Beaches

One of the things about my childhood that I remember most is how much time I spent at the beach. My grandpa went to a senior center right on the beach and so every day that he went during the summer my sister and I went with him, which was usually at least 3. We spent lots of weekends out there too. It was almost like my away from home backyard. We even took field trips to the beach in school. As I grew up I remember keepingthat love of the beach. It was a place I could go when I felt out of sorts or when things weren't going so great. It was a place that I felt a little closer to God and to my mom. Cheesy I know, but the beach brings that out in me. I was so excited to share this love with Lilly and to help start to build some of the same wonderful memories that my grandpa helped me to build. I wanted to show her the ocean and the sand and all of the neat shells and crabs. Lilly seemed to really enjoy it. We found a ton of shells, lots, of crabs, dug holes, built sand castles and dipped our toes into the ocean. Kyle wasn't quite old enough to enjoy all that the beach has to offer, but I'm pretty sure he had a good time. I cannot wait to take her and Kyle back.
She decided that the sand was a great place to practice her forward rolls

She loved throwing the rocks into the water.

Homebound

Towards the beginning of October, Ziff grandma passed away. It was bittersweet. She had not been herself for years and had many up and downs with her health. Now she can rest peacefully and not suffer. With her passing we were fortunate enough to go up to Washington to be there for her funeral. It was Ziff's, Lilly's and my first time back since our move to Colorado and Kyle's first time ever! I was excited to take them to all of the places Ziff and I loved growing up there. I had a lot on my list of things to do, including visiting family. We were staying with Ziff's parents, which was great. Lilly had so much fun there and played for hours in their playroom. Each morning she would wake up and ask "where's Grandma and Grandpa?" We filled our day with lots of activities seeing as much and as many people as we could. It was a great trip and we with that we could have spent more time there. The kids had a great time. Lilly loves her cousins and her aunts, uncles, and grandma and grandpa and now can put names to pictures. We can't wait to go back and see more and spend more time with family.Reed Side of family (this is just brothers, sisters, spouses, and grandkids)

Ziff, his parents, and siblings. (And what's special is that Obadiah is buried right behind where they are standing, so all of the kids are really all there)

Straight

Lilly has watched me straighten my hair day after day, and it finally dawned on her that she doesn't have straight hair. She doesn't get her beautiful curls from me, mine is just wavy, she gets them from her Grandma Reed, but in recent weeks she has decided that she needs straight hair like mommy. I don't do it very often as it takes a long time and is hard because it's so hot, but one day I decided I would oblige her and straighten it. It took forever and even after 15 min or so her curls were just to powerful. I wasn't able to get it perfectly straight, but the result was astonishing. She looked like a whole other little girl. Ziff and I decided that we prefer her sweet curls and by afternoon they had come back on their own. Every now and again she'll ask for straight hair, but most of the time I just reassure her she has beautiful curls and doesn't need straight hair. She likes it when you tell her she's pretty! :-)

Silverware

Lilly loves helping. She always has. As she gets older she finds new ways to help around the house. Now that she is 2 she has decided that she should be in charge of putting the silverware away. She goes and gets her chair and then does her best to sort the silverware matching up the different kinds. It can take a while sometimes and she does get impatient and dumps it all in, but she gives a good effort. I love that she doesn't mind doing a little work here and there and hopefully these types of things will help instill in her hard working values that she needs to survive as she gets older.

Art Class

With the weather turning cooler we decided to look for some different activities for Lilly to keep her busy. There was a 1 day art class she went to with fall as it's theme. She seemed to enjoy it somewhat, but I should have known that art was not going to be her favorite. Painting with her hands is something she did not enjoy. She does not like to be dirty and when she noticed the paint on her hands she needed to wash them immediately. She gave a good effort and made some really cute things, but I think that messy art classes are something we'll stay away from in the future.