Holding On To Summer

In an attempt to enjoy the last few days/weeks of summer, we went to Lagoon last Monday and hiked up to Donut Falls on Saturday.

Donut Falls:

I forgot what a simple hike this is - perfect for a 3-year-old who has officially been kicked out of the baby carrier. Austin ran the entire hike. He would run a few feet ahead of us, then run back and tell us to hurry. So, in reality, he probably did the hike three or four times. He loved throwing rocks and picking up handfuls of dirt and dropping them over his head so it "rained dirt." He's such a boy!

To keep pretty, pretty Princess Macy from whining (sometimes she has a difficult time not being "the baby"), we whispered and talked about all the different sounds she was hearing and seeing. We heard birds, the river, the wind through the leaves, squirrels, and chipmunks. Macy has this wonderful ability to add extra syllables to words. She does it all the time, and we never correct her because it's so adorable, but I can never remember later what word she said. Well...she did it with chipmunk. She called them "chink-a-monks". I kept asking her questions just to get her to say "chink-a-monk" because I thought it was so funny.

Austin swore he saw some woodpeckers, and he described to Macy how woodpeckers knock on the trees. Macy started calling them "knockers." She said, "Daddy, did you see those knockers?" Greg and I were beside ourselves with laughter.

Paige was in heaven - She was outside and she was held the entire time! Here she is chewing on the strap of her carrier. Funny girl!

Lagoon:

Austin is still about an inch too short to ride all of the rides, but he could ride some of them with an adult. He did everything that he could, but he was a little scared. Macy, on the other hand, was tall enough this year to ride all of the "older" kiddie rides. She loved them! She rode all the scary ones with a huge smile on her face with her arms up in the air. Austin was the perfect little gentleman and helped Macy get buckled and unbuckled on all of the rides. The bumper cars were the big hit of the day! Both Austin and Macy loved slamming into each other. We saw some of our great friends - the Rayl's. They used to live across the street from us, and we just love them! Austin would frequently ask if he could go and live with them (and I'm pretty sure he wasn't kidding). Angi showered Austin and Macy with treats and gifts. Their kids have grown up so much even over the past six months. They are the sweetest, nicest people and we miss them. We're so glad we bumped into them at Lagoon.