Gearing up for Summer

On Tuesday Emily had her first swim class of the season. She was so excited in the days leading up to it, telling everyone and anyone all about it.






Unfortunately, in a matter of minutes, she went from happily swimming towards the side of the pool to hysterically crying because she went underwater while jumping to her teacher.


She kept crying and asked to get out of the pool, so we spent the second half of the class watching the other kids. After class, I took her to buy goggles, hoping it would help her feel more comfortable going underwater. She picked out a green pair -- her new favorite color -- and was so excited to try them out at her next class. So today she got in the pool with her fancy new googles, and no sooner was she in the pool that she was crying to get out again. This time we spent the whole class watching from the side, so after class I decided to pull her from the class and wait until we can try another parent-child class. We are officially swim class drop-outs!

Hide-and-Seek

It looks like Emily has a new hide-and-seek partner! Kate has discovered one of Emily's favorite hiding spots -- behind the curtains -- and has made it her own. She'll randomly hide behind the curtain and come out with a big smile that says, "Here I am, Mommy!"


Then, once Emily sees Kate playing, well, she just can't resist a game of hide-and-seek!



In other funny doings, Kate sometimes like to walk around while holding up her pant legs. I've been trying to catch her doing it ever since she first did it while shaking her tailfeather, but this was the best I could do:


She gets just as much a kick out of us as we do. Emily and I will start laughing, and she laughs right along with us. We're laughing with you, Kate, not at you!

First School Portraits

These were taken way back in December, and while we received her portraits the following week, we've been waiting on her class picture ever since. We finally received it last week, so here they are!




More recently, at the preschool silent auction two weeks ago, we picked up this picture of Emily in action, playing at the indoor playground. I always wish I could be a fly on the wall and watch her play at school, but I guess this is the closest I'll get!

Off to the Playground

Yesterday the girls and I took the wagon to the playground. It was Kate's first wagon ride, and she loved it! We took it back to the playground again today with Daddy. Kate loves running around and swinging on the swings and sliding down the slides, but she likes trying to climb up the slides even more!





Emily likes swinging on the big swings now, and she's been practicing pumping so she can swing by herself. She also likes practicing her balancing but still needs to hold my hand. She can climb the ladders all by herself now, though!




We got a nice surprise when Caitie came over with her baby brothers. Her Daddy brought a kite, and Emily got to try flying it!







The cutest part was when Emily first saw Caitie walking across the field to the playground. She yelled out, "CAITIE!" and Caitie yelled back, "EMILY!" and they both started running towards each other. The whole day was the best they've ever played together, probably because there weren't any toys for them to fight over!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Dressed in green, our little redheads were really showing off their Irish sides today!



Spring is just around the corner, and we've been spending more and more time outside. Kate was too interested in exploring to sit still for long, and soon enough both girls were off playing.





I just have to watch this one -- she likes to go right for the ledge!

Nostalgia in the Kitchen

I have been wanting to make English muffin pizzas for the girls for the longest time, and since Emily has been more open to pizza recently, I thought today would be a great time to try them with our mini English muffins. Emily was excited to start cooking, and even Kate tried to get in on the action, and I thought maybe, just maybe, I had found something new to add into our lunch rotation.





Not so, unfortunately. For all the fun Emily had making them, she and Kate barely tried them. I mean, I know it might just be my nostalgia talking, but don't they look delicious?!

We Love Paris in the Springtime

It's the theme of the Flower Show this year and probably the closest we'll get to the real thing until the girls are older!




Emily especially enjoyed the little cafés and asked if we could eat in the restaurant. (Lately she has really gotten into eating at "restaurants," which for us usually just means little sandwich shops for lunch.)





Emily also loved the little bridge and searching for fish in the "river."




Kate, meanwhile, liked the carousel, although it was probably just the sparkly lights.




My favorite were the trash silhouettes. Who knew trash could look so pretty?



The girls did so well in the beginning, but they started getting antsy after a little while. Trying to wrangle two kids plus a double stroller in a crowd gets a little tiresome. Next year we're leaving the stroller at home!




Emily perked up once she found a wishing fountain, and as lovely as the Flower Show always is, I think we were all a little relieved when it was time to go home!