It has been a busy month in these parts. Theo turned two and Clara turned four earlier in the month - we still have Grady to go in a few weeks. We had some birthday parties to celebrate the occasions. I took the kids to Tahoe to meet up with my brother and his family. Grady ran his first 5K and started piano lessons. We went sledding. And there has been so. much. sickness - bleh. Even Besa had to take an emergency vet trip after possibly ingesting some mouse poison (she was fine). Hopefully we are now starting to be on the mend. (Must find wood to knock.) It's been a lot!
Here come the pictures.
Here is our practice snow trip at Mt. Hood. Unfortunately Grady's snow boots didn't arrive in time, and he basically got an ice pack trapped between his foot and his boot. It made for a very short adventure, but the first few slides down were a lot of fun for Grady and Clara. (Theo doesn't much like the snow.)
Theo's Birthday! We often have rice cakes in the car, and he usually requests a "cheesy." When I asked him what kind of cake he wanted for his birthday, he said "cheesy!" so I made him a cheesecake. Grady loved it - Theo and Clara weren't as excited for it. But Clara and Theo both enjoyed Theo's birthday dinner of hot dogs, carrots, pasta and eggs. Theo was also pretty excited by his gifts - including several picked out and partially funded by his siblings, like a baby doll and a big dragon pillow.
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| bunk bed for Theo's new baby |
Theo also got a gorgeous quilt from Grandma, which everyone was very excited about.
Clara's birthday! Clara got to have three birthday parties this year. One for family, one with the neighborhood kids, and one with her entire class. And I do mean her entire class, basically everyone invited showed up (we had over 40 people!). Clara requested cupcakes with chocolate frosting and cherries on them, plus basically a repeat of Theo's birthday dinner.
First birthday party (with the neighborhood)
Second birthday (with the family)
Third, ill-documented birthday with Clara's class
On to Tahoe! We had a wonderful time visiting with Uncle Cliff, Aunt Susie and cousins Brandon and Sara (Sita or Sarita). The backyard was filled with snow, which allowed us to build a snowman, throw snowballs, explore and even do a little sledding. We found a swing and a hidden bridge across the river. The highlight, though, was the lake. Lake Tahoe was only ten minutes away by car and we could not have been luckier with the weather. It was strange to be in snow gear in the morning and in underpants (not me!, the kids!) in the afternoon at the lake. Unfortunately Matt couldn't go, but the kids were very well-behaved, other than the inevitable sleep issues, compounded by all sleeping in the same room.
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| on our way! |
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| Snowman, as constructed by all of us and decorated by Clara |
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| Hidden swing |
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| Tuckered boy |
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| Found crawfish |
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| Night 2 |
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| Clara was the first one across! |
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| The crew |
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| Yup, that's Grady! |
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| Last night |
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| Heading home! |
And some other pictures
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| Planting our new cherry tree |
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| Grady constructed this tiny lego-bot - very tricky! |
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| Theo's going through an "independent" phase.... |
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| Return trip from the vet |
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| Yup, this happened |
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| Clara ran her whole 1K without stopping |
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| pre-race |
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| So proud of Grady! |
