booty Lily"
Lily gives him a slight smile and walks out on the balcony.

Where she is quiet for some time.

TOO QUIET.

So I walk outside to see what she is doing.

She is standing on top of a plastic chair

shaking her booty and waving her arms

and whispering Booty, booty, booty

to her hearts content.

I quietly retreat in fits of my own hysterical laughter.

Guess she just needed to shake it a little longer.

(And just in case your wondering

the other girl did present herself a few minutes later.)

Santa Cruz Day 1

We just got back from four glorious days in Santa Cruz.

It was perfect just perfect.

We stayed on the boardwalk,

(not my first choice)

but Lily thought we were at a five star resort.

She was so excited.

She jumped up and down on our balcony when we arrived

and said, "this is so exciting!!"

We went down to the action almost immediately.



We rode a few of our favorites from previous years.




Then we discovered the dolphin ride.

(it's not a dolphin I know I know)

I don't think I've ever seen a smile so big!

We rode this ride at least four times a day.

Never did the big giant grin leave her face.



She is still not a fan of roller coasters.

They are just too noisy.

Then we went down to the beach.

Where we followed suit with our summer of bravery.

Her feet touched the ocean water willingly

for the first time ever.

We even smiled about the whole experience.

Then we went back and rode a few rides.

Then we tried a little bowling.
It is safe to say I will not be playing on a league anytime soon.

It was a great first day

we packed a lot in

maybe a little too much.

Tooth on the loose!

Thursday was a big day for us.

Lily spent the night at her Nonnies house on Wednesday.

She came home very very tired.

We decided to lay down for a little rest.

Lily of course brought her trusty tags for our rest.

Her mama still has not won the battle of sucking on tags.

Mama has actually surrendered in the battle and called a truce.

For now.

So now our stage is set

over tired girl

blankie

mama

all trying to rest.

Not nap that dirty word was never used.

Suddenly Lily sat up and said mama LOOK!

Tags took my tooth out for me.

She looks oh so cute with a space where her little tiny tooth used to be.

We placed our tooth in the trusty pillow that the Easter Bunny brought for us.



And hung it on our door.

I might add on the outside cause

Lily's mommy told the tooth fairy that under no circumstances

should she wake the sleeping child.

The Tooth Fairy brought 5 golden dollars

and also left a little decoration on her door.

She wanted to leave fairy dust but she seemed to have lost her supply.

I once again reiterate:

Who told her she could grow up so fast!!

Happy 4th ~ Take 2

Isn't she lovely!

This photo is out of order,

but it is beautiful,

so why not put it first.

We had a fun family day after all the excitement on the 3rd.

We went to visit Nonnie and Papa for a swim.

Walter the expert shadow chaser came with us too.



After a day of swimming and BBQ

we went to stake out our spot for the best view.

A little photo shoot to pass the time.

Silly girl

She loves her Wally pup.

And her mama, mommy, mommers too!

Happy 4th

Happy 4th of July!!

We got all dressed up yesterday

and Lily actually agreed to pose for me.

I promised myself I would spend this entire day on manual.

I am a little frustrated about my lack of skill.

I do think I'm overly excited about aperture and need to tone it down!

So that will be today's goal.

But she is cute cute cute!

We went to our friends neighborhood.

They live in the best neighborhood.

To say I am jealous is an understatement.

Lucky for us we get to crash their neighborhood quite often.

It was a great way to spend our day.

We did some hanging out.



There was a kid wash
have I mentioned how much my girl is changing.
going through an apparatus that sprayed water would have been
impossible
last year!

Now it is NO big deal.

The kid wash was a questionable name

I think every adult had to give it a whirl

it was HOT HOT HOT!

Just a little more proof

in case you thought your eyes were failing you.

And yes yes that is a smile on her face.

The kid wash was pretty cool

but the gutter was even better!

We had a little sponge race......

And then a little sack race.

You didn't think we were gonna let the kids have all the fun

Meredith showed her winning spirit

I think she may have practiced this before :0)

Then there was a pinata

which was better suited

As a hat.

And then of course

there were fireworks.

I have been trying for 5 years

to get a sparkler in this child's hands.

She acted as if she'd done this her whole life.

It was a perfect evening!