First Swing at a Park

We've been waiting all winter long and now it's finally not too horribly cold to go to a park and James got to swing in a real park swing for the first time ever. I'm not sure who thought it was more cool, Tori or James.

He liked to hold onto the slide of the swing - I'm not sure how much he trusts me. Below is probably the only picture you'll see of James in sunglasses this summer - he was not a fan and kept them on for 2 seconds (a cute 2 seconds none-the-less).

Sorry for the sideways video. I didn't realize I was holding the camera the wrong way until part-way into it. If you listen closely you can hear him giggling when Tori pushes him. When he is really excited he waves his arms and legs, so I think he liked the swing a bit.

James sporting his hat. Below James' friend Naomi is having her very first swing, too.

All the big kids are of course loving the park and swings, too. Tori on the very far left got herself in that swing and got herself moving and swinging that high all by herself. She is super proud of this and it makes my time at the park much easier.

Grandma Margie's and Grandpa Eric's visit

Here are just a few of the pictures taken with Grandma Margie's camera while her and Grandpa Eric visited.

From the moment I told Tori months ago that Grandma Margie was coming to visit when the baby was born she has been asking if Grandma was going to make cinnamon rolls when she came. Tori became very anxious for the baby to be born so she could get some cinnamon rolls (I don't blame her - they're really good). These are a few pictures of them making the rolls together. Tori loves doing anything with flour - as you can tell from the pictures.

Grandma was also very fun and helped Tori build a fort, which she promptly filled with blankets, stuffed animals and books - looks really cozy to me.

So, Tori learned how to do the fireman-pole at the park all by herself this summer. She is so proud of her new accomplishment and wants to do it constantly. The funniest thing is that she is still a little nervous when she does it and tries to keep one foot on the playground as long as possible before she finally has to put it on the pole, too.

A few more park pictures below - you can see James is getting in on the fun, too.

James trying to give dad a little punch.

Tori has a been a wonderful big sister and loves to help take care of James. I've been very impressed with how gentle and caring she is with him. She loves to make him happy and he just beams whenever he sees her. Below is a video of her trying to sing him a lullaby (sorry it is really quiet, you can barely hear her, but I still thought it was cute).

Tori's 3rd Birthday Party with friends

For Tori's 3rd Birthday, we had a party with friends about a week before since we would be in Mason City, IA (about a 2hr drive from home) on her actual birthday. We celebrated at one of her favorite parks with cupcakes and a lot of playing.

Above is a picture of the kids with their hats and noise-makers (Tori loves these things). From left to right: Anne, Anna, Lauren, Hannah, Tori and Megan.

Above is Tori blowing out the candle on her cupcake.

Below she is showing us how old she is.

Here are a few pictures of Tori opening presents.

One of the presents Tori got from her friend Megan, was a Little Einstien's puzzle. She loves puzzles and it was one of the first things she wanted to do when we got home. After she finished it she just randomly started singing the Little Einstien's theme song (so I grabbed the camera and made her do it again).

Playground

After such a long winter, we were so happy back in the very end of April when the weather finally started to get good enough to play outside at parks. Here are a few pictures of one of the first times at a park this spring (each year Tori has more fun and gets more daring).

Below are just a few cute pictures of Tori in outfits I like.

The Park

One of Tori's favorie things is playing outside at the park. John got Saturday off last weekend so we were able to enjoy one of the last nice days outside. The swing is her absolute favorite (she always walks towards it saying "weee"), but going down the slides by herself is a close second.

The merry-go-round was also a lot of fun, but it makes mom very dizzy.