* Fun * Fun * Fun *

We feel so lucky to get such a long run of summertime weather this early in the year. We have been trying to take advantage of it by spending lots of time outside. Clara is loving this! She gets out her sandals and insists on putting on a jacket (we try and get it off her once we are out) and then stands by the back door and waits to go outside. She is content just playing with rocks and looking at things in the backyard.

One of her other favorite things right now is reading a handful of her favorite books, naming the animals in them and making their sounds. She says quite a few of them really! We are impressed with how much she is talking. She FINALLY uses "Mama" correctly - after weeks of being called "Dada," it feels so nice!

Great Grandpa & Grandma Swanson were up over the weekend and Papa Bob bought Clara this easel at a consignment sale we went to. She has been having fun painting and using her chalk with it!
Scout is all sacked out after a weekend of playing and having fun. It is not a common sight since she typically only will sleep in her own crib or car seat. Kevin savored every moment of having her asleep on his shoulder.

Clara Goes to 3rd Grade

Last Friday, Clara got to spend the afternoon in Auntie Michele's 3rd grade classroom at Mt. View Elementary. The students had earned a pizza party. Their special treat was a visit from Clara and Vertigo since the students have been learning about rabbits. Clara loved the children and they were all so good with her. Verti, or Go-Go, which Clara calls her, was also on her best behavior which was a relief since she had not been in public in years.

Memorial Day Weekend

This past weekend we went back to Chehalis to enjoy the beautiful weather out on the lake with Mommy's side of the family. This was Scout's first boating experience. It was such a treat! At first, Clara was angry about having to wear the life vest, but eventually she came around and was able to relax a little with it on. It helped that big cousin Tay had her's on too.

We found a nice place to anchor the boat and were able to have a pleasant family picnic. Grandpa Mark did some exploring with the girls.

Clara is treated to jello from Great Grandma Wanda. The rest of us enjoyed delicious ribs!

We celebrated Great Grandma Wanda and Grandma Jan's Birthdays

* Fun in the Sun *

Over the weekend, which was sunny and beautiful, we traveled to Chehalis to attend a wedding. We had a wonderful time being outside as a family. Uncle Matt, Auntie Danielle, Taylor and Uncle Ryan joined us all at Grandma & Grandpa Stevens'. As usual, the girls had a blast playing together. Riding together on the trike was a big hit as well as stilling at the new "big girl" table for meals.

Scout is now 15 months old and is "growing beautifully," as her pediatrician puts it. She is in the 95% for height and 50-75% for weight. We are not surprised because it seems like she has a hollow leg. Her food preferences have changed a little in the past few weeks. She is less interested in eating vegetables such as mushrooms, zucchini and broccoli, yet is still willing to try new things. Scout has also taken off with her words! She seems to try to repeat whatever words we ask her to and makes several of the animal sounds. Clara still loves to sing and does so as she plays or rides in the car. Right now her favorite songs are "Tick, Tock", "Old McDonald" and "Twinkle Twinkle". Mommy & Daddy are having so much fun with her.

Visit from Grandma Carol

Last week we had the treat of a visit from Grandma Carol during the week. Clara was thrilled to see her and the two of them had a blast together. During her stay we had beautiful weather and enjoyed a trip to the nursery and lunch in the backyard. Grandma blew bubbles for Clara and she chased them all over the yard.

Mother's Day

What an amazing Mother's Day we shared this year. Daddy and Clara really spoiled Mommy. She got to sleep in an wake up to an amazing breakfast and treated to a sweet card and gift. Then we went on a family adventure to the Cougar Mountain Zoo here in Issaquah. We had perfect weather and Clara seemed to be pretty impressed with the zoo. Admittedly, she liked the animal statues and small fountain just as much (if not more) as all of the animal exhibits.

Scout sizes up the wallaby statue

Kevin has to hold Clara back from going all the way in the fountain.

Mommy & Clara check out the Tigers - They were treating us to quite a show!

Checking out the Mother's Day Rose

After the trip to the zoo, Kevin had prepared a delicious picnic lunch. We ended up enjoying our lunch at the Tibbets Creek park, which is connected to the Manor where we were married.

Clara tasted lots of new things on the picnic - she now has discovered dipping foods in sauces and kept putting her cracker in the cocktail sauce and licking it off! Silly kiddo!

Clara's Weekend with Grandma & Grandpa Stevens

This past weekend, Clara turned 15 months old! She spent the weekend in Chehalis with Grandma & Grandpa Stevens and Great-Grandma & Grandpa Swanson - AND had a BLAST. Mommy and Daddy spent the weekend with friends wine tasting and relaxing on the Oregon Coast.



One of the fun activities Grandma & Grandpa did with Clara was take her to the Lewis County Youth Fair - this has significance to our family because Mommy started exhibiting rabbits in this fair before she even attended school. It looks like Scout had a lot of fun checking out all of the animals and even made her first trek to the rabbit barn where she called out "Go Go" which is what Clara calls Vertigo, our pet bunny.



Clara checking out the Llamas - one of her favorite stuffed animals is a Llama and we always read Is Your Mama a Llama.

With Grandma Jan in the Moo-cow barn

Fishing with Grandpa Mark. Clara caught a fishy and got to pick out a prize!

While leaving Clara was tough at first, having the weekend to have fun and not worry about all the needs of Scout was good for us both. We are already looking forward to our next get away!