Splash

Greetings!

Summer fun continues! Jonas and Elsa spent more time with Mari's Aunt Joy and Cousin Amy's family this weekend. Part of the big excitement was swimming in the lake for the first time! We thought for sure that Elsa would be reticent about getting wet and Jonas would jump in like a fish but it was completely the opposite. Jonas obliged and got his feet wet once and Elsa was a water-baby! She and Dan went down a slide into the lake and Elsa laughed the entire way down while Dan screamed.

A couple of days earlier, Jonas and Elsa also had their first experience on a trampoline! Once they realized what it was, they were hooked and had a great time of jumping and falling and jumping and falling...

There was also a trip to the Washington State History museum where we saw the train exhibit and Jonas was in train heaven! "More trains...more trains...more trains!!!"

A great week with lots of adventures: time to feed lambs, go for walks, ride in paddle boats, eat clams!, help take care of air-packs from a recent delivery, and even some nice quiet time to read a story or two.

Elsa and Jonas both received wonderful quilts from Aunt Joy! They love them.

Great week! Great times!

Pictures: Elsa and Grandma Jeanne at the beach; trampoline!; feeding sheep with Quinn; group picture with Uwe; Jonas and Joy; Joy, Jeanne, and Strawberry Elsa Joy; Elsa smiling; floating; out of sequence slide pictures. Videos: Floating; sheep; playing with the quilt; jumping; sliding; helping:); trains; and more trains.

God Bless,

Mari & Dan & Elsa & Jonas

The summer singing continues!

Greetings!

What a great week...so far!!!

Jonas and Elsa had a great time with their extended family this week. Jonas is pictured fast asleep in the arms of Mari's cousin Amy! Nice work Amy--this does not happen very often:). They played and laughed a lot this week and loved spending time with Amy, Uwe, Quinn and Joy.

After spending much of the first two years of Jonas and Elsa's lives sequestered in our house to avoid any aliments, we have tried to make up for it this summer by experiencing anything and everything that might appeal to two and half year olds! We are doing pretty good so far...

This week we found a caterpillar in the backyard that immediately started an interesting battle of wills. Jonas started saying, "Don't touch...don't touch" to Elsa. All the while he was trying to grab the caterpillar with his hands. This inspired Elsa to try to grab the caterpillar even more. Dan intervened and saved the caterpillar from an untimely end. Our kids love finding things and exploring in the backyard! It is so much fun to see.

Our local park hosted a children's entertainer, Eric Ode, this past week too. Mari had his kids in her class many years ago so we were really excited to see him perform. He was great! He brought his guitar and sang for over an hour. Usually at these types of shows, Elsa is waving her hands ten seconds into the first song saying "all done...all done". Not this time. She was hooked and watched, danced, and smiled for the first half an hour or so. When we got home, she immediately wanted to watch his DVD collection of his songs. Two days later, Elsa was still chanting, "ODE...ODE" whenever we ask what music we should play. We love that our kids love music!

Today we are off on another adventure! To the small compact car and away we go go go....

God Bless,
Mari & Dan & Elsa & Jonas

God Bless,

Greetings!

Elsa and Jonas had another full week of adventures! All summer, Elsa and Jonas have been going to different activities at our local library as part of a summer reading program. This week was the coolest yet. Caspar Babypants is a singer who writes very clever children songs. He was great at the library! We got there a little early to ensure that we would have a place to sit. Elsa watched him as he set up and he waved and made fun sounds in the microphone for her. He also chatted with her for a couple of minutes after he was set up and told her that she looked like a tough little girl! She looked at him and then at his CD that was nearby and said, "Caspar Babypants". We all smiled!

Yesterday, Jonas and Elsa had a great time playing, singing, yelling, running to, running from, high-fiving, blowing kisses, and chatting with Mari's Aunt Joy (nice name!), Cousin Amy, Uwe, and Quinn! What a great end to a great week!

Video: Harmonica Time!

God Bless,

Mari & Dan & Elsa & Jonas

The flu bug has returned...

Greetings!
We are a bit under the weather this week and spent much of Sunday recovering from our adventures....

