I love this picture—it looks like David is the Godfather sending his minions off…
The wave snuck up on him!
Katie LOVED the sand…and was COVERED in it.
Anna and Owen in their hot tub!
Bubbles!
Testing out the non-heated pool. It was COLD but Owen stayed in for probably 15 minutes!
And one year ago…the same cousins on another beach.
Gramma Jean has taken over Katie’s hair duties…and she just sits there patiently.
Today we all went to the Gulf Breeze Zoo — it was Katie’s first zoo experience!
Stole the cup right out of his hand!
Owen can jump as far as a tree frog!
Who can jump farther?
Train ride!
Hugging the stuffed animals!
Owen picked a bat mask at the gift shop!
Owen was out with daddy and grandpa, so we took Katie to the beach!
This is her saying “SNOW!” She kept saying snow snow snow—and we had to keep telling her it was sand. 🙂
Waving goodbye to the birds as they flew away!
Splashing in a little pool!
Chasing the birds!
Someone had to get their feet washed before bed…which we learned is a bit difficult since she wants to splash and sit down for a real bath. You notice she has no pants on (since she sat down in the tub) and her shirt is a little wet. 🙂
She wants to go outside so desperately…and letting her out on the balcony keeps the begging at bay for a little while.
I had a very attentive audience!
She grabbed a bag of cookies right away!
Then dug right in!
“Oooh!”
This is what happens when the gates come down! FREEDOM!
Tom was on the floor trying to take a quick nap so of course Katie had to join him. 🙂
Then Owen wanted to help…which didn’t go over too well. 🙂
MONKEY TOES!
Owen sat nicely still while we watched TV…but Katie was another story.
Her chin digging into my shoulder/arm. 🙂
Momentary calm.
Why not have Charlie join the party?
Well as long as it’s comfy for you.
I had set one out on my knee and she wanted it badly but refused to come back inside the gate.
I wondered what would win: Being captured but having a cheez ball…or being free with no snack.
She stood hovering over the gate threshold for a minute then took off toward the playroom. Aha! Freedom won. Except a minute later she came zooming in to grab the cheez ball and get out quick…but I caught her. So snacks won out over freedom—though she did whine a bit when her plan was foiled!
I should have posted this a long time ago…so the list goes back at least a month or more.
Balloon (bayoon)
Banana (nanna)
Bite (when she wants another bite of banana)
Elmo (alno)
Owen (o-wee)
Please (peese)
Thank you (tay-kyoo)
New words:
A-B-C-D-E-F-G
Boppy (character from Doc McStuffins)
Cereal
Doc (character from Doc McStuffins)
Grape (Gape)
Juice
Minnie [Mouse]
Nap
Night night
Pants
Pills
Shoes
Sleeping
Snowing
Stuck
Swing
Thank you
Where’s [daddy, milk]?
You’re welcome
She’s also good at repeating when she wants to—today she repeated “I see you!” But she still refuses to say “Mama, ____ please!” She’ll repeat each word separately but not as a sentence.
It’s his birthday today so the kids were asked to wear their favorite Dr. Seuss costume. I do things the easy way so he just wore his Thing 1 tee shirt and took his Cat in the Hat stuffed doll.
So she has a bit of attitude and this is what I get when I take something away or tell her no:
Naptime project!
Alice said he completed 90% of it on his own!
Their final dinner:
Post-dinner bike ride!
Both kids were in bed when we rolled in about 7:30…and both got a good report overall! Katie has lots of attitude now and Owen had a few grouchy spots but nothing major. Neither missed us, which is a good thing! And Alice wasn’t waiting in the driveway (though she was packed to leave!)…so we consider it a major success!
Miss Alice surprised the kids with chocolate donuts and chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast!
Candyland while Katie was napping:
Katie swinging and singing her ABCs:
VIDEO COMING SOON! CHECK BACK!
Snacks before taking Owen to school! Miss Alice even did Katie’s hair—something she hadn’t done to a little girl’s hair in 10 years!
The view from her lap:
Today’s after-school snack: blueberry seas with goldfish jumping and pear sailboats with teddy Grahams. Too creative for this exhausted mama!
Our friend Alice (actually a professional nanny—though usually for much older kids!) is staying with the kids while we go to Florida. The kids met her about two weeks ago when she came for two nights to meet them and Owen was excited to have her back.
This was the first picture we got on the road—some pre-nap cuddles!
Maggie and the kids enjoying the nice weather, the bubbles Alice brought, and playing swords!
She spoiled the kids with a fun dinner: Owen got a caterpillar hot dog and Katie got hot dog palm trees. Both got strawberry flowers:
And she braved giving Katie yogurt:
My honest first thought was What is she doing to me? Now the kids are going to expect fun dinners all the time?! But my immediate next thought was Oh what a super special surprise that only Miss Alice does! 🙂
Then about two minutes later he was screeching “MOOOOM! She won’t get off me!” 🙂
