Everytime these two get together, I have to marvel at how they have the same hairdo and even sort of look alike! My little brother Ben gets offended when I say they are twins, but I'm not saying he looks like a girl.....just that they have the same hairdo! This hairstyle works for ALL genders, aparently. 
Since we tickle Riley in the neck all the time, he likes to pass it on to others. My Dad really enjoys this! These next few pictures are from the 4th of July.
No this is not my normal smile. This is my Hulk smile. This may sound like nothing to everyone else, but the fact that Riley WANTED his face painted and stood and LET a stranger paint his face is awesome. Here is another sign that he is learning to go with the flow...sometimes :) I love this little guys personality. He has a LOT of personality.
Hanging out with Uncle Sam at the 4th of July Parade in Mt. Pleasant.
Her Highness, the "Divine Miss M". My Mom gave her that nickname either shortly beforeor shortly after her birth. Okay okay, check out the sandals! She doesn't walk well in them, but that's not the point. The point is they are so dang cute and everyone loves them.
This is my big mistake. We have this huge beanbag, and for years I've been wanting to wash the cover. Problem is, the inner cover is ripped so to take the cover off would be to let the stuffing out. The other day I got stubborn and decided it would all be worth it in the end, just to have a clean beanbag cover. What you see in this picture is what's left after the majority of the stuffing had been put back into the cover. The cover did get washed, but doesn't look that great because lots of the little foam had stuck to it and balled up on it in the washer and dryer, so it has all these little foam balls stuck to it. Ben warned me not too, and he swore he would have no part in the cleanup, but I proceeded. In the end, I admitted my mistake and Ben did end up helping me. NEVER AGAIN! NOT WORTH IT!!!!!!
On the 16th of July we took a trip up to Idaho to visit my Mom and Grandparents. This is the first vacation we've taken with all four of us, and after it's all said and done, I have to ponder "Is a vacation with small children really a vacation?" I know several families who load up the kids all the time and go on vacation and seem to think it's great. But I have to say those five days were difficult for me! Of couse I did have fun too, and as I write this post one week later I feel mostly fond memories of the trip. But MAN! My idea of a vacation will have to change, I guess.
In the hotel room. So far the kids are enjoying their vacation.
Right away at my Mom's place, Malia was loving the cat. Cat didn't wanna be loved, but oh well. As you can see, my Mom has a knack for plants.
My Mom gave Riley a bunch of fun camping supplies for his Birthday.
One of the fun camping things, demonstrated by some crazy lady!
I got Birthday presents too!
We went to the capitol building in Idaho. It is a really pretty place, and fun to roam around in.
Riley and Ben in front of a headless statue. I zoomed in to check and make sure it's not also a topless statue since sometimes they are. It's not!
There's a reason Ben looks so proud in front of these doors. It's because he and his co-workers made all the doors for the remodel of the Idaho capitol. He's been wanting to see them for a while, so I'm glad we got the chance.
This picture looks like we are in danger of falling, but it really didn't feel dangerous at the time. It must just be the angle.
There was this cool free park with water features nearby, so we had a little fun there. It was so hot and originally we were planning on just watching the kids play in the water, but then we realized the only way to not be miserable was to join them so we went and played with them and had WAY more fun!
Malia just sippin' on my Mom's Diet Coke.
We also went to this science/discovery place that was really cool! We all took a turn pulling ourselves up in this chair using the ropes and pulleys, which makes it easy, then let go and it slowly lets you down. 
I'm so proud! Riley is taking after me as a cashier. I was a cashier at Walmart for a couple years during Nursing school. So glad I can be inspiring to him! No really, he was so cute checking this lady out at this kid size grocery store.
Then it was off to see my Grandma and Grandpa Blacker, but Riley calls them his "New Grandma and Grandpa" since he doesn't remember them from his last visit when he was two. They have this dog named Sky Blue, and Riley loved the dog and had a good time with his Great Grandma getting the dog to obey commands. Sky Blue is very well trained and such a fun pet.
