Sydney Fuller

Our Annual Pilgrimage to Camp Dick

This past weekend we had our annual visit to our favorite campsite in Camp Dick. If you remember our trip last year did not go too well. Between the rain and a screaming one year old refusing to sleep in the tent. You could say I was dreading the whole thing a bit. But luckily our trip was great. The girls, dogs and weather were all awesome. We even dragged Daddy’s friend Mike and his daughter Devon along for the trip. Mike is a major handyman with just about anything so he was nice to have along for our little emergencies. And Devon was great at keeping the girls entertained.

Our hike started out a little choppy with Sydney sobbing because she couldn’t walk. Her legs were broke. But we quickly moved past that when she saw all the wild flowers she could be picking. Dad even gave her a walking stick to help her poor legs walk.

We hiked about 2 miles in to where there was a clearing and a great little shallow part of the river. We took our shoes off and jumped in. Well, the girls were both very quickly bathing in the nude but it was a bit too cold for Mom and Dad. Daddy had a great time with both his girls.

Sydney discovered new land and decided it should be called Sydney Island. She had a great time trekking back and forth between all the little islands.

On the way back to the campsite Daddy took some time to show Sydney some proper trekking techniques. She is now our little pro hiker. Four miles all by herself. Not bad for a four year old.

She even climbed this HUGE boulder all by herself. Hands and knees was the technique learned for this bad boy.

Oh, and the dogs had a great time too. They were definitely in their element.

We were so lucky to have the great butterfly hunter with us. I tell you those butterflies were everywhere. We would have been goners for sure if Dakota wasn’t there to chase them off. She had no fear. She would take off down the river or through the high brush. Whatever it took to get those flying demons.

Rocky Mountain National Park

Mommy’s cousins Chuck and Sherrie were in town for the day house hunting. They are thinking about moving here so we had to show them a good time. You can’t go wrong with Rocky Mountain National Park so into the mountains we went. This was our first time up since having Reagan so we got some good kid pictures.

Ladybugs

Every spring we buy a bag of ladybugs to release in the yard. They are supposed to help control the aphids attacking your plants. Sydney always loves this day because she has ladybugs crawling all over her. Her sister on the other hand was found stomping on the poor ladybugs so we quickly confined her to her cage, I mean trampoline.

Butterfly Pavillion

School’s out so I promised the girls a day at a museum of their choice to celebrate the beginning of summer. Sydney has been waking up crying for fear of spiders in her bed. So I thought it best to go see our old friend Rosie again to see that spiders aren’t so scary. Once again Sydney loved Rosie right away. Cool we have once again surpassed a case of arachnophobia.

Today we even got a chance to hold a huge hissing cockroach. I passed on this one but Sydney was up for the challenge.

More spiders. This one made a huge funnel type web all over his cage. It was really impressive. You may be able to make it out in this photo.

Finally we made it to the butterfly pavilion. We were really impressed with the amount of butterflies today. They were fluttering all around you. And as usual the foliage was beautiful.

The girls had a great time pointing out the butterflies, fish and turtles. Another good adventure.

A Day at the Park

The weather was warming up. Not so windy or rainy so I decided to take the girls out for lunch and play at our new Adventure Park nearby. Where did the girls want to eat? McDonald’s of course. It is not my favorite but luckily I gave in because when we got there we were surprised by a special visitor. The girls didn’t know who Ronald was but they soon loved him. He gave them autographs and put on a little magic show.

Next we headed over to our Adventure Park.

They have a really tall play set. Syd likes to climb up the curvy ladder.

Then onto the favorite red rope jungle thingey. She can now go all the way to the top platform. Which is not an easy task in your crocs.

They also have a section full of huge boulders for climbing. Though today Sydney was more into posing for the camera.

More posing at the farm section. It is very rare to get this kid to stand still for the camera so I will take them when I can get them.

Swim Lessons

Sydney has been taking swim lessons since last October. She was a bit water shy in the beginning but now she has absolutely no fear, except of going in the deep end alone. Which is probably a good thing at this point. So far she has been an alligator. Meaning she was learning the basic skills. Going underwater, back floating alone, tummy floating alone, jumping in alone, etc. But we are proud to announce that these tasks have been conquered and Syd is being graduated to a Seal. She will now work on stroke introduction and swimming underwater. Great job Syd!

Spring Dance Recital

Sydney had her very first dance recital this spring. She was SO excited to get all dressed up in her costume, makeup, hair piece and tap shoes to put on a show for Mommy and Daddy. Sydney’s class danced to the song, “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag.” We will get the official DVD in a few weeks but here are some pictures of the big night.

Here is the preshow shot. All ready for the performance of her life.

After the recital the kids were awarded for their hard work. Sydney received a certificate and a pin for her first recital. If she decides to continue each year she will receive a different type of trophy.

Mom and Dad surprised Sydney with a bouquet of pink roses for all her hard work. She was so excited to get her very own bundle of flowers. I think this was her highlight of the evening.

Another beauty shot. She looked so cute you just can’t get enough pictures.

Last Day of School

For Sydney’s last day of school we had a class picnic at the playground. Sydney had a blast running around with her friends. She did everything from swinging…

to hugging one of her best buds Madison.

At one point during the party the kids were no where to be found. I looked and looked until I found them off in the fields running around. Sydney and Luke seemed to be doing a lot of this together. I later found out that Luke is a hit with lots of the little girls. Though I only saw Sydney being quite so forward :)

Syd sure is going to miss all her friends over the summer. She really enjoyed her class this year.

Gymnastics Recital

Sydney participated in her first gymnastics recital this year titled “Over the Rainbow.” This gave the kids their first chance to show off what they learned this year. Of course we noticed after the recital that our camera was in some funky mode so the pictures are fuzzy. But you get the general idea.

The girls entered the course with a bunny hop.

Next they went around to all the different stations to show off their skills. Here is some kind of crab walk.

Next onto to balance beam.

And finally the finale.

At the end Sydney even got a medal for a job well done.