Lake Tahoe!!!!!!!

I am awfully proud to say that Ekco's first trip to Tahoe was this week while she stayed with us. I was unaware until we were heading up Mt. Rose. I think it's so special that we got to take her here for her first time. Even more special is that we went on a Saturday so that her daddy could come with us. She loved it. When it was time to leave she begged to stay. Only after promising her a return trip could we get her out of the water.
She is such a good sister to Xiana. She plays with her, and teaches her, and most importantly, they love each other. It's wonderful to see their sweet spirits.
The trio.... I swam them both out to the bouies just like a tug boat.
It's ccccccooold!
I got this little boat at the store for 2 bucks and it is the best investment I have ever made. Xiana loves her little boat. Plus, at this rate she'll fit in it till she's 8!
True to form, Ekco swam and swam and swam.
She is quite the little swimmer too.
Ekco's next great love is mermaids so I told her we would turn her into one. It was fun and easy.
She was very proud of this picture. Then she wanted to make Xiana a mermaid. Like usual, she was better at it than me because she is just so creative.
Xiana was very proud to show daddy how she can swim all by herself. She doesn't care all that much about impressing me; I guess because I'm always there and I'm always impressed.

"I'm swimming all by myself!!"
That's a wrap!

Tahoe take one

For one of our many playgroups we went to Lake Tahoe and it just so happened that Nic and Karla were in town with hopes of doing just the same. I know I've expressed my undying love for Tahoe a billion times on my blog. Still, I'm not sure I said how much I love Lake Tahoe. It is majestic, magical, and frees your spirit.... I am not exaggerating. This particular week Xiana had been getting stuck when saying her prayers. I think she is mainly just being sassy and defiant, but I swam her out to the bouies and from the middle of the lake told her to look around and tell me what she saw. She excitedly named off all the beautiful things surrounding her: water, mountains, trees, rocks, snow, sand, etc. Then I explained to her that Heavenly Father created all of those amazing things so next time she gets stuck, remember to thank Him for this beautiful earth. It worked too... for about a night.
Eva plays so nicely with Xiana. They run around together and pretend they are the only people on earth. Eva is so patient with Xiana and great about including her in everything. She treats her just like she wants to be treated: like a big girl.
The water is cold, but that's the novelty of this lake. It is so clear and crisp... it awakens all senses.
The girls loved this little sand toy and huddled around it for a long time.

Random

This is the lot behind our house. One of my friend's has a house across the way and her kids dubbed it "sage brush park." I think that's an appropriate name. Xiana and Rowan were admiring Brian's new gate and they just kept wandering... They do love dirt.
I know I shouldn't relish in the bad parenting present, but neither of them have shoes on and I think it's hysterical.
our new new ward had a louaou and I begged Brian to wear my dad's Hawaiian shirt to match us. He is a good sport.
And the party was great.
I love this picture. She looks so sweet and carefree; never mind that she just stole the hula hoop from another kid and is making a run for it.
You might say, "you don't see that every day," except I do ; ) Church clothes and all.

Play group

Let me tell a little story about a little girl who was desperate for friends: Last summer, Xiana (at 18 months) pointed to the pictures on our friend's blog and said, "want more friends." Me, being the social thriver that I am sat with a broken heart as I promised her that I would find her friends. The following Sunday I walked up to Kate and asked if she were in charge of play group. The rest is history as she, not only became one of my closest friends, but introduced Xiana to all her besties and me to a plethora of companions. Next entered a certain someone (not mentioning any names, but he happens to be my husband) who had lots of siblings and nieces and nephews. Xiana then inherited a group of cousins that double as best friends. Well, we got married and moved into a house in a ward that I got on a new playgroup listing for. I couldn't possibly abandon my faithful playgroup from my old ward so we continued attending both (not to mention my nonmember playgroup). Then, we discovered that we were, in fact, attending the wrong ward. So, we went to the right ward and found ourselves with playgroups every day of the week. And all was right in the land of social engagements for myself, my social caterpillar Xiana, and her new big sister Ekco who had an absolute blast at all our playgroups.
And how could they not enjoy themselves?
Ekco loves all things water because she is sooo smart :) We went to some water activity every day she was here, and she scarcely exited the water to eat and drink.
Charlie is big enough to pump this swing much to Xiana's delight.
but at the end of the day, with all these fun activities, this is where I found the bulk of the kids.... enjoying the shade and sand under the trampoline.

Forgotten shots

I know it's hard to believe that I haven't included every picture taken in the last year, nevertheless, it's true. I discovered I had forgotten to include this gem taken at Kelsea's bday party a while back. Xiana means business and Brian daily tries to toughen her up.
She can always go for a good bounce house.
Slide!!!!!
Just hanging with her good friend Cameron.

Tube Slide!

We go to Wild Waters quite often, and Xiana rides every slide they will let her on with her height. Up until last week she and I went down this yellow slide together because she was too tiny to fit in the tube. Last week she discovered that if she puts her toes on one side and her head on another, she fits! This was a wonderful discovery. She spent the remainder of the day riding on the tube over and over and over again. When she got to the bottom she immediately said, "I wanna do that again!" She is very proud of her new found ability and brags to all the passersby that, "i go on the tube slide." Here she is with her beloved Aunt Ali who also enabled me to go on my first tube slide of the summer!
one of the oh-so-adorable suits.
She actually looks like she fits quite nicely in this picture. Don't let it fool you though, she does have to maneuver a bit.

