Bye Bye Baby Bed!!!

Zoe is helping Daddy take her crib apart to make room for her big girl bed.
Loving the new big bed!

All made up! (Yes it is HUGE!!!)

Our little peanut swallowed up by the bed.

"Sleeping"

No headboard...just sticker decals, I love it! So does Zoe!

We have been debating what to do for Zoe's big girl bed...Do we make the toddler bed out of the crib? Do we buy her a new bedroom set? Twin? Full? There are too many options, but we decided to take the guest bed (Sorry Kim and Dave!) and take the frame off of it, so it is directly on the ground. She tried it out in the guest room and loved the idea, so we went for it. It happens to be a queen, so it is HUGE. She is such a tiny peanut in it, but it should last her a really long time. I went and bought her new bedding at Target that I thought was perfect for Zoe. I hadn't made up my mind about making a headboard yet, but found great wall decals that worked out perfect. Zoe loves it! Tonight is the first night, so we shall see how it goes!

Zoe's First Masterpiece

We went to Lakeshore to get a few things for the school year and it was craft time for kids, so Zoe went with Wendy to create a masterpiece and Mommy and Daddy did some shopping. She told Wendy where to put the glue and she did the rest. Our own little Picasso! Needless to say, we are so proud of her first art piece that it is hanging proudly in our front hall.

Panties!!!

Well...Zoe has now been potty trained since the beginning of June, but last night as we arrived home from Disneyland, she said in her super sleepy voice, "I want to wear panties. I don't want a pull-up." Shaun turned to me and I said as long as she goes potty first, then that would be fine. She has had dry pull-ups in the morning for quite some time, so I knew she could be successful. She was!!! She was nice and dry in the morning! I am almost ready to say that our 2 year, 3 month old is completely potty trained!!! Yeah! We are so thankful that this was a quick and nearly trauma-free experience. Thanks Zoe for being so adaptive!!!

Our Little Fish

Blowing Bubbles
Floating on Her Back and Kicking

Voluntarily Going Underwater

Jumping In!!!

Miss Independent

Kicking on the Turtle

Kicking and Scooping

Choo-Choo Train Along the Side of the Pool

Zoe and Daddy Contemplating Swimming

Ready for Swim

Zoe has done a really good job during this session of swim lessons. Our instructor from the first session said Zoe was ready for the Tiny Tot class (no parents in the pool). I don't think that I was ready for that!!! So...we signed up for another session of Parent/Child. The biggest reason was to get Zoe more comfortable with going under water. By the fourth day of lessons, our new instructor, Anna, said that she was definitely ready for the next class. Anna has taught some skills to Zoe for the next class, so she can practice with Daddy before having to do it with just an instructor in the next session. She is able to Choo-choo train the whole length of the pool (hold onto the side and slide down), Spiderman (launch herself off the side of the pool on her back), Superman (launch herself off the side of the pool on her tummy), jump off the side of the pool standing up, put her nose under the water (she is not a fan of putting her eyes in), hopping on the bottom of the pool in the shallow area, and uses a kick board. Of course all of it is with the assistance of Daddy or Anna. She is our little fish these days. Hopefully the next session will be successful with no Mommy or Daddy in the pool...we'll see!!!

Bodie...Ghost Town

Standard Stamp Mill

Bank Vault...the only thing left of the bank after a fire that burned down a lot of the town.

Fire Station

Gas Station

Zoe is trying to lift the cast iron wheel barrel...good luck!Gas Station...

Schoolhouse

Zoe found her future car...she loved it!

Stamps at the mill...

We went to Bodie while we were at Bridgeport. It is a real ghost town and it was pretty creepy! They have left the houses as is, for the most part, and we were able to tour the stamp mill. Anything to do with history and Shaun is there...then add ghosts or a deserted town. Zoe really enjoyed peering into the windows and checking everything out. We will definitely go back there when we visit Bridgeport again.

Fourth of July

We were in Bridgeport for Fourth of July this year and went to their small town parade. It was a cute small town and the highlight of their parade is all the candy and junk they throw to the spectators. Zoe was mesmerized until the kiddos on the old fire engine squirted water and it got her shirt wet. She wasn't thrilled with that. We backed up and she was fine for the rest. One of our students that we taught a couple of years ago was in the parade! What a small world! Shaun's favorite was when a man drove by on a quad and Wendy asked him if he had a cold one for Shaun. He actually stopped and opened his cooler to give Shaun a beer! It was a good time. We spent the afternoon back at our campsite and went back into town for the fireworks. It was a good...LONG...show. Zoe had a late nap, so she was actually up for the whole show and thought is was the best thing ever. She said, "Ooh Mama, that one was pretty. That one looks like a flower. BEAUTIFUL!" It was more amusing to listen to her conversation during the show, she was quite funny.

Camping in Bridgeport, CA

On our way we stopped in Bishop...Zoe fed the ducks. She said she saw "four"...
I love this photo! Out little one is all grown up!!!

The boys fishing...they caught quite a few.

Smile Zo!

Best family photo from the trip :)

"Swimming" in the Creek (more like a river this year...)

Swimming with Steven

The views were amazing!!!

One of the baby fawns that frequented our campsite...

The baby fawns drinking from their mama.

Reeling in a big one! (the great thing about kids' poles is it comes with a little rubber fish to tie onto the line...)

" Fishing"

Playing contently in the screened portion of our tent :).

We hiked to a waterfall...it was roaring!!!!

I spotted this beaver in a tree near our campsite and really couldn't believe my eyes!

In order to get an up close and personal pic of the beaver, we needed to cross this tree trunk that went over the creek. Wendy got a little hung up :)...

Sooooooo....David to the rescue!

Zoe's REAL fishing spot

David helped Zoe fish...

Reel it in...

"Come here fishy, fishy, fishy"
(Too bad we had no luck with Zoe's pole)

At the lake in Mono Village (Kisses)

(And hugs for Daddy :) )

Our camping trip to Bridgeport was a success! It is always a bit nerve racking when you have to travel with a 2 year old...did you pack enough clothes? enough food/snacks? milk? toys? etc... Everything was in abundance, so Zoe did so well. Her sleep schedule was a bit off, but we expected that. She had her allergies act up at night, so she coughed a bit throughout the night. We had just reached the point at home where nothing was impeding on her sleep, but oh well! The good time, was worth the exchange of a little sleep deprivation. We are still working on clearing up the allergies, but we'll get there. We spent Fourth of July up there and went to the small town parade. We actually ran into one of our former students! What a small world!!! The parade was cute and Zoe got candy, flags, a frizbee, and bead necklaces. She liked watching everything go by, except the firetruck because little kids squirted water at us and her shirt got wet. Zoe went fishing for a very small amount of time and didn't catch one, but she sure did have a nibbler. I think the highlight for her was "swimming" in the creek. Like everything these days, she was slow to warm up to the idea and by the end of our trip she was laying on her tummy and kicking. One day we went up the road to the Twin Lakes and hiked to a waterfall. The waterfall was roaring and it was so neat. Zoe wasn't thrilled because it was really loud, so it scared her a bit. We also went into the ghost town of Bodie...that was really spooky! All in all it was a good time and I am sure Zoe will get to go camping there again someday.