Cassidy thinks McDonald's real name is- Old McDonald's (after the song, Old McDonlad had a farm...)
When Derek or I drive Cassidy says: "Hold on tight!"
Whenever she gets in trouble and we give her a "time out" or if she falls down a 2nd time she will say "Not Again!"
We call her Angel sometimes and she will say: "But I don't have wings!"
One night Derek drove by Dick's Sporting Store. Cassidy: "Can we go to Dick's?" Derek: "No not tonight it's bedtime." "Are you sad?" Cassidy: "No I'm not sad I'm just disappointed."
Caught Cassidy in the Bathroom playing in the sink with a huge water mess. Mom: Cassidy, how many times did I tell you we don't play in the water in the bathroom? Cassidy: "Sometimes I get confused, Mom."
Cassidy: I'm so Brave I don't get scared with the Lightning
Cassidy: "Mom, where does Belle live?" (while cleaning her room) Mom: "In your toy box" Cassidy: "No, Belle lives in the Temple, the Beauty and the Beast Temple." (castles are temples)
Cassidy: "Daddy's a Good Man!"
After bedtime stories and prayers sometimes Cassidy will ask one of us to lay down with her for a little bit. Derek volunteered to lay down, Cassidy said with her sweet voice, she wanted me to lay with her instead and then made sure to tell Derek she still loves him and gave him a kiss on his cheek. Just to make sure she didn't hurt his feelings.
Gets excited to use the sign language she knows to communicate with the sweet Walmart lady who's deaf. It makes the 3 of us happy!
Loves to feed her dog, and does it all by herself! Starting her chores early while she likes it! Hopefully then it will become habit. :) She also helps with the dishes, cleaning her room, make her bed, set the table, pull weeds...
When Cassidy gets really mad at me this is what she says: "Mom I want you to go to Heaven!" I guess it's sweeter than the alternative.
Sometimes I lay on Cassidy's shoulder and she'll say: "Mom, please don't do that I'm not a pillow."
If I get grumpy Cassidy will tell me: "Mom I want you to be happy!" "Be Happy!"
Out of the blue Cassidy will say: "Mom I like hanging out with you all the time!"
Derek will be calling me from downstairs "Hey Ange?" Cassidy: "Ange is upstairs!"
Her newest thing with kisses is that after she gives us a kiss she will RUB it in so it won't go away and will last forever. It's the sweetest thing!
So as you can see we have been playing in the water A LOT this summer...the Lake, Water World, Water Fun at friends houses, and now Swimming Lessons! :)
Cassidy graduated from having her mom in the pool with her...she was all on her own for the 1st time with her swimming teacher Alicia, and with some of her preschool friends (Tyler, Chloe, Ali) and made new friends with Reese, & Jake.
It was so fun to watch her swim 5 days a week over a 2 week period. Alicia was very patient with the kiddos. By the second week Cassidy overcame her fear of going underwater all by herself and swimming to the steps. I'm so proud of her! As a parent you feel like their biggest fan to watch your child overcome their fears. Cassidy's favorite part was playing Red Light (no kicking)/Green Light (kick as fast as you can). On the last day of swimming lessons we had a big Pizza Party at the park.
We're going to take a little break from swimming lessons, but Cassidy can't wait until she gets back in the pool to learn how to swim even better!
Derek has been wanting to go to a Water Park for a looooong time, and finally we did! We invited our friends Camille, Andrew, their two cute girls Alyson and Brooklyn, and Virginia (Andrew's mom). We had it planned out to be able to take turns watching the girls so we could enjoy the adult rides too.
So Derek and I had the first shift to have 2 hours to go play together. We first went down the river ride that we loved. Then Derek talked his scared wife into going on the Zoomerang. I was nervous about this thrill ride the entire time waiting in line. I had mixed emotions: excitement, fear, and more fear...It was finally our turn and I just wanted to turn around. But too late! I sat in the front and Derek in the back. All I remember is that I closed my eyes, screamed, and felt my stomach rise in my throat. I was happy that I conquered my fear, well at least for that day! ;) Then we went on the racing slides. Derek of course was way ahead of me.
(Just to show you what the Zoomerang is)
Then it was Camille and Andrew's turn. Brooklyn fell asleep so her grandma Virginia stayed with her and so Derek and I took Cassidy and Aly on some rides. We went on the Lost River of the Pharaohs ride, played in the wave pool, and took them on the sky ride.
The last couple of hours we stayed together and went on more rides with the girls, and Derek and Andrew went down the suicide slides. :) I wasn't brave enough to go on those. :) It was so fun to play with Cassidy in the water! She LOVED the experience and splashing around with all of us. There was so much to do! We had a wonderful time! We'll be back next year.
So Derek is a Scout Leader again...so that means overnight camping trips. Since Derek was going to be with the boys Friday afternoon-Saturday night. Cassidy and I decided to have our own fun...Girls Night Out.
Cassidy and I went to the concert at the park. We enjoyed a Pizza picnic dinner while listening to the band play some jazz music. Afterwards, Cassidy was able to put on her bathing suit and run through the water fountains. She was so happy! She just giggled all night.
