Princess birthday

Before I can show talk about the first day of kindergarten, I suppose I should catch up on IA's 3rd birthday. We had lots of fun with grandpa here and Cousin C stuck around an extra week so he was able to come to the party.
First, I set the bar a little high with CA's pirate cake so here is IA's cake. She asked for a princess theme and then when we went to get stuff for the party she wanted Ariel so I had to change things a little and add water and a beach scene to the castle. Still, I think it turned out pretty well.




Grandpa decided to dye his beard pink for the occasion but JA wasn't quite sure what to think of it. This was one of the few moments she actually let him pick her up while it was pink.

Here is our party girl getting ready to open her presents.

She wasn't cooperating very well putting on her new stuff, so Cousin C decided to put it on. I warned him it would show up in the blog!

Here she is with her new bike.

Here she is having help blow out her candles.

Catch Up

We have had a busy couple of weeks with AA's sister and son here from Alaska. Cousin C ended up being here for 3 weeks and the kids loved him. CA also had soccer camp and we headed south to Papa's house to canoe, play in their pool and go to Wildlife Safari. Here are some pics:

The only pictures I got of CA at camp were of his back but at least this is an action shot.

Here you can see the adoration of JA on Cousin C. He was really good with her.

Here we are at Safari Sam's which is a lot of fun and exhausting for everyone climbing through the gigantic jungle gym.

Here we are at Wildlife Safari. If you have never been and have small kids, you should go. They had such a great time. The animals were really active when we were there. It was fun as you can see from JA practically trying to climb out the window.

This giraffe (and one not pictured) were so close to the car you could touch them.

In the bear section, you have to have your windows up which makes sense considering how close they are.

Finally, a camel ride for CA and I.

After all this, grandpa came up from Utah for IA's 3rd birthday. I will post pictures of that later.

Fourth of July

We had a great 4th. We had a BBQ and then did some fireworks. After eating, JA took a long evening nap which was perfect for sleeping through most of the fireworks. She was a little scared when she did finally wake up for her milk around 10. CA and IA loved the fireworks, it helped to have earmuffs so it wasn't quite as loud for them.

Sitting with the big kids

IA learning the keep the sparkler away from her body.

I have no idea what CA is doing but he certainly is concentrating hard.

Camping pictures

Here are some camping pictures finally, a month later. As you can see it wasn't too warm but we had a blast. The kids didn't seem to mind that it was cold and the afternoon we spent at the beach was actually sunny and fairly warm. We canoed on Eel Lake. It took a couple of times but CA ended up loving it. IA got in the boat but as soon as it rocked she wanted out. But she did try her hand at fishing.

Misc. Stuff

Last weekend we survived our first camping trip with the kids. Well, if you can call staying in a yurt as real camping. CA and dad did stay in a tent but the girls and I slept in a nice warm canvas room on bunks. We had lots of fun and are already looking forward to going again. As soon as I get some pictures from Aunt M (thanks for being our photographer) I will post some.
Now on for other pictures:
We have had about one week of nice weather this spring and we took full advantage of it.










JA has decided she likes to play dress up. The shirt she is holding in her hand, she was using like it was a purse.


This is JA's first "pony". She really enjoyed having her hair like her sisters'.

CA Peanut Allergy Part II

We finally had CA's official allergy test and he is definitely allergic to peanuts. He is in the high category for the allergy. The good news is that he is not allergic to anything else that they tested and they tested a lot of foods.

He is taking it all in stride as he doesn't like peanuts anyway. However, he has to be careful about eating things that have been processed in plants with peanuts like M&M's and apparently some types of chocolate chips. He reached for a cookie at church again not realizing it was peanut butter so we will definitely have to watch him with stuff like that. Some kids with peanut allergies can't even touch the stuff or smell it. While he is not that allergic yet, more exposure to peanuts can increase his reactions. This is a learning process for all of us.

mmm... pudding!

At her last doctor's appointment, we were told to give JA things like pudding, custard, french toast with syrup due to her low weight. She had pudding for the first time and it was a huge hit. In the first picture, it may not look like it, but that is pure delight on her part. She wanted to make sure she got every last bite!