I hate to brag

I am not normally the bragging type, well I guess maybe I am, actually, now that I think of it, I so totally am, but look at my child's lips! And look at her eyes! She is so pretty, of course I thought she was stunning when she was first born and then later when I looked back at the pictures I didn't think she was as stunning as I remembered ... odd huh? Of course all moms think their children are the most prettiest thing they have ever seen. Summer will always be beautiful to me and I cannot stop telling her how beautiful she is and looking deep into her rich greenish/grayish eyes, I am just in love with those eyes and those lips, and the nose too, she has a really cute button nose. I am addicted to trying to take as many pictures of her as I can.


It helps that I am such a great photographer, right? I am going to keep telling myself that anyway, keeps me happy.

The new hat

Something as simple as a $2 hat from a swap meet can transform a cute little girl into the cutest little girl in the whole wide world.


Even when the hat doesn't match and even when it looks a little bit out of place at the park, a hat is a magical thing. Of course having eyelashes like that stick out from under the hat can help. And looking like you don't care that I am taking your picture while you prepare to feed the ducks makes the picture even more precious.

How did I get so lucky again? I did something right somewhere.

A real orchard

The weekend started out with a new adventure! A new mommy and her son met Summer and I at a local orchard close to our house. I had never been to a real orchard and neither had Summer (of course) and we learned a few things:
1) It is still really hot in Las Vegas. We were at the orchard by 9:00 and decided to walk instead of pay $3.00 to drive. Driving would have been better because it was really very hot and dry.
2) You need cash to buy food from an orchard, they do not take credit cards yet, they said they were going to try to set it up next year.
3) It is helpful to know about fruits and vegetables, I saw several things that looked edible but I did not know what they were and if they were ripe, or would ripen if picked.
4) Orchards are really large, which makes #1 that much worse.
5) I don't have any fresh fruit or vegetables to eat this week. I thought I would get them at the orchard so I didn't buy any at the grocery store and since I didn't have cash nor did I know what to pick and buy, we are eating frozen this week.
It was still an experience and I did take a few pictures, nothing to be excited about, by the time I wanted to snap a few shots I was so hot and sweaty and the sun was in the worse position, I didn't really bother.
I wish we lived close to a farmer's market, of course they pick the items for you, but I realize that it is much easier to pick items from a basket then off of the plant or tree it grew from.

We live for parks

Since the weather has finally dropped below 100, parks are now the place to go. One of the nicest things about going to a local city park is the admission prices, FREE, and since Summer enjoys herself I don't see any reason not to go every single day. Ok well maybe not every day, but close.

There are a lot of new changes happening in my life right now, the major one being my employment status. As of October 1st I will no longer have a full time job that requires my attention, instead I will be staying home full time with my little Summer and we are going to have so much fun. Daddy is thrilled to have me hanging around all day, together we can share chores and be bored. Oh ya I said we are going to be bored, which is why we will probably spend a lot of time at the park. I have a few part time things lined up, dance instructor for a mommy and me class, newborn photographer and that writing job I mentioned, but that still leaves a lot of time to play.

To meet more moms and keep myself busy I have also started a play group on cafemom.com. If you are a member and want to join a Las Vegas mommy connect group just let me know. Not a member, sign up for free and give me a shout.

I am going to start working out again, October 1st I will be up early doing push ups and jumping all around the house. I feel so much better when I am working out and will get back to it.

But back to parks because it is the title of this blog after all ...

Summer went to the park with daddy and papa on Tuesday (yes they went without me, I was at work) and they had a lot of fun. They went early in the morning and the birds were out in full force.



I love that the ducks and geese and pigeons are so friendly at this park, it makes feeding those critters so much more fun. Summer thinks the birds wait for her, she thinks they know her, well maybe they do, who really knows.

Then Summer and I went to another park last night. I don't have the pictures yet but they sucked anyway because it was too dark. We did meet up with a new mommy and her children, thanks for hanging out with us Rachel, Carissa and Bradley! Casey and Ana also joined us and we had fun watching the kids play. Afterward we stopped and got ice cream.

I have a feeling we will be at a park during some point this weekend too. Wanna bet?

Chalking it up

Earlier today I wrote an article for the examiner about the importance of imagination in children. Summer is a blessed child and has a lot of toys, and I am a bad mom because I can't bring myself to get rid of any of them, even the 0-6 month toys, but I regress,( back to my original topic ), so like I was trying to say, finding ways to explore imagination in children should be fun and I think it is. One thing we do quite often to help inspire imagination is play with chalk. Since the weather is beautiful, now is the perfect time to sit outside and draw all over the place, walkways, driveways, bricks, anywhere little hands can reach.


