Lauren "talking" and Elle demonstrating some dance moves

Spring Fever

The weather has been soo nice the past week, so we've been spending a lot more time outdoors. Lauren got her first experience with grass (her hat's a little big, but all the ones that fit her provide very little protection from the sun--plus, it's Derby week here, so the hat is fitting!):

Sisterly love:

Spending lots of time with her buddy, Sam:

Learning how to play T-ball:

Eating some leftover Easter candy (pink peeps):

Happy Earth Day!

We've been doing a number of projects this week in honor of Earth Day today. I know I still need to update my Easter post, but I wanted to get these up in case someone else wants some ideas! We combined Earth Day week with the letter B, so we still have a lot of things left to do this week, including planting some herbs today and making dirt pudding, making homemade binoculars (with toilet paper rolls), and homemade birdfeeders, and going on a nature walk and doing some plant rubbings with the things we find. We're also going to a local animal sanctuary today, so we'll definitely spend some time enjoying the beautiful planet God gave us!

This was great scissor practice for Elle! We cut strips of blue and green paper into scraps and then glued them onto this Earth template. She loves using scissors, so this was great for her!

This has nothing to do with Earth Day, but Elle put this bowl on her head while eating dessert the other night and she thought she was being soo funny. She couldn't stop laughing!

This is also not an Earth Day activity, but here's Elle doing a transferring activity:

B is for Birds (with Elle's fingerprint birds):

The end product of this one doesn't look that much like an Earth, but Elle still had fun doing it. Basically, you color a coffee filter with blue and green washable markers:
Then, using a spray bottle or dropper, you sprinkle water all over the coffee filter to get this effect:

Easter 2009

I'll update with details on Easter when I get the chance, but I thought I'd share some pictures since I got them uploaded finally!

Kyle's Vacation Week

Sorry I've been so behind on updating, but we've been really busy these past few weeks. I'll try to put up Easter pictures later today also! Kyle had vacation the first full week in April and rather than go on a long trip, which with two kids usually ends up being exhausting, we went to Nashville for a few days and then did a few things around Louisville. It was much more relaxing and made Kyle's vacation seem much longer. So, below are some shots from our vacation week. We went to Bicentennial Park in downtown Nashville, and Elle LOVED this map of the world (mostly she just loved the water). The weather was beautiful, and since we knew it was supposed to be cold the next few days, we also checked out Music Row and ate at the Wildhorse Saloon, before heading to our hotel, the Gaylord Opryland Resort. Elle loved the resort too and would have been content just walking around inside, looking at the waterfalls, seeing the fish, and going up the escalator--I'm still not sure why we ever spend money to entertain her! There was a great outlet mall right next to the resort, so Elle got to ride the carousel and got some new tennis shoes at the Nike outlet (now when I put her other shoes on her, she looks confused/disappointed and says, "Where's the swoop, mommy?"), and we all enjoyed lunch at the Rainforest Cafe. If you've never been, I would highly recommend taking your children if there's one near you. Elle loved it! There were all kinds of animals to watch during lunch and there's even a thunderstorm every 30 minutes. Since it was cold, we spent a good bit of time at the resort, and Elle got to have a lot of daddy-time, swimming in the indoor pool and playing video games. Lauren had fun as well, although she wasn't fond of the car. She continues to be a very easygoing baby!

Once we were back in Louisville, we spent a day at the zoo, and it was so fun to watch Elle enjoy it even more, since she's older now, although she got just as excited about the random birds and squirrels we saw (which again, we did not pay to see) as she did about the real zoo animals. Elle's pretty scared of any animals close-up, so we were shocked when she wanted to go in and see the lorikeets (birds). The birds will land on you, especially if you have food, so we didn't buy any, knowing that Elle would probably freak out if that happened. So, she was fine at first and even wanted to touch the birds that the lady next to her was holding, but then some birds decided to land on daddy's shoulder, and Elle was pretty much done after that. She was mostly just concerned for Kyle though! On a side note, Elle's a pretty cautious child, which I'm sure she gets from me, since I always telling her to be careful. So, Kyle also decided to paint some in our great room on his vacation (I know; isn't he a great husband?), and he had to get on a ladder for some of it. I was out of the room when he first climbed up, so Elle took it upon hersself to warn him, "You better be careful, daddy; you're gonna get a big owie!"