First Day of School!

Today was a big day for Miss Riley...she started preschool at Happy Valley! 

She helped to pick out the perfect first day of school outfit. 

Modeling the new backpack she picked out in her favorite color, purple

Last weekend we went to an open house to meet her teachers and see her classroom and Riley got to ride one of the minature ponies that lives at her school.  They have a barn with lots of animals and she will get to learn all about them and help take care of them too.  Her faves so far are the pig they call Charlotte and also the goats Billy and Otis.

Riley had a great first day! She was immediately comfortable in her new classroom and went right in to sit with the other kids, needless to say, she had not one problem with me leaving.   As a special treat, Gigi took Riley and I for ice cream after school.  Riley got her fave, chocolate on a cone.  When I asked her what her favorite part of her day was, she told me that she loved getting to pet and hold the bunny.  She also liked getting to sing about the 5 little monkey's sitting in a tree.  We are pretty excited about what this year will bring for her!

Cousins

Riley's cousin Reece came up from Oklahoma this past weekend and Riley was soooo excited to have her here.  She talked for days about Reece coming and could not wait to swim with her, take her to the dragon park and just play. I think Cyd and Reece was also pretty excited to do just about anything outside minus the raging heat and humidty they have had all summer in Oklahoma. 

Getting ready to share some blueberry pancakes at Snooze

 

Playing at one Riley's favorite places, the Dragon Park

The big sister in Riley is starting to emerge and Reece was a great sport when Riley decided to test out some of her skills. She loved helping Reece buckle and unbuckle from her carseat and get dressed. Then she would proceed to make sure that we changed her clothes too so that she could more closely match what Reece was wearing. They at least had to be wearing the same color :)

Riley and her Gigi have a book of poems that they read together and one of Riley's faves is called 'The Yak'.  Here a little video of her reciting the poem to Reece.

Riley the Diver

Riley's Gigi taught her a new trick....diving! 

Family Time!

Last week we loaded up our car and hit the road for Riley's first road trip to Oklahoma.  What could possibly lure us into triple digit temperatures and 100% humidity?  A Francis family reunion at Grand Lake of course!  Never having gone more than about about 4 hours in the car, we weren't sure how Miss R would deal with the 14 hour drive there, but she was a perfect little passenger. 

Once we got there, we had 4 days of fun with our family, relaxing at the lake.

We know that Riley is a little fish, but since she's never been swimming in a lake before

we weren't sure what she would think.  She LOVED it! She jumped right off the back of the boat and could have floated in the warm water all day.

Riley liked getting riding on the speed boats too, especially with her cousin Reece.

But by the time we would be heading back to the house she was almost always asleep or on the verge of falling asleep.  So evidently boats possess the same sleep inducing quality as cars.

Riley and Maddie on the paddle boat

Most of the water activities were off limits for me while I'm pregnant, but Riley happily took my place. 

She was a huge fan of the tube and she told me that she really liked getting to go fast over the bumps.

She also tried out the jetski with my cousin Cyd.  She was not one bit afraid of anything out there, definitely a water baby.

The whole group...minus a few cousins that couldn't make it, but were missed. 

We feel so lucky to have such a great extended family and although it doesn't get happen that often we have so much fun we can all come together.

Happy 4th of July!

We spent the our 4th playing in the pool and barbecuing with friends.

Riley's favorite things of the day were swimming with her friends....

Eating homemade ice cream....

(despite the fact that no one would look at the camera or smile, they were having fun)

And getting to watch the fireworks.  It was a great day of celebrating!

Family Mountain Vacay

Last weekend we did a little Colorado vacationing and headed to the mountains for a long weekend.  My Aunt Judi and Uncle John were visiting from Oklahoma and we were so happy to have them and Gigi and Popdaddy with us too.  We rented a big house near Glenwood Springs so that we could all stay together, Riley loved having everyone under one roof and of course she enjoyed all of the undivided attention.  We had a great time hiking, shopping in Aspen and hanging out in Glenwood.

Sitting by the koi pond with her mermaid friend

Hiking in the Maroon Bells

Reading with Uncle John.  They had lots of treats for Miss R, including some new books.

 Roasting marshmallows in the outdoor fireplace.  Not quite the same as over a campfire...

but still pretty good

 My little girly girl playing make-up with Aunt Judi. 

Happy Father's Day!

On our way back down to Denver we stopped for lunch in Vail and walked around the village.  Riley spotted a water fountain that kids were playing around and she was determined to go in with them.  The second that she set foot in that freezing cold water we realized that it was a lot deeper than it looked.  She was instantly soaked up to her waist.  She could have cared less about how cold the water was, she just went for it.  She had a great time wading and splashing, until it was time to get out.  Lucky for us we had a

suitcase of warm dry clothes in the car.  This was her grumpy getting out of the freezing water face....

We had a couple more days with Judi and John after we came back home and Riley also got to spend some time with a couple of her other favorite people, Aunt Phoebe and Maddie too.  Over the course of their stay, Aunt Judi and Uncle John unveiled some pretty cool gifts for Miss Riley including 4 fabulous capes that Judi handmade especially for the little princess.  She was so thrilled! 

Modeling her shiny pink cape

Another beautiful cape...this one being modeled as a dress with the new crown that Aunt Phoebe and Maddie gave her

Eating ice cream with Maddie 

 The spoiling continued until the last night of their visit when they brought her a new Ladybug Girl book and surprised her with her very own pink trunk complete with a Ladybug Girl outfit.  She is one lucky little girl!

Swimming!

Riley has been spending lots and lots of time enjoying one of her favorite summer activities...swimming!  Our little fish can spend hours just playin' in the water till she's pruney.  She's pretty good at jumping, diving under the water and swimming with her vest on and she has also discovered something new...swimming with no vest!  She decided to give it a try the other day and was she was so excited that she could do it all by herself.  We are so proud of her!

Takin a quick rest

Riley's 1st ice cream sandwich from the Ice Cream Man and she got to eat it in the pool, what could be better?

Riley's Big News!

We are very, very excited to announce that we will soon have a new addition to our family!  We are expecting a new baby this fall and Riley cannot wait to be a big sister!!!!

Random Rileyness

The whole month of May came and went so fast and I only just realized that it has been far too long without a new post.  We haven't been up to much lately, mostly just getting outside and enjoying the start of summer.  Riley has been doing lots work helping us with our community garden plot and she has also been having fun playing at the park, hanging with friends at the zoo and pretty much just enjoying the sushine when we get it.  So, here are just a few random Riley pics from the past few weeks....