4 Years Already?

I can't believe my little muffin is 4 years old. She is still a little...uh...difficult sometimes but can also be super sweet. I've discovered that I've been letting too many things go because of the wrath of Sophie. Finally, we can "talk things out" instead of picking and choosing battles.

She wants to be doing what I'm doing all the time which is annoying right now, but I know when she's older and doesn't want to hang out with me I will miss it so much! So I'm trying to enjoy it and just let my to-do list pile up instead of ignoring her.

She is a bossy little thing and poor Caitlin is starting to get upset with her frequently. Its hard for Sophie to let me be the mommy.

She is FINALLY starting to get into writing her numbers and letters and talking about what starts with what letter, etc. She was always so stubborn when I tried to work with her. ("I can't do it! You do it, mommy.) But she's coming around just in time for preschool, phew!

She loves playing with the neighbor girls.

The birthday girl with her new scooter.

A self-portrait.

Wearing my shower cap as a chef's hat.

First Day of Preschool

Summer 2011

Swimming lessons, boating, rafting (wish I had a picture, oops), camping, celebrating birthdays and weddings, BBQs, the fair, and running the Dirty Dash are just a few fun things we did this summer. Hope yours was fabulous too, but can you believe it is over?

Caitlin 10-11 Months

Caitlin loves food! She is already eating pretty much everything we do (that she can gum with her 2 teeth).

She is still an angel most of the time but she screams when she's mad. Not like Sophie does though. Sophie sounds like she might die and it is a long time before she calms down. Caitlin screams for just a moment and then she's over it. Its actually really funny and sometimes I'll be a mean mom and make her mad just so she'll do it. :)

She goes to bed at 6 pm and sleeps till 6 am. I am a lucky mama!

And...she is walking at 11 months. Big girl!

The Last Frontier: ALASKA

Honestly, this was not my first choice for a vacation because #1. I don't like cold weather and #2. I am not a big fan of fishing. So I went there thinking this would be Phil and his dad's trip and we would just go along. But I ended up having a BLAST and the scenery is so beautiful there you never get bored looking at it!

We flew into Anchorage and went to the zoo there, then drove about 3 1/2 hours to Phil's grandma's house in Kenai. Phil's Aunt Tanya and his cousin Brandi flew up from San Diego and met us there. I had so much fun with them! Sophie and Brandi's little boy Hayden had fun together sometimes but also fought a lot since they have similar personalities.

Almost everyday we were there we saw a moose mommy with one or two babies either in the front yard or somewhere in the neighborhood. They are so HUGE! Also, caribou and bald eagles.

We were able to see 2 glaciers up close and personal, Phil caught a lot of halibut, we visited a beautiful town called Homer- halibut fishing capital of the world and home of Time Bandit (a ship from the show Deadliest Catch), went to the beach, spent the 4th of July in a beautiful town called Seward where we saw a parade and the Mount Marathon (a crazy race up and down this ridiculously steep mountain), we ate the most delicious fresh crab I've ever tasted, went clamming and then I made clam chowder with them that very day, toured all the visitor's centers and saw the world record king salmon, spent time relaxing by the Kenai River, roasted smores and hung out around the fire, and ended our trip with a boat ride over to a town called Seldovia. I'm sure I'm forgetting something but it was a packed full trip!

The weather was cool, it didn't get warmer than 62 degrees but with a jacket it wasn't bad at all. Glad to be home though and we're making up for lost heat at the pool and the lake.

Our girls did awesome, even though it only got dark 1 hour out of 24! And that hour was just dusk. I had a hard time sleeping, but it didn't really even phase the girls.

Kevin did well and had a good time until the very end of the trip. He ended up going to the ER the morning after we got back for fluids but is doing better now. I'm so glad we were able to have that time with him and that he and Phil could do some world class fishing together. And our freezer is now packed with fish, yum!

We took so many pics it is going to be hard to narrow it down...