no training wheels!!

Last summer Moira made a few feeble attempts at riding her bike without training wheels.  She took a few tumbles, scraped her knee and decided to wait.  After talking with her she was ready to try again, especially if she had some wrist and knee pads to help keep her from getting banged up. 

I got Moira geared up in her battle armor and after about 15min she was making short 20-30ft solo rides.  I had a dog training class in the evening so she went out and practiced more with Juju and Dad.  By the time they managed to drag her inside she was able to start out on her own turn and stop without assistance.  We're all very proud of miss Moira, and she is just pleased as punch with herself.  Took me outside first thing this morning to show off all her new skills.  Here's footage of her first few moments of riding free.

Skagit Valley Tulip Festival

So it just so happened that the entire family was up by 7am last saturday, and it was sunny, so I suggested we all head out to the tulip festival.  The girls were game so we hustled everyone in to the car and off we went.  We arrived at the first field by 8:30 am.  Kiah had her first face plant in the mud by 8:31am.  Luckily she handled it well and took it as a free pass to wallow in the mud some more.  After checking out the flowers for a bit Moira asked where the festival was . . . whoops apparently she was expecting a full on vendor/crafter fair.  So after getting over that little set back Moira settled in to checking out the flowers.   The first field we stopped at was just that a muddy field w/lots of flowers.

The next stop we made was Tulip Town.  This is the tourist version of the festival.  You had to pay $5 for adults to enter, but hey they had bathrooms.  Tulip Town was much less muddy and had statuary, music, manicured grounds, and many other things the girls thought enhanced the experience.  We rolled in a little after 9am and there were maybe 25-30 other people milling around.  The clouds finally started to break up and out came the sun.  You were allowed to go down the rows a bit here, which made for great photo ops, and it was a hilly piece of property, which also allowed for some pretty fantastic scenic vistas.  After several warnings about playing the "puddle jump game"  Moira had a spectacular fall in to a puddle and was not only covered in mud, but soaked.  After a fair bit of crying Nick managed to convince her to walk around a bit more, and we madly shot pictures in an effort to beat the kiddo clock.  We left the 2nd field just after 10am and it was getting really crowded, and difficult to get a shot without some random person walking through it.  The roads were also insanely backed up as we left town.  So the lesson for next time we go is to bring mud boots, towels, and multiple changes of clothing.

 

Time for a little catch up . . .

As usual we've been insanely busy the last couple of months. Some of the highlights include Moira's 6th birthday. We had several of her school friends and family members over to celebrate. It turned out to be a cold and rainy day, but we had fun playing games and the rain let up just long enough for the kids to whack open the much anticipated pinata.

After Moira's birthday we had Easter to celebrate.  This year I finally remembered to buy white eggs specifically for dyeing.  The results were happy girls and brightly colored eggs.

Then we headed north for Rykers 2nd birthday.  The weather was great and the kid had a blast romping around the yard hunting down easter eggs.

Next up was Kiah's 4th birthday.  She opted for a rock n' roll superstar dress-up party,  We purchased no less than 3 different outfits for our little fashionista who finally settled on the combo below for the party.  She did however undergo 3 wardrobe changes during the event.  

Here are a couple of online albums with even more kiddo cuteness:

2012-04-22

April 9, 2012

If all that plus work wasn't enough to make your head spin we managed to squeeze in Nick's birthday, and a ton of projects around the house.  We've had amazing weather for this time of year and every one's taking full advantage of it.

Moira's Academic Achievement Award

Each class at Moira's elementary school chose one student for academic achievement and one student for life skills achievement. The students were recognized at an assembly for the whole school.

1st Report Card

Moira has received her first report card. Students are evaluated 2 times a year in kindergarten.

My how times have changed, gone are letter grades in favor of the numbers 1-4. I'm happy to report that Moira exceeded the standards set forth in mathematics, writing, and reading.

She got a glowing a glowing report from her teacher who says she's simply a joy to have in class and that Moira can always be counted on to be hard at work.

Nick and I have been a little disappointed with the rate of learning at the school. At this point they still haven't covered any new material for her, but Moira certainly enjoys spending time with all of the other children and likes her teacher.

In the mean time we will continue to supplement Moira's school with fun games and activities at home.

In other news both girls will be starting gymnastics classes this week. Kiah is so excited she's about to pop. She's been prancing around the house in her new leotard in preparation for the event.

The final sled ride

So we took the girls out on wensday for some more sledding. It was the third day in a row of winter fun so the girls enthusiasm was a little diminished. Nick was in charge of sending the girls down and I was there to capture the moment on film and help them shuffle back up the hill. Now only Nick will ever know if he meant for Moira and Kiah to hit the jump . . . either way the girls were not interested in anymore sledding after this.

snow, snow, and more snow

Well the last few traces of the snow are finally melting away after two days of rain. The girls and I manged to make a very iconic snowman, ticking off the final winter experience on the girls list. Unfortunatly right after we built him there was a warming period followed by a few more days of snow. He fell over the first night and was quickly burried.

The dogs also thouroghly enjoyed the snow. Suki likes to chase frozen water just as much as the wet stuff, and Kess well she's always happy.

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SNOW!!!

Because we live on the top of a hill in the convergence zone we always have way more snow than anyone when it finally hits Seattle. The girls were super excited to see the first flakes fall, and once fully bundled up spent hours playing in the backyard. The only way to lure them inside is hot cocoa.

It's really fun to enjoy the winter weather with the kiddos. The girls were quite convinced it wasn't really winter until it snowed. We found a great sledding hill by Moira's school. It's a little to far to walk, but a level and easy drive. Moira and Kiah had a whole list of winter activities to cross off. Snow angels (sorry no pictures), snowball fights, and sledding. Build a snowman has been deyaled as the snow is to light and dry to form up well at this point.






The first hill we tried was smaller and ended in a slushy puddle so not the best. Nick went first to show the girls how it was done.

We could hear a fare amount of whooping and yelling coming from across the park so we decided to investigate. Our reward was a far superior hill on the other side of the park, which was awesome for kids. It was steep enough to make it exciting but then finished off on a nice flat ballfield. There was even a set of stairs with a handrail to go back up, can't beat that!



After a few runs with mom and dad Kiah was the first to request a solo mission on the big hill. Moira had already been taken out by an unknown assaliant with a snowball to the face and a pretty spectacular sled crash so she was just fine with letting Kiah taking the lead.

Kiah was adorable screaming the whole way and then just glowing full of adrenaline and pride at the bottom.

After Kiah survived her trip down there were many many more. Sadly Nick can't remote in to work as he's using a Mac for his iphones programming so he'll be taking off in my Subaru today leaving us stranded :( Oh well sounds like a great reason to make cookies.