For Posterity's Sake... Literally

• There continues to be no shortage of hilarious Xiana statements around these parts. One day, while dancing in the mirror she said, "look at my Cinderella dance. You have to shake your booty."
• I have discovered that she has memorized many of her books, but none are quite so cute as Where the Wild Things Are that "roll their terrible roars and mash their terrible teeth and show their terrible claws." She read it to me the other night.... truly priceless.
• While doing "making" my hair I said, "ow, that hurts." She responded, "I'm making your hair but it's gonna hurt, but that's otay, otay?"
• "That's my beeda beedy ba. Don't worry mommy, I speak Spanish."
• "Once upon a time, when I was a little baby, I had a blanket and a toy."
• Brian turned on the water while we were on the trampoline and it made a hissing sound to which Xiana exclaimed, "mommy, I just heard a zebra."
• For father's day we got Brian some walking sticks. A few days later I found her walking around the house with her baton, using it like a cane. "Look! I can use my walking stick like my daddy."
• One night while having dinner at my parents she blurted, "I'm a factory." "You are huh, what kind?" "A poop factory!"
• She walked up to a pregnant woman at Wild Waters and said, "look mommy, that girl is fat."
• After having my niece and nephew who are extremely well mannered over for a few days, she asked after finishing her dinner, "may I be extused please?" I almost fell over.
• After being extremely cranky she fell asleep in the car way before nap time and as soon as she woke she said, "look at my face. I'm not sassy anymore."
• After fishing one day she told us at dinner. "This fish is dead. It isn't wiggling (wiggling her hand in the air to illustrate her point) like this. It is a dead fish." And then later, "hey, this turkey is dead. It is not alive."
• One day I told her if she made the same choice she would get a spanking. Weighing her options she said, "okay, but not hard."
• At Wild Waters she confidently told an older girl, "that slide is totally fun. I went on it yesterday."
• We went for a family walk after dinner one night and there was a family in their front yard playing on a swing set. She exclaimed, "look, they have fun like us!"
• I love her.

Fourth of July

My sister-in-law Dawnette, made Xiana this absurdly adorable fourth of July outfit. When she was making them I could hardly stand it they were so cute so I begged her to make me some which she did in record breaking time. They are priceless. Believe me, despite the fact that there are several pictures of Xiana in her get up... I excluded a LOT of pictures that I very much wanted to include. I am a little bit obsessed.
But seriously... priceless!
She was doing "ballet" she informed me. When I asked her where she learned to dance like that she said, "from the girls on tv."
I'm prone to believe her... I know I didn't teach her that pose!
We went to my parents for a delicious barbecue and then went to the fireworks in Sparks where, I am a little ashamed to admit, I attended for the first time. Growing up we always went to Rancho and watched the Reno works and for lots of years I went in Utah, Vegas, etc. I have a lot of fireworks memories. One year in Vegas they had synchronized fireworks off the top of every casino on the strip. They were exacting and coordinated colors erupted at precisely the same moment. It was spectacular. As we headed to the Sparks show I felt somewhat smug in thinking that this show could in no way beat that amazing spectacle. I found that I was surprised. There was something so familiar and beautiful about being downtown with hordes of people I know. We ran into a lot of friends and we had my family and all of Brian's family that lives here in Sparks with us. It was heartwarming and, dare I say it, sentimental to all sit with one another as the cousins ran free enjoying each other and the show. I really enjoyed myself and the show was actually remarkable for a smallish city.
Xiana asked to be carried everywhere we went which is an old new trend for her.
And Aunt Ali is a crowd favorite. These kids fight over who gets to sit in her lap.
The fountains were right behind us which I thought at first might be a dilemma since Xiana is used to jumping in them whenever she so desires. Yet, there was enough activity that she acknowledged them without demanding a dip.
My Aunt Janice, whom I haven't seen for years, came out from L.A. with my cousin Jessie. It was so wonderful to see them. Brian and I had toyed with the idea of going out of town for the weekend. In the end, I'm really happy we stayed for it was a marvelous time.
None of my pictures turned out so just use your imagination.

A day in the life...

We woke at 3:30 in the morning in order to drive 3 hours to a little lake that is known to have good fishing. Its reputation preceded it accurately as within 60 seconds of Brian's line hitting the water, he got a bite. Between him and Mark, they caught over 20 fish! Rowan also got to reel one in and for me, the water was great for swimming. That's all I need to be happy.
When we first arrived it was frrrrrreeeeeezzzzingg! In fact, I was pretty sure that we would stay in sweat shirts all day long. Alas... the sun did come out and warm us to the bone.
This is no joke folks.... no joke.
But this way makes a little more sense :)
And as long as there's mud to play in... the kids are happy as clams as well.... though I don't know if Xiana's clothes will recover.
It's ridiculously adorable how children will just sit in the mud, bury themselves, and have a fabulous time.
The boys caught fish all day while Tosh and I sat on jelly chairs, got sun, and chatted it up. It was blissfully relaxing. My only regret is that we didn't drive up the night before and camp, but we had never been there before so next time...
LUNCH!
More dirt. We had shovels galore and yet, the item the kids fought over all day long? The plastic milk bottles from breakfast.
Tosh said to do something fun in this pic...apparently this is our version of fun :)
Brian took Xiana out on the kayak and we are now in the market for a kayak... if anybody knows of a sweet deal....
Xiana loves all things water.... and lately all things boats.
But boy was she worn out by the end of the day...