Cousins

Before our trip down to Seattle to see Ida and Poppy, Greta decided she needed some special time with Penguin. She set him on a chair and then climbed up on her table. Thanks to a little help from Papa, it was now tea time!
Also before our trip, Nanny Kathy and Grandpa Shayne came for a visit (too bad I didn't take any pictures!) They went out to parks, did some shopping, got treats, and played a lot together. Thanks for looking after her while I went to work, Mom and Shayne!
For Father's Day weekend we went down to Seattle to visit Grandpa Paul--who was up from Arizona--and we spent some time with our nieces Ida and Poppy. Greta had met her cousins when they were only a few days old, but this time she got to hold them and love on them properly. We stayed in a (fancy!) hotel with Paul, and Greta had a blast exploring it. Here she is eating cheerios in the lobby, on her special throne.
Yum Yum! (I tried to delete this photo from the post, I guess it's not that great, but alas, I couldn't get it to work...so you're stuck with it.)
Whoo Hoo! Fancy furniture! This lobby was such a great playground on a rainy Seattle weekend. We had hopes of going to the zoo, but this was probably just as fun for Greta :-)
Mission accomplished. Greta loves to climb on everything now!
Having fun with Grandpa Paul. She even gave him a real genuine HUG over the weekend, complete with an "Aaoooh"...it was so sweet to see :-)
Being gentle with Cousin Ida. Greta knows the word "gentle" and practices it often--she says "Gehnt".
With both Ida AND Poppy!! So much baby!!! Greta was really into her cousins. She was very, very careful with them and loved to hug them and say "Aaoooh". I kept referring to them as her cousins, and soon she would point to them and say "Cuuu" excitedly :-)
Back at home with both feet in a bucket. Amazingly, she kept her balance and made her exit from the bucket gracefully.

Today at the park a friendly little boy and his dad shared their bubble makers with Greta. She loved watching the bubbles float into the sky!
Look closely and you will see she has her fancy, shiny, black patent leather shoes on at the park. Lately when I ask her to get her shoes she chooses these every time--no matter if others are more easily accessible! So I just let her wear them, because they'll be too small for her soon anyway...!

Special news: we are moving downstairs to a smaller apartment in our building. We LOVE our apartment so much, but for Matthew's last year of school we need to spend less money on rent. Fortunately we found a way to move easily--just downstairs--to a cute apartment on the ground floor (it won't get so hot in the summer, and we won't have so many stairs to manage!)
This will mean less space for all of us. But we'll make-do! It's nothing that we can't manage with a little character and creativity (and a dash of "nesting" on my part)! We hope our next move will be to a comfortable house where we can really make a home for longer than 1.5 years!!! :-) Yes, this will be our 3rd move in 3 years. We're getting good at packing, I guess. But we love our neighborhood and building, and are so glad we don't have to leave it just yet!