Kate's Second Birthday

On July 23, our little baby girl turned 2 years old! It is hard to believe she is no longer a baby but a little girl. The first thing we did in the morning was to let Kate open up her gifts from us. We gave her a new baby doll that comes with several outfits, a bottle, teddy bear and diaper. She was very excited to receive a new doll and quickly got started dressing it all up and changing it's diaper. A very happy birthday girl! Later in the morning we headed to a local park to have a Winnie the Pooh birthday party with all of Kate's friends. We had 8 kids attend, ranging in ages from 15 months to 4 years old. The kids had a wonderful time running around and playing in the sand. Kate spent most of the time keeping her Dedushka very busy going up and down all the slides.

Cake time! I made Kate a Winnie the Pooh chocolate cake this year. It took several hours to pipe all of the frosting but it was well worth it since Kate was thrilled to see her cake.

Kate loved having everyone sing to her. She felt so special! Kate tried really hard to blow out her own candles, but Will had to give her some assistance.

I also made some gluten-free "honey bee" cupcakes and Kate loved diving into her blue frosting. What a messy face but a very happy girl!

On a completely unrelated note, below are some pictures that my parents took today while Kate visited Gramma and Papa's house while Will and I took a long date to Napa. Before we left we had to get a family picture taken before our family permanently expands. :-)

This is a picture of Kate refusing to put on sunscreen before heading to the pool. Pool time and goofy time...of course!

Quick trip to Fresno

On Wednesday afternoon we headed to Fresno for a quick visit with Dedushka (Will's Dad) and Grammalene. We arrived around 5pm and within 5 minutes of arrival she was already in her swimsuit and ready to jump in the pool and swim with her Dedushka. Dedushka and Grammalene were quite impressed with her no fear of water and her direct personality. The girl definitely knows what she wants!

After swimming and dinner, Dedushka and Kate ran laps around the living room chasing their two little dogs. Kate loved playing with the dogs, Coco and Susie, since they were just her size. Shortly after this picture was taken we all got back into our swimsuits and took another dip in their hot tub, including Kate.Bedtime story with Dedushka! The next day we all took the dogs for a walk in the morning. Kate was so excited to be able to hold the dog leashes. After the walk, Kate played with Grammalene's Tinkertoys and playdough. We also all got back into our swimsuits one more time and took another dip in the hot tub (it was actually pretty chilly for a typical Fresno morning so we avoided the cold pool). After lunch it was time for us to say our goodbyes and head back home. It was a short but wonderful trip!!!

Kate absolutely adores her Dedushka and I am pretty sure he feels the same way. :-)

Kate with her Dedushka and Grammalene. She is so loved!

This video shows Kate showing off her twirling pool skills.

Fun pool lifts with Dedushka

Kate and Dedushka chasing the dogs

Tahoe: Part 2

Kate decided to get up this morning at 6:30am and instantly start to play with the dolls house and accessories. One of her favorite things to do is to shove as many dolls as possible into the family car.
This afternoon we headed over to the lake. We were there for about 3 hours and Kate loved every minute of it. The water was FREEZING but that didn't stop Kate from occasionally wading in. Her favorite activity, though, was playing in the sand. We all helped create a little moat for Kate's toys. The weather was a perfect 77 degrees and sunny. It was a wonderful afternoon.

Kate had to get her hair "all wet" like she does at home in her swimming pool.

I was finally able to convince Kate to take a lunch break after much coaxing.

Tahoe: Part 1

Kate and I are currently enjoying some much needed relaxation in Tahoe while Will holds down the fort in Davis. As a side note, I need to give my husband some HUGE props for all that he has done at home since Kate and I have been gone. He has broken down our universal weight machine in our future nursery and then set it back up in our garage that he had to completely reorganize to even get it to fit. He did it all in one morning with the help of our friend, Rusty (thanks!). He also has gone to the hardware store to buy paint for the nursery and worked out all the details for our painter to come and take care of the room before we get home. He is such an awesome and amazing husband.

Anyway, back to Tahoe....we arrived in Tahoe on Tuesday with Will. Our first order of business was to go and explore the overflowing creeks that surround the cabin. We quickly realized that this was a ridiculous venture unless we wanted to get eaten alive by enormous mosquitoes. On our way back to the cabin (after being outside for 10 minutes) Kate decided to pick some of the pretty wild flowers.

Since we couldn't spend much time outside, Kate had to find ways to entertain herself inside. Here she is modeling my visor.

Will had to head back home on Wednesday shortly after my parents arrived at the cabin. We didn't do too much except play with a cool doll house (cabin toy) and watch Elmo movies. On Thursday, I was hoping to get out of the cabin and my parents suggested going to an indoor pool in Nevada. My sister and I used to play at this pool when we would come to Tahoe as kids. They have made several updates to it since we have been there. One of which is a neat kiddie pool with tons of falling/shooting water. It also only gets to 2.5 feet deep so Kate was able to stand on her own the whole time. Kate was in absolute heaven at the pool. She splashed and jumped around for almost an 1.5 hours. I had to convince her to get out of the pool at 1pm since we still hadn't eaten lunch yet. She was very sad to leave the pool.

Tomorrow we will head to the lake and play in the sand. Kate is so excited to go to the beach. I will try to post more pictures of Tahoe in a couple of days.

Our Fourth of July

We had a wonderful fourth of July this year. This was our 4th annual bible study BBQ at our house. We started out the festivities by going to Will's Uncle and Aunt's pool (thanks Bill and Carol!!!). It was a great way to cool off on such a hot day. After the pool, we headed back to our house for some delicious BBQ and outdoor playtime. Will made some amazing cheeseburgers and brats. Yummy! Later in the evening we all took a short walk to the park to watch the fireworks. Kate loved watching the fireworks and would say "pop" every time a firework went off. We also had the ongoing commentary from local wild turkeys in the neighborhood. After each firework we would hear "gobble gobble gobble"....it was very funny.
Daddy's girls: (from left) Will & Kate, Derek & Zoey, Rusty & Hazel

Kate's slide is always a favorite attraction with all of her friends. Unfortunately one of Kate's friends, Abby, was missing from the party for a bit of time. Abby had a very hard fall at the pool and bonked her head very badly. Her parents had to take her to the ER to make sure she didn't have a concussion. Thankfully she was fine and was able to come back and join the party.

Our big girl!Our friends, Amy and Brenna. Brenna is 35 weeks pregnant (with another girl) and is due two weeks before me. We are very excited for Maggie to have an instant playmate. :-) They guys chillin' and enjoying their beer.

Hazel (almost 3 yrs old) asked me to take some pictures of her so she could look at them. She looked so cute in her little romper. Zoey (19 months) was enjoying a refreshing drink of her water while lounging away.

More slide time! It has been priceless having our "new" backyard! It is so wonderful to have place for the kids to play and for the adults to hang out.