Beat the Heat

The sun has finally come to Washington! Summer here cannot be beat! We've had so much fun playing at the park, swimming, going on walks and just soaking up the sun. Parker even has a bit of a farmer's tan. We're loving it.

For Independence Day, we started out by going on a walk to the Proctor Starbuck's. It was such a nice day that we decided to head to the park and then kept walking down to the Ruston Waterfront. The yearly Freedom Fair  was much more fun than we remembered. So much so that we invited Allison and we made a day out of it. We even found a family friendly beer garden! Score!

 The weekend of the 7th, our friends Danny and Katie got married in Paso Robles, California. Justin and I had an amazing weekend of great friends, wine tasting, and fun memories. I love those San Diego friends!! Parker stayed behind with my parents. I have never been away from Parker over night, so as you can imagine, I was dreading it. Surprisingly, I did much better than I thought I would. I only called to check in once or twice a day. My mom was nice and sent me pictures.  Even so, I think it may be a bit before I'll be willing to try it again. :)

The Prodoehls know how to throw a party!

Coco! Coco!

Kendal Street!

Such a Fun Weekend!

To beat the heat, we've been doing some extra fun activities. Tacoma has some spray parks at their playgrounds. Basically, it's a bunch of fountains that the kiddos can run through. Parker loves to stand in the middle of the spray and try to grab the stream with his hands. Hilarious!

Baby Levi wasn't quite as exited

Kandle Park just opened a new wave pool, has a kiddy spray pool and is super fun. The best part is that it's only a few blocks from our house. I've taken Parker a few times and he loves it! He's always tuckered out after no more than 2 hours and its ready for a long snooze.

Napping after a fun time at Wright Park with the Parnells

Playing at Wright Park

Usually when we're out running errands, I try to break it up for Parker by stopping at a park. Luckily, there are many great ones nearby!

As you can see, Parker  was not excited to be interrupted with photography.

Along with the kiddy pool that we got for Parker, we purchased a water table that he can splash in. It turns out that Parker isn't a fan of grass. He doesn't like to crawl on, sit on, or touch it. He has to wear shoes or be on a blanket. If he must, he will crawl on his hands and feet (with butt in the sky) to make it safely away. It's pretty entertaining. Some people's kids!

This bald baby is learning to use a sippy cup. He loves it but prefers to have me hold it for him.

I finally got around to cleaning out my old classroom. I had left it for my replacement teacher to use, but now a new teacher is moving in. I kept essential teaching materials and my favorite books. Because I love children's books, I now have several boxes taking up space in the garage. On my way home, Parker and I stopped by Dad's hanger to check out the progress of his airplane. It's nearing completion which is so exciting! Parker enjoyed his first wing walk. He's a serious daredevil.

 Parker and Roscoe continue to be good buddies. Lately they have been ganging up on me. Never is there a roll of toilet paper untouched.

Justin, Ryan and many of their friends went on their yearly "Bromance" Weekend. Yes, the name sounds weird to me too. Parker and I relaxed at the house. Ian was in town, so he came over to see us. He took us out to lunch which was super fun. Ian even let Park play with his sun glasses. This seems like a great and harmless idea. Now, however, Parker tries -often successfully- to swipe glasses off of people's heads. Thanks, Uncle Ian.

Uncle Ryan hanging with Park after Bromance

 Dad and Son have so much fun together! They get silly after Justin gets home from work with shoulder rides, playing chase in the living room (Parker's new favorite game), and making faces. I feel lucky to have such an involved husband!








I am involved with the organization Big Brother Big Sisters. I have a match named Molly Jane. She is a lot of fun. This summer we have been doing some activities like going to the Seattle Science Center and the zoo.

 My cousins, Amanda and Alyssa, spent a few days with my parents. My mom took them to the zoo and invited Parker and I along. These girls are so much fun to spend time with! What a great day!

On July 29th, Justin and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary. In some ways, our wedding doesn't seem that long ago. In other ways, it seems like far longer. We've experienced so much already. We truly are lucky to live this life together! On the 28th we went to Seattle for happy hour and to see the musical, Rent at the 5th Avenue Theatre. Sunday, or actual anniversary, the three of us ventured to Paradise on Mount Rainier. We went for a long hike that took us through both meadows of wildflowers and over snow drifts. What a memorable day!

Note what Parker's up to...Thanks Ian.

Not a bad view during snack time

This is one to frame!

My thoughtful husband had my wedding bouquet recreated and had some pictures of it framed.

While Justin and I had our date night on Friday, Parker was with his grandparents. They has so much fun and even went on a walk to see the Goodmans.

Cousin Rachel is so fun!

Strolling with Pop

Smiling with Gramma

At the end of the month, Parker went to see Dr. Clapper for his 9 month check up and vaccination. He weighed in at 20.8 pounds, is 30 inches long and has a 18 inch head circumference.  All measurements were around 50 or 60 the percentile.  Parker had one vaccination in his leg. He screamed for about a minute. Once I gave him a cracker, he perked up a bit. Dr. Clapper has babies do a routine blood draw at this age to perform a health screen.  I took Parker the next day to a lab for the draw. The nurse had me sit in the patient chair with Parker on my lap and hold down his arm. I was tearing up with anticipation. The nurse did the draw fairly quickly. Parker just sat there watching, sucking away at his pacifier. The little guy didn't even make a peep! The nurse's comment was, "Wow! I am good!"

Some other things about Parker this month:
*He now throws mini tantrums if he doesn't get what he wants. This doesn't happen too often, but when Parker wants the remote and you don't give it to him, he just may start crying and flailing arms. We're trying to ignore it which seems to work most of the time.
*Parker entertains himself in the crib by dropping his toys, pacifiers, blankets and stuffed animals over the edge. He loves watching things fall.
*When blankets are left in the crib, Parker will rub them on his face and chew on them while falling asleep. He also makes a moaning noise when calming himself down.  It's pretty cute.
*Parker loves being funny. When he knows he's getting attention for something he's doing, Parker will get this sly little smile and then do it again and again.
*Our boy is inquisitive and busy. Rarely is he sitting still. He's into everything, climbing, opening and closing doors, taking things out of cupboards and drawers. Thanks to him, our house is never fully tidy.