Around the House With Papa

Since Papa came, we've been hanging out around the house a lot, waiting for 'the popping' to occur (boy am I ready!).



Reading a book together



Carolyn reading morning paper and drinking coffee.

They Say That It's All Happening At the Zoo

I do believe it... I do believe it's true. (Oh how I love Simon and Garfunkel)

So before I completely messed up my back and spent a very uncomfortable week on the couch, we took a trip to the zoo. Carolyn had never been to a zoo before, and we were all very excited.



Zebras, Giraffes, and Gazelles oh my!



We took a pilgrimmage to the penguins just because I walk like them these days.





Mr. Peacock was a very friendly fellow.



Though he did not appreciate Mr. Goat eating his feathers as a snack.



An Oliphaunt





Good Bronzes for climbing on.



The Lions



I really liked the hippos.



Really big kitty.

Tulip Time!

I love this time of year here. I LOVE seeing fields of tulips. Wanna know a secret? Little patches of tulips, I can take or leave, but I LOVE fields of them.

Andy got home yesterday and we decided to go see the tulips. Unfortunately the regular fields had already been picked, but the touristy trap fields came through for us. ;)

So, here is our trip to the tulips:





In IL you see trucks of grain. Here we see trucks of tulips.







Carolyn, as you can see had a good time.



A gratuitous belly shot.





Family tulip time.

Adventure

Well, you can tell at the blog when Andy is gone because that's when I take lots of pictures.

We took a trip to our favorite little town yesterday. We were actually looking for a garden here on the island that is supposed to be beginning to bloom beautifully... but I had forgotten how LONG our island is and so I gave up and turned around.

Anyway, we had fun. We had a picnic, did a little shopping for Baby Ingrid, played at a little park--good stuff.

Oh and you just have to see Carolyn in pigtails. She won't leave them in for more than 10 seconds, but darn if she's not cute with them!



picnic



looking at the water



showing baby the view



not the flowers we were looking for, but good enough



pigtails

Easter at Our House!

Well... We sure do miss Daddy but we are doing our best to have an extra-fun Easter this year!



Goodies with a Nemo theme.



Hmmm... What's this?



Easter Dress--which lasted for all of.... Oh... 30 minutes once we got to church. She still looked awfully cute in the too-small jumper the nursery ladies had found to put her in, but... ah the dress.



She LOVES the Nemo chair.





And no Easter is complete without an Egg hunt!

Four Wheeling and Daddy Time

Here is Carolyn cruising along on her very own 4-wheeler... Thanks Todd and Jamie! She LOVES it!



But after all that tooling around, a girl's gotta rest (and so does her Daddy).

Birthday Party

The "Official Birthday Day" came around and we threw together a party for Carolyn with a big group of our IL friends. Carolyn had a fantastic time and loved playing with all of the kids who were tehre. She was also spoiled silly.



Opening presents.



Blowing out the candles.



Eating Cake.

I'm still amazed that she is two. She's just a ball of fire and changes more every day. I love being able to carry on actual conversations with her now--mostly about "Nemo," but that's ok too. Her vibrance and enthusiasm for life challenge me, and her innate compassion and care for others are incredible--as well as her honestly-come-by stubborness. What a special, special little girl my Carolyn is!

*My* favorite part of the evening was having a good group of my high school friends together. We caught up, we reminisced, we laughed til we peed our pants just like we always used to... It was fantastic!

Here are all of us girls with our respective urchins. (Don't worry Lauren, we'll gather again when you're ready for an urchin photo, too! But take your time. :))

A Visit with Great-Grandma and Just Hanging Around

We had a good time while back in IL and got to show Carolyn some of Mama's old haunts. More importantly, we got to spend a little time with my Grandma H.--Carolyn's Great-Grandma.



Great-Grandma and us.




Watching the cows.



Walking up the lane.



Sitting on the tires.

The Wedding

Dad and Shari's wedding and reception all went off fabulously. The ceremony was beautiful (and short and sweet. I was thankful for this as I am after all, pregnant, and I was standing up on the altar which has no rails and... well... fainting would have been bad ;)), and the reception was fun for all. Here are the few photos I managed to snap amidst all of the busyness.



Carolyn and Pa-pa Duck.



Walking out to the church bells ringing.



The mandatory crossing of the threshold shot.



Post-wedding nap.



Cutting the cake



Stealing a Kiss.



Carolyn guzzling a drink from the bar--a pineapple juice straight-up.

The 'Sibling Visit.'

After all the wedding festivities on Saturday, we headed over to Andy's sister's house for a get together with his brothers and sister and their families.



Carolyn and Wes getting into trouble together.



More trouble



Carolyn met Baby Gracie for the first time ever.... And was of course in love (As am I!)



Andy Tinkering



Brock Tinkering... A technical mind runs in the family... but it doesn't always manifest itself in the same ways. ;)



Brock and Quincy



Connect 4 Toddler Style



Crystal--AKA: Julia Childs



Gracie



Ok--So this is how we Sister-in-laws bond in our family.... Familial ultrasounds--you don't get better than that!



All the girls



The siblings

(Special Thank Yous to Brad for sharing his fabulous photos with us!).