Last Week...

Photo of the Week: Hiking at Red Rock Canyon

...we worked the Monday before the Fourth, and Perry had bad diarrhea all weekend, so I brought her to work with me that day. She was her happy little self and played with baby Ava, while Allison and I worked. They were so cute giving each other smiles and talking in baby gibberish.

...at one point, Perry had some blood in her diaper, so we beelined it to the doctor's office. Dr. Vu just happened to have one opening that morning and got us right in. He basically said that Perry was fine, but we needed to take a sample to the lab to test it. She had lost a pound and a half over the past few days, which put her back to her nine month old weight. Wouldn't you know that after her appointment, Perry's diarrhea pretty much vanished, and she was back to normal. We never ended up taking a sample, and I found out later that it was going around at school. So glad the rest of us never got it!

...we headed back to the office, where the babies played some more.

...Charley brought home some Fourth of July crafts and a picture she drew of Toodles and his cat friends being chased by a spider.

...the girls were happy to be back together when we got home, and Perry snacked on graham crackers while watching The Boss Baby.

...the next morning, Gracie lost another tooth. This is number eight (not counting the molar that the dentist pulled).

...we spent the Fourth of July having fun with friends, swimming, and watching the perfect firework show in our front yard.

...we made spaghetti for dinner on Wednesday, and Perry loved it.

...she hates to be messy, even though she loves creating the mess. She wasn't happy when I opted for pictures after she ate instead of washing her up right away.

...her new thing in the bath is to lay on her belly and blow bubbles in the water. Check out those tan lines! After bath time, she passed out and slept in her DockATot, while I folded laundry. She's been sleeping in her J&J lately, because it's so comfy. Plus, I don't have to buy her any jammies, when her clothes are comfortable enough to double as PJs!

...baby girl woke up after a while, and wanted to play. Luckily, she goes to bed super early, so it still wasn't my bed time yet. She kept hiding her binky and finding it, while exclaiming, "there it is!". It pretty much made for the cutest video you've ever seen.

...the girls got their new backpacks, which also meant they needed matching lunchboxes and pencil bags. We went to a couple of different stores, and they wouldn't settle. Finally, they saw these at Justice, and it was a done deal. How cute are they? I feel like we only have a year or two left of Grace wanting cute stuff like this, before she moves on to bigger, more adult styles. I'm not ready for that, because I want her to stay a little girl forever.

...Perry went to bed at her early bed time again, but this time she actually stayed asleep.

...I got in my car after work, and the temperature gauge said 128! It was so hot this week.

...we FaceTimed our Unertl friends, and the girls had fun talking to Jakson about his favorite shows. He showed us his garden and his new sandbox. We miss them so much!

...Saturday morning, Perry snacked on Teddy Grahams, while Daddy made breakfast.

...the girls all sat together at the table and looked so sweet.

...Perry got down on her first piece of bacon before playing by the back door with Toodles.

...the girls grabbed their suits and headed out back to play in their pool. We've had tons of wasps around lately, so Daddy chased them all down and killed them, while the girls played.

...Perry hung out in her swing, and Grace and Char jumped on the trampoline, while soaking it with the hose.

...all of that playing really tuckered Perry out, and she napped in her swing.

...since I had a small window of free time, I finally got the girls' frames hung up for their school pictures. Both mine and Isaac's parents had all of our school pictures on the wall, and each year they would add the new ones to the front and leave the old ones behind it. It was a fun way to see how we changed each year, and I can't wait to do the same with my girls.

...that afternoon, we headed to Costco, and Perry chowed down on some pizza, while Daddy unloaded the cart.

...back at home, she chased Toodles around the house. He's such a good cat and never bites the girls. He lets them hold him, squish him, and pull on his tail and still wants to lay near them at all times.

...the girls took over my bed with their giggles.

...it was supposed to cool down a little on Sunday, so we got up early, and headed to Red Rock Canyon for some hiking before it got too hot. It was so beautiful, and we had so much fun exploring with the girls at Calico I.

...we wanted to take some pictures on this big rock, and Charley and Perry were fine. Grace was terrified to sit up there by herself, though. We finally talked her into it, and she made sure to squeeze Perry tight.

...Daddy took Grace and Char here last year, and they remembered trying to hold up this huge rock and wanted to do it again. Then we made them walk out on this ledge to look around, because the view was amazing.

...Grace got a little braver, and she and Char climbed through this tiny opening in the rocks to see what was on the other side.

...they walked with Perry and held her hands as we wondered through the bottom of the canyon.

...it started getting pretty hot around nine o'clock, and we had to stop for a water break in the shade.

...the girls' little faces were so red, but they saw some other kids climb this mountain and wanted to go to the top.

...Perry wanted to get down and explore on her own, too. We let her climb around a little with Daddy right behind her.

...on our way back to the car, we spotted a big lizard. He was super fast, so we had no luck trying to pet him, per Charley's request.

...we drove past Calico II and around the Scenic Drive to the High Point Overlook, where the girls snacked on crackers and bananas, while enjoying the view.

...after a short break, we headed to Lost Creek and the Children's Discovery Trail. The girls were hot, but they were such troopers and had a blast exploring.

...after our final hike of the day, we had to stop at the Visitor's Center to get the girls stuffed animals. That was our bribe to get them to keep going when they were over it.

...we had so much fun and can't wait to go back when it cools off a little. After so much hiking, we were all starving and met Grandma Sunshine and Papa Craig at Dave and Busters for some lunch and games. We played on SnapChat while we waited for our food, and the girls played a million games after we ate. Grace kept hitting jackpots on all the games and had thousands of tickets. She decided to use them to buy more stuffed animals, because she's obsessed with them (somebody help!).