A Day of Visits

Kim, the girls and I took a day to go see our grandparents. My grandpa (my dad's dad) looked great! He's had a rough winter, so we were pleasantly surprised to see him looking and feeling so good. He'll be 97 in July. Wow! Such a sweet picture - Kim & Grandpa

Kim got the girls some Easter presents to keep them busy in the car for the two-plus hour car trip. They REALLY enjoyed the bunny ears and kept grandpa and others entertained by hopping around pretending to be bunnies.
(my camera settings were off for the next pics)

Then it was on to my grandma's (my mom's mom). She always looks great! She still goes to the Y and swims! Grandma had a box of things to get rid of, which included a fake flower candle ring. Kim put it on Carli's head and that was that. There was no way she was taking that off. She wore that the whole time there, the next hour in the car to my mom's, and the whole time at my mom's. Unfortunately, we left it there, so she's without her halo. :)

AnLi switched preschools a few weeks ago and they take their class pictures in the spring. She did have a ponytail in her hair when she left home that morning. Hmm, I guess she decided she'd change it up. :) Even with the messy hair, I just love this picture! The photographer told me she was giving him lots of crazy poses, something like her Strawberry Shortcake pose. LOL! Ice skating has been going well. About ten minutes into her third class, she decided she didn't need the beginner's class anymore and promoted herself to center ice so she could do "tricks" with the other skaters. Her teacher told me they were planning on moving her up the next week anyway. Here they are doing swizzles. (Yes, she wears a helmet!)

Dora Live

Today was the day ...Dora Live! Carli wasn't exactly sure what she was in store for, but AnLi was overly excited. We got there early and had to wait in the car until 6:00 for the doors to open. AnLi held onto my cell phone and watched the clock tick down 15 minutes. It was a very LONG 15 minutes. :)

Once inside we still had an hour until the show. Nana bought them some spinning lights to help keep them occupied, but AnLi was ready to get to her seat ASAP! We found where our seats would be, but the doors to the theatre didn't open until 6:30. So for half an hour we stood outside the door. The girls were peeking between the doors cracks as they could see "something moving on the stage!" Once Dora came out, Carli wanted us to go down on stage and dance. She kept saying, "Come on!" We had to let her know that we could only dance in the aisles, which she did. We had seats practically on top of the stage in the loge section, which turned out not to be great seats. We couldn't see the whole left side of the stage. At intermission we asked to be moved and they moved us to the fourth row in front. Way better!

The girls sang and danced and yelled out the answers throughout the whole show. When it was over, at least 30 times AnLi would say, "I LOVE Dora Live!" Carli loved Boots. I loved Diego. :) Nana loved watching how excited the girls were. It was a great night and I'm sure we'll talk about it all day today.

It's 6:00 finally!!

(No cameras inside, so I used my cell phone.)

Lots of Accomplishments

Tuesday was a big day for everyone.
AnLi only fell once during ice skating! She was pretty excited...and not quite as sore. :)) I never thought we'd find anything that Mermaid AnLi liked as much as swimming, but ice skating is a huge hit.
Carli was SUPER excited that she was able to get a ponytail in her hair...finally! She has been wanting just ONE pony for such a long time. We were able to get about 80% back and she wanted me to take a picture right away. She kept going back and forth to the mirror saying, "Carli cute!" over and over. Yes, she was pretty dang adorable!
The last pictures are from a windy day at the park.

Beach Party

The girls came in with hats and flip-flops. AnLi was Strawberry Shortcake and Carli was Rainbow Sherbert. They were having a beach party like SS does in one of her videos. They were trying to pose just like in the video.

AnLi trying to get Carli to put her hand up on her glasses

Take one

No, no, no!! Like this, Carli.

Take Two

(AnLi making sure Carli is doing it right.)

They wore their outfits all day, even to swimming lessons. It's so fun to watch these two play and interact!!

Enjoying the nice weather!

We've been enjoying getting outside and playing in this great weather -- melting snow, mud, slop and all!

They did start out clean

And then Max, with no claws, chased a bird up the tree

Then AnLi started directing Carli to go down the slide and land on the ball, not the mud, so she wouldn't get dirty. :))

Which every time Carli would go crashing into the ball and roll in the mud, laughing and giggling the WHOLE time. Then she'd run around and do it again.

And AnLi would act so innocent, like SHE didn't tell her to do it. :)

The result...

AnLi started doing this kissing Carli on the forehead, then hugging her, then shaking her hand and yelling "Happy Valentine's Day!" They think it's pretty hilarious.


They are so happy and play together so well when we can get out and slide and swing, play ball, make sand cakes, hula hoop and enjoy some fresh air.

We've loved the nice weather. We just wish it would stick around a little longer!

Chinese New Year and Glasses

It was our local FCC's Chinese New Year celebration this weekend. The girls LOVED getting to wear their Chinese outfits and had a great time!Bo, Maize, AnLi and Carli

Playing Ring Around the Rosie and Red Light/Green Light

Sitting so lady-like. :)

Oh, the Lion Dancers are coming!

The BIG drum

Flirting with the Lion Dancers. :)

It's so loud!

Our best attempt, but I was interrupting the Lion Dance!

The best part was all of the kids got to parade under or behind the dragon.

Carli with Maize and Bo

AnLi actually found a spot under the dragon

Then it was time to pick up Carli's glasses. She was SO excited! The day we picked them out, she was very, very upset we were leaving without them, so when I said it was time to go get Carli's glasses, she said the whole way from the restaurant to the glasses place, "Carli's glasses! Carli's glasses!" She put them on, ran straight to the mirror and kept saying over and over, "Cute! Cute!" I don't think we'll have any problem keeping them on her, as she LOVES to wear sunglasses around here all the time. And considering how strong the prescription is, once she gets over the initial shock (headache) and realizes how much she can see, it will be a whole new world for her!

Of course, big sis thought she needed specs, too, so she settled on a pair of blingy sunglasses.