First Day of K

Estelle was a mixed bag of emotions when it came to starting Kindergarten. She said she was excited to go to school but "afraid" of the other kids. I told her they were probably a little nervous about her too. That didn't last long -- within a week she was greeting all the kids in school by name, including the older ones.

School started on a gorgeous September day, which lent itself well to our short walk. Here's Estelle and Aliya (our neighbor) heading in:


With dad


Mr. Davidson's class lines up, and it was time for us to head home. No tears from me -- I was so proud of my big girl!

Montana Memories

Good Lord, I've been delinquent on blogging these days. I started working full time in September and it shows! I'll try to catch us up on the big events of the last several months, starting with our great trip to Montana to visit Erika, Disa and Gunnar in late August. The kids got along fabulously and the parents had some great evenings outdoors with good food and wine. Almost immediately, Disa and Gunnar honored Estelle by inducting her into their "Trampolining in the Buff" club. I have photos but it's probably best not to post those.

We took a beautiful day trip to Flathead Lake, rented a boat and played in the icy glacial lake water. Can you believe this view?



Estelle and Disa had no fear of tubing, but Gunnar mostly wanted to drive the boat.





The kids played, watched movies, went to the park. VeVe was a trooper and loved all the attention from the big kids.



We rounded out the trip with a great hike up to the "M" - here's Disa and Estelle climbing to the top. This made my stomach do flip-flops but these girls were as agile as mountain goats!



Mostly, I loved this trip because I got the best of both worlds -- great family time and time spent with my dear friend. We can't wait to go back (or for them to make the trip to us) next time!

Birthday Bonanza

Estelle had about 3 birthday celebrations this year -- lucky girl! Her first was on her birthday...she took popsicles to Ms. AJ's.


Then, she got to go to the salon and get her nails painted with mom. She picked blue and pink sparkles.

Then, we had a fabulous trip to Montana to visit Erika, Disa and Gunnar (more on that later). We had so much fun, and Erika made the cutest birthday cake ever -- It looked like a giant cupcake!



Finally, we had a little party out at the lake...and mom forgot the camera, so no photos there, but it was still fun to have Anni and Leah help celebrate!

Busy July

This summer has been full of days out at the lake and time with family. In early July, we hit the family day at Centennial Lakes and Estelle got her face painted -- she asked for hearts and stars.


VeVe hung out with grandma.


We had a great visit mid-month with Frank, JC and Griffin making a trip here. Estelle was in heaven with two babies to entertain.



Sisters at the lake...





We wrapped up the month with a trip to the Farmers Market with Aunt Chris and Kelly, while dad and Uncle Kenny golfed. Estelle spent most of her money tipping the musicians.



Life is good!

Togetherness

You'd think Veronica was still too little to "play" with Estelle...you'd be wrong. I'm posting more pictures of the sisters' shenanigans. Here's one of their first bath together...



I walked into their room the next day and found this. Estelle says, "Mom, we're dancing!"



If Veronica could talk, she'd say, "My sister provided the accessories." At one point, she also had Build-A-Bear's thong sandals on her feet but managed to kick them off.

Meet "Pterry"

Veronica is loving the solid foods and has the strangest...hmmm, what shall we call it...approach? She lifts her arms out to the side, leans forward and opens her mouth wide while saying "Aaaaah!" My dear friend, Laura, called her the "Pterodactyl" -- it fits.

Here's grandma feeding her...




Satisfied...finally!

Bathtime is still the best

These make me smile...



Daddy went a bit overboard on the bubbles in this one...

Roomies

Awhile back, I promised to post the before and after shots of the girls' room. They've been sharing since March, and so far so good. I hope you enjoy the photos. Veronica can't really appreciate the transformation yet, but Estelle LOVES her room. I'm posting them in their before-after order...

Before right

After right


Before center

After center


Before left

After left

Dancing and drool

Well, summer is finally here and that means activities are winding down. Estelle had her piano recital a while back, and was the only kid who sang her song while playing it. She also had her dance recital last weekend, and had a blast dancing to "Rainbow Ballerina."



In other news, Veronica is in the "how much can I fit in my mouth?" exploratory stage. See below...

"I wonder if I can fit this whole thing in my mouth..."


"Yeah, it's too much isn't it..."


"This looks like a better size..."


She's still the cutest thing ever. As Estelle says, "She's the most adorable, drool-iest baby in the whole world, mom! I don't want to take her back to the hospital." To which I reply, "Me neither. Thank goodness she's ours to keep forever!"

With all the frills upon it

Gorgeous Easter morning -- Estelle found all the eggs and had eaten half her candy before we even left for church.





Estelle tries her hand at photography





My girls

Wake-y, wake-y, eggs 'n bac-y!

I'm not sure who usually wakes up who, but I often find Estelle and Veronica hanging out in the morning. Often, Estelle will climb inside the crib with a blanket and pillow and some books and "read" to the baby. Looks like on this particular morning, neither one of them was really ready to be up...

H-town and visit with Grandpa LV

Just before I went back to work, the whole family accompanied daddy to Houston, where he had a conference. Lucky us, Grandpa lives there! We had lovely weather, an uneventful plane ride (phew!) and great meals. Here are a few shots...

Nice day at the park



Couldn't get Estelle off the monkey bars



Hanging at grandpa's house



Veronica says "wassup"



At the zoo...Stelly loved the tiger