Little swimmer

Scout just finished her first session of swimming lessons. The last night she learned to sit on the edge of the pool and rock herself until she was "diving" in....over and over and over. She loved the night that we did PFD orieentation, as you will see in the photos. She floated, was lifted out by the handle and fell in (for training purposes) off the edge. She took it all in stride, like everything else!

What a life!

What a lucky girl to be growing up surrounded by all these animals and nature. Scout is so excited whenever she sees animals. She yells out a great big "HIIIII" whenever she sees the horses waiting by the gate or when one of the dogs comes into the room. When ever the horses come out of the paddock she shrieks with delight and holds her hands up waiting for them to come over to the stroller. They will put their nose down for her to touch it. She loves to watch the chickens racing around the yard. When she is sitting on the ground they always come close to her. She is so happy outdoors. We can always tell if she hasn't had any outdoor time...just a little fussy...a trip outside cures it. Last night she helped Daddy cut up some fire wood. She also went for a nice bike ride with Mommy...it was her first one, she finally fits into her helmet. She also did some gardening.

The other big news is that she got her first tooth a few days ago. She loves brushing it.

She is almost crawling!

Scout is on the verge of crawling. She can roll all around now and just cracks herself up that she can do it. She bends over backwards and hangs her head upside down over pillows. She can get her stomach way off the ground and can get her knees up under herself...just not at the same time yet. She is fun to watch play with her toys. She can sit up really well alone and enjoys figuring out how her toys work. Her favorite toy is the jumpy in the doorway. She pounds away hard with her legs, reaching out to pet the dogs any time they walk by. She is starting to feed herself now. She can eat Cherios by herself and cold pieces of pancake. She has also learned to pick up her water bottle with a straw and get it to her mouth alone. One time, while lying in her stroller she picked it up with her feet, passed it to her hands and then had a drink! She is always moving and we are expecting to be really worn out once she gets mobile! her first session of swimming lessons is ending tomorrow, she loves to swim. She always kicks her feet and last week was also splashing her hands at the same time. She will start the next session in a couple weeks.

Cowgirl

Scout rode Tonto last night....we took her off earlier then she expected and started to cry! She loves her pony!

Zach graduates from OCS

After a long hard summer zach has graduated from Marine Officer Candidate School!! We are so proud of him. He worked hard, endured a lot, overcame injury, sickness, fatigue, hunger, the heat. With mental and physical toughness he made it to the end. There was a drop out rate of 26% in his platoon. Zach never considered quiting. He is back at college now to finish his senior year and lead the fire department as the Captain.

Scout did awesome on her first road trip. We drove down to Virginia and back, mostly driving at night so she could sleep. We spent one day in Washington DC at Arlington cemetery. We met the cap horse, Sgt. York. He was in President Reagans funeral as the riderless horse. Scout got to pet him in his stable. We also visited the Marine Corps museum.

Animal lover

Scout has turned into such an animal lover! She has loved the dogs for about a month or more now. She reaches out to pet them anytime they come near her. She loves to watch them play and always smiles when they are heading in her direction. She has love riding her pony, Tonto, since she was 3 weeks old. She babbles away now when she is riding, hands either relaxed at her side or playing with Tontos maine. Yesterday she was in her stroller as I took the horses out, one at a time, to have their turn mowing the lawn. She got so excited as each horse came out and I brought it over to say good morning to her. Satinka knows how to give a kiss. I told Tink to give Scout a kiss and Scout immediately opened her mouth (her way of kissing) and put her arms out. She is soooo cute.
She also enjoys any other animal she can find. She enjoys watching the chickens. She goes to the nature center every week to "critter capers". She reaches her little hand out when it is her turn to pet the animal. So far she has met a guinea pig, rabbit, tourtose, turtle and a snake. She loves to watch for birds when we go out hiking, when she hears them she begins to search for where they are. We are so happy we have a little nature girl!!

Party Girl!!

Last week we went to a friends 40th birthday party. Scout demonstrated some of the traits she has received from Daddy! She will eat just about anything!! She enjoyed salmon, egg yolk, fresh mozzarella and cranberry sauce. She also likes to be the life of the party. Even though she was very tired, around 9 pm she stood on the bar and danced to the music. She was so happy we thought her cheeks would explode from smiling. She jumped up and down kicking her feet....that's daddy's girl.