Racing

We were hiking at Manoa Falls and Logan asked me if I wanted to race.  I said OK, but then he said alright Mommy, now stick out your tongue just like Lightning McQueen and RUN!  I guess a Mom with more composure would have just declined, but I have to admit, it was kind of fun :)

Waikiki Beach

Just Enjoying the Hawaiian Sunshine. Being in Hawaii has been so relaxing and fun. Wish you were here!

Happy Thanksgiving

We had so much fun visiting with Auntie Peggy, Uncle Steve and Katharine. Katharine whooped me at Wii Tennis, but at least my Mii is cute. We ate way too much, but enjoyed every bite!

Diego Party

We had so much fun at Logan's Diego party. You can't see it from these photos, but we had streamers and balloons and posters all over the walls for decoration. We made a Diego Ocean Animals mural with stickers and colored pictures of Diego with Baby Jaguar. We played "Diego says," and made animal noises and movements. We played pin the badge on Diego, an animal toss to the "Animal Rescue Center," and dug animals out of the sand box. Then we went on an animal scavenger hunt with our binoculars. We ended the party with Pizza, Cake and Ice cream and some free play on the playground. What a fun day!

Birthday from Grandma Hughes

Grandma Hughes sent a package for Logan and he had so much fun with the presents. He especially liked the bubble wrap which he thought was a present in and of itself!

Playing Doctor

My Mom got Logan an Animal Hospital Doctor kit and he and Kailey love to play with it. Okay, so Logan loves to play with it and Kailey likes to chew on it.

Kailey and Friends

Here are pictures of Kailey on the slide (her new favorite activity) with her friends Avani and Suchi. Actually, they are Logan's friends, but they love to play with Kailey - especiallly peek-a-boo!

Logan's 3rd Birthday

Logan has grown up so much this year.
He is constantly asking questions (Why?) and figuring out, not just what things are, but how things work both mechanically and socially. Of course, he is testing all types of boundaries. An example might be that since I let him help me crack the eggs when we are baking of course that means he should be able to take the eggs and milk out of the refrigerator and start cooking all by himself! I try not to make a big deal of it, because he usually isn't doing anything wrong on purpose, but you'd be surprised how many ways you can get in trouble "accidentally."
Logan is so proud of how he is growing up and getting bigger. Like being potty trained and learning how to pee standing up (like Daddy and some friends he saw on the playground). He can hop on one foot. He can climb up the big ladders on the playground. He can do super-spins (where he jumps up and spins all the way around at the same time). He is most proud of the fact that he can now do "two" and "three" with his fingers. He's actually had a lot of trouble with this and has been using one index finger on each hand stuck together to represent "two" and the OK symbol to represent "three."
He is learning his letters and (thanks to the Letter Factory DVD and some magnets) now knows most of them. He is learning how to write his letters and can do A, H and O and sometimes L, N and C. It's slow going with his attention span and energy level, but we keep plugging away!
Logan's favorite things to do right now are sand, water, chalk, cars and going for walks as a family.
I think the biggest breakthrough of this year is the growth of a substantial head of hair. It took long enough!

More Strawberry picking pics

Strawberry Picking

Since this is our last summer in Charlottesville, we couldn't miss picking Strawberries at Chiles Peach Orchard. Of course we started with a yummy strawberry milkshake and then headed over to the field. The plants were lush and the strawberries ripe. It was a beautiful Saturday though a bit windy (but in a nice way). Logan really wanted to pick the green ones, but we managed to convince him that the red ones taste a whole lot better. We have so many wonderful traditions here in Charlottesville, we hope that when we move we'll find some new ones to keep the memories going.

Kailey loves to swing

I can't believe that Kailey is big enough to fit in the swing already, but I am thankful because it means I don't have to wear her in the Baby Bjorn all the time and she can have some fun too!

Bathtime!

Watering the Grass

A couple of weeks ago, we drove to Fredericksburg, VA to look at the area for a potential job. Of course, Logan needed to go potty when we were in the middle of no where, so here's a pic of his first opportunity to "water the grass" as Jeramy put it. After this, Logan wanted to pee outside all the time because the grass ALWAYS needs water, right? So I had to explain that we only pee outside when it is an emergency and there are no pottys nearby. "Oh." He says. Try not to sound so disappointed, Logan...

Playdoh Playdate

We had a little Playdoh Playdate today since it's been a little cold and rainy. Logan was amazing - the kitchen set he got for Christmas came with little "recipe cards" that have pictures of food to make. He picked a card and made a little salad - just like the picture! Okay, so maybe it was just wads of playdoh stuck together - but they were at least the same COLORS as the ones in the picture and you could tell that he was deliberately trying to make a yummy salad for Mommy! He was also very proud of his "bug" that he made with the set from Grandma Hughes. (See Pic #2). Pic #4 shows Sterling, Logan and Hailey playing in Kailey's gym that I made into a "hideout" by putting a blanket over them. I had just pulled the blanket off when I took the picture. It's not as in focus as I would like, but the blurry smiles tell the story just as well. They had fun playing in that little space for much longer than you would expect of 2-3 year olds.

Be still my heart

Does this just make you melt or what?! I can't say it enough - Logan is the BEST big brother!

Kailey

Okay, so maybe I put up too many pictures of Kailey, but I just think she is the most adorable baby I've ever met! She's almost 7 months now, and to the point where she can sit up very well on her own. The only problem is that even if you put her in one place, she doesn't stay there long as she is so interested in the world around her. She can't crawl yet (thank goodness) but she somehow scoots or rolls or army crawls her way all around the living room floor.