Skiing and hiking

Time for a long overdue post with more than a few words of text. You probably figured it out, but the 2nd week of March we went up to Idaho and enjoyed some totally perfect ski days. Geneva stayed in the slopeside daycare and Chris, his dad, and I went out and took advantage of some perfect corduroy. Before we went up to ski I actually got some new ski boots, which I think were a significant contributor to the fact that I can now keep up with Chris on rolled snow. Mind you, it's my "as fast as possible" speed and his just typical skiing speed, but I'm still quite pleased with myself. By the fourth day though I was bored of it and begged them to take me out in something more interesting. I was much more challenged in the deep bumpy stuff, but I think that's good.

While we were in Idaho I think Geneva really took to climbing, inspired by all the stairs. When we got home she climbs ladders, play equipment (even the stuff that wasn't meant to be climbed), cribs at daycare, and so on. We have to keep a close eye on her.

The weekend after we got home we went hiking at Rancho San Antonio with Craig and Kelly. A mile or so in there is this cute farm that Geneva seemed to really enjoy. We had to laugh though because it didn't seem like she connected actual cows with the animal we always point at in books and says "moo." We would point at the cow and say "that's a cow! it says moo!" and she would just give us this look like we were totally bonkers. After the farm we hiked up to a lovely vista point.


In other news, I planted my garden around Valentine's day, and things are starting to look big. Here's some peas and lettuce. These suckers have had a hard struggle because they had to battle slugs first. I used sluggo to get rid of them and then the peas recovered but I had to transplant the lettuce from indoors.

A weekend or two after the outdoor planting I planted tomatoes and other goodies indoors, and those are just about ready to move outside. The front yard is looking jungly, as is typical for this time of year. The poppies are quite lovely though.


Finally, here's a shot of Geneva helping Daddy with the taxes.

For the full album, click below.

March 2010

A day at the park

We went to a couple of parks this weekend and it cracked me up that at this one there was tons of play equipment and she really wanted to play in the bike cart we brought her in. Anyway, at the end of this video I fortuitously caught what we believe to be her first sentence. You be the judge.

Poor miserable kitty

Our cats have such a tough life. You can't hear all the purring going
on here also....

Dirty baby enjoying the sand

Playing with noodles...

... and counting??? You be the judge.

Apple snacks

I love the crossed ankles.

Snack time for little princesses

G's new chair

Got a kid sized chair this weekend. Right now it's a big favorite to
climb in and out every way but the normal way.

More baby skiing - videos!

At long last, the "skiing" videos. First, ski installation. We performed this little exercise on the grass behind Grandma and Grandpa's house, since snow isn't actually crucial to the type of skiing that's happening here.

Next, walking with one ski, and coping with an excited dog.

Finally, two skis, no dog, and distracted daddy.

Family resemblance

While at the in-laws house in Idaho we dug up some family photos and I was not terribly surprised to find that G has a strong resemblance to her Aunt Jen. Especially her hair. Aunt Jen has a good sense of humor and agreed to let me embarrass her with some old photos... Enjoy!

Found grandma's clean towels ...

Pre-flight nap

Best vacation ever

The Boise discovery museum has a small grocery store. We will not
leave here without tears.

Riding the lift

Geneva skis!

Geneva's skis arrived today! Her daddy and I were both extremely excited. Geneva.... less so. She thought the box the skis arrived in was pretty awesome though.

Many people have acted totally appalled when I told them we were going to teach the baby how to ski. I think they had the wrong idea of what we had in mind. They envision a child who can barely walk on a black diamond run. Here's what it really looks like. First we get on a bunch of snow gear and go out on the deck. Here Geneva is watching daddy put on his skis. Wearing hiking boots instead of ski boots - I didn't even realize such a thing was possible.

Next, after building enthusiasm in the baby for skiing, Daddy calls her over to her skis and instructs her to step into them.

She picks up the idea right away.

Daddy straps the ski down.

Next Geneva tries to take a step and freaks out when something weird is going on with her foot and I have to put down the camera to help out. Daddy stepped into his skis and stomped the snow a bit and Geneva scootched along with one foot and one ski for a total of one lap around the deck. Then she was tired of it and we all went inside. Anyone still want to tell me that teaching the baby to ski is bad for her in some way?

I'll try to get a video or better pictures later in the week...

Favorite toys

Snow boots, rocking chair, marti gras beads

Walk in the snow

First real day of vacation is going well. We went skiing in some seriously wet snow and Geneva played at daycare. It was nice! On the way up to the cabin G was pointing out the window going "Ka! Ka!" And I said "Where? Where is there a cat?" She says "Ka! Ka!" "Oh, are you saying car? You see cars from that side?" (More insistent:) "Ka! KA!! MmmmMMMmmmM!!!" Oh! Cows!! She has a real thing for cows these days actually. The other day we hear her in the back of the car kind of singing to her self (?singing?) "Ka ka ka ka mmmMMmmmm! Ka ka ka ka mmmMMMmmmm!" Isn't 15 months too young to be making up songs?

Anyway, a couple of photos for the grandmas of us getting ready to go out for a walk. It was too wet to take the nice camera out, so we only got a couple from the porch. She loves these little boots too - if I put on her other socks and shoes she pulls them off and brings me the boots to put on her.

Charming the passengers en route to Boise

Piggy tails

Animal noises

Ask and ye shall receive.

Pretend

This appears to be a really fun time for developments. Daddy, in his great wisdom, has taught G how to unlock our iPhones. (If you get a weird call from one of us it's probably just G playing around. ) Intermittently she will also put the phone to her ear and say "hi!". It's almost more cuteness than I can bear. That and her lisping snake impression: "What noise does a snake make?" "Thththththth!"