The Great Outdoors

School's out for summer!  This was Owen's last week at school, so they had a little picnic and sang us some songs.  It was a good little preschool, and I will miss the warm environment and convenient location.  (Side note: Hadley cracked me up when she sidled on into the school kids' group while they were performing, trying to pretend like she knew the songs.)

As usual, we have been trying to enjoy the warmer months and the sunshine while it lasts.  But I did not expect to see this guy on our last hike!  He was just off the trail, and I jumped a foot when I saw him.  Someone said it was likely a bull snake, which is harmless, but still worrisome when Hadley was walking just on the other side of me and this snake was at least 3 feet long and hissing at us...

Anyway, the rest of the hike before that was okay for Pocatello.  There were some trees and a creek and some birdhouses, but it was supposed to be a self-guided hike and I think they hadn't taken the signage out yet from winter storage, so there were a lot of bare posts and not much info.

There was an amphitheater though, and Owen enjoyed putting on a show for us.

It was enough fresh air to tucker at least one of them out.

We've also made a couple of trips to Bear World with some of Owen's school friends. Now it's mostly for the kiddie rides, instead of for the animals.  Hadley is right there with the bigger kids, showing no fear or reservations about hopping on these rides.  I foresee a lot of our summer being spent here.  The roller coaster has the three big schoolboys in front with their little siblings all in the row behind.

Personally, I still like the bears!  Both real...  (One day, we got stuck behind the curator tour, which was feeding the bears.  They actually sit on their back legs like a teddy bear and wave their paws to get the feeders' attention.)

And pretend!

Time to Be Outside

With May comes sunshine and short sleeves.  Yea!!  The kids have been spending more time out in the backyard, which is nice.  

Sometimes they even play together!  I took a video of this, but I won't share it.  I just had to document the futility of filling up a bucket and then dumping the sand back out, right where you had scooped it up from before.  Fun!  At least they were doing this quietly.  :)

One of the nearby parks has a tree we've dubbed the "climbing tree", because it has perfectly spaced branches.  See Owen in the middle, high above his friends?  I was impressed how easily he made the climb this year!  And, they hopped off of their bikes, which is why they are wearing helmets.  (We're not that over-protective!)

Not to be outdone, Hadley is proving to be quite the climber, too. Her favorites are the rainbow bars, which make this mama a little nervous! But, she's really pretty good as long as she doesn't get distracted halfway up.

And both love a good swing!

Owen has graduated to his pedal bike this year, but we did have to put training wheels on it because the backwards pedal-brake kinda threw him off.  Hopefully, it's just a short phase, and we can take the training wheels off before summer's over.  (I love it when he's pedaling with his friends on their bikes, too.)  Meanwhile, it's time to start Hadley on the Strider, which she's already been eyeing!

We took our little car aficionado to a car show.  It was a terribly blustery day with even a few snowflakes, but I don't think he noticed. There were too many "cool cars"!

I finally got on the other end of the camera with my kids!  This was before the kids' weekend with dad flying solo.  It went great!!

I just wanted to document H's regular inventory-ing of the bathroom, while I'm getting ready. I guess it's a good way to remember what I have...  

Sometimes Owen defers to Hadley's preferred entertainment, which cracks me up.  Here, it's stripping down and alternately jumping and stretching, for no particular reason.  More blackmail pictures for later...

Antique Portraits

I decided to help out a fundraiser and get some old-timey portraits taken of the kids.  In honor of Mother's Day, I'm sharing them here with you.  Yes, I know they are cheesy, but hopefully they'll be fun to look back on someday.  :)

22-ish months

H hasn't changed much since her 20-month status, except for her vocabulary.  I feel like she's learning a new word nearly every day!

• Bus, teeth, meow (cat, stuffed or real), cheese, ouch, bonk, eye, boat, this, bath, boo, done, help, show, inside, outside, off, on, tissue, sock, shoe, shirt, book, box, Owen, oops, whoa, plane, choo-choo, beep beep, go, drink, light
• "shew" - whew (as in after exertion) or repetitive to indicate sleeping
• "Mehmo" - Elmo
• "asaurus" - dinosaur
• "ornch" - orange
• "pa-ee" - potty
• "bash" - splash
• "Ta-Za" - Tessa (doll)
• "peez" - please/more
• "till" - tickle
• "ssh" - with finger stuck in her mouth to be quiet
• "Ah you?" - asked when searching for something (been saying this for months)
• Sentences and phrases like: "There it is", "close the door", "brush teeth", "I need to go potty", "other side", etc.
• "A, Z, B, P..." - trying to sing the alphabet song when brushing her teeth (this was our timer for Owen to wash his hands long enough.  I guess she think it's just the song you sing when you are at the sink!)

Some other funny behaviors:

• Crossing legs on the potty, bath, couch, etc.  She's done this naturally pretty much since she could sit.  Such a little lady!  Wish I had a picture...
• She's deep in the on/off, in/out stage of dumping/filling containers, taking off socks/shoes and then trying to put them back on, etc.  Her favorite thing is to fill one of her purses with stuff, put it on her arm and wave "Bye!", go on a trip around the room, and then bring it back to you to show you each thing.  Repeat.
• Enjoying helping like picking up dropped things, replacing things, closing doors and drawers, putting away groceries, etc.
• Blowing her nose into a tissue kinda, sorta, and she's obsessed with brushing her teeth.
• Using napkins when eating at the table.  She'll request with an outstretched, messy hand.
• Blowing kisses good-bye or at bedtime.
• Carrying her dolls or stuffed animals around and putting them in chairs.  Sometimes feeding them, dressing (undressing) them, and putting them to bed.  Is this an innate girl tendency or is it just because Owen didn't really have any dolls?  Though he did have stuffed animals...  I'm always pondering the basic gender differences and whether they are natural or learned.  :)
• Already striving for independence (regarding clothing mostly), while still being pretty clingy (wanting to be held nearly always).
• Acting like a robot.  This one must be from Owen, but she makes a mechanical "kssh" sound for each step, while moving slightly slower, randomly.
• Dancing to a good song in public.  (It looks like an exaggerated driving motion with some squatting or jumping for variety.)
• Requesting bows in her hair or hats or shoes...  And changing socks a couple times a day.  Can't wait for sandal season!

 Look!  I did it myself!  (backwards coat)

 She adores being outside and cries when it's time to come in.

She loves her daddy and her brother! (and her books, in no particular order)

And for fun, here's Owen at 22 months.  Not to be left out, Owen loves to dress himself like a "cool dude".  On this particular occasion, we thought he was channeling more of a "boy band" look. :)