Two toddlers in one place?

On Saturday, Natalie's friend Aubriella came over to visit. The girls had soo much fun. But it was difficult to keep the two of them in the same place long enough to take a picture.

Here's the solution:

Kiss that frog...?

Tonight, Natalie and I went for a walk after dinner. First, we watered our sunflowers (and Natalie only got a little bit wet):Then we went to look at our little pond. There was a big frog sitting on one of the stones. We probably spent close to half an hour looking at and talking about the frog. How it was green and brown. How it blinked it's eyes (and we had to try if we could do that too). How it was probably tired since it sat so still, and it looked like it was yawning. How it would say Ribbit-ribbit ("Bittit-bittit-bittit") if it felt like saying something. How it liked the water. And when we were finally ready to leave, we said "bye-bye froggie" and waved to it.

I did a lot of things today. I made technical drawings and decisions at work. I folded up laundry. I "cooked" (microwaved) dinner. But nothing was more important than that half hour I spent looking at a frog.

Isn't it amazing how having a child lets you re-discover the world in a whole new way? It's like seeing everything for the first time again!

A great party

On Saturday, we went to a great party. Karly has been through a long journey of cancer treatments and is now finally done with it all. I can't think of any better reason to have a party!

Natalie really enjoyed it:

There was cake - with white and pink frosting.

And a playground. One of the play structures had a fun window in it.

Like father...

... Like daughter

But of course, the swing was a favorite.

That smile is contageous! We all had a great time.

Congrats, Karly, way to go!

Lunchtime

This picture is from lunchtime last weekend. We had pasta with tomatosauce for lunch...

Watch out, flies

This morning (while she was still in her pajamas and "sleep-sack"), Natalie learned how to use a flyswatter:

Watch out, flies, here we go!

Gotta love that little grin at the end...

Company picnic

On Saturday, my company held a picnic at the local amusement park for all employees and their families. Natalie had such a great time: Pretty beads - and a sunshade! What more could a girl want?

There was a toddler play area with bubbles (you can never go wrong with bubbles) and lots of ride-on toys. Natalie tried each and every one of them:

Look, mom, a horse!

Then, she got to try the merry-go-round. It was so much fun that we had to do it twice - first with Mommy, then with Daddy!

Hold on tight!

But the best part EVER was the train ride. This picture is from when we were just leaving the "station":No caption needed - I think the picture says it all.

All that fun was pretty exhausting - here she is in the car on the way home...
Zzzz...

My future's so bright, I've gotta wear shades!

(Karsten came up with the title for this one - perfect for two geeks like us!)