Sky Blue about to run in a circle around Riley.
My Grandma is hiding in the back, and there's my Grandpa behind me. I have to laugh at Riley's face. Not his most photogenic shot. This is at their house in Idaho. I have such great memories of my Grandma and Grandpa. I would stay with them a lot during summers. My Aunt Ali is just two years older than I, so she and I would run around and have fun. But my Grandma and Grandpa were always there keeping us out of trouble and supplying us with "garbage" as my Grandpa would call all the spare change in his pocket. Wonderful memories! And I can't leave out my Great Grandma Sprague, because she is part of these memories too. She is at a nursing home in Colorado where her son lives. 
So my Mom doesn't just walk around in a tank top, just to clarify. We were getting ready to go the waterpark, and stopped to eat lunch at this nice park. It had a great playgroung but more importantly SHADE!
That's Ben's body being thrown off the slide into the water. I have to tell a funny story about my Mom. She and I went down these slides at the same time (there are two next to eachother, the yellow one is cut out in this picture). She was wearing a workout tank top, but it had no....uh hum....padding. So she cut the pads out of an old bra she hated and put those in the tank top. Problem solved! So we went down the slides and once you land it's pretty violent under the water because you land with so much force and you can't tell up from down. Apparently it was just to much for my mom's little pads, and as she surfaced she saw one floating right in front of her and one floating a few feet away! We were dying of laughter. She quickly gathered them up and went away to put them back in place. They came out again later as we were throwing eachother around in the wave pool. I'm am chuckling even while typing this because it was so great! I told her to stitch the pads in place next time! 
Poor Malia, couldn't go on the rides and got a little cranky being in the stroller when there was so much water nearby. She did get to spend a lot of time in the amazing kidde pool. One funny story about Malia. She had a swim diaper on all day, so at the end of the day as we were getting ready to leave, we decided to get her dried off and in a regular diaper. We figured we didn't need to go to the locker room for this, so we took her swim diaper off her right there as she was standing on the concrete. The second we took it off, she began to pee......OF COURSE! Well, it was only my mom and ben and I that saw, and it was closing time so we figured no harm done and what could we do anyway. Besides, her puddle blended in with all the other puddles everywhere from wet feet. A couple seconds later a little kid comes and stands right in the puddle and then walks off. Oh my goodness!
They had some fun slides! Just seeing these pictures makes me want to go again. So that's what's been goin' on in a nutshell. The summer is flying by, and man it is HOT! Riley's fifth birthday is this Sunday, so more pics to come!
PRESCHOOL GRADUATION, PART ONE: RILEY'S HAPPY, RILEY'S GREAT, SITTING NEXT TO HIS FRIEND AND ME AND BEN ARE BEAMING.
PRESCHOOL GRADUATION PART TWO: RILEY WAS OFFENDED AFTER A LITTLE GIRL GOT IN FRONT OF HIM AT THE BEGINNING OF A SONG WHERE THEY WERE ALL STANDING. UNFORTUNATELY THE SONG HAD LIKE 16 VERSUS AND BY THE TIME IT WAS OVER, RILEY HAD REACHED THE POINT OF NO RETURN.
LIBERTY PARK.....FUN! I SPENT A LOT OF TIME ON THIS HILL AS A KID WITH MY LITTLE BROTHER CHRIS AND MY MOM. WE WOULD ROLL DOWN, SLED DOWN, AND RUN DOWN IT.
WE WERE THE ONLY ONES ON THE FERRIS WHEEL. I WAS GETTING A LITTLE ROWDY TRYING THE ROCK OUR CHAIR, AND RILEY HAD TO SETTLE ME DOWN. BEFORE THE RIDE WE ASKED RILEY IF HE WANTED TO TAKE MOMMY OR DADDY ON THE RIDE. OF COURSE WE BOTH KNEW FULL WELL HE WOULD PICK ME :)
RILEY IS CHEESIN' IT BIG TIME!
