Betsy Bear

This post is dedicated to our Betsy girl.  It's well overdue!  Our sweet Betsy will be 18 months old this month, no longer a baby but a little girl (and she thinks so, too).  She's trying so hard to be more independent like her brother, insisting on doing EVERYTHING like Tristan; brush her teeth on her own at the sink, sit at the table for dinner with the family instead of in her high chair, walk the steep stairs on her own up to our front door, run around the grocery store instead of sitting in the cart, run around EVERYWHERE actually, strollers are no longer an option, she screams hysterically when I attempt to put her in one.  She really thinks she's older than she is and wants to be like her brother so much.     

(Left) Her face is so kissable.  So soft and squishy.  I promise that this girl smiles sometimes, it just takes a little more effort to get it out of her.  Tristan is pretty much the only one that can get her to smile and laugh really hard without really doing anything.  He could take a bite out of his food and she would be in tears laughing at him.  He is the funniest person in the whole world to her.  We have agreed that she's a very serious girl with a lot on her mind.  She loves to be silly while keeping a straight face.  She smiles and laughs a lot with her eyes. 

(Right) The three of them pretending to be cats.  Betsy and Tristan like to lick the walls, so gross, and Betsy thinks that she's supposed to bite things, while in cat mode.  Her meow is really cute too.   

Betsy loves being a part of Tristan's preschool group.  All of the kids are so sweet to her.  She seriously has the time of her life!

These two love hiding in closets together.  

She's still the best napper in the world!  Sometimes she needs a little winding down before she falls asleep and she grabs books from the shelf and reads a little.  I love watching her on the baby monitor screen and listening to her read.  It's so sweet.  But she's so happy when I lay her down for naps, she does a 'snow angel' movement and then that thumb goes right in her mouth.  Sometimes she waves to me as I leave and says "bye".  She usually gets a good 3 hours in.  So wonderful.  

Reading Dad's Surfer Magazine.  She really gets into it!  Dad's proud.  

Betsy in front of Diamond Head in Waikiki.  

I'm a little obsessed with her bathing suit body.
Betsy girl adds so much fun to our family, I don't know what we would do without her.  We love love love this little girl and everything that she's becoming.    

Preschool

Tristan started preschool at the end of August and he is loving it!  Six of us moms are teaching in a co-op group, similar to Joy School.  It's been a great experience and they are a great group of kids.  He is starting to write his name on his own and he gets really excited when he sees letters he knows on street signs.  I hope that he will always be this excited about learning.

Little Leo and London

While in California, I had the chance to meet sweet little Leo and London for the first time!  London Jane Clawson was born on July 6th, and Leo Hinz Wright was born on August 15th, right between Chelcie's and my birthday.  They were as sweet as can be and I can't wait to see them again in a couple of weeks!  Handsome Leo below:  

House warming party/birthday party/meet Leo party at the Wrights:

Beautiful London:

Leo and London together:

Mainland Trip - Goodbye to Idaho and Betsy's trials

Special thanks to Aunt Coco for enforcing the family photo shoot!  Below are all of the cousins together and then the whole gang.  Also, for coordinating the whole trip, mapping out our schedules, and planning the game night.  It was so fun!  Another special thanks to Anna for prepping meals in advance.  It made evenings so much easier having it all ready to cook and eat!  Thank you Rob for the yummy pre-made desserts as well.  Thank you to J. Lynn and Bill for planning the kid activities and being there to help with the kids when needed.  Thank you to the Kringels for all of your help as well and bringing sweet Ever into our lives. :)  We feel bad that our family did not contribute much.  Everyone was so wonderful and helped make this trip really fun for us.  Thank you!    

So this sweet girl above kind of had a rough time on this trip.  She was in the middle of learning how to walk so she was frustrated that she couldn't just take off and run with the other kids.  And her molars decided to make an appearance the night before we drove up to Idaho.  She was in so much pain.  Really fussy and sad.  And did I mention that she didn't sleep much?  Poor little girl.  The pictures I posted on this trip did not show what she was really going through.  Below is a little behind the scenes of how Betsy girl was really feeling.  (I love Christian's face in some of these pictures).  

Awww, they're both sleeping.  Farewell to Idaho!

Mainland Trip - Yellowstone, round 2

The night before we headed back to Yellowstone, the family surprised me with two ice cream cakes for my birthday!  They were both so delicious.  Tristan has this crazy obsession with chocolate and was thrilled about the cakes as well.  The big 31!  

We got up early the next morning and headed back to Yellowstone to explore the northern loop.  

Mount Doom:

Sheepeater Cliff:

Mammoth Springs - This place was pretty cool and also a little creepy:

Artist Point lookout @ the Canyon:

The last stop was at the Geyser Basin.  We almost lost Tristan here, but luckily he stayed calm and on the path until we came back for him.  The group of Asian tourists watching over him were also very relieved.  

In the end it was another great day in Yellowstone!