ISABEL'S CHORE CHART

my friend suggested that we give isabel a chore chart since she was so upset at all of the rewards jax has been getting. she is now in charge of watering the plants and feeding bailey.

THE POTTY EXPERIENCE

for a solid week jax pooped and peed all through the house... with the exception of one place, the toilet! i was ready to throw in the towel until he discovered nana's frog potty. we got home from the pool one evening, sat on the chair, and peed in the right place for the first time! he then proceeded to poop and pee in the chair at least 15 times in the next hour... i'm not even exaggerating!! he sat on the darn thing the entire time and was so thrilled each time he went potty and got a piece of candy. by the next afternoon he was totally out of rewards because he had used the potty so much. so, we had to make him a potty chart. after 5 times of going on the potty he gets a reward. he's doing very well but hasn't completely mastered the idea of the just yet.

SICK DAY

we were supposed to meet one of isabel's friends at the zoo this morning but she woke up in the middle of the night with a fever. poor thing was so disappointed that she wasn't going to get her surprise. while she was still feeling decent this morning we went out on the deck and did some painting. both kids loved it!

SWIMMING WITH GOGGLES

isabel has come so far with swimming in the past few weeks, i can hardly believe how well she's doing. she requested goggles so that she could swim underwater! she can now actually do the "frog swim" underwater in the little pool and can do it without holding her nose. she's also started swimming under daddy's bridge, jumping off of daddy's shoulders, and letting daddy throw her. we're so proud of our little fish.

CITY MARKET

saturday morning we hit the kansas city farmer's market with nana so that she could get some fresh produce! it was so neat to see all of the different fruits, veggies, and flowers but boy was it hot and crowded. we had fun riding in our radio flyer wagon and didn't have to worry about get lost or stolen. nana even got us each a giant yellow sunflower.

GIRL'S DAY

isabel and i had our first girl's day of the summer and sadly our summer is about over. my goal for next summer is to have a one on one day for each of the kids every week, or at least isabel and jaxon. our morning started with isabel and i making a casa de lopez delivery to a raytown teacher's meeting. i so wish that i had taken pictures, she was such a big help! she carried in the utensils, helped me push the cart, and took the lids off of everything... it was adorable! she kept asking "mom, what can i do?" our next stop was adventure oasis in independence which is a small waterpark. we met isabel's bestie kaelin there and they had a blast going down the slide. our last stop of the day was to see "winnie the pooh." now, we're not huge pooh fans at the lopez house but i thought what the heck... maybe we will eat at the crystal palace in "the world" after all. it was such a great day hanging with my favorite chick. all day i wondered if isabel was still my only daughter or if i'm going to be blessed with TWO favorite chicks!

DEANNA ROSE FARMSTEAD

just the 2 of us... for now!

mom... "what's this?"

baby goats

mom... "what's a dairy farmer?"

mom... "God makes milk, right?"

we visited deanna rose first thing thursday morning and boy was it a scorcher! our first stop of the day was the cattle barn... we saw a bobby calf being fed and even got to pretend like we were milking a fake cow. so cool. next we were on our way to see the native american teepees. isabel asked all kinds of questions about indians and what a teepee was. of course we had to go in and pet the baby goats too! both kids attempted to ride the pedal tractors but jax's legs were too short and isabel had a tough time with the hill. on this trip we even got to go into ben's bank, what a learning experience.

swimming adventures

isabel and jaxon have had a wonderful progression of experience at the pool this summer. it started with both of them refusing to go into the "big cool" as isabel calls it, not even with hector or i. the next step was that they would go in with a raft and scream with mom or dad. next, was jumping into the big pool to mom or dad and getting right back out. finally, we have isabel using her life jacket to jump into the big pool and swim all by herself! i took a video of her amazing feat, but our camera is holding it captive. we were so proud.

lake jacomo with bakers

takin a ride

don't let go

doesn't she look so big with that ponytail!

the boys sipping their cocktails of slushes

on our way out

besides our recent "ride the ducks" experience in branson the kids had never been out on a boat. sunday afternoon we set out with plenty of snacks, drinks, and sunscreen to last the evening. isabel and jaxon were reluctant to get in the water but eventually chose to swim with daddy. towards the end of the afternoon isabel would let go of the ladder for about 2 seconds! it was a great afternoon with friends and we all had a blast!

baking red velvet cake

for some reason our children love to bake! they love to add ingredients, stir the batter, and of course lick the utensils and bowl... they enjoy it so much that they even fight over whose turn it is next. sunday morning we baked a yummy red velvet cake and this day was no different. it was especially funny when isabel chose to lick the utensil from the mixer which meant that jax got the bowl and spatula, she even tried to talk him into trading with her.

roasting smores

it was the perfect friday night to roast smore's and boy were they delish! daddy got the firepit going and we began roasting... we only lost a few marshmallows to the fire. jax wasn't too fond of the smore, but did enjoy the marshmallow. for some crazy reason mommy prefers to set her marshmallow on fire before eating it... yum!

crown center

summer trips to crown center have become an annual summer thing. we go to the free exhibit that they're offering, head to lunch at fritz's, and then play in the fountains. the kids absolutely loved playing in the fountains this year and they were running all over the place. of course, jax probably slipped and fell at least 10 times but was never phased. they also had fun at the rainforest exhibit where jax climbed a mountain and isabel put together a puzzle bridge. fun times for sure!

SPORTING KC GAME

daddy got free tickets to the sporting kc game at the new stadium and it was so much fun! isabel and jaxon did so well despite the heat and cooled off with a $4 sno cone. the best part of the game was that jaxon did every single thing that hector did and i mean everything... if hector shouted something in spanish, jaxon did too... if hector threw his hands in the air, jaxon threw his hands in the air... if hector clapped, jaxon clapped... it was ADORABLE! apparently we have quite the little soccer fan in the making.

storytime

jax's first checkout

isabel's first checkout

her dinosaur and stamp

shaking out the wiggles... finally

she had to take minnie, so of course he took mickey

this was our second storytime this summer... they read dinosaur books and made little dinosaurs! jax and isabel LOVE choosing their books and quickly had our library bag full. we had books about pirates, dinosaurs, and even food allergies. on this trip they both got to actually scan their books. everyday i ask myself how we got here, they're both so big.