Our fun wasn't over, we then changed clothes and went to an indoor volleyball gym. I was able to play volleyball with friends while Cassidy played with her friends and rode her tricycle around the gym. By 8:30pm we were both exhausted. So we went home read some stories, said our prayers, and went to bed. Well before I went to bed I watched a chick flick and ate some ice cream. Then I went to bed. :)
That's when I missed Derek the most! I didn't have my man to snuggle with or to talk to about life in general and about all the cute things Cassidy did that day. I'm so amazed how women survive without their husbands for long periods of time. My husband was only going to be gone for one night and I missed him terribly.
But I have to say I had such a good time with my little girl and look forward to more Girls Night Out!
Our friends called us and invited us to drive to Pueblo Reservoir (1 hr away) to play at the lake. They rented a pontoon boat. It sounded so exciting and fun so Cassidy and I decided to pack our car and head out that afternoon. We ate lunch on the way. Derek was at a Scout campout. We usally plan activities like this but this was so Spontaneous! We were so glad we did it! The girls had a blast swimming in the Lake, playing on the boat, and eating lots and lots of Dorito chips. We adults also had fun jumping off the cliffs. Thank you for inviting us Camille, Andrew, and Natalee! We will have to do it again. Check out the videos!
I'm glad I did it! The 2nd Jump was even Higher as you can see below.
My younger brother Dave and his beautiful wife Brianna are brand new parents of a darling baby girl. She was born on August 3rd at 12:05pm. She weighs 8lbs 1oz and 20 inches long. CONGRATULATIONS!!! We LOVE HER already!
Cassidy has had so much fun being the ONLY GIRL out of 16 grandchildren. As you see in the picture below (minus 4 cousins).
But now we're so EXCITED to have Rylee here!!! And in December my sister Jessica will be having a baby girl too, we just found out! Watch out Boys!
For a church activity we had a family Renaissance Party. We even had jousting. Our brave Knight put up a good fight. There was also a costume contest and we were surprised to have won. The prizes were awesome...free food from Chick Fila. Our family favorite! There was some good participation and it was a different creative way to have fun.
The night before we invited some friends over for the Firework Show that the Sky Sox Stadium was hosting after their baseball game. It was a late night since the game wasn't over until after 10pm. The kids were in their PJ's and watching a movie waiting for the fireworks. We had fun just sitting around talking and eating chips and salsa and ice cream.
We've heard so much about the 4th of July parade in Monument we thought we would go this year. It was so much fun. It's been awhile since we went to a parade. They had great floats and passed out lots and lots of candy for the kiddos. Cassidy thought it was Halloween.
Cassidy made friends with this cute little girl at the parade. The little girl gave Cassidy a bag for candy and scooted over so she could sit by her. It was so sweet.
After the parade we walked around all the booths from different vendors. Home Depot had a station set up for the kids to work on several different wood projects. Derek helped Cassidy make a picnic caddy. It was cute to watch Derek show Cassidy how to be his wood working assistant and hammer the nails.
Derek made us a CD with great patriotic music to listen to all day. Every time I hear "God Bless the USA" by Lee Greenwood I get emotional. That song is so powerful. There's so much to be grateful for.
We drove to Thornton Colorado for a friend's BBQ (1 1/2 hrs). It's a tradition to get together with our good friends, the Smith Family every 4th of July. We always look forward to it especially since they have moved and we don't get to see them a lot. The kids always have fun playing in the pool and on the slides. While the adults talk and play games.
The entire drive home we were in a huge rainstorm. Cassidy slept soundly. We were so grateful to get home safely.
On Sunday Auntie Marge and Uncle Bob invited us over for a family BBQ. It was fun to be reunited with some of Derek's cousins that we haven't seen for years since they lived in Alaska. Aunt Barb and Erin were there too. The kids had fun playing together with their new toys and gifts from Auntie Marge and Uncle Bob. They sure spoil them. :) Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures from the BBQ. But we always have a great time being together. And Auntie Marge sure knows how to make a delicious, Cheesy/Ham casserole!
Cassidy was involved with the Reading program at our Public Library...this is just one reward from all the books she read. She had to pick Grape/Sour Apple Sherbert with chunks of candy. Yum!
We made sure not to miss all the opportunities Chick Fila gave the public for delicious FREE food. We love it so much we eat there at least 1x a week. I know Ridiculous!
Cassidy helped Mommy and Daddy plant flowers
More Treats!
Summer Picnics at the Park. Oakley of course had to join us, he's part of the family!
Tonight Derek decided we should have a treat and have carryout from Panda Express. It was yummy! When it was time to eat our fortune cookies we took turns to read our fortunes. Cassidy insisted on reading mommy's. So I let her. She started speaking in other languages that she claims to be "speaking in Spanish" and then her own made up languages. Some words sounded like "Epoe" and "Apee" and something like that.
Not to hurt her feelings I thanked her for my fortune and then took a glance at what my fortune REALLY did say:
YOU WILL TRAVEL TO MANY EXOTIC PLACES
We just laughed and found amusement that our little girl knew what she was talking about! :)
