Trip to Washington: Day 1

Mommy and Chloe went on our annual trip to Washington to see the family. Daddy was supposed to come, but he got a job interview and couldn't make it. Bummer! We always love our trips to Washington because we get to see the Oatfield side of the family and have lots of fun. We took the awful 7:30 a.m. flight so we had to get up at the crack of dawn, but that was probably good since I didn't have to think about the flight for very long that day. I absolutely hate to fly (don't know why), so I'm always freaking out the day of the flight. I'm always a little worried about Chloe too since she's buckled in for 2 hours, but she was fantastic. Daddy packed a great activity bag for her so we had plenty to do. Amazingly enough, the drink with the straw we got on the flight entertained her for quite some time. Who needs candy and toys when you got a straw! Chloe loved the plane ride, but the whole way there she wanted to see Ry Ry, her cousin that was stuck on a 14 hour car ride to Washington.


Gigi picked us up from the airport and took us out to breakfast. We probably should have just gone to a wide open field and let Chloe get all of her wiggles out because the last thing she wanted to do was sit down AGAIN and eat breakfast, but it was much needed on my part. Since I can't eat before I fly I was starving! We stayed with Gigi and Montie this time because the rest of the family was staying at Grandpa's house so we got to Gigi's house and relaxed for a bit. Chloe must have been tired too because she took a 4 hour nap!! When everyone got there for the family BBQ they wanted to see Chloe, but she just slept away and who was I to wake her up from her beauty sleep. Everyone was able to make it to the BBQ so I got to see the whole fam on the first day. Quite the housefull! You can imagine how tired I was that night, so of course it would have to be the worst night for Chloe. She started out in the crib in my room, then she was in the bed with me, then back in the crib after kicking me all night, and finally back in bed with me until she was WIDE awake at 6:00 a.m. the next day. Oh the joys of traveling!


But that didn't stop us from our first full day of adventures. Since it was nice weather the first couple of days we decided to take advantage of it and play in the water fountains downtown Olympia. Chloe wasn't crazy about the spouting fountains, but auntie Tessie got her out there anyway!

Photo Shoot: Take 2

For our second try at this whole picture thing we decided to take things outside and that made all the difference. Well, her daddy was there too and that always makes her happy. She loved every minute of it, and even though she was still all over the place we still got some really good shots of her. The cute little tutu was made by Chloe's aunt Tiffy. So cute! Chloe would run around, play hide and seek and smile much more than a stiff, cross-your-legs, sit up straight photo shoot. She did so much better this time! Maybe I won't ban picture taking after all.

Photo Shoot: Take 1

Every time I get pictures of Chloe taken I promise myself that I won't put the family through that kind of torture again, but I just keep on doing it anyway. I couldn't pass up this photographer that takes amazing pictures so here we go, once again, to the torture chamber. The photographer is Mindy Young and I love her work. You'll have to check her out...www.mindyyoungphotography.com. She was great with Chloe and very patient considering Chloe threw a huge fit. Everything started out fine. She was wiggly, which is to be expected of a 3 year old, and she didn't smile a ton, which is to be expected of Chloe, but then when there was only about 20 minutes left Chloe just went into melt down mode. Nothing was making her happy, so we had to reschedule (bless Mindy's heart she let us reschedule for 20 more minutes). After all of that I didn't think we got any good shots, so you can imagine the surprise when I saw these.

Sunday Drives Through the Canyon

Ever since we've had 9:00 a.m. church one of Jason's favorite things to do it take a drive on the Alpine loop in American Fork canyon. Last time we went I asked him if his family did this when they he was a kid, and yep, they did. It's free if you just drive through and don't stop to picnic, fish or camp. So we just ride the curves and take in the sights and sounds of the beautiful mountain canyons. At the end of this adventure we stopped at a park in Provo Canyon and had a little picnic. Chloe is still camera shy, but she's not afraid of the water. Our table was close to the river and she kept running over to the water to get a closer look. That freaked me out so I'd chase her down every time. This was a much safer way to get a closer look.

Rough day? Relax with this new technique!

When I was a little girl I would lay my head on a pillow and my mom or my grandma would brush my hair for hours. I would also let my mom practice her french braiding skills on me because I loved people to play with my hair. Maybe that stems from having a cosmetologist for a mom. Well Chloe doesn't want me anywhere near her hair, but when it comes to tickling her arms she'll lay there for hours. Whenever she's laying next to us she'll lift up her arms and guide our hands to them so we'll tickle them for her. She loves it!

New Friends

It's amazing what happens when you get out of the comforts of your home and meet new people. We've had so much fun getting to know our neighbors and we're looking forward to get to know them even better. Can you tell from the pictures that Chloe has found a new friend for life? She loves hanging out with her new little friend and wants to play with him everyday. Can you blame her...what a cutie!

Pop, go higher!!

Chloe loves her Pop! She always gets so excited to go to Pop's house. On Easter Pop pushed Chloe on the swings and jumped with her on the trampoline. She absolultely loved it!