father's day camping

swimming is awesome!

Swimming!

We finally got Zoe to the pool at the YMCA tonight. She is so cute in her little swimsuit. She had no problem getting in the water and really loved floating around with daddy. It was a little colder in the pool than I expected and we packed up when she started to shiver. She had so much fun; I'm sure we'll try to go back again soon.

FridgeToy

Zoe got this new toy in the mail from Grandpa. She really likes it. She has remembered that it is there when she wakes up in the morning so she goes out to the kitchen and starts playing with it immediately. Z says zuh, Z says zuh, every letter makes a sound and Z says zuh...
The best part is that she sticks her tongue out when she's trying to get the letters in it the right way. Thanks dad!

new toy & cute shirt

keeping busy

At the very end of the video you hear Zoe's version of "thank you!" . sometimes it is easier to understand. She is starting to say it now when I give her things, which is the goal. She really likes throwing this ball around the house. We have a giant, blue bouncy ball too which is huge fun.

This morning I got out the clay that I bought months and months ago to make Zoe handprints. It's a really great clay that air dries or can be fired in a kiln. It dries white and can be painted and sanded and it says it doesn't shrink or crack when it dries. The process wasn't really so messy until I let Zoe hold the little cup with some water in it. Fortunately clay cleans up super easy and washes out of clothes. And art is messy sometimes.
At the pottery studio we went to they will make pieces similar to this with your kids for $45. Yikes! This was more of a $4 project at home.
I want to do footprints sometime, too.
Since Zoe will be 18 months on June 20 I'm trying to do those milestone things that you do. There's a place on the wall in her room where we're going to keep track of how tall she is.

We've had lots of warm, sunny days so we went to an awesome park with Auntie Constance the other day. The park also serves as a playground for a neighborhood school that we suspect may specialize in foreign languages. There were loads of little kids for Zoe to watch during recess. She spent lots of time in the swing, interrupted a couple's picnic, squealed at the dogs, said "hi" a lot, walked barefoot in the soft grass, and danced to some bad acoustic guitar music. It's amazing how many people can hang out in a park in the middle of the day. Thanks recession! Although, Seattle is just that kind of place.

handprints forever

hairdo

A woman at the YMCA said that she hoped that I had pictures, "lots and lots" of pictures of Zoe with her little pigtails because she is soooo cute. I said, yes, "lots and lots". Everybody comments on her hair and how adorable she is [because it's true!]

fyi

I have another blog, Sara Saw Something, where I sometimes post images of my art & some random thoughts. I added a post that shows the painting that Zoe started [and I finished]. I started painting a 2nd composition using her pencil lines and will post some images of it soon.

Summertime Style

Look, I got all of the strawberry & chocolate stains out of Zoe's new dress!

at the airport

Pete made this video at the sea-tac airport. We had plenty of extra time when we got there so he wore her out walking the "wrong" way on the moving walkways.

Mt. Rainier on the way home

We had a great time!

Beautiful weather and lots of family visiting made our trip super fun! I will post more of my photos when I get some more time. I would love to see any pictures that anyone else took of Zoe, so please email me if you have some good ones.