Twins

Mirror Mirror on the Wall

Ben loves smiling at himself in the mirror.
I would too if I was that cute.

P.S. It it really hard to take a picture of yourself holding a baby in the mirror.

Yellowstone in pictures

Firehole River - not quite as "fiery" as I remember it, but certainly warmer than some of the other rivers in the park, thus rendering it inhospitable to trout and not a good fishing spot according to the fishing know-it-all I married. Waste of a river in his opinion, but certainly not Annie's...

...or Cole's.
Fishing on Yellowstone Lake. This little sweetheart didn't even touch her pink and purple pole. She chose instead to entertain the boat with her singing.

These kids are a tight bunch. We missed you, Kaden!

Here we are singing either "You are My Sunshine" or "Oh, Susannah!" - Annie's two main requests.

Mmmmm....S'mores!

Rosemary's Granddaughters

Fearless little hiker

Annie probably had twenty drinks from Dad's backpack water pouch. She thought it was soooo cool.

Miscellaneous funny things:

Annie wondering if she had lost her eyebrows - "I fink I wost my eyebwow." (Wiggles eyebrows at me). "Yep, I wost my eyebwow. Mommy, did I wose my eyebwow?"

Cole repeatedly telling everyone about the giant marshmallows we brought for roasting. They were quite delicious.

Annie checking off the coyote on her animal hunt list with a happy "zoop."

Annie, after seeing the torn off side of the mountain where the earthquake hit to form Quake Lake, wondering if every bare spot of mountain was Haiti (since there was an earthquake there too).

Cole falling out of bed late one night and being completely confused about what had happened. Maybe I shouldn't list this under funny things - except that it did make me laugh.

Listening to the same song (Crack of the Whip) so many times Daddy nearly had to ride with Grandma and Grandpa.

Annie completely covered in marshmallows at the campfire.
Or maybe that was me....did I mention they were ginormous?

Pinkalicious

I would like to thank Grandma Ali for inspiring this makeover by gifting Annie the gifting Annie the book, "Pinkalicious" and Grandma Rose for enabling this makeover by gifting Annie the Barbie make-up kit.

Now please excuse me while I go eat my mushy green vegetables in an attempt to turn back to normal.

All is Well

I was telling Cole and Annie about life as a pioneer yesterday. One aspect of pioneer life really worried little Annie. No swimsuits.

"Did their daddies take their swimsuits away?" she asked in a worried voice.*

"No, they just didn't have any swimsuits, honey," I replied."

"Oh," and then silence as she sat pondering with a sober expression.

Of all the many hardships they endured - heat, frozen limbs, walking across the prairie, teensy houses, no indoor plumbing, etc - that was the one that struck her as sad.

*Annie may have experienced Daddy taking away a swimsuit as a consequence for misbehavior, thus prompting the question, "Did their daddies take their swimsuits away?"

Works like a charm for her.

How do we get her to stay in bed? Tell her she loses a swimsuit if she gets out.
How do we get her to eat her dinner? Tell her she loses a swimsuit if she doesn't.
You get the picture.

While this particular scenario was not described in any of my child development classes, it seems to be working quite well with her.

Growing

I put away the baby tub this week.

The 0-3 month clothes are all packed up.

Daddy is sneaking Ben bits of real food - especially ice cream.

I've been giving daily lectures about the dangers of leaving small toys on the floor.

Yesterday, my banana-holding-hand was quickly pulled into a wide open mouth by a tiny little hand.



My baby is growing up.

P.S. He is also turning into quite a mama's boy. Much to my delight.

Luau

Since we knew Annie would be wearing a swimsuit, we decided to have a birthday luau this year. Everyone showed up in their best Hawaiian attire and the kiddo's splashed around in the water a bit while Floyd got the pork kabobs and Hawaiian pizza ready. I think I should always plan parties where he is in charge of the food. Works out easy for me.





After dinner it was cake and present time. Cole would have been begging us from the moment the party started to open his presents, but Annie, who prefers to play with people over toys, was content to just enjoy the party. She got super spoiled by everyone.

She started out the evening in her favorite Little Mermaid suit, but when she opened a new suit from Grandma and Grandpa, she quickly changed. For a landlocked little sweetie, she sure gets a lot of wear and tear out of her suits. Today, she is already on her third.

My favorite part of the night was after everyone had left and she wanted to do some stargazing on the tramp. When the first star came out, we called it her birthday star and she made a little wish...."I wish..to someday...have a princess."

The next day, we had a low-key family celebration that included much frustration on mom's part trying to get the toys out of their packaging. Curses!

Once mom finally got them out of their packages, Annie put the toys into immediate use and went on a musical little bike ride with her new Princess Tiana instruments in her bike basket. She stopped about every ten pedal-lengths to play a little tune.

Birthday "Gil"

Happy Birthday, Petunia. You sure make our family happy. We love your smile, can't get enough of your laugh, adore all the songs you sing for us, and cherish every hug.

We love the way you make up your own way of talking - like dropping the personal pronoun ("want it, " "don't like it," etc.) and slurring words together ("yelcome" instead of "you're welcome).

We love your excitement and enthusiasm for life. We love your free spirit and are continually amused watching you do your own thing.

And of course, we crack up every morning when you choose yet another swimsuit for your daily attire. You are practically perfect, my little angel.

America the Beautiful

Busy weekend - I guess that happens when you stretch the celebration over four days.

Friday night: Romney Stadium for the fireworks. We don't usually head to the stadium, but braved the entire thing this year to watch Grandpa in the mayoral tug-of-war. Boy did those kids cheer hard for you, Grandpa. Go North!


Saturday: Looooong drive to Island Park (didn't it use to take 3 1/2 hours...it's a bit longer with kids). Lovely evening fishing at Grandpa's favorite lake.

Sunday: Church in Island Park (crowded!) and the first of several birthday party's for Annie. And a few sparklers to celebrate the 4th (didn't want to get too crazy with fireworks since we were in the forest, after all)
Monday: Enough time for a quick paddle boat ride at Mack's Inn. Watched a moose go on a stampede - scary. Another looooong drive home. Luckily, Ben cooperated by needing a dinner break right at Devil's Creek Reservoir, so we stopped by for a little fishing on the way home.

"It's a fighter," says Annie.