Then July Flew By...

I'm not sure where July went, but apparently it's gone!

We must have been busy for it to fly by so fast! I had to look back through our photos to make sure I could remember some of the things we've been up to.

We celebrated the 4th on the 3rd in Roanoke, at Aunt Shannon's house. We were lucky to have our cousin and her family visiting from out of town and I had a great time taking their pictures at the party. As usual, the Davidson's went all out with a bounce house/water-slide combo, grilling out, sparklers, and tons of yummy summer treats. Lyla anticipated the fireworks all day long and was quite impatient for them to start. When they did, she grabbed hold of her daddy's face, surprised at the depth and delay of the noise (but not at all afraid - ha)!

After nearly two weeks of rainy weather, the fireworks were an uncertainty, but the skies cleared for the night so we could enjoy them. It isn't to say, though, that we weren't enjoying the rainy weather!

Since the heat started to climb, we've spent as much time in cool water as possible. We got to go to Bedford Splash with Mary Jo and her kiddos. It was the perfect little waterpark for toddlers and young'ns. Lyla loved it! We also visited Pleasant Glade with some old daycare buddies, who Lyla misses dearly (and mentions daily), spent many hours in Pap's pool, and consumed at least one box of 100 count ice pops.

Other than that, we've tried to get as much activity in as possible while beating the Texas heat. Lyla did a gymnastics trial and really enjoyed it. She's been a bit of an artist lately, as well, favoring watercolors over crayons, and stamping her hands/feet over using paintbrushes. We've watched plenty of movies (if she had her way she'd watch them all day, every day). Favorites include Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, Wall-E, Toy Story 2, Bolt, Monsters, Inc, Finding Nemo, and most recently, Shrek. One day did almost everything from the covert, air-conditioned surroundings of a living room fort.

Being such a good tube-magnet, Luke and I took her to her first movie not long ago. She impressed us with her amazing sit-stare-snack-slurp ability. All in all, she did surprisingly well for a two-year-old. She loves to retell the story of going to the movies with "Mommy and Daddy and Lyla and eat popcorn and candy and juice and watch Woody and Buzz and Jessie and Bullseye and the bear and the toys in the box..."

We've been saving most of our outdoor play until after dinner, when things finally start to cool off, and we've had to get a little inventive as far as what to actually do outside. While placing a small slide into a kiddie pool might seem like the most fun ever for a typical two-year-old, Lyla is more interested in running up and down the sidewalk as scantly clad as possible. I'm sure our neighbors are very impressed with her (lack of) modesty.

As you can see, she likes to get messy. But... she cleans up pretty nice!

And as usual, there are more pictures posted at Picasa.