Keeping cool

Is anyone else melting out there? According to weather.com it was 105 degrees in Renton yesterday! Holy cow! It is so hard to sleep when it is that hot. So I haven't been napping all that well. I finally conked out on the couch just before dinner on Monday.

I didn't get much of a nap yesterday either and it was waaaaaay too hot in my room at bedtime (which has been around 10pm the past few nights). So I got to camp out in the family room (which was only 94 degrees instead of 100) with Mommy so the fan could blow on both of us.

I tried to sleep on Mommy's pillow, but she didn't seem to want to share.

We ended up moving onto the couch in the middle of the night. I was still tired when I woke up this morning. The heat really wears you out!

Here's a tip for keeping cool: spray everyone and everything with ice water from a spray bottle.

The Swamp Monster

Aunt Kari and Aunt Denise were in town over the weekend because they were working at the Bite of Seattle. Kari came a few days early and we got to play at Coulon Beach. Of course, Mommy forgot her camera, so all of the awesome pictures that could have been taken are only in our heads.

Mommy and I met Kari and Denise at The Bite on Friday night, and guess what....Mommy forgot her camera again. Luckily, Denise had hers and we got a ton of pictures playing by the fountain. But those pics are still on Denise's camera. So I'll have to post those once I get a copy of them (Hint, hint Denise).

So I'll just post these hiking pictures. Kari stayed an extra day and we went on a hike near Tiger Mountain called Swamp Monster trail. I made it about .1 miles before I asked to be carried. Kari picked me up first....

then Mommy took a turn.

I'm not lazy, I was just a little tired. I had fallen asleep during the drive there and it just took me a while to get going. You can't tell in this picture, but I'm running backwards and Kari is chasing me.

Along the trail there are little markers that tell a continuing story about the Swamp Monster.

Squatting is my favorite position for looking at things.

Most of the big trees had rough green stuff on them.

The trail was cool, but I thought real adventure could be found if I blazed my own trail. It got a little tricky with all of the sticks and plants. Aunt Kari had to help me find my way back to the path.

We walked over half a mile before we turned back. That means we did over a mile total! Holy cow! No wonder I was exhausted by the end. I'm not a huge fan of being carried on someone's shoulders, but that's the only way Mommy would carry me when I wanted up at the end. I made sure to hang on for dear life.

It turns out that it's pretty safe on Mommy's shoulders. Daddy's are the tricky ones. I always seem to get tipped backward when I'm on Daddy.

Our first produce!

I have finally learned to smile on command for the camera. Here I am saying "cheese" one of the many, many times Mommy and I practiced it.

However, all of that practice paid off because I got to have my picture taken with our very first vegetable grown in our own garden--this zucchini.

I may know how to smile for the camera, but that doesn't mean I always want to look into it. Daddy kept holding up his hand so that I would look at him while he snapped a picture.

So I thought I should do that too.

I can smile AND raise my hand at the same time. Talk about talent.

By the way, objects in the pictures are as large as they appear. This is what 97th percentile for head size looks like.

Look cute!

I've decided that going to bed is no fun at all. I'd much rather stay up and play with Mommy and Daddy. So I've discovered a way to get what I want. If I just keep calling for Mommy over and over and over again for an hour or so, she'll usually come in to see what I want. And if "Mommy" doesn't work, "Daddy" always will.

A couple of nights ago, Daddy got me out of bed--without Mommy knowing--and let me watch TV with him in bed. When Mommy found out, and wanted to send me back to my crib, Daddy said, "Look cute so Mommy won't put you to bed." It worked like a charm. What do you think? Did I look cute enough to stay up a bit longer?

The same trick worked the next night. Only this time I cuddled up with Mommy. She may be able to resist my charm when I'm cuddling with Daddy, but when I'm actually in her lap, she's a total marshmallow.

She couldn't even put me straight to bed when we finally got into my room. I managed to squeeze a couple of extra stories out of her before she left me all alone again.

Another zoo trip

Daddy didn't have to work on July 3rd so we went to the zoo with Grandma and Grandpa Johnson.


I love climbing rocks.

You can't really see, because they're so far away, but I'm looking at a giraffe and some hippos.

Hippos sure are big! I could barely get my legs around this one.

I wasn't allowed to touch the real lion, so I had to settle for this stone one.

The elephant wasn't interested in having his picture taken. This was the view he decided to give us.

Grandpa bought some chips and shared them with me (that's what I'm doing below--eating). My affection can definitely be bought.

This little elephant attacked Daddy! I had to help get him loose from the elephant's grip of death.

This orangatan (or whatever it is officially called--they all look like monkeys to me), had the weirdest face. It looked like there were two giant butt cheeks growing out of its head. All I could say when I saw it was, "Yucky." But I'm sure he was nice. : )

Since I ate almost all of Grandpa's chips, I decided to share some of mine with him. But I made sure to take some for myself before giving him the bag to hold.

There were a bunch of kids hanging out with this monkey, so I thought I would join in the fun.

And my favorite thing to see at the zoo:

I'm so gald Mommy has a zoo pass. I can't wait to go again.