Relaxing . . .

On the balcony . . .

Story time . . .

Ice-cream time . . .
Sophie took a bite out of her plastic spoon, I have no idea why. I was a bit worried about the jagged edges going through her system, but they seem to have passed through without incident.

The Dock of the Bay

Swimming

Madeline is quite the swimmer!  She is at the pool at least twice a day.  She is working on floating on her back, so far for 20 seconds or so.  I have a video but couldn't get it to upload here.  I'll try again later.  She swam across the pool, the width of it, on her back yesterday, and can doggie-paddle herself just about anywhere she wants to go.

Cousins!

We love playing with our cousins!!!  Bubbles, swinging, sliding, writing, and finger painting are just a few of the things we have done so far with our cousins Kyla and Ian.

The girls thought it would be fun to pose for pictures in the rain.

Grandma's Garden

The girls enjoyed helping care for Grandma's garden:  watering,watering, and watering, and then just a little more watering.  Madeline spent some time trying to catch fish, birds, chipmunks, and fireflies, but was only successful with the fireflies.

Tooth Number Two

Madeline lost tooth number two on Monday. The first baby teeth to come in were the first ones to come out. Now how long does it take the two new teeth to come in?

Madeline Lost a Tooth!

Now you see it,

And now you don't! Madeline lost her first tooth Friday night! The only downer was since Friday was her last day of school, she didn't get a chance to show her friends at school or get her name on that special bulletin board. She did, however, get a visit from the tooth fairy, a dollar!


Here's a picture of Sophie eating her waffles. I wish I could report she was potty trained, but *sigh* not just yet. After she went through three pairs of underwear in two hours last night, she was back in her diaper. We'll keep working on that one.

Grandpa and Travel Town

Last weekend, we spent several days with Grandpa Ralph. We decided to visit Travel Town where we could ride a train and look at some old locomotives. Funny enough, on our way out, we ran into our good friends: Carrie, Lyman, and Milo!

Our Young Author

One day last week, Kent attended Madeline's Young Author's Awards Program where her book about bugs was deemed "most imaginative."

Waterfall

I forgot to post this waterfall video from Lee Vining last weekend.

Madeline

Last week, Madeline received an award for "Outstanding Citizenship." She has really loved kindergarten, and I hope she enjoys first grade just as much. I think her ears are finally on the road to recovery, too. After Kent and I noticed something going on with her hearing, and she subsequently failed a hearing test at school, we knew it was time to investigate. Her doctor confirmed ear infections in both ears and prescribed an antibiotic. Two weeks later, still 2 ear infections and a new antibiotic. Two more weeks later, still two ear infections and a third antiobiotic. Two weeks later, her ears show improvement, and she gets a prescription for some prednisole (sp?). She goes back this Thursday. Somewhere in the last two weeks, Sophie had her own double ear infections. We sure are keeping our pediatrician in business!

Lee Vining, Ca

This weekend we drove about six hours north of LA to visit Lee Vining, Ca.  Lee Vining is a small town just outside of Yosemite and where Aunt Jessie is spending about six weeks doing fieldwork.  We had a great time visiting with her, Emmet, Adam, and Grandma Mel while seeing some beautiful sites.  In these pictures we are up about 10,000 feet, at the field site.  Madeline loved seeing the snow, Sophie, let's just say, not so much.  She requested to go back to her car seat after it started to snow/sleet/rain.

More Sites

We spent some time at Ellery Lake. The kids loved throwing rocks into the water.




Aunt Jessie took us to this awesome campground with a waterfall. Next year, if we are able to make the trip again, we will definitely camp here with the kids.

Checking out the Tufas at Mono Lake

Beach Day!

Earlier this week the weather forecast for our area was close to 100, so Kent and I made plans to head to the beach.  And, brrrrrrrrrr, it was a good 30 degrees cooler at the coast.  I needed a sweater!  The girls didn't seem to mind and spent lots of time frolicking in the ocean with their Daddy.  When Sophie couldn't stop shivering and her lips had turned blue, we decided she had had enough.  But Sophie disagreed, and cried out her disappointment all the way back to our blanket.