It Doesn't Get Better Than This

These girls and their mama LOVE being outside. The weather has been beautiful and we've been loving life outdoors!

Since she was about 1 1/2, Elise's favorite thing to do outside has been to dig for worms. This week, Elise introduced Anja to the joy of digging for worms. Anja decided it was more fun to pour the dirt all over herself, even going so far as to lift up her shirt and pour it onto her belly.They spotted a worm here...
If she was trying to get the dirt into her belly button, she succeeded!

Anja LOVES birds (it is one of the "real" words she tries to say). When we are outside she will walk up really slow and just watch them, or follow them as they fly away from her. When she is inside, she loves to watch them out the window (we have bird feeders right outside this picture window).

She' s saying "look! A bird!" (we are the only ones who can understand what she is saying, of course )

This time, she had to climb ALL the way up to see as much as possible (she is a bit of a daredevil and loves to climb)

And of course, we have had great times at the park...

Elise wanted to push Anja on the swing, and did a great job!

The school year is over

Today was the last day of our early childhood class (ECFE for those of you in Minnesota). We took a class picture, they were sooo cute! Anja is the one in the red "love"shirt in front on the right. Elise is the one in pigtails in front of the teacher.

May Days

We have been keeping busy in May...

There was a children's carnival at the elementary school. Some friends from the Cities (Rick, Kris, Morgan and Sam) were in town and attended with us.

The weather some days has been pretty nice so we have been playing outside in the yard. These girls LOVE being outside.

And at the park...
Anja and her little friend, Oden.


When we are inside the girls love playing with Dutch and Scottie... Both Anja and Elise can get a little heavy handed with the animals, but both Dutch and Scottie are pretty good about putting up with them.The library gives little prizes for activities kids do with books, so in this picture Elise is "reading" a book to Dutch.

We took a trip to the mall and the girls loved riding on the horse (50 cents can go a long way!)
Elise and Anja love each other very much and it really warms my heart to see them play together and enjoy each other. Pretty regularly, Anja will go up to Elise and give her a hug. Anja is a very cuddly, loving girl and she really loves her big sister. And the feeling is mutual. Today Anja went in for her 18 month check-up. At breakfast before the appointment Elise was really quiet and not eating. I asked what was wrong and she said "I'm sad because the doctor is going to give Anja a shot." And then her eyes welled up with tears. Elise really does not like it when her sister is sad. She doesn't get frustrated, like some older sibs can, she gets really sad and does whatever she can to cheer up Anja. She sings to her or tries to tickle her, or brings her a toy. Oh, my sweet girls!

By the way, at 18 months, Anja weighs 20.2 lbs (2%) and is 31 3/4" tall (33%). She is a little peanut!

Visiting the animals

On Saturday Elise and I went on a field trip with the Early Childhood program. We got on a bus at the school, and rode about 30 minutes to Crookston where there is a branch of the University of Minnesota. UMC has an agricultural focus and two of the students there took us on a tour through the horse barn, beef barn, dairy barn, sheep barn and horticulture building. We had a great time. Elise was a little disappointed that she couldn't pet more animals. She is used to seeing animals at the fair, which are very tame because they are handled and shown. But these animals are not show animals and were much more wary of people. She did get to pet a lamb, and we got a couple of the cows to come up to us.

April

April has been a busy month for us and I need to get this blog updated with our activities.

We celebrated Easter...

At the last minute I read the coloring box which said "this is dye and it will stain clothes." Huh, didn't think about that. So I did the quickest, easiest thing and just had Elise take off her shirt! VERY easy clean-up that way :)
And cousin Trevor's 1st birthday...

Trevor giving me a kiss. Ok, he's really biting me, but I prefer to think of it as a kiss from this sweet birthday boy.Elise LOVES animals and especially loves "playing" with Dutch and Scottie (the cat). They usually put up with her for a while...

Anja has always loved music and has discovered the piano...

There will soon be more pictures posted, we really have been busy!

Easter

Easter Sunday was cooler than Saturday, but still nicer than the previous weeks have been. It seems like real spring might be here. After Easter festivities we took out the yard toys. This is the first summer Anja has been walking and she had a great time playing with the toys and exploring.

Aaaah spring

Oh, it was a glorious day out today, and we were in full spring mode. We spent the day with cousins...

playing in mud...

and HUGE puddles...
riding bike...
blowing bubbles...and flying kites