Everything in ONE place!

So, today, Eva had to have everything moved into one place...notice the chairs pulled in as well?!
Here she is throwing her blanket on top!

She can be such a "busy-body" some times : )

At Grandma and Grandpa's house...

Eva had quite a fun time while the rest of us were in Minnesota...
She went with to Papa's work picnic at a Gilbert Park. Eva has come to LOVE bouncy houses (what child really doesn't?!) and of course they had one!

Bounce, bounce, bounce...

They also had a balloon making clown. Eva has been into Curious George, so the clown made her a monkey! (you can see a completed one on her shoulder)

This park has a train that you can pay to ride, which takes you around the park. Eva got to ride on it! : ) That is her standing in line...not sure who she is looking at/talking to??

There is a large play gym/area as well.

Then, Eva was able to do something she has been wanting to do for a LONG time... she got to go down into the wash to play in the sand! The wash runs through my parents' property. What fun!!

I can tell that Eva so enjoyed the one-on-one time without her baby sister "hogging" some attention!

A wedding

This past weekend, Shane, Sophia and I flew back to Minnesota for our friend, Jill's, wedding. (Eva got to spend the entire time at Grandpa and Grandma Blomker's - so much one-on-one time!) We flew into Sioux Falls, SD and drove to Minneapolis with Shane's Mom. Shane's sister drove down from Grand Forks, ND for a short visit as well.
Sophia was cute as a button, IMO! Daddy was looking dapper too : )

I was a bridesmaid in the wedding.

This is Sophia's and Daddy's first dance!

Busy Bee

Sophia sure gets around! She crawls everywhere and is always exploring. She really enjoys looking out our sliding door, wishing she was outside playing, I am sure!

Sophia loves climbing under the table, just like her big sister, Eva!

Practice Makes Perfect

For the past month or so, Sophia has been practicing her walking using anything that she can push - walker, ride-on toy, chair, even toys. She is getting very good at it!

Storytime at the library

First off, I need to say "Why didn't I start going to storytime sooner?" What fun it is!

The Apache Junction library has 3 different storytimes each Thursday: baby, toddler, and preschool. About 7 weeks ago I started bringing Eva (and Sophia) to the toddler one, which is "Mother Goose" storytime! Even though Eva tends to sit and watch more than she participates, when we get home we sing every song, and even have to read like Mother Goose does! (By the way, Mother Goose was walking in the Lost Dutchman Days parade and Eva thought that was pretty neat!)

Every storytime we start the same: Mother Goose brings around her goose for the kids to pet...

Then we sing "Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear" and "Two Little Blackbirds", read a book, and have a story with the flannel board (do you remember those?)...

Then we read another book, sing more songs (like "The Wheels on the Bus, "The Itsy-Bitsy Spider", and others where we listen and do as the song says), and read a third book.

At the end of each week, we sing the same song with actions and wave good-bye. The children get a picture to color that relates to the topic of books we listened to.

Sadly, the woman who does the storytimes is retiring, so when storytime starts up again in a month, it will be someone else leading them. The toddler time will not be Mother Goose storytime, either!

She was a great Mother Goose and got to know the names of the children. I am sad that she is leaving and that we had such a sort time with her! : ( So, we had Eva get her picture taken with Mother Goose and her goose.

Lost Dutchman Days

Every year, we have an event in Apache Junction called Lost Dutchman Days (click here for information), which includes a rodeo, carnival, parade, etc. This is one of the parades we like to go to because the weather is usually SO wonderful!

Here we are at the start of the parade - Sophia was excited for her 1st parade!

Eva couldn't wait either! She knew there were going to be horses in the parade!

Here are some of the many, many, horses : )

There are also kids' dancing/cheerleading groups that march - Sophia liked their music!

We also have had the Budweiser Clydesdales the last few years. They are such beautiful animals! And SO BIG!!

And of course, we have the clowns!

For some history on the Lost Dutchman, click here.