How do you.....

....tell a 2.5 year old that her favorite Seattle Mariner got traded to the Detroit Tigers?? Lauren has taken a liking to Mariner (now Tiger) pitcher Doug Fister (she calls him Dougie Fister which I'm sure is after her snuggle horse Dougie). Every time ANY baseball player comes on TV she yells "Dougie Fister!" And she talks about her new baseball mit being like Dougie Fister's. And when he strikes someone out she jumps up and down. And when he'd take a loss because his team couldn't support him with even a couple runs for a win, she'd say "Oh man!" Now poor Dougie Fister is no longer a Mariner and Lauren does NOT understand. Guess she'll have to pick a new guy to cheer on! Let's see...who has an easy name to learn????

Mason County Fair

Today we went early to beat the heat at the Mason County Fair. It was nice and quiet first thing. We got to see the 4-H kids in action. Lauren was pretty excited to see Clifford the Big Red Dog made an appearance as well. She ran up to him and hugged him immediately. I had to talk her into going back for a picture.

We walked around....a lot.....that's all Lauren wanted to do. We did sit down and have some fair food of course!

Before we left, we let Lauren take a Pony Ride. She was really excited. I was hesitant after her debacle on the carousel at the zoo in March. But she did awesome.

Here she is riding away hanging on to the horn. I was an arm's length away, just in case. She loved it.

A real cowgirl...minus the apparel!

When she got off she patted her pony on the neck and said "Thank you pony!" Then she asked the owner what his name was. Then she said "Bye Skinner!" When we left.

Call of the wild!!

Daddy got out his elk call the other day to practice for the upcoming hunting season. Looks like he's found his hunting partner.

Playgroup!

Yesterday was playgroup day. Lauren got to see her friends which is always an exciting day. It was gloomy, windy and a little chilly....but the kids didn't care! Here's a picture of the group. From left to right; Lauren, Noah (Breanna's big brother), Logan (Ellie's big brother), Breanna, Ellie and Austin. Cassie and Anna were both on vacation with their families.

We finally talked Connor into joining the picture. Connor is Breanna and Noah's big brother in the back.

Lauren the climber.....

The "Uh Oh" when she realized she didn't know how to get down. Then the "help me"s started!

More climbing. But get this, she wanted to swing, so I put her in and barely pushed her and she screamed bloody mary! It was horrible. Needless to say, she didn't swing any more.

The slide for 5-12 year olds. You can see the 2-5 year old structure in the background. It wasn't as "cool" as the big kid one.

Look what I can do!

A few weeks ago, Daddy and I were showing Lauren how to balance a spoon on your nose. She's been practicing and "Tah Dah!"

The placement.....

The balance....

Showing Daddy....

Just plain showing off.....

Lauren's First Movie at a Theater

Today, mommy took Lauren to her first movie in a theater at the mall in Olympia. We attended the first showing on opening day for Winnie The Pooh. Surprisingly, there were not a lot of people there. And if you buy them on fandango.com on Fridays and use your VISA signature card, you get a BOGO deal once a month! So not only was it the extreme matinee (10:30 a.m.!), but we got in for $7.25 for both of us which is cheap in the big city! Our snack bar trip was more expensive than the tickets! But the popcorn was a necessity to keep Lauren preoccupied.

Lauren fared pretty well. We had to make a trip to the restroom....and she got a little sleepy, but we powered through it! When we left the theater, she wanted to turn around and reenter to watch it again! Thank goodness it was only about an hour long.....

Terrific Tuesday

We always look forward to Tuesdays. That's our playgroup day which means errands in the "big" city. Since all of the other families have extra kiddos for the summer with school out, we've been meeting in parks to play and burn off energy, rather than each others houses.

Lauren had overheard that Cassie was getting a haircut. Well we decided to go to the closer place first. Lauren was excited to get a haircut! We walked in and they said they could work her in at 1 p.m. which was 1.5 hours away! Needless to say we left....with Lauren screaming in tow....and went to the other place where we went before. Kimber worked us in immediately. And guess who was there.....Cassie and her mom and sister! The girls had a great time comparing new looks.

Lauren was pretty amped about her haircut....and lollipop! That's all she could talk about yesterday....and still today. She wouldn't take a bath last night because she didn't want it to "ruin her haircut". No joke.....that's what she told me. I think she's confusing haircut and hairstyle.....but where is the "Diva" coming from???

Random Pics

Just some random pics from the recent week.

Some butterfly catching.....don't worry, none were harmed because she never caught one!

Bubble blowing.....

Mom's boots.....

Lauren Quilt is DONE!

I finally got Lauren's rag quilt done. My snips broke while clipping it, so I had to wait for my replacement set. But it's finished now and on the bed! Lauren kept asking "Done now?" Yes, Lauren it's done now. Enjoy!

Being cheesy.

And posing....

I like the colors and Lauren likes pointing out the owls, bubbles and flowers. So I think she likes it!

Watermelon Spokesperson Job?

Lauren is such a ham for the camera. We went to the grocery store yesterday and she picked out a half of watermelon. She ate about half of it when we got home! But she had to stay outside with all the drippings.

Does the fruit need a spokesperson?? It looks like she's trying to sell the stuff!! Cheeseball!

Water fun!

Over last weekend we soaked up some sun and played outside. Mommy picked up a cheap water toy at the dollar store....and it was the only thing she wanted to play with. Mostly because she could try and "get us" with it. Here's her mean face (AKA Papa Eddie face). She was on a mission!

Have I told you that she's friends with Darth Vadar? Oh and Darth Vadar is a good guy according to Lauren.

"Firework Got ME!"

Hope everyone had a safe Fourth of July. We did snap-its and sparklers this year. Note to self, fully cloth Lauren in the years to come! Lauren was bored with the sparklers by the time they got to the end. She handed one to Jake and ran away. Then it was "Ouch!" I kept asking her "Did you get burned?" She said "On my foot." So I took off her sandals and somehow a little ember had got in between her shoe and foot and gave her a little burn on the bottom of her foot. She talked about it for the next 24 hours! "Firework got me!" "Bandaid on?" "Firework got me!" She really milked it! There's still a small mark but it doesn't bother her any more. She's forgot about it!