Mommy's little helpers

We've been busy doing chores today.

Another Evelyn Milestone

Evelyn can now climb the stairs! She is completely fearless. One night she climbed one step and decided that of course she could climb them all. It happened so fast that we didn't even get a chance to record her maiden voyage, so this is a video of her second attempt at the summit. She is spectacular! However, she has absolutely no fear of getting hurt nor any concept of gravity, so she thinks it would be fun to turn around at the top and go down head first. Obviously, this presents a new supervision challenge and we are the proud owners of some brand-new gates to try to make our open floor plan a little less open so she can't sneak upstairs and maim herself while I make dinner.

Smush face

Dancing Drama Queen

Matilda had her first ballet class today.



It was drama from the start. She screamed as we put on her leotard, tights and shoes. She cried as I put her hair up. She sniffled and snuggled her lovies for a while before being ready to take the car trip over to her dance studio. Once we arrived, she was social, friendly, and interested! I was so hopeful! She kept talking about dancing and "music class." Before class started, she was having a great time running around in one of the empty studios.



But once class got underway, it was all tears. I had to sit in with her, and aside from one log roll and stacking up some tambourines, she was not enjoying herself at all. To be fair, there was only 1 other little girl in the class and she was crying too. They sort of just fed off eachother. Even when Matilda did stop crying for a few minutes she would tap me on the shoulder and say "Mama, I still cwying." But we're going to keep trying. We'll give it another go next Wednesday and if that doesn't work out, we'll switch to the (more full) Monday class that supposedly has braver girls in it.



And it was totally worth it--she's so stinking cute in her little leo and ballet shoes!

Baby's Got Back

I went back and forth a little on whether or not to post this picture, but it has been making me giggle every time I see it for over a week now, and I thought I'd share the joy that only my chubby little cherub can bring. I'll post it again when she gets married.

Dancing in a Fountain at Beerfest

We took the girls to visit friends this weekend and went to a beer festival. The kids had a great time playing in the fountains and keeping the heat at bay while the grownups spent some time catching up and tasting micrbrews--a rather nice way to spend a Saturday!

Yesterday was another HOT August day in the Fox Valley. We have been trying to take the girls out early before the heat becomes unbearable. For a change of pace, we went to the Cosley Zoo! It's the perfect size for letting Matilda walk and explore. It is full of animals that she knows--farm animals, ducks, deer, birds, turtles, etc. She even pet a pony and a sheep!
It was small enough that we were able to see everything (at Matilda's walking pace) in about 30 minutes. Then we circled back around and let her visit her favorites again. She was so excited to see all these creatures moving around and doing their animal things. As you can see in the video, nearly all the animals (with the dignified exception of the turtle) were "EATIN'!"
We finished our visit just in time to get some lunch and head home for nap.
Matilda was so excited she was still talking about the zoo and the peacocks and the sheep and the turtle this morning.
With free admission for children and only $3 for adults, we'll surely return for another visit!

August

I'll admit it, I kind of hate August. No holidays, it's super hot, and it feels like it's always been hot and always will be hot.
But, it's still part of summer, and summer is supposed to be fun! So, I turned to Go West Young Mom! to find something new and fun to do.

So, today, we went to the Sprayground on a playdate! The girls had a great time. Matilda took a little while to just size everything up, but before I knew it, she was running all over, trying out the water cannons and testing all the sprinklers and sprayers. The only thing she didn't try was the mist tunnel.

Even Evelyn had a good time crawling around for a while and splashing on the zero-depth rubber "pool" that this is on. After about an hour, the kids were ready for snacks and a little drying off on the traditional playground before stopping for lunch at McDonald's and then heading home for a nice long nap.

Oh, and did I mention the Sprayground is free? Yeah. That's awesome!

I feel pretty

She's 2. She calls my makeup "treasure."



She loves to open up the Caboodles case and look at every little piece.




She picked out that dress to wear for a play date. She looked lovely.

Pizzzzzzzzzzza

This is what happens when Matilda skips her nap. So tired she falls asleep eating her very favorite food.

Now We're Cooking!

Grandma and Grandpa gave this wonderful kitchen to the girls last week and Matilda and Evelyn can't get enough of it! They play with it every single day, and they play nicely together. it's cute as can be and we all love it!

Sisters...

are marvelous playthings.

Pinch?

Get a load of these thighs!



She's totally going to be walking soon.

So Happy Together

As Evelyn becomes more mobile, the girls spend more and more time together, whether Matilda likes it or not! (Usually, she likes it)

Evelyn's First Fish Boil

Evelyn attended her first fish boil over the Fourth of July weekend in Wisconsin. The weather was perfect. The girls had a great time playing outside, hanging out with the grandparents, and watching the fish boil. Then it was time for dinner. If I haven't mentioned it before, Evelyn loves to eat!I brought along some graham cracker pretzels to keep her occupied, but that wasn't enough. As the bowl of coleslaw was passed around the table, Evelyn reached out and grabbed a fist full right out of the bowl and went to town! She ended up eating tons of coleslaw, all her graham pretzels and a little bit of fish. Which evens things out, I guess, considering that Matilda wouldn't touch her dinner.

Oscar The Grouch

She ate avocado. I think she even got some in her mouth. Ed said she looked like Oscar The Grouch. It was turning brown before our eyes. She went straight to the shower after this picture was taken.

Matilda's 2nd Birthday

We spent Matilda's second birthday in Wisconsin at the lake with Grandma, Grandpa and Grandpa Mike. The girls had a great time. In the morning, we woke Matilda up by coming into her room and singing "Happy Birthday" and covering her in kisses. She liked it so much that the next day she started singing it to herself when it was time to get up, and she still does sometimes! After breakfast we dressed the girls up in their party dresses and took tons of pictures outside, just like we did for her first birthday. She has changed so much. After pictures and play time, we opened presents. Matilda received so many nice things--a magnifying glass and kaleidoscope, lots of books, blocks, stuffed animals, play food, a singing cow, Wonder Pets beanie babies, and a really cool police pedal car! After presents, we had a birthday lunch of Matilda's current favorite foods--watermelon and pizza. Then it was time for cake. I made her a yellow butter confetti cake with chocolate fudge frosting. Joanne got a #2 candle and we blew it out together. Matilda was sticking her fingers in the frosting before I could even cut a slice for her. She was not interested in the cake, but loved the frosting. Luckily, Evelyn was more than happy to help eat the cake. It was a great day. That night, after the girls were tucked into bed, Ed and I made chateaubriand with bernaise sauce, chateau potatoes and champagne for a nice dinner to celebrate the Fourth of July and 2 years of being parents.

The whole weekend was lovely, I'll share more pictures soon.

Baby Cage

California

Ed took a trip to California with his buddies in June. The started in San Diego, went to L.A., visited Santa Barbara, drove up PCH1, camped in Big Sur, wine tasted in Monteray, and ended in San Fransisco. I'll let him caption the pictures for you:

La Jolla Cliffs

On Duty

Real manly men in Santa Barbara



Inland California

Salvang, the Danish town. Also, plenty of wine

Camping in Montana del Oro State Park. They warned us to watch out for Mountain Lions

Responsibly enjoying a breakfast beer before climbing the huge rock behind me in Montana del Oro

Elephant Nosed Sea Lions on the coast

We spent 3 days camping among the redwoods in Big Sur.

Climbing to Waterfalls in Julia Pfeiffer State Park

Enjoying a subtle drink in Monterray

a good friend

The California Pacific Highway was beautiful

and terrifying

Bigsby Bridge

A big Redwood in our Big Sur camp site

Posing with said redwood

My only photo of San Francisco, my least favorite town in california.