chris.reese.girls1.2.3.4

The Dalley Family camping trip had some unexpected difficulty being executed this year. My super athletic, soccer-playing sister tore her ACL and had to have surgery on her knee at the time we had scheduled our trip outside McCall, ID...so we had to change plans a bit. With my parents on "surgery-recouperation" duty, and my sister being the "surgery-recouperant", the four married children pressed onward and secured a last-minute reservation at a state park relatively close to where we all live. Despite the campground being uncomfortably close to the freeway we still had three fun days. The cousins played to the point of exhaustion each day with only minor spats between them. We made all our meals (without mom...I was worried, but we totally came through on our own!!), played lots of cards, played by the river (and the freeway), and made a trip to Moulton Falls. Paige loved sleeping in the tent and her new sleeping bag. The only challenge was the MANY trips to the...

We went to Remlinger Farms a week ago for the Allyis Family Picnic. It was a fun little place and we stayed much longer than we had originally anticipated. Paige loved the pony rides, bouncy house, popsicles, and amusement park. Chris even took her on the "wild" roller coaster, which went quite fast. I was a little worried...and even MORE worried when Chris voluntarily sat them in the front car! Paige laughed hysterically the entire time and even had her arms in the air for the last few laps. Why would I ever worry! Chris really taking a "hands-on" approach for the pony rides... Paige on the old fire engine The "wild" roller coaster. I only had one picture before the camera battery went dead...so I missed the rounds with her arms in the air. Dang! Paige with the duckies!

Despite my crazy summer schedule, I am actually making progress on the preparations for baby #2 and subsequent domino effects ( see this post ). Yeah!! Paige's new room is now de-cluttered and somewhat organized in my loft. And as of Friday it now has paint thanks to my wonderful mother and baby sister. This would have taken me two days to tackle by myself, but they hacked it out in about five hours. I love the color, it is really perfect. And had my mom not been here I would have gone way too bold! My mom is the master home decorator and painter...she doesn't even tape! This week I'm going to try and paint the dresser and nightstand before we head out for a family camping trip on Thursday. It's coming along!! We only had one mishap...you think with me NOT painting I could have kept track of my crazy and accident-prone child, but no, she managed a fancy slide into the paint! I'm lucky my mom is also really talented at spreading plastic appropriately! I...

We got back Sunday night from our week-long trip to Lake Coeur d'Alene . It was a wonderful vacation and I thought 6 full days would be enough, but we would have stayed longer if we could. We loved being in the condos right on the backside of the lake. Chris got up early for 6 am wakeboard runs every day, although hurt is back early on and had to just go along for the ride. Paige and I enjoyed lounging at the beach every day. She played in the sand and I did a lot of reading and visiting. We spent a day at Silverwood , which we all loved! Overall, we especially enjoyed the company of the Hendricks family all together...activities included: board games, talent show, family whiffle ball, bocce ball, guitar sing-along, of course boating on the lake, and watching the fireworks show on the 4 th . Enjoy the pics (there are a lot!) Paige lounging at the lake Paige in the tube. She seems a little concerned, but she does really like it! Waiting in line to get into the Silverwood water...

At the request of my mother-in-law we took some family pictures together while vacationing at the Lake. We don't get all together very often so this was as good a chance as any. Unfortunately, I don't think any of them turned out that well...we probably won't be framing any of them anyway! (No pregnant woman wants pictures of her growing belly and chubby face displayed over the mantle). But here you can see the growing Apken family (L to R): Clayton and Kaelin McClure; our family; Dennis and Janet; Steven, Grant and Laurie Jarvis; and Danielle with Matthew (they are to be married in less than a month). Here is our own little fam...including the growing 26-week belly! And here is the entire Hendricks clan. We were only missing Uncle Kevin, Aunt Dottie and baby Beth, and also cousin Kasey who is serving a mission! Talk about a family legacy...it's quite amazing. And one adorable picture of my big girl, Paige!

This is Paige at her last swim lesson class we finished mid-June (sorry...been a little behind on my blog!). It was fun to do our last (probably) "mommy and me" class. This has been our third round since she was just 10 months old and she really does love the water. This was our first class at Lindbergh and it was by far the best. Our wonderful instructor "Coco" taught me some great tactics and new things! Paige loves doing "reach and pull" and blowing bubbles. She is floating really well on her back with little assistance, too. We spent this past week doing a lot of swimming while we were on vacation and Paige is perfectly content by herself in her life jacket...which is a wonderful reprieve for me. She is growing up so fast! This fall she'll be able to be in class by herself, so once the baby's born I think I'll let her do that on her own as a BIG girl! (Sorry no pics of Paige actually swimming in the water...I have to be WITH her, so...