Backyard fun

We've been getting some much-needed winter rain these last few weeks. But on Saturday the sun came out so we had some fun in our backyard. Here's Clara enjoying the bench, a ride-on toy, and the plum tree getting ready to make some plums.

more photoshoot

Fruity

Clara loves fruit ("ap-puh!"). Her favorite thing to do these days is to take one bite out of every piece of fruit we give her. Here, she's working her way through the strawberries.

Thirst Oasis

On our drive down from the snow last week we stopped for a little stretch and Molly declared her complete love for this picture. Clara followed as best she could.

Rainy Days

We've been getting a lot of rain this week. We need the rain desperately, but it can be hard to stay inside all the time. So, we bundled up and hit the puddles. We had lots of fun stomping our way around the yard and up and down the block. Turns out Akiva (Clara's superstar daycare provider) had the same idea, but even better. When she took the kids out in the pouring rain today to do some puddle jumping, she layered them with snow clothes under the rain clothes. Everyone was impressively dry at pickup!

Here are some pictures of our rain adventures. And one of Molly plugging her ears from the noisy blender.

Snow Day!

<--(Click on the photo for more snow photos)

We went to the snow on Monday! It was a "planned spur-of-the-moment" drive up to Donner Pass with the girls to get our snow fix. I think Molly & I enjoyed it more than Zach. I know Molly, Zach, & I enjoyed it more than Clara, but she didn't have an entirely bad time. She just didn't like the snow part.

I've been thinking (obsessing?) over taking a trip to the snow for many many weeks now. And Molly's been begging to go skiing (due to a certain Mighty Machines video she watches). But I couldn't figure out when and where to go. This past weekend Zach and I decided that maybe we just needed to make a crazy long day trip out of it (several other parents had told me they sucessfully did it, so we weren't completely mad).

When all the stars aligned on Monday morning we got up extra early and surprised Molly with our plan. We packed the girls up and headed out. There was even a snow storm in progress when we started to get up in elevation. Molly was thrilled watching us put on the chains, watching the snow plows, watching the snow.

Unfortunately our planned destination (a rest stop at the pass) was closed due to the storm. But we stopped at a small ski resort and tromped around in waist high snow and watched the skiers and ski lifts. Molly was alternatively thrilled by the snow and overwhelmed by it. Clara laughed at first, but pretty quickly decided it was not so neat. Luckily she had fun watching from the car and the ski lodge.

After our hot cocoa break we explored a little further and found a really nice Forest Service SnoPark and Molly and I did a little sledding.

All in all, like I said, we had a pretty good time, but it was a whole lot of driving. Next time we'll get our act together and stay over night.

Zoo, stories

Pictures (A lovely day at the zoo with Nana & Pa): Molly & the alligator; Molly on the sparkly car ride; Molly & her friend the tortoise; Molly & her friend the frog; Molly in a tortoise shell; Molly & Nana and their friend the tortoise; Clara, not quite tall enough for the rides yet.

What the girls are up to:

Molly
In the last few weeks Molly has gotten into listing things. Many of her lists come in fives. For example:
Molly: "When I grow up I'm going to be five things: I'm going to be a mother, a doctor, a pilot (or copilot), Akiva [Clara's daycare provider], a construction worker, and truck driver. Is that five?

Molly's 5 kids (She told Nana: When I grow up I'm going to be a mother and I have five kids in my belly)
Elmo, Big Bird, Bert, Ernie, and ?

We've also started trying out board games - I got Candy Land at a yard sale and she's mostly enjoyed it. Although when she won she was excited, but then disappointed that the game ended. She asked that we keep playing until we both made it to the castle.

She's also trying to figure out all this competition stuff. She likes shouting "I won!", but is almost as excited if she can shout "you won!". The other day when we were walking home from the farmer's market we would "race" to the next corner. She liked deciding who would win each time. Races often ended with "I won! I won! ... Now this time you win."

Clara
Clara on the other hand has been practicing a lot with "No!". It came on suddenly about two weeks ago. One day when I chose out her shirt she said "No!" and hasn't really stopped since then.

She also has a lot of other words, and a lot of very expressive sounds. And she still loves dancing and listening to music, and anything her sister does. Except when her sister sits on my lap. Or takes her toy. Those things now get the "No!" treatment.