We spent time on the walkway making rabbits, the letters A B and C, and other random scribbles. I love when Summer draws something and tells me what it is, it never looks like anything but she loves to pretend and I love pretending to see what she sees. My only real complaint about chalk is the mess, whenever we play with chalk it makes a huge mess, Summer will end up covered in all different colors and on most days we have to go straight to the bath. I thought the sand box was messy ... but chalk wins hands down!


I really don't mind, messes are cute and Summer is cute so messes and Summer are extra cute. Plus look how happy she is, she has no idea there is a chalky mess all over her face, and how did she possibly get it all over her face anyway? I have no idea, I tend to think the chalk dusk magically flies and sticks where it wants.

She loves chalk, I love chalk, so I am not going to tell her about the mess. I have a child who doesn't mind to get dirt, or chalk, all over her hands and I am going to keep it that way. Don't anyone show her the pictures!

I am a real writer

I have some good news, I am a real writer, I mean of course I have been writing this blog for the past two and a half years but I also work for the Examiner.com now and I had my first article published yesterday, you can check it out here Not only did I write the article, that is my photo! I am really excited so today you can help me celebrate. I don't know what I will do to celebrate, any ideas? Sushi lunch sure sounds good. Summer got something new today that she is enjoying, chocolate milk! She has had it before but didn't seem to like it but today Papa and Daddy took her to the park and stopped at McDonalds and got her a chocolate milk. Kris called and Summer had to tell me all about the milk and how yummy it was. It really is about the little things in life.

This week was also the first time I curled Summer's hair. I wanted to do a few cute photos of her in her red tutu and she picked the black tights to go with it but her hair was a disaster. I asked her if I could curl it with the curling iron and she said yes. I was shaking the whole time because I was so afraid of burning her little head but she sat there so still looking at herself in the mirror and she let me know when she was "all done". The pictures were amazing, you just cannot beat natural light and a black background. I really need to get a smaller curling iron because the three I have are large so the curls weren't tight but she is still so darling, check out her pictures.





She even sat still for quite a while while I took as many photos as I could, the little people in the lens trick is still working, I just ask if she can see the little people inside the camera and she looks right into the lens. You do whatever you have to do to get a good picture!

Lower Lost Creek Falls Trail

Random: I still don't like the name of this blog, I changed it a few days ago but ... A day in the life of Summer sounds so boring. I need to get creative and find a new name - send me suggestions!!! You can comment below or email me if you prefer.

Hiking: We went hiking this past weekend and I think it was one of our best hikes yet. It was a child friendly hike but to say it was an easy hike would be a lie, there were so many rocks to climb, yet Summer loves to rock climb and enjoyed the hike, I think she actually walked/climbed 90% of the trail herself. This was the Lower Lost Creek Falls Trail, considered easy and short (0.31 miles one way).

We actually saw a snake on this hike, our first snake since we started hiking 3 months ago. It was a little snake but still, a real snake in the wild. Kris was nice enough to move the rock it was hiding under and hold it up so I could get a picture of it. Somehow I managed to get a clear picture of it, the darn little thing would not stop moving. At one point Kris put the snake near Summer and she looked at her dad like "what the heck are you doing" and slowly backed up. I love when she acts scared of things, you should see how she reacts to the large Halloween decorations.


We also saw a ton of butterflies but none that would stay still enough for a picture of course, a few lizards, several ants, the usual critters we normally see on our hikes. This trail had a lot of really neat areas and we took a lot of cute photos. I guess when the weather is cooler a waterfall flows at the end of the trail but it was dry this time of year. About half way through the trail was a nice man made bridge and off to the side was a natural spring. Because of it, it created a neat oasis will all kinds of shrubs and plants we haven't normally encountered out on our dry hikes. We also don't usually see so many butterflies so they must have been attracted by the spring I guess.

Summer was really into the rock climbing, she did an amazing job getting over those large rocks and had so much fun maneuvering herself without falling or sliding. She kept saying "be careful" and "these are slippery".



Since it is still very sunny and warm in Las Vegas I asked Summer to wear a hat and she managed to keep that hat on for the entire hike. I always slather both of us with sunscreen but have a hard time getting good protection on her face so wearing a hat helps.

Some of the areas on this hike had really neat tunnels made of rocks and these areas were shady and cool, yet the suns rays managed to sneak down into the areas and make them lite up with warm red/yellow colors. It made the light look amazing and the photos reflected the awesome colors we saw.



It was amazing as all of our hikes end up being, we always enjoy getting out of the city and seeing the wildlife and trees, smelling the fresh air, seeing new things and of course taking pictures. Today is the first day of fall, and while technically it still feels like summer, I know the warm temperatures are eventually going to drop and we will have to find new ways to keep ourselves entertained. Of course we could always by heavy jackets and continue hiking, who knows, we may just do that.