Peyton's Last Swim Meet

Peyton had her last swim meet yesterday and she was so excited because Grandma Cardon was in town to see her swim. She did the backstroke in the medley relay and her team got 3rd place. She also did the butterfly again and did her strokes right again for the second week in a row. She then did backstroke and freestyle and did really well. She had the most fun playing in the baby pool with Hailey during her breaks. She really enjoyed swim team this year and is so excited to do it again next summer. I am really proud of her for working so hard and improving so much over the summer. Now we have a month break and then soccer starts.

Peyton is doing the backstroke in this video. She is in the middle lane. She has been working really hard to make sure her arms reach back far and she is doing a great job.

First Day of Second Grade

Yes, you read the title correctly. Peyton started school today. She only had a month off so summer break flew by fast and I can't believe another school year has begun. She was a little nervous to meet her new teacher today but she was so excited to see all of her friends again. Her new teachers name is Mrs. Ehlert and she seems very nice. Peyton said she had a good day so I will take her word for it. I can't believe she is in second grade. She is growing up so fast.

Sick Day

While Peyton and I were at the swim meet yesterday Ryan stayed home to take care of Hailey. She woke up not feeling well and all she wanted to do was lay on daddy. While she was laying on him she liked to stroke the side of his face. I guess she liked how the stubble on his face felt. It was so cute. I couldn't resist taking pictures of it.

Swim Meet #4

Peyton had her 4th swim meet yesterday and she did so well. Her relay team for the medley relay took second place and she swam the freestyle leg of it. She then did butterfly and boy did she improve. She actually did the right arms and legs together and she improved her time from the last swim meet by 25 seconds (that is not a typo). She got 8th place which is great since there were about 21 swimmers. I guess doing the stroke right does make you go faster! She did the backstroke and also improved her time by 8 seconds. Her last race was the freestyle and she improved by 5 seconds. She has one more meet left and then she is done for this summer. It seemed to finally click with her this meet so hopefully she will do even better next week. I forgot to take my camera so there aren't any pictures this week.

Daddy's Home

Ryan finally returned home after being away for about 3 1/2 weeks in Utah. The girls were so glad to see him and I was just so happy to no longer be a single mom. He missed us so much that he actually agreed to go swimming with us the day after he got home. That is a pretty big deal for him to go swimming (Hailey practically begged him to go). Peyton even convinced him to play a game that Uncle Brian taught her called "Peyton Ball". She had a great time having daddy throw her in the air. Hailey didn't think it was a very fun game and only played one time. Here are some pictures from our short swimming trip. Welcome back Daddy!

Swim Team Picture Day

Peyton had swim team pictures today and here are some pictures that I took with my camera.

This is a picture of the kids ages 5-8 years old. Peyton is on the second row third kid from the left.

Here is most of the team. Peyton is the second kid on the first row.

Here is a cute picture of Peyton posing for a picture.

Hailey felt a little left out so she asked me to take a picture of her on the bleachers.

Then she decided to put Peyton's goggles on. She wants to do everything Peyton does and it is so cute (Peyton doesn't really appreciate it though).

Swim Meet #3

Peyton participated in her 3rd swim meet today and luckily it wasn't as hot as the last 2 we went to. She did the butterfly (boy was that interesting), breaststroke, and freestyle. Butterfly was her first event and the stroke she is least familiar with. She ended up doing breaststroke arms and a dolphin kick (needless to say she didn't get very far very fast). She did really well in the breaststroke though (probably since she had already practiced the arms earlier in the day). It was a long day (me and the girls had to be there at 7 AM and left at 1 Pm) but the girls really had fun eating food from the snack bar and playing in the showers.

Ferrell Family Fun at the FVC

Our family just got back from our bi-annual Ferrell Family vacation. Every 2 years Ryan's family goes on a big family vacation together. This year we went to The Family Vacation Center at UC Santa Barbara. Every single one of Ryan's family members was able to make it this year so we had quite a few people. We stayed for 1 week on campus and did so many things that it would be impossible to blog about all of them. The girls had a great time playing with their cousins and I had a great time hanging out with the adults. If you are interested in finding out what a great place this is to vacation at go to www.familyvacationcenter.com. Here are a few pictures that were taken during the vacation. There will be a few more to come when I have more time.

They had a family carnival the second day we were there and Peyton was able to do the balloon toss with her Aunt AnnaMarie and her cousin Katie.

Peyton did a relay race with her cousin Taylor and her Aunt Tricia. They had to suck through a straw and try to get as many Smarties into another bowl in a certain amount of time. Her team won.

Peyton had a great time doing tug-o-war with her cousin Taylor.

I was able to go to many beginning tennis classes with my brother and sister-in-laws. We had a great time fooling around. We definitely livened up the classes.

On Wednesday it was family day (they didn't have any kid group activities scheduled) so Aunt Ashley put on a little music class for the younger grand kids. They loved singing and dancing together.

Aunt Tricia had the kids make fun things with play dough. They loved pulling the leaves out of the bush and putting them in their play dough.

Hailey loved the play dough.

They had swim races for all of the kids and I was able to compete with Hailey in a piggyback race. I am proud to say that I won both of the races. My old swimming abilities came back without a problem.

Peyton competed in her age group race and got 3rd place.
On Friday the girls performed a song for us with their kids groups. Hailey's song was about a worm so she had a worm painted on her face.
Hailey's cousin Kalle was in the same 3 year old group with her and they had a great time going to group together.

Peyton was able to get her face painted on the 4th of July by her counselor. She wanted her face to look like her shirt.
Peyton and her cousin Makenna with their counselor Michelle. They loved playing with her.
Here is the shirt that we gave to Ryan's parents to thank them for our wonderful vacation. We had all of the grand kids do their hand or footprint so they could remember how old and how big they were during the 2008 vacation. Thank you so much mom and dad for taking us on such a wonderful vacation. You guys are the best.

Last Day of VBS

The girls had so much fun at VBS together. Peyton learned a lot of new songs and has loved singing them with her cousins. Thanks to Aunt Natalie for taking them to VBS and thanks to Aunt Tricia who let Alyssa and Makenna come to California. After a fun week at VBS the girls were in for another treat. The next day we were all leaving for our Ferrell Family Fun Vacation. Boy are they lucky.