New Year...must stay up until midnight!

Emma tried her best to stay up until midnight, but finally gave up her battle and fell asleep on the couch around 10:30.

Frosty D

The Frosty D masterpiece was a group effort! It was a pretty warm day in Madison, so we took to the outdoors. The kids had a blast being pulled around Grammy and Grampy's house on the sled. The fun factor tripled when the adults started chasing the sled.

Madison Children's Museum

Emma had a blast checking out the new Madison Children's museum with her cousins.

the kids table

Emma had such a good time on Christmas Eve sitting at the kids table with her pals Cash and Elias, that she insisted on eating her breakfast there as well.

Big Big Airplane

Emma is showing us a replica of the "big BIG Airplane" that she is going to be riding on very soon when she travels to see her grandparents, cousins and aunts and uncles!

Santa...

came to our house last night, and ate up all the cookies and carrots we left for him. He left a very nice thank you note from the reindeer and himself! That Santa is pretty thoughtful!

First things first...

Emma was a little fuzzy-eyed when she awoke on Christmas morning. When we asked her if she noticed anything different--she looked at the tree, and ran to get the present she helped pick out for daddy. She was very excited at the prospect of daddy being able to play songs for her on the guitar just like her teacher Kathy at daycare. Daddy did not disappoint, and played some of Emma's favorites--The ABC song, and Row Row!

My pal Cash...

came over and played house with Emma today. First a little xylophone serenade before stepping into their newly erected house o' blankets, then into the kitchen to whip up a batch of cookies to share with their company.

Christmas photo shoot 2010

For your viewing enjoyment!

Future pastry chef???

Emma was begging to bake cookies. She enjoyed cutting out the cookies, but was in her element when the sugar sprinkles came out. Here is the artist with her works of (culinary) art.

Banana warrior!

Emma has mastered the butter knife, and conquered the banana. Watch out world!

My Best Buds!

Emma was thrilled to have her two best pals over to play....it had been much too long!

The little mermaid

Emma was a bit timid in the water at first, but then, with direction from daddy, found it ever so fun to dunk her head in the water.

The descent

Emma wasn't a huge fan of the beach this trip---might just have been there was a swimming pool inside, and she just didn't have the time in her schedule to do anything else. She did climb up all these stairs on her own, thankfully, after I subjected her to the torture of the beach!

Aquarium

We decided to take a quick trip to the coast this weekend for a little R 'n' R. Ken and I got married near Newport and haven't been back there since our first anniversary. It was fun to be back in Newport again--and very relaxing to be at the beach. Emma enjoyed our trip to the Newport aquarium. Our favorite sea creature was the jellyfish (or balloons, as Emma liked to call them). However, Emma did rather enjoy getting a high five from the Japanese spider crab---so I guess it was a toss up on who was tops on our list.

Like father, like daughter...

it sure is fun to be a kid again!

Fall Days

Fall is upon us now, and we decided to get out and collect a few colorful leaves before they all wash away in the rain. Amazingly, Emma decided to appease her mother by looking at the camera instead of running away from it. Miracles do happen!

English Muffin Anyone???

Emma thought we were being too silly, calling this bread a "muffin". She just kept laughing, saying..."these not muffins, mommy". They sure were yummy though!

Happy Halloween!

Emma was a little more willing to get into the chicken costume this year...although she still was not down with wearing the hood. After a few houses, Emma was on board and saying, "I want more trick or treats". She had enough of the trick or treating after about eight houses though...so we made it back home in plenty of time to see a few costumed kids at our own door!

Big Al's heaven

We spent Saturday night in a child's heaven. Bowling and arcade games were abundant, and Emma was taking it all in. Lucky for Emma, Ken knows his way around all the games, and was only more than happy to share some of his skills with her.

OMSI

Arts and crafts, water play, and camping all under one roof . Emma had so much fun having her cousin visit.

Preschool Musical

Again, sorry for the side ways video...I just don't have the patience to learn how to rotate the picture. Emma and Isabel are clearly on their way to some sort of musical stardom with this little ditty in their back pocket.

Bouncy x 2

Emma had such a fun time bouncing with Jon and Jon (and mom and dad) last weekend, that she wanted to share the experience with her aunt, uncle and cousin. I think Isabel took a liking to the bouncing as well!

Playground

Emma was very excited to show her cousin around the playground near our house. Uncle Tom got the merry-go-round spinning so fast that Aunt Stacy had to disembark the ride, however the girls seemed to love every minute of it!

Cannon "Windy" Beach

It was a beautiful day at the beach, albeit a bit on the windy side. Luckily our guests from MN are used to weather extremes. Aside from the sand blowing in our eyes, the girls seemed to have a good time playing in the sand, and balancing on logs!

Two peas in a pod

Isabel and Emma had a dandy time playing together during Isabel's recent visit. Emma wants Isabel, 'Tacy, and Tom to come back and stay at her house again real soon!

Breakfast helpers

I had two little helpers in the kitchen today. Both of the girls had so many banana's in their mouth, they had to use their hands to keep them from coming out!

Emma has left the building...

wearing the cute sweater that mommy really likes, and Emma seems to really hate wearing.

Bouncy heaven

Emma had pure joy on her face when she took her first steps onto the trampoline floor at the "bouncy house". Ken, Jon, and Jon, had similar expressions on their faces as well (you can see them bouncing too)! We'll be back I'm sure, as Emma declared, "I go there later!"as we were leaving the building.

Crashing

Ahh....there is nothing better than a Sunday afternoon nap!

The beauty of the mountain

We had such a great time at Trillium Lake last month, we wanted to bring Grammy and Grampy to visit too. We had the perfect day for hiking around the lake, and getting a few pictures to remember the visit. We topped off the trip by having lunch at Timberline lodge, where we enjoyed more clear views of some of the neighboring mountains.