The Duck Race & Tautphaus Park

 One Saturday afternoon we headed down to the river again for the Duck Race. We really just made it in time to walk through what vendors they had, eat a corn dog, let Sophie jump on some inflatables, and watch the ducks drop. Sophie did get to "build" a box at the Home Depot station, but mostly Daniel and I did it for the free apron. Sophie liked watching them dump the 15,000 or so rubber ducks into the river. After that we headed home.

 Between family visiting and Daniel's work party, we've been to the zoo a lot lately. Daniel's summer work party was held at Tautphaus Park and we were able to go to the zoo and ride some rides at Funland for free. Sophie loves the zoo and talks about going there almost daily, so it's always fun with her. She particularly likes the monkeys and always asks to go see the zebras. Most times if the animal is sleeping or not moving she yells, "Wake up!" And sometimes she asks if she can hold the animals which would probably never be okay.

 After the zoo we walked over to Funland. It's an ancient mini amusement park with five or six rides. It hasn't changed since I was a kid. The first ride we put Sophie on was the airplane/swings. She loved it for about a minute and then had a look of concern and terror and eventually cried until it stopped. Once she got off she declared, "Yay! I did it!" like she had a wonderful time. Then we let her ride the little kid train which is the slowest moving ride on the planet. She ended up riding that about five times. Then Daniel took her on the merry-go-round on which she also cried. So Sophie doesn't always have that adventurous spirit when it comes to rides.

Roaring Youth Jam

August actually has a bunch of fun things going on around town here. The Snake River Roaring Youth Jam was the first week of August and I had never actually been. I knew it was catered to kids and being the enthusiastic mother of one that I can be, I really wanted to take Sophie. My mom happened to be in town for some dental work with her old dentist so we had a super fund day with grandma.

It was pirate themed this year so Sophie made a pirate hook, pirate hat, treasure chest, boat that actually floated, an octopus, and painted a picture. There are also lots of little music stations and vendors. It was a good way to spend the afternoon.

Sophie's favorite part was probably running up and down the river with her octopus blowing behind her. She still likes putting him in front of the fan and watching him wave. I'm hoping to keep us busy in the fall/winter with some fun crafts and things. Sophie has loved painting and playing with glitter lately.

Swimming Lessons & Ammon Days

One of the perks of living at grandpa's house is that he lives right by the local pool. So Sophie and all her cousins signed up for swim lessons at the end of July. Sophie's mommy-and-me class wasn't offered the same time as everyone else so we had to go at a different time. Unfortunately that pool is the temperature of a glass of ice water and 7 out of the 10 days we actually had class (cancelled twice) the temperature didn't even hit 80* which meant all the babies just cried the whole time and it was a lot less fun. Sophie didn't really learn a whole bunch, but she likes the water so she did pretty well. She still won't blow bubbles in the water which was my only hope for the class. We had fun playing in the pool for free so that works.

The first weekend in August is Ammon Days. They always have free breakfast, a bunch of booths, kids activities, and more free food. We walked over for breakfast and met up with the cousins. The girls all got their faces painted. Sophie learned "tiger arms" in swim lessons so she chose a tiger for face paint and Kira chose to match. Sophie sat pretty well for the lady and looked really cute all day. She impressed me when she scaled a huge inflatable on her own and slid down the slide multiple times. We came across a booth for dance classes and they actually offer a mommy-and-me class which Sophie and I start next week. It was a very fun and successful day.

Daniel's New Job

 Somehow I've failed to talk about Daniel's new job that brought us all the way back to the windy side of the state. He is working for a company called Kyani. It's a multi-level marketing wellness company that sells supplements. He is an international accountant for them which means he will have a little bit of travel in his future. It sounds like he will be going to Mexico City next month. So far he has really enjoyed his new job and I think that this position will give him some valuable experience and room to grow which hopefully means we don't move for a long time.

He works right on the Snake River greenbelt so he takes long walks on his lunch break and Sophie and I have met him down there for lunch of couple of times. Once we brought a picnic which was fun and Daniel loved showing Sophie all the little minnows in the shallows of the river.