Kate Turned 3!

Last weekend Kate turned 3 and we celebrated by taking her hiking with friends. Not just any kind of hiking, but hiking up Candy Mountain (otherwise called Franklin Falls). As Kate, Willow, Hadley, and Aiden hiked up the trail they discovered candy that grew on the mountain. They were of course prepared with buckets for collecting said candy. They also had festive walking sticks to help them along the "rigorous" 1 mile trail. The kids made it all the way to the thunderous finish of Franklin Falls where our "candy growers" were waiting patiently. Thanks Turner Family! We weren't done yet, the promise of Bento boxed lunches lured them back on the trail to head back to the cars. Here is a recap of the morning:



All of this fun was preceded by getting a bike from Gigi, Papa Scott, and Aunt Skyann in the morning. Scott and Kate went to Kate's first theater movie: Shrek in 3D at the Imax, she LOVED it! We capped off the day with dinner with the Bennitt's and some more presents. And cupcakes of course. The hike was the following morning. Whew, what a great birthday weekend!

Paint Fiasco

A simple activity of finger painting turned into one tipped over chair (with a baby strapped to it, oops!), and a smurf impersonation with blue paint from fingertips to elbows. There were some good sister moments and gleams in the eye during the sensory experience.

The motivation of Pollys

So much for being able to do the dishes while the girls play quietly in the other room. Leia has become quite the monkey lately:



If you're wondering what is attached to Leia's shirt, it is a ladybug balloon from her birthday. Kate thought Leia's hood was a good place to stow it.

Trampoline Antics

As a follow up to the Couch Antics post here is some more of the silly stuff the girls have learned to do.


A few weeks ago Leia could barely climb up on the trampoline, and was just figuring out how to bounce while holding the bar. Now she is testing her balance skills (and my nerves) with her "look mom, no hands!" move. Kate meanwhile figured out how to swing like a monkey on the bar. Thank goodness she is light or the whole thing would topple over on her!

Couch Antics

This is what happens when we haven't been to gym class in a long time, the whole house becomes Kate's gym.


Just before she flips Kate says: "To fiddle dee dee and beyond!" (this is her version of the Buzz Lightyear mantra: "to infinity and beyond").

Waaaalking!!

At 11 months Leia is vertically mobile.

24 Hours with the BFF!

What does 24 hours or Kate and Willow look like? Here's a taste:

Exercising their brains playing Blokus.

And now onto dress up and dancing. This lasted quite a while.



Leia is of course trying to read (eat) the Alice the Fairy book while wearing a tutu.

Off to look at Christmas light. The girls walked a half mile to see all of 4 houses with lights.

Kate wanted to make sure Willow didn't slip.

Breakfast!

This was followed by more dress up and dancing and then Willow headed home. It was a great 24 hours!

Let the adventing begin!

Kate has two advent calendars to help her celebrate the season. She is super excited about both and was even more super excited when I told her she could open something from both today! (They have both been sitting in plain sight taunting her).

This is Kate's new favorite spot. She climbs up on the speaker and turns the santas around, and around, and around... She is a bit untrustworthy though and we have to keep a close eye to make sure she doesn't sneak a treat while rotating the santas. She's a wily one. Thanks Aunt Michelle!

Here is a video of the Playmobil calendar from Gigi, Aunt Skyann, and Papa Scott. It is sure to provide lots of smiles.

Kate Reading

Kate does really well at memorizing. She "read" this book to me the other night and her voice is so cute I thought I would share. I am including the words since she is hard to understand. And at one point she ad libs, which is a bit confusing.



I THINK ABOUT GOD: Two Stories About My Day
WHY
Tell me, Mother, tell me why...Why do birds stay in the sky?
And why are grown up people tall, while Jean and John and I are small?
Why does the rain fall? Why does the moon shine?
Why do the clouds move? Why does the wind whine?
Why does it get dark? Why is a puddle wet?
Why is the snow white? And why does the sun set?
Why does baby cry? Why do I yawn?
Why do I sleep at night and wake up with the dawn?
Little child, I'll tell you why: God wills all these things to be.
He made the earth and sea and sky, just as he made you and me.

I DO MY BEST
The sun peeps in to wake me. I jump up from my rest.
(this is where the ad libbing happens!)
I promise God that all day long I'll do my very best.
I wash my face and brush my teeth. I comb my hair, I try.
I put away the slippy soap and spread the towel to dry.
I help to get my breakfast. My big pink bowl I find.
I pour the cereal carefully- I like the popping kind!
I stand beside my mother while she washes baby Tim.
Sometimes I take the fluffy puff and help to powder him.
It's time to put my coat on. Off to the store we start.
I help to carry packages and push the shopping cart.
Back home, I color pictures. I do the best I can.
Today I drew some tigers and a very funny man.
Soon it's time for bed again. I talk to God and say,
"Help me to do my very best to please you every day."

Bedtime Songs

I finally caught Kate on tape doing a little singing. Tonight's selection includes: You Are My Sunshine, Bushel and a Peck, and This Little Light of Mine.




Her rendition of Bushel and a Peck sounds more like "I push Leia in the back..", luckily her actions do not reflect her words. We also added a verse to This Little Light that goes "This little moon of mine, I'm gonna watch it shine." She transitions between verses while singing. I enjoy her creativity!

Crawling Commences

Leia has joined the world of the mobile. Yesterday she could crawl two steps and then would splat down. Today she is up to 4 or 5. Who knows how far she will get tomorrow. The baby gates are going up tonight!

Dancing Queen

Leia is starting to realize she has the potential to be mobile. Scott decided to check out her dance moves:

Leia Train Attack

Leia got super excited about trains yesterday. She'll be crawling after them in no time!

For Willow

Cle Elum- the videos

There were many great moments and we caught lots of them on film. Here are some of my favorites.

Ring Around the Rosy was popular the whole trip!



These girls did a TON of running.



Kate got a little mixed up with her ABC's and it really confused Hadley.

Budgie Birds

When went to Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium a few weeks ago with Willow and Dagny. While we were there we got to feed the Budgie birds, or at least Dagny did. She faced her fear of claws while entertaining the girls (and me). Kate loved the "big" birds.

Singing Time

Here is Kate singing Twinkle Twinkle and ABC's. I wasn't fast enough with the play button so she started singing before I was filming. She gets a little distracted but I enjoyed her interaction with the camera.

Sunny Day with Friends

We recently spent a sunny morning at the park with Willow and Hadley. There was lots of fun to be had. The morning flew by and after a picnic lunch we headed home. We are all looking forward to more days like this one.

Finally Warm Weather

The weather warmed up so we took advantage of it. On Monday morning we went to the zoo with Hadley and Barbie and ran into two more friends. It was great trotting around with Nathand and Calder and their mommies. The animals were great but the rocks were awesome! These four played for quite a while on this log bench and the bronze hippo that was nearby.

In the afternoon we headed to the park for some more sunshine. Kate spent a lot of time climbing up the twisty slide and sliding back down. It was great spending most of our day outdoors. I only had my phone on my so the video is not great but you get the idea.