Yosemite 2010

Last weekend Scott, Caroline and I headed to Yosemite with some of our friends. We camped but without tents. There were little "cabins" (I use this word loosely) that we stayed in. It was so much fun. The views were amazing and all of the kids did great. We did get evacuated on Saturday night about 11pm due to flooding (and drove home with a chatty little girl who refused to go back to sleep until we got home at 2:30am). Despite all of that excitement, I think we will make it an annual trip!

Trena was smart to bring a small table for the kids to use for meals.
They were so cute eating together.

Trena and Nick

Silly girls (This whole green area was flooded by the
time we evacuated Saturday night)

Hiking to Vernal Falls

We are all still smiling because we didn't realize the intensity of the hike

we were about to take! :)

Finally to the top! We let the kids run around and had lunch there. It was beautiful.

Caroline and I with Jessica and Carter

Vernal Falls

Kisses from my girl

A little beach area near our campsite

Reading books with Grandma Marli

Our campsite

Hiking to Lower Yosemite Falls...a much easier hike. :)

Lower Yosemite Falls. It was so amazing to experience.

The Ahwahnee Hotel where we had lunch on Saturday

Just because

Caroline and I were playing in the backyard yesterday and I took some really great pictures of her. She is really in to the tutu these days (even wears it to bed..Scott takes it off after she is asleep) and it makes her outfit that much cuter.

So pretty

Funny faces!

Waiting for Daddy to get home from work.

Miss Independent

This is the outfit C chose to wear the other day. Notice the pink sparkly shoes. :)

My new toys :)

I have been wanting a Le Creuset dutch oven for a while now and Scott thought I should get one! They were having a pretty good special so I got a skillet to go with it. I love love love my new toys!!

Happy Birthday Caroline!

I am a little late with this post...oops! :)
As you may know, my beautiful little girl turned two last week. The time has gone by so quickly and I just can't believe how much she has grown. Caroline has become such a lovable, sweet and hilarious little girl. Watching her figure things out and try new things is amazing to me. She is talking so much and it is so fun to be able to know what she is thinking at all times(because she is constantly talking!).
So here we go....
At two Caroline:
*weighs 27lbs and is 36 1/2 inches (55th percentile for weight and 89th for height.....tall and thin!)
*is wearing a 2T and size 5 diapers (we are trying potty training but she seems to have lost interest for the time being)
*is a picky eater but can be persuaded to try new foods by offering her a "treat". This can be just about anything she likes...pickles, olives, strawberries, blackberries, cookies, etc. I felt guilty bribing her to eat but Scott calls it negotiating. :)
*is feeding herself with a spoon and fork most of the time
*is speaking in short sentences
*repeats everything!
*knows her colors
*counts and recognizes/identifies numbers to 10 (we are starting to work on 11 and 12)
*Is starting to get the concept of letters. She recognizes the letter "C" (and a few others) as a letter and points them out, but doesn't always remember that it is a "C" (sometimes she calls it an "A")
*is starting to recognize more shapes
*runs just about everywhere
*can jump off the ground with both feet
*is super shy in new situations and with new people
*copes with this shyness by closing her eyes when we walk into a room with new people (If I can't see you, you can't see me!)
*once she gets to know you, she isn't shy at all!
*knows a lot of people by name and asks for them if we haven't seen them in a few days (she is constantly asking for Uncle Brian, Auntie Wendy, Joseph, and Auntie Megan...apparently we don't see them enough)
*loves Yo Gabba Gabba and anything related to the show
*loves reading books and being read to. She is getting more in to "big girl books" (not board books) and is very careful with them so she doesn't tear the pages.
*loves playing pretend...in her kitchen, doing her hair, vacuuming, feeding her babies, changing her babies, etc,
*loves coloring and playing with play-doh

Portable Crib

Grandpa Gary got Caroline a Pack-n-Play for her babies and she cannot be away from it! It has a little mobile on the top and she uses is as a handle to carry it everywhere with her. This was her walking up to take a nap. It took 5 minutes of explaining to her that the baby bed won't fit into her crib with her. We compromised by putting it right next to her crib. (she also insisted to carry it up the stairs all.by.herself.) :)

Ladybug Madness!

We had Caroline's 2nd Birthday Party last Saturday and it was a blast! Scott's mom was visiting and my mom came to stay Friday night and they both helped get things together. I decided that instead of buying a cake this year, I would make cupcakes and it worked out well. Scott made the circles for the cupcakes (and the invitations) so it was a family effort. :) We had a bunch of kids and adults and I think everyone had a good time.

My beautiful little Ladybug

Loving daddy!

Peek a Boo in the bouncy house

Caroline and Brooke

Pinata time!

Loving on her new Baby Stella

Singing on the mic!

Megan and Katie were late (big shocker! :) ) but it ended up working out well because they stayed and had dinner with us. Caroline loved Katie! They kept taking the baby dolls upstairs and pretending to give them a bath. So sweet.

Riding her new scooter

Tough guys in tiaras

Tea Party with Auntie Megan

What a great day!!