Happy Birthday Z!

Z turned 3 today!  She is such a fun kid!  She is always saying or doing something that cracks us up, and she loves getting that reaction.  When she's not passionately being funny, she's passionately expressing urgency over whatever it is she is trying to say. Which she says very well!  She has a huge vocabulary, and it's so fun to see what 2/3 year olds think about, expressed so articulately.

She spends most of her days tagging along with her sisters playing whatever they are playing.  They both play really well with her, including her in their games and helping her.  Some of her favorite things to do are painting, drawing and playing with clay and playdough.  She recently started drawing people with actual arms, legs, eyes, and mouths, instead of scribbles.  She's trying to write some letters like "Z" for her name.  She always asks us how to spell things, and then pretends to write down what we tell her.

She loves taking baths and helping me with dishes and laundry.  She's totally figured out Netflix and is getting the hang of a few video games and computer games.  She loves swinging at the park and playing in the dirt.  My mom commented the other day that rock collecting must be genetic, because we all do it, and Z has started too!

Some favorite movies/shows are Tangled, Peep, and Strawberry Shortcake.  Some favorite books are Llama Llama Mad at Mama, I Am Hercules and Let's Get a Pup.      

Happy Birthday Baby Z!

L's 4th Birthday

 

L turned 4 on July 7th!  She's getting so big!

I went into labor with her on my birthday on the 5th, and she was born 2 days later.  My first VBAC baby, my lover of all things creepy crawly, my quiet child.  She generous, kind, easy going, and sweet, with a love for jumping off anything high, digging in the dirt, bugs, critters, and swimming.  Happy Birthday, L!

We went camping for her birthday and the 4th of July weekend.  She got to swim in the hotsprings and the cold pool, which is quite a treat since we don't have a pool near our house.  We also hiked to a waterfall where she swam.  She's not *quite* swimming yet, but getting close to swimming under water, and she likes to jump off the side.  

Snakes and Worms and Snails- Oh My!

L with her bug catcher she got for her 4th birthday. 

L has a thing for bugs, snakes, frogs, and pretty much anything creepy, crawly and slimy.  We got her a bug catcher kit for her 4th birthday.  It has the containers with air holes and magnifying glasses to see the bugs better.  She's used it just about every day. 

A snail L caught.

Today L caught a snail and put it in her bug catcher.

L with a HUGE worm she found in the yard.

She also caught this HUGE worm.

A few weeks ago, she caught a frog. Unfortunately, it died, since she has not yet learned to be very gentle with them.  She just grabs them and holds on tight.  She frequently comes to me with a handful of bugs she wants me to hang on to for her, or spiders she's caught by the legs that she wants to keep.

I wish I had a picture of the big bull snake D caught on the day of the eclipse!  It was 4 feet long- bigger than L.  It escaped the terrarium we were keeping it in, and D was trying to catch it with a stick.  L ran up to it, grabbed it around the middle and held it up.  "Here daddy, I got it!" she said.

I love watching her love of all things crawly, but I get a little concerned.  We've showed her the difference between a bull snake and a rattle snake, and we've shown her pictures of black widows.  Still, she's so young, that I don't think she'd remember or have the impulse control to stop herself if she saw either one.  At least she's having fun though!

L's Third Birthday

I can't believe I'm just now getting around to posting this, but I had a lot of pictures to go through. L's birthday was on July 7 and she had two birthday parties. One was a pool party a week early while visiting my sister and the other party was at the lake with my parents on the 4th of July.
It's pretty tough to get a reaction out of her. Her grandparent's hid her bike behind a tree and when she walked back there to see her present she said "Oh" and then rode it a little, but mostly let her sister ride it. But I know she liked it, because she wanted to ride it every day after that until we had to leave it at my sister's house. I'm sure she'll be glad when we can get it back!
She had a blast at the pool- she loves swimming!

My Birthday

My birthday was the 5th, and we went to the beach. The weather wasn't nearly as warm as I would have liked, but other than that, the day was perfect. We went to Cannon Beach, and played and ate a picnic lunch. Then we explored the town, and drove down the coast for a few miles. We found a little dirt road that led up a hill to a cliff overlooking the ocean. There was just enough room for our car, and barely enough room to turn around when we left. The girls had fallen asleep by that time, so D explored the hillside. I laid a towel out on the ground and did yoga, meditated and prayed while watching the waves. So relaxing!


L kept laying down in the sand and "swimming."



Playing in the sand.




E running around on the beach. As you can see, E was the only one in a swimsuit. In fact, she was the only person on the entire beach not in a sweatshirt! :) She wore it from home, and we thought that once she got there and got cold, she'd put on some clothes. After about an hour, as we were walking back to the car and it started to rain, she decided to get dressed.



D buried E in the sand.



A rare shot- I'm not behind the camera!







Cannon Beach



Cannon Beach looking the other direction.



On the way home, we saw the sign for Cooterville. This is the Cooterville City Hall. Aparently it's also the antique/junk store.


We got a good laugh out of this!