What a helper...

Dayna's goal for the summer has been to potty train Sydney. It has been tough, but Syd is finally potty trained--day and night! One morning, Dayna was cleaning the kitchen and heard Sydney yell, "I'm out of toilet paper." A moment later Sydney came out of the bathroom and announced, "I was out of toilet paper, but I fixed it." Dayna was nervous and went to check out the situation in the bathroom. This picture is Sydney's way of "fixing" the problem:

Trying not to laugh, Dayna explained that toilet paper is different than paper towels. Sydney shrugged her shoulders and walked out of the bathroom.

Retreat in the Woods

Labor Day Weekend basically marks an end to summer fun. The Hillman's decided to end the summer with one last mini-vacation. Brian, Dayna and Sydney stayed in the Woods at Great-Grandma's Cabin. Unfortunately, Dayna forgot the camera, so there are no pictures to record the fun trip. However, Sydney enjoyed watching the fish by the bridge in Big Springs. She also watched three Muskrats eat pieces of bread that people were throwing over the edge of the bridge. It was a simple, yet fun way to end the summer.

Take me out to the ballgame

Our friends gave us tickets to go to a baseball game. (The local minor league baseball team.) Brian tried to watch the game , but was distracted a lot by two 3-year-old girls.

Sydney and Madison are two days apart and basically inseparable. Neither of them watched much of the game. But they had fun, which made their parents happy! By the way, the picture of Syd and Madison, Sydney is giving Madison a hug-- she is not being mean.

Baby Soft Skin

Sydney found the baby lotion under her bathroom cupboard. Dayna was cleaning up after dinner and smelled an overpowering scent of baby lotion. Sydney was completely covered in lotion. In fact, just to get the lotion off, Syd had to rinse off in the bathtub.

When asked what she why she used so much lotion, Sydney answered, "It makes me feel better!"

P.S. The house smelled like baby lotion for the rest of the evening.

Ready for the Ride

In the car or out, Sydney loves to buckle herself into her car seat. When her seat is in the house, Syd straps herself in and is ready for anything-- as long as she has a drink along for the ride. The only problem is getting out of the seat. Sydney has not mastered unbuckling the seat (thank goodness) and hollers for help anytime she needs to get out.

Family Vacation

The last week in July Brian, Dayna and Sydney went to the Lake. Grandma and Grandpa came. Christopher and Chelsey drove down. Melissa and Adam and their friends stayed. Even Yvonne and the kids got to come and play at the beach.

Sydney found a caterpillar unlike any we'd ever seen. She checked on it every day to make sure it was ok.

Sydney loved the water. She especially enjoyed boat rides with Melissa and "tuting" (tubing) with Dayna!

It was a great vacation. We had a lot of fun just spending time with family.

Camping with Grandma and Grandpa

Sydney and Dayna went camping in July with Grandma and Grandpa. We camped at the Reservoir. One night we had a baby skunk visit our camp; Grandpa had to scare it away. Sydney loved staying in the tent trailer. It was like living in a playhouse!