Nan's Surprise Retirement / Birthday Party

Pop says a few words to honor the lady of the day.

Lunch time! If you didn't know, 2 1/2 year olds have a hard time sitting down for a meal. *sigh*

Do you like See Food??

Mother bird feeds her baby. (Don't worry, it's not a worm.)

Aiden teaching his second cousin, Iain, how to bang a fork on a chair. I'm sure his mommy was just thrilled....

What's the weight limit on that teeter totter, Daddy?

Cousin Iain gets smootchies from him mommy (Sean's cousin Kathleen).

The biggest surprise of the day was the presence of Auntie Kelly and Baby Jahla at the party. They came all the way from Bend, OR for the festivities. We were so excited to finally meet our little cousin / niece! She turned 5 months old the day of the party. Ain't she a cutie?!?!

Cousins xoxo

Smell my feet, Jahla.

Just kidding....

Nice baby. :-)

Hey - you've got a little spinach in your teeth. Let me get that for you.

We probably made about 400 attempts at getting all the little ones to cooperate for a photo. I know, I know....it was ridiculous to even try. But a few of them aren't half bad. Poor Iain had just woken up from a nap and may have been a little overwhelmed by his rambunctious cousins.

You got a little wax. Let me get that for you.

Can you tell that Aiden was SO done with picture time??

We tried again later in the evening for a photo opp with Nan. No dice. Oh well -- HAPPY RETIREMENT, NAN! We're going to miss you. *sniff, sniff* :-(

10 Months Old

She's all about the self-feeding these days. Finger foods, anyways. And she bats my hand away when I try to insert pureed food in between the bites of solids. That's pretty much how she ends up looking like this by the end of every meal. Such a lady.

At least she cleans up pretty well.

Some Rare Family Photos

Nice Touches

Okay -- so maybe they were too nice... Poor Emmy.

Rise & Shine

I couldn't resist running to get the camera when I went into Bree's room to wake her from her morning nap and found her with her little bum up in the air. xo

Hi Mommy!

She loves to share her binky (otherwise known as a "beep" in our household).

Spring Skiing

Mister Imagination found these objects and came up with the idea that he was skiing all on his own!

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

This is the first time the kids saw Sean after a week long trip to the West Coast for work. Brienne just snuggled right into his shoulder as if to say, "I really, really missed you Daddy." It was completely adorable!

Aiden "helping" Daddy unwrap his presents (AFTER he already told him what was in the boxes....)

Aiden grabbed the card out of Sean's hand and said, "Do you want me to read it to you, Daddy?" I'm sure it won't be long until he really IS reading to us!

Birthday kisses.

Stone Zoo

We went to the Stone Zoo with our buddies, the Maclean's. Such a great day, and all the kiddos really enjoyed it!

The monkeys were Aiden's favorite! I seriously don't think I've ever seen him laugh so hard. "What are you doin', monkeys??" he was asking as they swung from branch to branch.

Wish I'd had a video camera to capture his excitement. The still photo just doesn't do it justice...

A jaguar.

So does Brienne. Big deal.

I don't even know what they were looking at in this little cave, but they were surely having fun!

Aiden watching the silly bear roll around on a barrel.

The bear watching Aiden with envy as he eats his snack.

Aiden dropped a fishy cracker, which was SUCH a tease for the bear who was (for obvious reasons) stuck on the other side of the glass wall.

Wow! A bear!

Hi ya!

Aiden & buddy Ethan trying to push the earth out of orbit.

Time out from the animal watching for a little train ride.

Choo choo!

Visiting the yak.

And last, but not least, my favorite photo of the day.