Fingerpainting

These finger paints were gifted to Lucia awhile ago, but only recently have we opened them up.  She likes the brush and does well, but somehow the novelty of smearing oozy material all over the paper (and herself, of course!) seems to be quite exciting.  The mess is awful but the paint cleans off well, thankfully.

Ballet class #3: Mermaids

This week's class proved better for Lucia.  The instructor also kept her eye on Lucia, and went out of her way to include her and encourage her.  While Lucia did ask a few times, "will you go with me?" she did participate on her own more, and seemed to have more fun.  Hooray!

Strawberry picking part II (FUN!)

After the work of bending over and picking the strawberries, the girls and I headed to the play area, which proved to be fun.

After swinging and playing for a little bit, we ate lunch and then got ice cream at the farm there, made by a local dairy.  Lucia ate vanilla ice cream in a waffle cone almost as big as her head!

And, finally by the end of the weekend..... after freezing some berries, making freezer jam, and eating many along the way, we got around to the best part of strawberry picking..... shortcake!

Strawberry picking part I (WORK!)

Last Saturday, we drove out to an organic strawberry farm a little east of us.  The tidy but huge farm exceeded my expectations in its well-organized, easy-to-pick, and pretty berries.  The girls enjoyed the play area very much, too.  We're glad Aunt Charlene suggested the outing!  (Oh yeah, bending over to pick berries with a kid in front isn't really ideal, just in case you were wondering.  But we managed fairly well, anyway!)

Our resident dishwasher inspector

"Check it out now....." Both girls lovvvvve the dishwasher!  Thankfully (I think), the older one still finds the task of emptying it exciting.  The younger now wants to touch all the dishes, pull herself up to stand and scampers toward it at every opportunity.

Grass-fed kids

I stumbled upon these photos from Troy's phone.  Not sure what exactly was going on since I wasn't present, but both girls look like they're enjoying the herbivore moment. I got tickled by the baby's expressions!

Ah-wooooo

Lucia tagged along with her daddy one evening to do some errands, one of which was stopping by his office.   She encountered a wolf on parade in the lobby.

Ballet class #2: Princess

This week's class featured tiaras, jewelry, scarves, and princess steps. Fortunately (at least that is my opinion as I am sure we'll be soon saturated with all things royal soon) our girl hasn't embraced the princess stage yet so this session just seemed like another exercise in listening to the teacher. Now, if it were Minnie Mouse....

The Lake trails

By the time we found a trail to hike, the time for naps was quickly encroaching.  Needless to say, our "hike" was brief and covered little terrain.  Lucia helped us "read" the map of "Mistletoe Mountain" (if you have a toddler, you know what that means!). And Phoebe did NOT want to ride in the backpack carrier that Daddy used to carry Lucia around in, so guess who hauled her around?!  You'd think my arms would be buff at this point after lifting and carrying a fifteen or sixteen pound weight everywhere. We definitely will return for more trail experiences.

The Lake

The weather was absolutely gorgeous this past weekend, sunny, 70, low humidity and not one cloud in the blue, blue sky.  We originally planned to participate in our town's one mile Fun Run with the kids, but decided to head to the lake instead.  We explored different camp sites, then found a beach to walk and eat our picnic lunch.  Both girls loved it, and Phoebe found the sand very exciting to touch (and taste!!). Her latest trick is sticking out her tongue, which we've been attempting to photograph and video. Only the top photo shows a little of her new-found skill.

Group reading

Instilling a love for reading books starts early, those experts say.  I'm all for it, obviously, but it's a rare moment when all of are still and doing the same thing at the same time at the same place!

Solo tricycle riding

The push bar on the tricycle is a wonderful invention.  It's amazing how much steering and pushing an adult can do with it.  These days, Lucia has been learning to ride independently, although the hills around our neighborhood make it somewhat heart-stopping for Mommy!