July summer fun!

Maren:
What a great summer this has turned out to be so far!  July has been a busy month with lots of things to keep us going.
the 4th was a great celebration... we started the day with the parade in Central Point.  It started with an F-15 fly over again which was amazing but my all time favorite was seeing all of the pretty horses!  Miss Rogue Valley Rodeo rode right up to me on her horse and gave me a high five!  She told me how cute I was too!   Her horse had sparkles all over its bottom and I thought that was pretty cute!  I also loved all of the candy that people were throwing and got to bring a bunch home with me! In the afternoon we went over to Dr. Franks house for a pool party.  I stayed in the pool for about 3 hours and showed off all of my great swimming skills!  Unfortunately, baby brother started to get really tired so we had to leave before the fireworks.  I was really bummed about that and cried all the way home!
In the middle of the month my mommy and daddy went away for four whole days!  They went on a rafting trip down the Wild and Scenic Rogue River!  While they were gone we got to stay with Nonna and Nonno!  Baby brother and I kept them so busy that Nonna didn't ever have time to take any pictures, but we sure had a lot of fun!
Last week was Fair Time!  I have never been to a fair before and was so excited to watch it all be put together.  We drive by it every night on the way home and I bugged mommy until she said we could go!  Nonna and Nonno came with us for the adventure.  I was really excited to see the bunnies but they didn't have any there this year.  So, I settled for horses!  I got to talk to a few girls that were there riding and even got to pet some horses!  Then, mommy took me on the rides!  I got to go on the bumper cars for the first time, rode a dragon roller coaster, and the merry-go-round with mommy and Maddox.   I really loved the fun house and also went on the big swings that fly through the air.  I think I might have been a bit afraid at first and was really hesitant to let go, but after a few minutes I spread my arms out really wide, just like I was flying!
The last big thing that happened this month was a "Girl Day".  I have been needing some extra attention from my mommy so she took me on a special outing just her and I.  We started out early in the morning after daddy got home, went to swim lessons, did some shopping and had lunch.  We capped off our day with my first blizzard from D.Q!

Maddox:
Like sissy said, it has been a busy month!  We have had all sorts of fun and I have had all sorts of "firsts"!  Even though I was at the parade last year on the 4th, I didn't participate like I was able to this year.  We sat right down on the road and I watched the whole thing!  The big loud motorcycles were a bit scary for me but otherwise I had lots of fun.  I even figured out how to run around and chase the candy that people were throwing and mommy let me have a couple of tootsie-rolls!! Afterwards at the barbecue I had a lot of fun playing in the pool.  I was getting pretty courageous and would walk right of the edge into mommy's arms.  I kept her pretty busy and think I may have made her a bit nervous a few times when I walked off the edge when she wasn't watching. 
Another big "first" this month was our extended sleepover at Nonna's house.  It was actually the very first time that mommy left me with anyone and I did pretty well.  Nonna and Nonno got a kick out of my new fascination with books and really enjoyed listening to all of my animal impersonations.  I sure was glad to have my mommy and daddy home though.
My other big first this month was our trip to the fair.  It was a pretty crazy event so I stayed in the stroller for a big part of it but once mommy got me out... I was a wild man!  I really liked watching sissy go on the rides and mommy took me on the merry-go-round.  That was pretty fun but I was over it by about the second spin.  Then I wanted to crawl off my horse and go somewhere else!  I also got to have a corn dog for the very first time and all I can say is.... YUMMY!

New words/things I'm saying: sey-sah (for my books...??), outside, potty
Lots of animal noises - tiger, monkey, dog, kitty cat, peep-peep, snake