Almost Two!

Last weekend we took a mini-vacation down to Fort Collins, Loveland, and Denver. We got to play at lots of really good parks, eat yummy food, and visit our friends Mandy, Bob, and Declan and Keri, Satchmo, and Emma. Then Sunday we headed down to Denver and had our first trip to the zoo! We were pretty entertained for about an hour or so, but then we became more interested in the landscaping and rocks. Mommy and Daddy were so busy following us that we hardly got any pictures. I guess we'll just have to plan another visit...

If you are keeping track, we turn two on Friday, May 29! We are very excited to be reaching this milestone. A lot of opportunities open up when you reach such an age. For example: tricycles. Great-grandma Kovacs generously purchased two tricycles and two helmets for us for our big day. Yesterday we drove to Laramie to pick them up at Wal-mart. While there, we decided to visit the Wyoming Children's Museum, which turned out to be super cool because you can touch EVERYTHING there. They had big, real stuffed animals, a live white feret, and all sorts of hands-on exhibits. We also stopped to have lunch at a deli and Mommy and Daddy are realizing how much easier it is getting to go out to eat with us. How exciting!



We just bought a new tent for our upcoming summer camping trips and we had to test it out. Mommy and Daddy's 2-person tent just wasn't going to cut it. Now we have a nice 5-person tent and there is plenty of space for Taffy!





Check out the static!





Linnaea crammed herself into the cargo section of our stroller. I was quite amazed that she fit into such a tiny space.





This is in Old Town Square in Fort Collins. We were waiting for our sushi take-out and got to walk around and play on the animals.





Elise made friends with a big bear.





Their favorite exhibit was the penguin habitat. They had been looking forward to seeing the penguins, and they ended up being able to get really close to them.





"Dekker", Bob, and Mandy.





Trying out our new sleeping bags.





Elise is REALLY good at jumping.





At the Wyoming Children's Museum.





Elise really liked the bear.





We love sitting on our trikes but need lots of pedal practice.





This morning I gave Linnaea her first haircut. Doesn't her bob look adorable?

Applesauce?

Elise is talking SO much lately. I like to say that she talks so much that sooner or later the right thing comes out. And she really has been combining words left and right. She even combined 4 words this weekend! Her favorite subject to talk about is Daddy. Daddy work. Daddy home. Daddy drink. Daddy eat. Daddy done. Daddy blue car. Bye blue car! Bye Daddy blue car! The last was her recent 4 word combo. She also LOVES to do things by herself (put on shoes, clothes, buckle her car seat, etc) and then say "all by self!" which sounds a lot like "applesauce." At first I thought she had an unusual applesauce obsession. Linnaea likes to read books and pretend she's saying all the words right. She can combine 2 or 3 words, but she doesn't do it frequently. We don't know if it is laziness or if she knows she can do it so she's bored with it already.

For Mother's Day we decided to try a one mile hike. The first hike we tried, Ranger Lakes, was closed for tree removal. The second hike we tried, Beaver Lodge, had a flooded bridge so we could not access the trail. So we just played around a service road and looked for birds and squirrels and juniper berries. Then it started to snow, so we packed it in.

The weather has been really nice lately. Well, nice for North Park, Colorado. That means the temperatures are in the 50's and 60's, but it is windy EVERY SINGLE DAY. So sometimes this makes it feel pretty cold, but if the sun's out it's not so bad. Thursday we're driving down to Fort Collins to visit some friends, do some shopping, enjoy warm temperatures hopefully, and eat some good food (mmm....sushi!). Then Sunday morning we are going to head down to Denver and have our very first visit to the zoo. I am extremely excited and it is all I can think about. I've talked about it with the girls and they love to hear about the animals we will see, but I'm not sure they really understand yet. So be sure to check back next week for some great zoo pics.

Moose and Play Dough

We've been leaving Taffy's food on the floor more to try to teach the girls not to touch it. It hasn't been working very well.





I decided the girls were old enough to play with play dough, so we made a batch this week. Elise is a little scared of the mixer, so at first Linnaea was the only one brave enough to get close. We found a really good use for the old T-shirts Grandma Sue gave to Kevin and were too small for him: smocks! Of course, we can't do anything without our snow boots on.





Elise gets some courage and comes over to help.





Our first play dough. I accidentally dumped too much food coloring in it so it was red, not pink as originally intended.





The project would have been hugely successful had I not left the food coloring on the counter.





On Wednesday, Elise and Linnaea refused to take a nap. Around 4:oo, they crashed HARD into their easy chairs.





Today we took a field trip to the Moose Visitor Center at the Colorado State Forest State Park (yes, that is the name of the park and not a typo). It's about 20 minutes from us, straight into the mountains. They had lots of hands-on displays and a big moose made of barbed wire out front.





Daddy puts on the moose ears.





Elise gives them a try.





Learning about the environment.





Elise is a really good flipper.





Linnaea gets to touch fake moose poop.





There were a TON of birds and chipmunks at the bird feeders in back of the center. Elise gets a peek with the binoculars.





It was in the 30's and snowing a little bit.





Elise said,"Big moose!"

Goodbye, Rosie!

