Science class

Today was our second toddler science class (I guess the actual title is Parent/Child Exploration Time or some such thing). Kate absolutely loves it! The things that we are supposed to do seem like they wouldn't be that interesting, but the kids eat them up. Last week, for example, they sorted through a bin of pine cones and wine corks and could organize them in different buckets, ice cube trays, etc. Now, that doesn't sound like the funnest thing to me (probably why my house looks the way it does; I guess organizing is not my strong point) but the kids were happily occupied for the full 45 minutes!

Today's topic was on water exploration. Let's just say, I'm glad I brought an extra outfit for Kate. It was fun, though; she dumped water from bucket to bucket, soaked it up with a sponge, squeezed it out, etc. She was as happy as could be and was sad when it was time to leave. The whole concept of the class is that parents are there to support their kids in what they want to learn, but we're not the teachers; we're supposed to let the kids lead the way because then their attention span is often longer if *they* are the ones deciding what to do. I have to say, it definitely has some merit! We'll miss next week's class because we'll be in Utah, but we still have two after that, so that should be fun. And as an added bonus, it's right by one of our favorite restaurants, The Laurel, so we always swing by there afterward for lunch.


I'm in my adorable new outfit and ready to go, Mom!


Watching me fill up the bins with water and making sure I don't go too far


Let's see, what's in here?


This red shirt did squat to protect her clothes from the water.





I love this picture of her; she looks so excited to be squeezing this sponge!

New Year's Eve!

In the days leading up to New Year's Eve, we just kind of bummed around, going to our favorite restaurants (like the Bistro 258... twice... since their chocolate souffle is as delicious as ever), going to the Christmas village in Ogden, shopping the post-Christmas sales, and taking advantage of the numerous adults who love Kate and were happy to serve as a built-in babysitter. On Thursday night, Dan & I went to this cool wine bar in Ogden and listened to live music before heading over to the theater to see the new Sherlock Holmes movie. That was really good, by the way. Then on Friday night, we went to Brewski's with Nancy, her date Kris, Dan's friend Josh, and Austin. It was nice to get out, but you can tell I'm such a mom; I was texting my mom every 30 minutes or so to make sure things were going smoothly :)

On New Year's Eve, our little family went to the Treehouse Museum for the countdown, which thankfully was at 12 PM, not AM. Kate didn't really quite get the concept of counting down, but that's ok; we still had a great time at the museum.










Such a cute cowgirl


In her party hat we made at the museum


So tired; you can tell it's close to naptime!

Christmas Continued

On Wednesday of our vacation, we went over to Angie's house so our girls could play together. Kate and Brooklyn were so cute together! They're almost a year apart in age, but yet they still seemed to play together so nicely. Afterward, Dan, Kate, my mom and I went down to Salt Lake, where we ate at the Spaghetti Factory (again), checked out the lights at Temple Square and then went to the Grand America to look at their Christmas decorations.


She looks mad in this photo, but she was actually having a blast with this toy of Brooklyn's.




The two girls in pink




Kate with Nana at the Spaghetti Factory


Temple Square; so beautiful!


At Trolley Square




At Grand America. It was so fun to go there again; we even went into the Grand Ballroom where we got married; it brought back so many wonderful memories!


The life-sized gingerbread house in the Grand America. Somebody sure went to a lot of work (and has a lot of talent!)


A close-up of the door, just because I thought it looked neat (and tasty!)


At the toy shop in the GA. Kate loved this thing; when you walked on it, it would play music, and she had so much fun dancing. In fact, here is a video:

Post-Christmas festivities

The week following Christmas was so nice; we just relaxed and did all our favorite holiday activities. One of Kate's favorite things was when we walked up to the park with my dad and Shila. She had the best time on all the slides, but when it was time to go, she was NOT a happy camper! It's always so nice to go to the park with another adult, so one of us can walk her up the stairs to the slide and then one can catch her. It's like when Gail was in Madison in our unseasonably warm November; we went to the playground at the zoo (probably Kate's favorite playground in the whole city), and Kate had so much fun having Grandma Gail catch her as she went down the big red tunnel side. This time with Grandpa was no different.


Looking adorable in her new outfit


"I've got my hood, I'm ready to go!"








Going down backwards!

Christmas Morning!

Kate was so thrilled with her presents on Christmas morning. She noticed the shopping cart right away and had a great time pushing that around. Then we went downstairs to see the "big" gift from Santa; it was a Fisher Price Treehouse! That quickly became her new favorite pastime; when she wanted to go down it, she would run to the basement door and say "Whee!" (which is what she says whenever she goes down the slide).


Such a beautiful tree!


Coming down the stairs Christmas morning


Loving her shopping cart!






Snowman Winnie the Pooh, you need to go down the slide too


Whee!




Looking at our stockings








Such a beautiful pic of Kate and Nana








Trying to put on the American girl doll hat




`



So mad!








"Chocolate!"


Watching the Packers game in her new Aaron Rodgers jersey from my mom


The two matching Packer fans


"Who Needs Santa When I Have Grandma?" So true!