Since we were cooped up in the house for the last holiday season, when summer rolled around we were determined to get out and enjoy it. This meant a lot of firsts for Charley and some firsts as a family.
We kicked things off in June by taking Charley to her first wedding. My older brother got married and we couldn't be happier! We love his new bride and her two boys. They definitely fit right in with the family. And it is such a small world! She was in our stake in California and we know the same people, even though we didn't know each other. Her ward even merged with my ward years later. And her parents lived in Kevin's Fullerton ward before his family moved down there. CRAZY!
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| Charley was 9 months old in this pic and her cute dress was a size 3 month! She's our little petite girl. |
Since it was the second marriage for both of them, they had a really nice, low key wedding with family and close friends at a restaurant downtown.
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| My siblings with our spouses |
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| The whole Grow family |
I love how big our family is getting...and it's only going to get bigger!
The next adventure was on the 4th of July. I made Charley and myself matching shirts for our fun filled day. We started early by going to the South Salt Lake parade with my mom and some of her family. I've enjoyed this parade since I was a kid because they always throw a ton of candy! And it's nice because we can just walk down to the end of my grandma's street and park our chairs.
This year was no different for how much candy was thrown. I was surprised that the little kids weren't grabbing every last piece! They would just leave taffy in the road, so I got in on the action. I won't let yummy treats go to waste!
Charley fell asleep at the beginning of the parade and didn't wake until it was over! This was her first time really out in the heat for a long period of time, even though we were in the shade. But Nana didn't mind...she held her the entire time.
We went to a second parade that evening in Sandy. This is another parade I've loved going to since I was in high school. This one was a lot bigger but they still throw candy. (Are you seeing a pattern here?) Charley stayed awake for the entire parade this time and loved it. She got a flag and was having a great time waving it around.
After the parade, we walked down to a grassy area to wait for fireworks. We were pretty close to the stage where a band played and relaxed until the fireworks began. I had a feeling Charley would love the fireworks and I was right! She has always loved loud noises and she watched in anticipation for each boom. I wish I could have filmed her, she didn't take her eyes off the sky! Afterwards, my little brother made the comment that we have the COOLEST kid because of how much she loved the fireworks! I have to agree, she is very cool.
Our next first was taking Charley swimming for the first time. Our ward has an annual neighborhood pool party so it was the perfect time to take her. Unfortunately it was a little colder that day, so she didn't last very long but we did managed to capture a few moments.
We definitely need to take her again when the water is a lot warmer. She loves splashing in the bathtub so I know she would love playing in a pool.
On the 24th of July, Charley and I visited Grandma Grow in her nursing home. She had never held Charley since we were holed up all winter and then soon after she went to live in a nursing home. My uncle said it was about time Grandma held my sweet girl, and I agreed!
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| I won't tell you the exact word she was saying when this pic was snapped but she was expressing how much she wanted to be home. It was pretty funny. |
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| The festive attire has Big Steve written all over it |
Our next adventure was the biggest one yet. At the end of July we went camping with my family for 2 nights. I was a little worried about how Charley would do sleeping away from home. And there was no way we were all going to fit into our little tent. Kevin and I were crammed with just the 2 of us and our queen size mattress. So we bought a great big 3 room tent that was awesome! We were able to put Charley's pac n' play in one room, store all of our gear in the middle room and then put our mattress in the 3rd room.
And the BEST part about the tent is that it's an E-Z Up, so Kevin and I can put it up and down in a breeze. I even challenged my brother and his 4 boys to a race to see who could take down their tent the fastest. (The boys were complaining about having to do the work, so I thought this would make it a little more enjoyable) and the boys immediately accepted my challenge. I wish I could have seen everyone's faces when we had ours down in no time. I believe my brother's comment to me was "I hate your tent." LOL but I believe we sold his wife on getting a new tent!
As it turned out regarding Charley sleeping, I was right to worry about it. I put her down at her normal bedtime the first night and she woke up around 9:30pm very upset. I think it scared her to be in a strange place without knowing where mom and dad were. We hadn't gone to bed yet, so she was all alone in the tent. Anytime I would get her calmed down and back asleep, she immediately woke up screaming if I attempted to put her in her bed. So after a long night (which included me sleeping with her in my arms while sitting in a camp chair) she ended up just sleeping in bed with us. I don't sleep well with her in our bed, but if she'll sleep that way, I'll take it! The second night she fell asleep as soon as we laid her in our bed.
We had fun eating good food and relaxing during the day and enjoying the campfire at night. It was nice to have so many willing arms to hold Charley and she loved every minute of it! I started a new tradition around the campfire. We, of course, had s'mores but I also brought something that was a little different. I LOVE caramel apples, so I brought caramels to roast in the fire and sliced up granny smith apples and put the caramel in between the apples. It was delicious! I enjoyed it even more than the s'mores and so did my dad. He wants to have these every time from now on.
My BIL took all of the kids down to the reservoir during the day to play in the water. It was too rocky and sunny to take Charley down there, so we stayed back at our campsite. When a couple of the boys returned, they were walking like this:
We all were laughing and then I asked a silly question of "why?" To their response, it was keeping his towel up! Boys will be boys, I guess? LOL
Our last adventure of the summer was going up to Snowbird for my work summer party. We got a day pass to enjoy the rides and have a BBQ lunch. Unfortunately, Charley was too little to do anything fun, so we watched Daddy go on the alpine slide and the zip line. We got tired pretty quickly from walking up and down the mountain, so we didn't last very long. But I was able to get one photo.
Charley had a few other firsts this summer that were pretty fun and we captured some cute pics:
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Her first time riding in a shopping cart. She's gotten better at sitting up straight.
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Going out to eat with friends while Mama works.
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Her first time in her Jenny Jump Up. She didn't know what to do LOL
It's been a great summer but we can't wait for fall! It will be filled with lots of celebrations including a first birthday!
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