Today I had to take our beloved dog, Rosie, to the vet to be put to sleep. She was a central part of our lives for almost 9 years. We adopted Rosie and Taffy in October of 2000. I had just gotten my job at STA Travel so we knew we'd be staying put for a while. I talked Kevin into going over to PetSmart to look at the dogs up for adoption from local shelters. As soon as I saw Rosie and Taffy, I just knew we had to take them. They had been abused and abandoned, and when they found Rosie she had almost given up. They had to keep them both at the shelter for almost 2 months since they were in such bad shape. Kevin didn't want two dogs, but I convinced him that they would keep each other company while we were at work. I remember in those first few months we would watch them for hours as they wrestled and played. It was so amusing to us. It was a hard time, too, because since they had been abused they were so scared of other people. But eventually they came around and we had so much fun walking them all over Gainesville, taking them hiking to San Felasco, and taking them with us to visit our respective parents in Tampa and Jacksonville. They truly were our kids. We moved to Colorado in 2003, and those were the best years of their lives (even though Taffy is still with us, those were definitely her best years, too). Our first year out there we lived in an apartment adjacent to an enormous city park. Rosie got to go there almost every single day. She and Taffy would run and tackle each other. Well, it was Taffy doing most of the tackling. Then the house we bought the second year was 4 blocks from a nice park, and we went there almost every single day, too. We took them hiking on trails that allowed dogs off leash, and they had the most fun ever. When we moved back out here in August, I started taking Rosie and Taffy hiking again. We got to go on several before I noticed Rosie wasn't recovering as well as she used to. She was standing funny and dragging one of her feet. That's when she was diagnosed with neuro mylopathy, a disease that causes her to lose feeling in her legs, and ultimately the ability to walk. So these past few months her condition deteriorated so rapidly until this past week, when we realized she was only walking about 5% of the day and was losing bladder control. So I wanted to post some pictures of her in the good old days, because that's how I want to remember her.



Rosie enjoys getting her butt kicked by Taffy.





On one of her favorite days at the park.





Chilling on the couch.





One of the rare occasions she got the Frisbee from Taffy.





She didn't care much for balls or Frisbees, but sticks were a good substitute.





Her favorite position on the couch.





She loved the snow so much.





Another happy day at Roland Moore park.

More Fun in Walden

I can't figure out why this text is underlined or how to turn it off, so bear with me. New words and phrases learned recently include:

bump
like
sauce
beets
Ernie (they went from saying "E" to "Ernie")
wheel
go away
mommy help
toothpaste
hold


Hang on, Marty. We're going back...to the future!





Look how long Elise's hair is getting! She has the cutest little ringlets on the ends. I just know when she gets her first hair cut that it will be the end of her curly hair.





Mommy and Linnaea.





The new fashion trend in Walden: a bikini and snow boots.





Brushing our teeth on our new pink potties. I think that was the last time they sat on them. They were interested for about a day but have not wanted to sit on them since.





Elise set up her bunny and bear to eat lunch.





We're practicing going camping. We hope to camp a few times this summer so I had the girls practice sleeping in their tent.





Peek a boo!

Clarification

I thought I should clarify a point I made in my last post, and add some details I forgot about. The girls will be starting day care on June 2. The day care in Walden requires they be two years old.

Also, I forgot to add a bit about the songs Elise likes to sing. Her newest favorite is "la la la, Elmo Wor!" (translation: La la la la, la la la la, Elmo's World...) She also gets really excited when she has Grover on her diaper and chants "Elma, Gogee, Elma, Gogee!" because Elmo is on the back of the diaper. Her other favorite song is the Do Ray Me song from The Sound of Music. When we drove to Steamboat last week to take Grandma Sue to the airport, she sang "Do me me! Do me me!" the ENTIRE way.

That's all I forgot! I hope you enjoyed thoses stories.

Waitin' on a Sunny Day

So here we are, still in winter. Sigh. We were teased by temperatures in the sunny 50's earlier this month but lately we've had lots of snow and even if it does get up to 50, it's freezing. I've decided to put the girls into day care two mornings a week and we are all very excited about it. On one of those days it was warm, we visited the park at the same time as the kids from the North Park Child Center. Elise and Linnaea had the BEST time playing with the other kids, and there are 3 two year olds to make friends with. When the group had to leave, Linnaea burst into tears and Elise tried to go with them. So I think they are ready for some socialization and mommy-free time. They really have been doing so well with learning words, colors, and letters. I estimate they know well over 100 words by now. We're still working on counting to three (we're stuck on two). And I think Linnaea is ready for potty training. Twice this week she's grabbed one of her bath bowls, sat on it, and said, "Pee pee! Pee pee!" So we've got two pink potties coming in the mail from Grandma Sue. Photos to follow.



Swingin' at the park on one of the "nice" days.





Playing dress up.





A picture of Linnaea with a smile--no eye squinting! Her pacifier is her bunny's tail.





Elise channels Olivia Newton-John circa "Let's Get Physical."





The future's so bright, I've gotta wear shades...





Wearing mommy's boots.





Elise truly loves all things music.





Elise explores at the wildlife refuge. We saw lots of poop that day but no animals.





Walking towards the bridge at the refuge.





Linnaea picked this outfit out all by herself.





Today they dressed themselves again. The backpack is Elise's standard accessory.





Linnaea's ready for the beach!





Grandma Sue reads about clownfish.





More dressing up. Linnaea loved Grandma Sue's shoes because they didn't have backs--easy to get in and out of!