Labor Day Camping Trip

Some of you may remember that the last time I attempted to go camping on Labor Day weekend, I actually gave birth to Kyla just hours before we were scheduled to leave. We--Dwayne, Kyla, Piper, and myself--actually made this trip and got to join some of our good friends. Two other couples there had children (daughters), make ours the oldest and youngest of the four kids.

Kyla playing with the beach ball. It was NOT beach weather!

Kyla is sharing with Evelyn--needed to capture the moment on film!

Yep, more toys. The entire minivan barely fit all of the stuff we brought.
Kyla so wanted to help, so Rachel graciously let Kyla bring her dirty dishes.
Another first on film: Keith & Julie AREN'T TOUCHING!
Kyla gets stuck on the dashboard in the minivan.

Uncle Keith holding Piper.

The blue-eyed baby looks fantastic in, well, baby blue.
Jeremy and Evelyn
Hume and Mabel

Piper Imitates a Duck!

Piper has learned to sit up by herself in the last few weeks. When she falls backward, she can roll over and "scooch" around in the general direction she may or may not want to go. It's exciting!

The outtake:

Piper: Sleeping and Playing

Deck Project

I am currently (very slowly) fixing the two decks. Kyla is helping me by pounding in nails before I sand. I'm going to teach her everything I know about home maintenence! (It shouldn't take long.)

Sand in the Shorts

Unfortunately, Kyla isn't even wearing shorts, but it's a cute shot. The usual suspects (Kyla and Isaac) had fun going down the slide into the pool and then heading for the sandbox.

Grandma and Papa Need

Kyla especially enjoyed time with Grandma and Papa (her word) Need (or "knee" as Kyla says, pointing to said body part). Unfortunately, I could not get both girls to look at the camera simulaneously in any of the almost 50 shots I took. Here's the best one:

And here's what Piper thought about the pictures and the fact that Kyla had taken her giraffe yet again:

Toe Snacks!

Piper has discovered her toes! When I need to entertain her for a while in her carseat, I simply remove those bothersome socks so she can chew away.

Mmmm, mmmm good.

Jumperoo!

Piper loves the jumperoo! Watch out, Grandpa Kruger, it might give you vertigo to watch her go!

Kyla and Isaac---Whew!

Isaac has been Kyla's good buddy for most of their lives thus far. And being almost 2, they are a whirlwind. Today, Susanne and I took them blueberry picking (not quite a disaster, but we each got about 1 pound of berries before admitting defeat) and then met up later at the Woodinville Summer Concert series. By the end of the concert, Kyla was wearing Isaac's blue crocs, he was wearing her pink sandles, she had lost her shirt (too much watermelon juice), Isaac was sporting one of the barrettes Kyla had taken out of her hair and given him, and Isaac had copied Kyla's fantastic plan of rubbing dirt all over any exposed skin.

Dedication Sunday

It's about time, but Dwayne and I finally became members of our church, Northwest Presbyterian. We also had the girls dedicated with many of our family, friends, and church family as witnesses. This was big for us!

Piper

Piper is just a doll. Last week, she sat up for the first time unassisted for a few seconds. Before that, she discovered the wonderment of her toes. I also caught her rolling from her back to her stomach! She also spit up all over cousin Jeff's (age 16) clean shirt. Ah, but we are blessed with brilliant children.