Tim bought a new toy at a garage sale. It is a bike trailer that the girls can’t seem to get enough of. Our longest trip was only a 30 minute ride tonight down to greenlake and around. Mostly Tim has taken the girls around the block when Kayla asks to ride in the “wheelchair”.
Oma and Opa braved the March weather to visit us here. They were kind enough to indulge me in a trip to the Arboretum (even in the freezing cold seattle weather). We were rewarded by the blooming azaleas and a brilliant Magnolia or two.
Julia brought out the charm and was a total happy little lover, handing out hugs, kisses and smiles all over the place. She and Kayla both enjoyed their Oma and Opa. Kayla was loving playing the board games that her mother never quite can manage to play with a one year old around. I think she actually started playing some of the games the “right” way towards the end of the week.
This weekend was Easter, and our street had its annual easter egg hunt again. Kayla was more into it this year and came home with a crazy amount of eggs. Julia gathered an egg or two, but mostly had fun shaking the eggs.
I wanted to mention the increase in Julia’s language. She has said several words now, most of which are not super clear but still words. These include: Kayla, banana, bowl, book, dog, cat (sounds the same as dog) and ball. Some words are very clear: up, dad, mom, hi, and the new cute favorite, uh-oh.
I declare today the day that Julia stood alone. She has stood alone a bit before today, but this was pretty solid and a longer duration. Each time she let go of me, she stood for a bit and then would take a couple of steps towards me. They were sort of the falling into me steps, but pretty exciting nonetheless. She signed “more” asking to do this repeatedly. Kayla got in on the action and wanted Julia to walk towards her too. Mostly it ended up in one giant hug but super sweet it was. The photo is of Julia before she turned herself around to sit on the potty. That is her new thing lately too. She won’t do it diaperless, but seems to be having fun with the maneuvering around to get to sitting on it more than really understanding what a potty is for.
We headed back up to Hope Lodge early tuesday morning. We stopped at the ski area first and were treated to a fresh 16 inches of new powder! I had the first hooting and hollering runs. I was not the only one out there making noise. I heard shouts of joy coming from all over the mountain. The next few days were spring conditions, but it was all pretty darn amazing.
I included a couple photos of the inside of Hope Lodge so you all could get some idea of it. The large windows are in the big sleeping loft. We had fun with the Schaubs and the 4 little girls.
Next was Scottish Lakes for some backcountry fun. We didn’t venture much further than the hill behind the camp (Wild Bill Hill), but that was plenty of exercise for me. The girls (and the adults) had such a fun time sledding. Kayla was quite the screamer, and seems ready for the amusement park rides with that scream. We borrowed a youngster pair of skis up there and Kayla got to try out walking around in the skis a couple times. She asked to do it again so it must have been fun.
The snow here was nearly perfect for my snowboarding, and if it didn’t take 25 minutes to walk to the top of Wild Bill I’m sure I would have done it repeatedly. We all enjoyed the snowmobile rides up and down from high camp though we were happy to get home too. There were bits of minor crankiness from the girls (myself included), but for several days of missing solid naps and such, it’s to be expected. All in all I had a great time on the trip.