Sunday, April 26, 2009

No longer babies... not quite toddlers... Boddlers!

Madeleine and Veronica would like you to know that you should call them by their full names because they are so grown up.

They talk on the phone (or at least pretend to).



They want to sit in the big chairs for dinner.



They can eat with forks.



They like to read books ('read' does mean flip the pages and chew on the cover, right?).





They want to have a beer... on second thought, maybe they can stay Maddie and Ronica for a bit longer.

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Back in March, we all went out to Tucson, Arizona for spring break. Though I have to say we were exhausted at the end of the week, it was a great trip and everyone had a good time.

Our first outing was to the Desert Museum and the Saguaro National Park where we got a good introduction to the fauna and flora of the area. Veronica enjoyed playing with the bronze Javelina while Maddie practiced standing with Grandpa.





Everyone enjoyed playing in Kid's Corner at the visitors center of Saguaro National Park.





Heidi and I enjoyed the extra eyes and hands to help with V&M so we could have some time to scurry about among the Saguaro and look at some petroglyphs.





To keep Maddie and Veronica safe Mama and Grandma were sure to keep them well lathered in sunscreen.



Ronica and Maddie enjoyed these matching little trucks. They liked riding them, pushing them from behind, and especially pushing each other around in them.





Walking in Sabino Canyon, we got creative trying to keep Maddie and Veronica out of the sun.



Maddie and Veronica seemed to enjoy their first trip with front facing car seats (and Heidi is happy that they finally fell asleep).



To beat the heat (not that we would complain as we were escaping Minnesota) Maddie and Veronica enjoyed ice at the street fair.




Another way to enjoy the heat was to swim... whether it was in an inflatable pool in the backyard:



or in the bigger pool with their parents and Grandma.







Michael and Beth came down from Tempe to enjoy some time by the pool deck (we also got out on a hike the next morning and went and looked at a Hohokam site).



Veronica and Maddie were looking for two more to play bridge at their little table.


It's a little fuzzy... but this is a moment of sisterly love at a mexican restaurant. They like showing affection by touching foreheads (with each other, their parents, anyone they like).


Veronica is enjoying taking a bath in the kitchen sink.



Now just because Heidi and I were on vacation from our jobs... Veronica and Madeleine still put in full days exploring everything and anything... from the pots and cable outlets to the cabinets in the kitchen.










As all good things must come to an end... at the end of the week we were back at the airport looking forward to heading home. Little did we know that neither of them would sleep a wink on the flight, Veronica would overflow her diaper onto Heidi's lap, and Madeleine would crawl under the seat to visit the people in the row in front of us.

A good trip I must say.