Jonas and Elsa saw a juggler this week! He was performing at our local library summer program and he was a hoot. While he was a little loud and scared the kids a couple of times, they seemed interested in all the action. He had lots of jokes for the parents too to keep us engaged. What a fun outing!

Elsa and Jonas also revisited the tacoma children's museum (and most likely got the flu bug there:)). They built towers and shopped at the pretend grocery store. They had a lot of fun and it is great to have a space like that for them to explore!

Both kids saw their GI specialists this week and got clean bills of health! Both are still solidly on the chart...around the 10th percentile for unadjusted weight! The doctor said again that it was his best decision to not operate on Elsa last year...he and we are just so proud of what she continues to do...eat eat eat!

Our city also has a concert series in the park for kids. We saw a band called "recess monkey" this past week. They were great and the kids were really into to them for 20 minutes or so! Then the siren call of the enchanting slide at the playground lulled Elsa into a mesmerized state and she could not stop herself from wanting to slide and play.

Back to the chicken-noodle soup!

God Bless,
Mari & Dan & Elsa & Jonas

Summer time!

Greetings!

We slept hard the next couple of days after Holden. It is good to play and have fun but we also enjoy getting a little rest too! But Summer is too short to rest for too long!

This week we had quite a few adventures...

The Zoo: We made a spontaneous trip to the zoo and had forgotten that sometimes the animals hide! We did get to see elephants and several other animals. One of the zoo volunteers showed us a millipede up close and personal.

Story Time part I: Our library has a great story time series for kids to listen to books and sing songs. We popped by for the story time and sang "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes." It was great to see Jonas and Elsa not be intimidated by the 35 other older kids at the story time.

Story Time part II: Grandma Charlene accompanied us to a second story time this weekend. This time, special guest "story tellers" stopped by and shared exciting stories with lots of fun voices, sounds, and music. The highlights were Elsa being part of the story time band--she played a shaker and Jonas playing the accordion at the end of the story time. (It is impossible not to have fun when an accordion is present).

Smores and July 4th Boat Parade: Elsa and Jonas made smores after the July 4th boat parade at Lake Lawrence! The parade was a highlight as well but seeing Jonas and Elsa covered in marshmallows was great! The boat parade involved lots of waving and singing. We covered the course in record time this year...a new parade director pushed the engine capacities of all the boats!

Strawberries: Elsa and Jonas went strawberry picking at a nearby field owned by a local teacher. They did not follow the "Pick here--eat at home" mandate set forth by Dan and Mari. Both were a vision of bright red strawberry juice on their faces and clothes. Elsa truly earned her new nickname of Strawberry Elsa Joy.

Summer is great and we have so many more fun things we are looking forward to enjoying and sharing with Jonas and Elsa.

God Bless,

Mari & Dan & Elsa & Jonas

Holden Village 2011

Greetings!

Elsa and Jonas visited Holden Village this past week. They had a blast up in the mountains near Lake Chelan. We were a little nervous about taking Jonas and Elsa on a four hour car ride, two hour boat ride, and one hour bus ride to get to Holden Village but they were champs!

They ran all over the village and had countless fun adventures. Both kept yelling, "outside" whenever we were in our room.

Highlights...

Jonas: He saw a big yellow dump truck up close and personal. He got to ride bikes. He played at Narnia (the school and playground at Holden). He ate ice cream. He saw butterflies. He chased chipmunks. He saw deer for the first time. He saw several school buses. He threw a frisbee. He saw a waterfall! He introduced himself as Apple Jo Jo Bjorne.

Elsa: Sang lots of songs! Saw butterflies. Ran up and down stairs. Saw deer. Chased chipmunks. She painted a rock. She loved ice cream. She saw lots of birds. She read many books at the library. She took a nap on daddy's shoulder on a hike. She saw a waterfall! She waved at everyone. She gave herself the nickname of Strawberry Elsa.

Good times! We are rested yet tired after this wonderful trip.

Pictures: Hiking to Ten Mile Falls; Walking the main street of Holden Village; Lady of the Lake Boat; Sitting on the boat; The yellow dump truck; view from our lodge porch; yellow school bus; hiking. Videos

God Bless,

Mari & Dan & Strawberry Elsa & Apple Jo-jo.