Outside Baby

It has been beautiful here lately so we've been spending a lot of time outside. We drove Walter until we found sunshine, water, and a spot to park. We had a picnic, threw rocks and just hung out near the water.

Roslyn has been helping me garden, more like pulling up the plants I just planted but still.

A few cute photos of her with bubbles.

Rocks aren't edible?

Our maternity leave trip was amazing, unparalleled but  - it is really fun to take Roslyn on van trips where she can interact now! She was very blobby the whole trip and napped a lot. This meant we got to do whatever Joshua and I wanted the whole time. We hiked when we wanted, ate when we wanted, etc. Now though Roslyn has opinions and wants to interact with the world which has been so much fun! She likes to crawl around outside getting her knees dirty and playing with rocks, sticks, bugs, etc. She also now giggles when you throw her around on the hammock and she can fit in the swing we bring along. We knew she would slow us down but we didn't anticipate how much we actually enjoyed it. We really like her and therefore going her pace and watching her interact with and discover has brought us a lot of joy.

Roslyn has always loved watching water so we walked around the beach the next morning. She would giggle when a big wave washed in and sucked itself back out. She attempted to eat more rocks and wanted to hold our fingers to go on lots of walks. At one point we dumped her among a bunch of driftwood and she surprised us by how well she climbed over big logs, played with the sticks, and overall didn't need us to accomplish how she wanted to play. She's an independent lady and constantly impressing us with her boldness!

Back to Whidbey

Lately, when we get home from work it has been warm and the sun has been shining so we play outside in the yard with Roslyn a bit before dinner. The problem is we can't get her to then come inside. We try to coax her to crawl in, carry her in, try to make it a slow transition. Any way we go at it she's always pretty sad when she has to come inside. So on Friday I texted Josh "should we be going camping at Whidbey this weekend?" Without missing a beat he booked us a site and on Saturday morning we headed out to spend the whole weekend outside playing.

We had just recently been to this area with my sister and brother in law but since it is snow free and close we didn't mind going back. We hiked along the bluff and played in the grass all afternoon. Roslyn, even from just a few weeks ago, played very differently. She wants to hold your fingers and walk endlessly and spent a very long time plucking up little flowers and smooshing them in her fingers. She can hear the sea planes, point at them in they sky, and then she waves at them all. She also would crawl around find something fun, show it to us, then clap for herself. Really crushing the adorableness lately.

Before bedtime we walked back out to the bluff for a peak as the sun set. Roslyn played with sticks and we sat in the grass. Then she decided she was going to walk herself all the way back to Walter. She wanted Dad ahead of her cheering her on putting yogurt snacks in her mouth and to hold onto my fingers. With those things going her way she walked over a 1/4 mile on her own back down the dirt path. 

Baby on a boat

We couldn't hike but we really wanted to still get out and do something with our last few days. We found a lake that had infant size life jackets and decided to take her canoeing. She looked like a fat little weatherman in her lifejacket and hat. 

Roslyn was quite weary of the experience until we started splashing around water and making it a game. Then she was medium on the experience. Joshua was nice enough to row us around the lake for about an hour and it was quite peaceful. We were almost the only people out on this big blue lake and the smoke made it seem mysterious and different. After we threw down a blanket and had a picnic lunch under a tree.

That night Joshua found our last, amazing campsite. It was nestled deep in some trees and we had a babbling creek right near us. Roslyn loves running water so we spent a lot of time looking at it, running her hands in it and throwing rocks to make it splash. It was a relaxing reflective evening.