Construction entrance

Some people on our street may not like that we are the construction entrance for the work going on at the seminary. For a little one, however, it is awesome!  We see big trucks every day and she thinks it's so cool.  Today we watched as a man loaded a machine on a big hydraulic flatbed.  It kept us occupied for at least half an hour.  He was so nice and offered to let her sit in the big seat and honk the horn!  We tried but it was a little too high for her.  She did stand next to the big tires to see that they were bigger than her. 

She wanted to watch the big truck

I like our reflection in our door here

My favorite part of this picture is the little hand on my leg

Yellow Bus!

We looked out the window at just the right time and saw the yellow bus taking a break from it's route.  It was so great!  She is holding the letter Grandma & Papa sent her because she loves to read their letters!

Sweet girl in her feetie pajamas

Monday Funday

We did bubbles to keep Violet away from the babies so they could sleep.

Sweet Margaret!

What a sweet smile :-)

Sleeping Nora

She was smiling but then I think the camera scared her...

Violet thinks it's fun to play "big girl in baby stuff"

She's actually only a few pounds over the weight limit for this carseat - but way over the height limit!

Besties!

Jake, Ella, and Violet held hands like this for about 10 minutes.  It was all their idea!

Having fun!

Catching up

We made fake snow with our playgroup.  It was amazing!!

Violet and Jake climbing up so high at the Magic House.

planking with her baby

Self portrait: 4 girls.  I had Nora in the Moby wrap, Margaret in her carseat in the stroller, and Violet held my hand.  We all needed a little fresh air and this was the only way I could manage everyone. 

Little Gym

 We started going to the Little Gym again and Violet loves it so much.  She loves seeing her friend Jake there every week and learning new ways to test her gymnastics skills.  This week she got to do lots of things all by herself and that's pretty much her favorite thing to do. 

She was encouraged to walk up the beam all by herself and she really liked it!

The kids are all so cute!

She LOVES to hang on the  bars!

Every time the kids were supposed to be singing songs on the big red mat, I'd turn around to find her leisurely hanging on the bar.   We need to install one of these at home :-)

Kalahari!!!!

 This year's Kalahari trip with the Steffey family was even better than could have imagined!  Violet slept well, traveled well, and ate well.  The waterpark was warm and the rides were better than ever.  A visit with some old friends made it extra special.  This is definitely an annual tradition that we will continue for many years!

Demonstrating her flexibility by kissing her knee!

This picture makes my heart smile :-)

On our way to Bloomington - she helped take this picture of me

Violet took some very artsy shots all by herself

Love how you can see her reflection in the mirror

Playing with her birthday buddy Jordan

Super cute kiddos!

      All 4 friends and 5 kids!  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Flashback to last  year's photo

Entertaining ourselves in the car with pretzel hands

We stopped at the Great Dane brewpub in Madison, Wisconsin.  It's one of Nate's favorite places and it's well worth the detour.  Violet loved being able to run around.  They even gave her a yellow balloon!

Yay!

It was a fun lunch stop :-)

At Kalahari and ready to enjoy some pool time

The 85 degree waterpark felt so nice!

Laser tag is not for the faint of heart.

Even Riley was scared of me!!

No trip would be complete without some "Deal or No Deal" action. 

Violet was spoiled with lots of Grammy, RiRi, Papa, and LoLo time :-)

Super cute family picture!

Work it, girl!

As we predicted, she loved being in the water.  She was so calm and content.  She really loved going up and down the waterslides in the toddler area.  She got very brave and we were all so proud!

Ski ball!

So fun to be all together.

Ice cream!

Cutie in a bathing suit

You guys!  Nate did this amazing capsule body slide and loved it.  Can you see him coming out of the orange tube?  You stand upright in a capsule and the operator pushes a button and you fall straight down and then twist around a super fast body slide until you come flying out of the tube.  If you know me well, you will not believe that I did it, too!  It was crazy awesome and mega scary.  So glad I tried it :-)  We pretty much did every single ride in the place.

Swimming wears you out

Playing whack-a-mole.  Notice the swim diaper and bottoms on over her pants.  She insisted on wearing them and put them on by herself.  Over the course of the trip she started saying "by myself" and "Vivi hold it/do it" and others.  Whoa, independent girl!

A little DDR, of course!