Rory swim lessons

Rory took a couple of sessions of swim lessons this summer. She did really well and it was really good for her and her confidence in the water.

Tea party

Taking care of her babies

Payton LOVES her baby dolls. She has three right now and has to have them all. She is taking care of them right now and probably watching Hi-5, her favorite show!

Payton's funny sayings

I went back and was reading through this blog when I started it with Rory. I was happy to realize that I started writing it about the same age Payton is now. I was worrying that I wasn't writing enough stuff down for Payton, the poor second child. I'm sure I will still not be as detailed as I was with Rory, as I have less time and two kids to document. Payton is talking more and more and seems to say a new word every day. Today, Uncle Kyle was here and he said "oh shoot." And of course, what does Payton say, as clear as day?! No way! It's not just no, it's no way! Do you want to go to bed Payton? "NO way!" Gosh darnit. Sammy always growls "gosh darnit" at her. She repeats it with the same inflection, but it just growls. It's become their good night ritual. Boys and girls. She has just started saying that this week. And especially in relation to these yogurt tubes we got. The HEB brand we have is pink, which she calls girls when she sees it, and the other brand has Cars on it and she says boys when she sees it. I guess Rory's determination of "girl" things and "boy" things has already made an impression on Payton. Colton--we saw Colton a couple of times this week. She says Claire pretty well. The "Cl" are real clear and the rest gets a little mumbled. Then she started saying Colton. We met them at a book store for story time and when Colton walked in the door, Payton announced, "Col-TIN" She still called Rory, Rah-rah. And every once in a while she says Ree-ree. I think Sammy and I have taken to calling Rory, Rah-rah, so maybe that is why Payton still does it. They will be 20 and maybe she will still be calling her Rah-rah. Payton calls me Mom and Momma. "Mom, atch this." She calls Sammy, Dada still. I heard her tonight call him Daddee. She says Bogey well. She called Kyle, Kyky. Says Ma Mac for Grandma Mac. There was a little girl in Rory's class named Ella and Payton loved her. She was always yelled El-la when we saw her or her twin at school. She also says El-la for Cinderella or Tinker Belle. Einstein. She says Einstein pretty well. Whenever she sees the Disney logo, she says Einstein. And of course, Hi-5. That is probably her most said phrase ever. She would watch those videos 24/7 if I let her. Fortunately, she has taken to Baby einstein, so that gets put into the rotation. And of course, she switches out the DVDs herself! Her other words, pink...that is the color for everything. She's starting to say blue. Eat, read, book, bath, pants, dress, shoes, juice, wa-wa, boat, swim, Rah-rah up when she wants to wake Rory up, ock for on and off, seat,

Rory's preschool graduation

Brushy Creek Splash pad

Windmill Museum

Rory adores windmills. She has for ever since we can remember! Sammy bought Rory a windmill book, called Windmill Tales, a while back. It has pictures of windmills and stories of windmills. In the back of the book, there is a write up about the Windmill Museum in Lubbock, TX. So this weekend, we took Rory to the Windmill Museum. It was a 6 hour drive, that took us 8 on the way up. The girls did pretty well in the car considering. I had worked the night before and got one little catnap in, while the girls napped--briefly. We didn't make it up there in time on Saturday before the museum closed, so we went to dinner at Cagle's Steakhouse. They had windmills there! Rory was so good and patient, waiting to get to go to the museum. We arrive Sunday at 2pm, when the museum was suppose to open and the gate was closed and locked. Uh-oh. I swore up and down that I had checked the website, being that it was Memorial Day weekend, and it said it was open. Another car stopped and questioned as well. Sammy started planning out how he would jump the fence and get us all over so we could at least see the windmills that were on the outside. About 5 minutes after 2, a man showed up and open the gates. Lots of relief for Sammy and I, didn't want to have to make this drive again anytime soon. Rory was thrilled. Payton fell asleep just as we were pulling into the parking lot. She didn't wake up when I took her out of the car, so she slept on my shoulder. We didn't have a stroller with us, so Sammy pushed me around in a wheelchair until she woke up. We spent almost 2 hours at the museum and then headed home. The drive home was much better. The girls slept and we were able to drive straight home with only one potty stop. It was a fun weekend with our little family. And the look of joy and excitement on Rory's face to see all those windmills was priceless!





















This windmill ground corn.






Here is an example of how the pump inside the windmill works and the video of Rory pumping it is at the bottom of the post. Payton entertained herself, the windmills didn't hold her attention as long. We can keep shoes on her these days. And she likes to smell feet, so here she is smelling her baby doll's feet. The gift shop area had tons of windmill photographs, model windmills, cookie cutters, books, tshirts, windmill kits to build, etc, etc. Rory got a bunch of goodies!! One of the windmills actually was pumping water.