Nana Time!

A few weeks ago we discovered we have a "backyard"...the grass around our building!  The girls really love playing there now.  Nana Judy came for a visit recently and let Matthew and I go out for a couple of dates...she also took the girls to the backyard and they all discovered the sprinkler!  The next day we tried it out together.

 Therese wasn't so sure about the sprinkler when it shot water out really high...

 Bathing beauties :-)

 Sidewalk chalk!  Pretty much a daily occurrence.

 Nana Judy and Greta.

Making funny faces together!
Last weekend we visited Judy and Hans at their place in Tacoma...unfortunately Judy's camera was out of order and WE neglected to get any pictures of our own!!!  We had a great time, though.  The girls loved trying to find the cat...Therese now says a kind of "CCCCCCCC" for cat, and was always a bit sad when she saw the cat and THEN it hid from her!  One day Aunt Melissa, Uncle Kristen and cousins Ida and Poppy came over for a BBQ.  It was so fun to see the girls playing altogether!  The twins are talking so much more and looking more and more like little girls...not toddlers anymore.  I got lots of snuggles from Poppy, and Matthew and I spent some time reading to both of our sweet nieces. 

Also last weekend, we visited my mom and Shayne.  Greta said "I've missed you!" and "Can I live here?" to Nana Kaka!

Eating smores in the backyard...
If Greta ACTUALLY lived at Nana Kaka's she'd come to realize very quickly that ice cream cones and smores do not happen every day :-)

I hadn't had smores in awhile...I used to have them every summer growing up at my Grandma Mom's. It was fun to eat them with my girls!

 Therese enjoying her treat :-)

 Wearing Nana Kaka's jewels!

 So cute!!!

 And more fancy's!

 Greta got the dangly earrings :-)

 Knitting with Nana Kaka...Greta informed her that she would like a green sweater please :-)

Reading the funnies with Grandpa Shayne!

Preschool!

Here she is, on the first day of preschool!  Greta chose this outfit completely.  Take note of the silver ribbon tied around her waist, the necklace, the bracelet, the pink marker stain on her nose!!  She DID want to also wear clip on earrings, a ring, and a headband, but I was able to talk her out of it :-)
Greta was really excited (and a little bit nervous) for her first day.  We signed her up for preschool at our old church, where she is used to attending a playgroup--she is already familiar with the environment and knows a couple of the children.  When I left her there, she was happily playing with a doll house! I gave her a kiss and she let me go easily...I was actually kind of surprised!
She will only go two mornings a week, and for the first couple of weeks the sessions are shorter.  I think she will enjoy it!  My little baby is really growing up!!! Slow down!

Ready to go into the preshool...but mama had to snap some more photos first :-)  Notice the more sensible footwear she's changed into?

To Grandpa and Grandma's We Went!

This past weekend we went to Grandpa Dan's and Grandma Linda's.  Here's Therese smelling a flower near the restaurant we had brunch at by the water in Gig Harbor.

Greta playing in the fountain by the restaurant.

We enjoyed some nice weather and had fun on the back deck and in my dad's beautiful back yard!  Therese found these balls hooked to ropes, which were part of a game.  She spent much of the weekend carrying them around!

TT and the balls.

The swing is always fun...we didn't get pictures of the girls on it, but they did have a nice ride with Grandpa on it :-)
Grandpa also set up his big tent in the backyard, which the girls really enjoyed playing in.

Getting flowers for their hair...

Oh, I love this photo!  Greta had such fun with Grandpa..she knows he loves to PLAY!!

Little flower sisters :-)

Behind their fence is a "forest" and there are blackberry bushes.  The girls LOVED picking blackberries back here, and ate so many!!  It was by far the highlight of the trip for the girls! Therese kept saying "Mo!" and also got pretty good at finding and picking ripe ones all by herself.

We also got to see Great Grandma Hope and Great Grandpa Harry.  It had been a year since we'd seen them...that's the longest I've gone without seeing them in my whole life! Wow.  Anyway, as usual, Grandma Hope had gifts for the girls :-)  Little lambs and outfits.

We tried to get a good picture of the girls in their new outfits with Great Grandma...this is the best we could get!!!

Playing in the kitchen with Grandma Linda.

Grandma Linda kept the girls very entertained while we got ready to head back for home on Sunday night :-)
We had such a great visit!  Really, it was quite memorable, and we look forward to next time we get to stay with my Dad and Linda.

Dates!

Over the weekend Judy came for a visit, and Matthew and I went out on TWO DATES!!! They were just what we needed.

Pink Martini is probably my all time favorite band...I just love them.  Here we are at the Orpheum downtown, waiting to see the second half of the show.  Matthew met me downtown after work, and we were all spiffed up together for a night on the town! We had drinks and food, then the show, then dessert and lots of walking around enjoying the warm summer night.

The necklace I'm wearing was Nanny's (my great grandmother's). Pretty fancy, ha?

On Saturday night we, just Matthew and I, went to the Richmond Night Market.  It is quite well known and we'd never been.  There was quite a lot going on there!  LOTS of amazing food for sure...and very representative of how "multicultural" this little part of the world is.

At the market there was this section with all these beautiful lit-up trees, and wishes people had left on them.

A view of the market...it really doesn't do it justice.  There were SO MANY PEOPLE THERE!!!  It was great to have these new experiences together, just the two of us.  So refreshing.  Thanks Judy! Now, who wants to help us out next? We'll need another date soon :-)

Some Summer

Summer berries may be involved in this photo..."Mo! Mo!" Therese has learned to say.

So cute :-)

The girls love the sunny spot in the living room in the morning.

A couple times this summer we've visited special parks and then Granville Island, via public transit, while also having a water taxi ride across the Georgia Straight.  Here's Greta climbing at a park downtown before riding a water taxi later in the day.

Our little rock climber.

This spinny thing is really fun!!!

The girls LOVE the swings.  Always. (Although TT's face here doesn't really reflect that, does it?!)

This downtown park has a beautiful water feature.  Many children were enjoying splashing around, so Greta couldn't help herself!  Soon she was SOAKED!

Popsicle time! 

Aunt Jenny got Greta this outfit two summers ago...it looks pretty adorable on Therese now.

Polka dot dappa daddas (Greta's old word for pajamas!)

One morning recently Greta was on a mission to create a "snuggle time" place in the living room.  It involved using many, many, many blankets and pillows!  She was quite the organizer and was really focused on this project!

The girls play together so much.  They really love each other :-)  Tonight in the bath Greta decided to wash Therese, and then Therese washed Greta!

Greta is in charge usually...

Snuggle time!!!

A couple weeks ago we had a Friday night movie night and watched Milo and Otis--a great movie about a pug nosed pup named Otis and a marmalade cat named Milo.  Ever since then Greta has been Milo and Therese has been Otis.  Here the girls are re-enacting a scene in the movie where one of them rides down a river in a box.  Whenever I sing the theme song to the movie now, Therese stops what she's doing and says "Eh!! Eh!!" and starts dancing :-) If the TV is anywhere nearby she also points to the TV if she hears that song.

Visiting a park near our neighborhood recently.  This park, Dunbar Park, also has sprinklers.  But the girls mostly like running around in the grass there :-) Here Greta is getting ready to RUN!!

Cute little Therese.

Digging around.

Greta loves this tree.

Playing hide and seek!  The girls often hide in the same spots over and over again, and Therese really gets into covering her eyes when I count :-)

On a recent beach trip we had planned the weather didn't quite cooperate...but the extra snuggles were enjoyable :-)
I've got more summer fun pictures to come...and we are looking forward to heading to the Seattle area for some family visits--we haven't ventured that far since Christmas!!!