4th of July Weekend

We're in the middle of a super crazy summer with virtually every single weekend booked up until October. However, we hadn't seen my sister's family (including our 6-month-old niece, Sophia) for a few months, so I was desperate to plan a trip down to Oregon to visit them. Luckily, we realized that 4th of July weekend would work for everyone. I headed down on Friday afternoon after work and spent some nice, relaxing, quality time with Nichole, Aaron and Sophia before Stewart arrived when he got off shift on Sunday morning.

Babies change a lot in just a short time! I couldn't believe how much Sophia had grown, and she is just so much FUN now! She is alert and active, she smiles and laughs, plays with toys, and even throws little fits like the princess that she is (obviously my relative). I love visiting my sister because I feel so relaxed around her. We have so much fun just sitting around talking, making meals, and hanging out on the floor playing with Sophia. The weather was gorgeous so we spent one afternoon walking around a beautiful park and feeding the ducks, and another trekking into Portland for our annual visit to Voodoo Doughnut.

Before she was born, Stewart and I got Sophia an adorable handmade wooden hippo clock which we brought home from our trip to Italy, and this time we gave her a super soft plush hippo that we got on a trip to the Woodland Park Zoo. I've decided that hippos are going to be "our thing" and I've already got a pretty cool Christmas gift scoped out! Stewart and Aaron are both so great with Sophia... I'm probably going to get in trouble for saying/writing this, but it makes me really excited for the day when we have a baby of our own, because I can tell that Stew is going to be an amazing dad. In a few years, of course...!

We hope that everyone had a safe and happy 4th of July filled with friends, fireworks and fun!