Look who is ONE!

Peyton turned one on August 31st! We were all so excited for her birthday. Mom was really excited to be able to celebrate a birthday in the summer with nice weather instead of with rain in the winter when Syd and I have our birthdays.

We headed to Seahurst beach in the afternoon to do some exploring. In case you didn't know, Peyton started walking a few weeks before her birthday. She loved walking around on the rocky beach and exploring the rocks and driftwood.

Dad, Syd, and I had fun too. Oh, and Mom was there, but she was the one with the camera, so no pictures of her, as usual.

Sydney and I couldn't wait to open Peyton's presents--I mean, to watch her open them. When the time finally came, she needed a little help. She didn't quite get how to tear off the paper.

She opened this baby doll first and was totally happy with it. She gave it a big kiss (which looks like she's eating the baby's head), and then walked of with it. We had to hide the baby in one of her other presents so she would actually open the others.

Then we had the cake! Peyton didn't cry when Mom lit the candle like Sydney and I did for our first birthdays. I think that's because Mom made sure the cake was out of Peyton's reach while we sang to her, so she didn't almost grab the fire and have Mom scare her. WARNING: There are a ton of cake pictures coming up. Peyton actually got messy with her cake, so Mom took a ton of pics. This isn't even half of them.

Sydney and I kept trying to photo bomb the pictures,
so Mom finally took a picture of us with Peyton
so we would stay out of the rest of them.

I think she liked the cake.

The next weekend we had a few friends over for a little birthday party for Peyton. Since it was such nice weather, we had the party outside and BBQ'd. After lunch, it got really hot and some of the kids played in the pool and the sandbox.

By the way, Sydney put that bandaid on her head herself
because she had a tiny little scratch on it.
She actually just loves her princess bandaids way too much.

We had cupcakes instead of cake, and when Peyton saw her cupcake she got soooo excited. I think she remembered how good her cake was from her actual birthday. She dug right in.

Then we/Peyton opened her presents. She needed a little help again.

Katy showed Peyton how to play the piano.

I think Peyton had a great birthday. And now that she's walking everywhere, she's a toddler instead of a baby! And she sure is getting fun to play with. Happy birthday, Peyton!

School Days

Well, we started back to school and I am officially in second grade! Mom did our traditional back-to-school breakfast, which I love. Mom makes the table look really cool and she makes a fun breakfast. This year we had apple waffles (they just looked like apples, they didn't taste like them. I wouldn't have eaten them if they tasted like apples. That would be weird.). There were also donuts with a sign that said "Donut you know it's going to be a great year!" And some cantaloupe and sausage.

Then I was off to my first day of second grade.

Sydney started her very first year of preschool a week after me. She was soooooooooooooooo excited.

Her friend Brinley is in her class.

Syd only has preschool in the morning on Tues and Thurs. After lunch on her first day, she kept asking Mom if she was going back to preschool now. And all day yesterday she kept asking when she was going back. She's jealous that I get to go to school every day and she only goes two days. I'd want to go to school every day too if I got to play with toys there.

For Funsies

Here are some random pics of us over the past couple of weeks.

I think I might be a little big for our pool. Turning in it is a bit tricky.

Sydney has learned how to spell her name, and she can write it too!

Peyton loves to climb in the shoe basket. She also loves taking all the shoes out to make sure there's enough room to get in.

Sydney did her very first soccer camp and loved it. She got her very own t-shirt and ball, just like me. Here she is with wacky hair on Wacky Wednesday.

Peyton loves to be pushed around on Syd's scooter.

Adventures with Aunt Kari and Karin

Aunt Kari and Karin came to visit a couple of weeks ago, and of course we had to go on a bunch of adventures.

We started off visiting Snoqualmie Falls. It was really hot that day and there were a lot of people there. I fell asleep in the car while we were driving to the lower view of the falls after lunch, so we never got to see that part.

We also went to the Farmer's Market. Syd got a piggy back ride from Aunt Kari, held hands with Karin, and I was my crazy self.

Karin went home after two days, but Aunt Kari hung around for two more, so we headed to Henry Moses and I was finally tall enough this summer to go on the big slides!!!

 Peyton LOVED the water. She's like a little fish.

Aunt Kari was also here for Sydney's first ballet performance. While Syd was practicing her performance during her last class, we took a little dip in the Cedar River.

Sydney did a week long princess dance camp where she got to dance like all her favorite princesses. She loved it and she did a great job in her final dance. She's the one in the yellow shirt and black skirt.

I got to go on my first ferry ride while Aunt Kari was here. We took a ferry to Bainbridge Island and got some super yummy ice cream there. Then we came back. It was really windy on the boat, but totally cool!

Peyton loved the boat ride too. (I think Peyton loves everything.) She crawled all over the deck.

This was the first time we had seen Aunt Kari since right before Christmas! That's the longest we've gone without seeing her. I sure hope it's not eight months before we get to go on more adventures together!