The Park

Does anything spell FUN more than P-A-R-K??? These are shots from our many trips to the awesome playground at the Surprise park near Grandma and Grandpa's AZ house. The slides and swings are favorites~!

A visit to the Aquarium and Zoo

We were very excited to find a great zoo and aquarium close to Grandma and Grandpa's house and not a hour across the city. We arrived at the zoo early so we could see the animals out and about before it got too hot, and spent the morning frolicking among the animals. We then went home for lunch and a nap, but Karsten had other plans. She fell asleep in the car no more than 5 minutes from the house and was so excited about heading back to the aquarium after nap time that she never took a nap! After listening to her talk to herself for an hour in bed, we decided it was time to get up and head back to see the marine life! This is where she kept saying that she could see NEMO~

Oh, the sting rays were a HIT-until they came close by and then K would quickly pull her hand out of the water. She did NOT want to touch the slimy skin on them~ Daddy bought some fish food to bring them closer and he darn near got a finger sucked off when the sting ray got a hold of him!!!

K and Grandma talking to the fishies

K touching the starfish

Ohhh, look at those Mommy!

Loving every minute at the zoo! Nice shades, ladies :-)

"Mommy, can I go pay (play with them)"

Simply AMAZING seeing these huge animals in person. There was a spunky young one that was running all around and kicking up its hoofs all over. It ran laps around the grassy area, thru the barn house and then tried to rile its friends up to play!

The big white tigers

Zebras were a hit too~

Karsten is an animal lover!!! She loves reading about all kinds of animals at home so we knew the zoo and aquarium were going to be a highlight of the trip. As expected, Karsten was fearless and had a GREAT time. Watching Karsten have such a wonderful time made the visit to the zoo that much more enjoyable for Grandma, Daddy and Mommy! Next stop when she is a bit older, the San Diego Zoo!

Go Cubs Go!!!

Gramps took this picture from the cheap seats at the baseball game in Surprise with his IPhone- AMAZING sunset, perfect weather and wonderful company to watch a ballgame!

This is a picture of Mommy (with her cute Cubs hat) tickling Karsten's tickle bone. K asked Mommy what her collar bone was as it was sticking out, so Mommy showed her, touched it and Karsten started laughing. K now calls it her tickle bone!

Picture from our seats at HoHoKam in Mesa watching the Cubs vs Rockies. Thanks again Dad for using your connections to get us these tickets and ball signed by the Cubs team!

Our strong-willed and determined child

In the back yard of Grandma and Grandpa's house the yard is covered in coarse and jagged small rocks, as seen in the picture. There is about 20 feet between the bench you see Karsten sitting on and the covered patio where we were eating dinner. Karsten was playing on the bench with her baby before it was time to come sit down and eat dinner. After she finished her dinner she took her shoes off...the only problem was in order to get back she would have to walk on the rocks barefoot to get to her baby on the bench. Daddy told Karsten to come back and put her shoes on as it was going to hurt her feet (as it hurts Daddy's to walk on the rocks barefoot) to get back over to the bench. Karsten took a step on the rocks and immediately backed off , winced a bit and shrugged her shoulders. Daddy told her again to come put shoes on so the rocks wouldn't hurt her feet. She again decided to take another step onto the rocks, winced a little, took another step, and then another and another all the way to the bench. She got up on the bench, looked at us and said "Hoorraaayyy". A bit defiant....maybe. Strong-willed and determined...ABSOLUTELY!

Working out and stretching with Mommy

Karsten doing her stretches with Mommy after going on a run.

When Mommy exercises so does Karsten....doing somersaults!

Spring Trip to Phoenix

YEAH! Ready for a much needed vacation and the yearning for some sunshine and warm weather, we headed south to see Grandma in Arizona. Karsten has learned quickly what that means-an airplane ride and voila-we get to see Grandma and Wrigley the dog in "Ar-i-ZONA"! Karsten was Wrigley's best friend for the week. They made each other laugh all week!

Gramps drove over from CA to visit Karsten and catch a baseball game or two. OK, maybe, just maybe, he came to see Mommy and Daddy too!

Here is Grandma helping Karsten cook something yummy up-WAFFLES for breakfast! Karsten is already a whiz in the kitchen. She is always on a chair right next to you in the middle of the action :-)

We were able to go on two dates this week as Grandma had special time with Karsten. Here we are at a Cubs game. The other date was out to dinner then to Pro Bull Riding with Kimi and her boyfriend Wes.

Come March it is always nice to find family, spring training baseball, a zoo, an aquarium, parks, and warmer weather. Karsten had an absolute blast the entire trip. Karsten was spoiled by Grandma as were Mommy and Daddy! Thanks Grandma for a GREAT week-we had an AWESOME time visiting!!!

Karsten's Birthday Party!

So how do we do birthday parties in March in North Idaho with unpredictable weather and temperatures? We crank up the wood stove and have a GARAGE party! You can let 2 year olds wreak havoc and have a great time all while the parents watch from their lawn chairs!

A great time was had by all!

Thank you to Dawson, Mason, Branson and Ayla for making Karsten's day so special!

The take-home gifts

The coloring station-Mason and Karsten having fun.

The painting station-thank goodness for washable paint!

The beautiful chalk drawings

After so much playing, the kiddos took a break for lunch.

Mickey Mouse chicken nuggets, string cheese, raisins and applesauce-YUMMY!

It was a "decorate your own cupcake" affair.

The kids loved it and good thing Mommys were there to help!

Treats were yummy and all over every ones faces!

WOW-check out the new coat from Aunt T!

Always a fun time with Cousin Sarah!

Birthday with the Grandparents

Karsten with Grandma and Gaga showing that she is 2 years old.

Karsten's favorite-FANCY NANCY~ thanks Abby!

A REAL digital camera from Uncle Blake and Auntie Lizz.

Auntie Kimi sent an Elmo card and Elmo sang to Karsten.

She was totally enamored with Elmo~

A new trike from Grandma and Grandpa!

Mmmm-time for treats! Brownies-we had to get a variety of them

since we celebrated her birthday so many days in a row~

Whoa! BIG BITE!

Every night before Karsten gets into the bath tub she runs a few laps

thru the house streaking and yelling "nudie, nudie" or "naked ranger".

So for her birthday she took an extra streaker lap...on her new trike!

PRICELESS!!!!