Spray Park with Daddy

On one of Jake's days off we hit our favorite spray park in Alexandria.  Paige's favorite thing this day were the fountains shown in these pictures. 

If you step on one of them, the others shoot with more pressure.  Paige especially liked these this day because Jake showed her how to strategically step on them to spray me in the face.

Luray Caverns

Since Jake had a few weeks off between when he took the bar and when his job started, we tried to do a few fun things in the area that we've always wanted to do.  One day we took a trip down to Luray Caverns.  

Luray Caverns is huge cave with lots of cool formations.  My favorite part is shown in this picture here: 

There is a shallow pool of water that is so still it perfectly reflects the formations above, making it look like the formation are on the floor of the cave as well as the ceiling.  It was awesome! 

Paige was in heaven because she got to ride in the hiking backpack.  The hiking backpack is one of Paige's FAVORITE things so she was absolutely thrilled to be on Jake's back. 

For months after this trip Paige kept telling me that she "needs to get in the hiking backpack and go through another cave." 

Out For a Walk

Jake and Paige like to take walks together around the lake.  

Visiting Utah

On our trip to give Jake some space to study for the dreaded bar, Paige and I drove over to Utah with Grandma Brison.  Paige did really well on the car trip.  We were in Grandma's Jeep, so she was high enough that she could see out the window.  She spent most of the drive looking out the window, and when that got boring she was quite content to snack, color, watch a movie, or listen to music.  

We did lots of fun things in Utah.  Paige played with Heidi: 

We played with Aunt Peggy (who taught Paige the "Purple Stew" song):

Paige played in the Pirate Ship Pool.  She absolutely LOVED this little kiddie pool.

Paige got to meet Grandma Haws and Little Peter: 

Paige and Heidi learned that they like popsicles:

Our good friends Chirsten and Henry (who recently moved from VA to UT) came over to play with us:

Paige got to play with Grandma Brison a lot: 

It was a fun little trip.  

Here's a picture of Grandma Haws, Grandma Brison, Heidi, and Paige.  Four generations of oldest daughters! 

Visiting Colorado

The last two weeks before the bar, Paige and I went to Colorado so that Jake could have some time and space to focus on studying. 

We stayed with Grandma and Grandpa Brison and had a lot of fun visiting them. 

Paige got to play with Grandpa:

We ate lots of yummy food.  Here Paige is eating cotton candy ice cream:

Paige and Grandpa watched Cinderella while eating popcorn: 

We went to church at my old ward:

Paige got to go to a "different nursery with Grandpa" (as she called it)

Plus we went swimming and Paige was in HEAVEN.  That kid loves to swim.

The pool at the rec center had a slide and lots of things to play with. 

We went grocery shopping with Grandpa

And he showed Paige how to turn on all the lights as you walk down the aisles. 

We also went to dinner (at Olive Garden! Yum!) with Grandma and Grandpa Kartchner and Aunt Lindsey. 

Paige played with Grandma and Grandpa Brison's fun spoons.

We also stopped by Music-Go-Round to visit Uncle Erik.  He gave Paige a drumstick and let her bang on some cymbals (which she thought was pretty cool).

We had such a fun trip!  It would've been better if Jake were with us, but it was great as it was.  

Grandpa Kartchner's Giant Slide

While we were in Colorado, Paige got a chance to go down Grandpa Kartchner's giant slide.  

It's a really, really tall slide.  I thought Paige would be a little too afraid to go down it by herself, but she wasn't at all.  She climbed up, didn't hesitate and slid right down.  Then she did it several more times. She was a little spooked and tried to slow herself down as she went (resulting in some awesome slide burns), but she loved it.  

For days and days afterward Paige asked to go down Grandpa's Big Blue Slide again.

Denver Zoo

While we were in Denver we went to the Denver Zoo with Grandpa Brison.  Paige loved the trip to the zoo and talked about it for days and days. 

Roaring like a tiger. RAWR!

She was a little hesitant at this Discovery Station.  She thought it was kind of cool to see the polar bear pelt, but refused to touch it.

We stopped to eat lunch.  At lunch, Grandpa ate some of Paige's string cheese.  For some reason, for months (at least 4 months and counting) whenever we talk about Grandpa she says "Grandpa ate my cheese!" And laughs and laughs.

While we were eating a little flock of geese strolled by our table.  

Paige (from the safety of my lap - she got scared and crawled over) LOVED the geese.  She thought they were really awesome and talked about them for a long time too. 

Some of Paige's other favorite animals were:

The Okapi (she cried as we left this one and we had to go back several times)

The elephants (especially the elephant with the big white ball)

The giraffes

Another one of her favorites were these monkeys.

They had a play area that extended over the path that visitors walk on.  So we watch a monkey climb up the pole...

...and over right over our heads!  Paige thought that was really awesome and talked about it for a long time.