backyard oasis

We play in the water almost daily. Playing outside is otherwise unbearable in the Texas heat. Whitney loves water and particularly loves anything she's allowed to do at least partially naked.
Our new stipulation for playing in the sprinkler is that she has to set it up in one of the yellow crunchy patches of grass. That way Whitney's happy, the grass is growing again which means Rob is happy, and we have effectively found a loophole to the daytime waste-water restrictions. That's four birds with one stone--or sprinkler, as the case may be.
She stands in front of the sprinkler giggling to herself in anticipation of it spraying her on the way up and then runs squealing to the other side to catch the water on the way back down.
I love this camera.

I love how scrawny Stuey's gotten since he started walking. This picture cracks me up. His swimming suit is all boofy like a little dude-tutu. Now that he's a walking man, sitting in the swimming pool no longer has anything to offer him. He prefers to walk in and out of the play house or crawl out of the fireplace opening so that he can walk in and out again.
I just want to eat his face for dessert!


I love little naked summertime babies!

more family fun

We also got to spend some time with my sisters and mom while we were in town. Aunt Kristina painted all the girls' toenails for the Fourth of July (touched up the following week by Aunt Suz.)

We spent a morning at the Hogle Zoo with Lanissa and Lex and their girls. I actually worried that Whitty would be freaked out by the carousel, but in fact, we had to peel her off the rhino (and then the gorilla) kicking and screaming. Good times. (Kicking and screaming happy or kicking and screaming sad, but always kicking and screaming...)

And here's a picture of Stuart sipping his sippy cup at the zoo...
Whitney thought the animals were pretty cool, but she thought hanging out and holding hands with her cousin Caci was cooler.

Man, I wish we had taken more pictures. So much fun, so little battery life.

Porter Family Campout 2009

We spent three days up Big Cottonwood Canyon for the Porter Family Reunion this year. Stuey had a rough first night. He slept in my sleeping bag from about 2 a.m. till 5 a.m. at which point Rob took pity on me and took the last half hour shift before the kids decided to wake up for the day. Whitney decided that she needed a turn in daddy's sleeping bag too. Did I mention that they were up at 5:30 a.m.? Apparently they never received the memo about the switch to Mountain Standard Time.Whitney was pretty crazy about having cousins to play with from sun up till sun down, riding scooters and tricycles, playing in the "girls" tent and the sand box, getting her hair braided by the big girls, etc. It was a slice of heaven, and not a small one.
And here's a picture of Stuey with a double ended skewer in his hand--roasting marshmallows for breakfast in the morning sun, I guess. How should I know? Am I supposed to be watching him like 24-7 or something?