A Million Directions

That's our neighborhood in the background!

Cam-man loves the water! 

Soph at the zoo with a few of her favorite new friends 

 Summer 2013 in Boise has begun fast and furiously!  Our days have been filled to the brim with sunshine and a plethora of outdoor activities.  We have celebrated my birthday, trekked to swimming lessons and soccer practices, enjoyed more play dates than humanly possible, continued to develop wonderful friendships with new faces, appreciated our regular time with our special friends/family, Chris, Ali, and Grady, and have adopted the lifestyle here in Boise that we've always wanted.  I jetted away for a weekend away with special college girlfriends, and we enjoyed having Grandma in town for a few days.  Doug has been travelling consistently and working hard with his job, but he enjoyed having one of his close friends come visit for a weekend.  There have been evening bike rides, early morning runs, family walks, impromptu bbqs with friends, mom's nights out, hikes....seriously, we've been going in a million amazing directions lately.  Our days are full and we are loving life.

Yes, one needs water wings to achieve maximum height on the trampoline. 

Sophie said it perfectly last week, "I love living in Boise cuz I get to make like 65 new friends but I also get my old friends from Bellevue, too."

"We're playing marching band, but I'm the boss and Cameron doesn't really get it."

I had to pull the car over last week to snap this photo--they were doing this without any prompting! 

swarming Grandma with love

Sophie playing with her friend-- we love the foothills and our new town!

A quick kid update: Cameron has been our challenge lately.  He is a quick mover and can even do a semi-jog when he sees something he wants (a ball, a rock, the street, a random choking hazard).  He dislikes sitting still--his activity is both entertaining and exhausting! Unfortunately, the gap between his level of understanding and his level of communication continues to widen.  He is sly and sneaky, and he knows exactly what he is doing! The downside of this occurs when he becomes frustrated and screams.  He is quick to anger, so we have too many tantrums each day that result in lots of tears.  He has become really attached to me, and we wrongly assumed that this would lessen when I spent the weekend away with girlfriends.  Unfortunately, that's not the case.  But, the amazing thing is that our 1 year old boy can really PLAY---he drives cars and trucks around, throws balls into the hoop, loves blowing into a harmonica and hammering wooden nails in his tool bench.  He is actually pretty good at T-ball and runs around the backyard with a plastic golf club in one hand and a bat and ball in the other. He is EXACTLY the way that Doug's mom describes Doug as a young boy.  Tonight, there were two tractors working on the farm behind our house.  Of course this made Cam yell "Oh wow! Oh wow! Oh!" Cam had no shirt on and he was sweaty and covered in sunscreen, food, and pool water.  Doug scooped him up on his shoulders and the boys walked down the trail to watch the tractor.  I loved the moment too much to interrupt it by running to grab my camera, but it was a precious moment.  Lucky Cam.

Sophie's doing great. Summer in Boise with Sophie can't be described by anything else other than FUN.  She's my sweet, little girl who is growing up to be a good friend, an imaginative story-teller, a thoughtful daughter, and a brave learner.  I love my days with her.  She is her own little person, and I love being her mum.  Top quote of late: (in tears) "But, when am I going to be a woman? It's taking so long for me to be a woman."

We have got so much to look forward to this summer--- our calendar is full! Happy. Busy. Summer.