The Summers' Summer (so far. . .)

I just read my sister, Cherilyn's blog. Her kids started school last week! Man, I feel like summer is FINALLY here--the weather's finally sunny! At the beginning of the summer (aka--kids being home from school all day), I was dreading the next couple of months, but now that it's almost over, I don't want it to end. We've had so much fun. (I've been so bad about taking pictures, so I'm sorry there's not a lot of pictures this time!)

At the beginning of the summer, Ben had fun at Cub Scout Day Camp where he made lots of cool stuff and passed off lots of requirements. Here he is making a clock out of a circle of wood:Last week, Rachel and her friend, Linsey, were in a gymnastics camp. They had an Olympics theme and had fun the last day showing off their new moves to their fans. Rachel's been trying to learn how to do a cartwheel for months. She's starting to "get it!" (Afterward, they allowed siblings to have some fun, too!)While Rachel was at gymnastics camp last week, Steven was in band camp. He had a lot of fun and we got to listen to him play every day after he came home. He had a Scout camp out at Lena Lake in the Olympic Mountains Friday night, so he wasn't able to play in the band concert, but he had a lot of fun camping in the rain. (This is a photo taken last month when he went to Cedar Badge in Idaho.) (OK--so maybe "fun" isn't the right word.) He had fun hanging out with his friends and Scout leaders. They were working on their fishing merit badge, but he didn't have much luck catching anything.

Ben and I had a fun week exercising together. Yes, Lacey family, I said "exercising." (Don't pass out or anything!) When my sister, Shannon, was here, we went to the gym to work out a few times. She's really inspired me to exercise and eat better! So, for the last three weeks, I've exercised at least an hour per day EVERY day, except Sunday. (Thanks for getting me started, Shannon!)

Considering I haven't "intentionally" exercised for an extended period of time at all since people wore Spandex to exercise classes and "In Living Color" and "Full House" were on network television--there obviously wasn't much to watch back then! I drag my kids to the Y with me--while Rachel and Sophie have fun playing in the "play place," Ben and Steven come to the gym. (The last two days, they've protested, so I've let them stay home!)

We've also had fun doing a lot of "free" things around Auburn. One of Sophie's favorite things is to go to the library.We've run into friends at the lunch in the park.They have free movies in the movie theater every Tuesday and Thursday and free live shows at Les Gove Park on Wednesdays.

Rachel was one of the kids chosen out of the audience to help the juggler at today's show. Here's the last clip I took at the end of the show:

I don't know what Sophie's going to do once her "entertainment" is over when the kids go back to school. I guess Leia (who has been neglected all summer) will get her friend back!

Sophie-isms

Sophie picking raspberries. . .
Sophie stuffing the raspberries in her mouth!

Sophie, who will turn 2 next month, speaks her own little language. Most of the time, she speaks clearly and we know what she is saying, but other times, it's a foreign language. I know it's only a matter of time before she totally grows up and starts using "our" words, and it makes me sad because I love talking with my little girl in "her" language.

It all started when she'd say, "Ahcup-ahcup-ahcup-ahcup" when she was just over a year old. That meant she wanted her sippy cup. That was easy enough to understand, but then she started to get creative:

Today, Sophie asked for "deekle." I reached into the fridge and pulled out a piece of cheese and as Sophie happily ate it, Rachel asked, "Mom, how did you know she wanted cheese?" I replied, "Because she asked for it." Rachel asked, "How did you know what she wanted?" My reply, "She said, "Deekle."

Whenever she wants something, she'll say the noun, followed by "me." (i.e. "Deekle me" sounds kind of like "tickle me," but it really means she wants some cheese.)

Here are some other Sophie-isms:

"Peenee"--Trampoline

"Walla walla walla"--Water

"Kind"--Cereal (She got this from when we ask her "Do you want this kind or this kind?")

"Denna"--Banana

"Bachel"--Rachel

"Dipsy"--Juice (I don't think she got it from Teletubbies, but who knows!)

Her latest thing to do is to walk around the house singing, "La, la, la" then she clucks her tongue. And she does it over again. It's so cute. I always try to get her to say her little sayings on camera, but so far, I haven't been successful. I'll post them if I ever do!

We love our Sophie!!!