college girl?

Here's Avery at 3 years going on 6... or maybe 18? We're growing out her bangs and these pictures remind Brian of college pictures. She's super silly and very cute.

(And Happy Father's Day, Dad!)

A day in the life

Aspen watches Avery spit in the sink and bends over to do the same. Hilarious :)

We went cherry pickin' at a neighbor's house! Just me and Avery 

I like those kids

Avery is really becoming a little girl and Aspen has now taken over the toddler position.

Avery is great at repeating all our phrases and mannerisms. The other day I said, "I better sweep this floor because it's driving me nuts." and that night in the tub, Avery says "I'm trying to get Aspen to sit down, and she's driving me nuts." haha! They actually get along quite well.

• Everything she says makes us smirk at how much she's picking up. 
• She's also quite the negotiator. 
• She loves to carry her purse and baby doll, especially like mom, and loves to dress up as princesses. Sometimes she pretends to be Wolverine and I'm Storm. 
• I have to put on makeup in secret or she will want to.
• Likes to watch: Diego, Dora, My Little Pony, Xmen, Inspector Gadget, Sesame Street
• She can sure stamp her foot when she gets upset (I want to bust out laughing so bad, but I try not to). 
• Avery often says things like "When I finish my burrito, I can have ice cream" 
• and also "I didn't get to eat my ice cream because I didn't finish my burrito; next time I can finish my food and I get ice cream." 
• She really drags her feet when she eats; Aspen often eats more than her. She LOVES having a snack.
• She is well aware of her conditions as you can tell. 
• She pays attention where we're going in the car and knows when we're "off course." 
• Other phrases: "I'm being funny, mom." 
• "That's not very nice."
• "I'm a good girl"
• For some reason, when we get onto Aspen for doing something, Avery always says "I'm not doing that."
• She is very good at dressing herself and has rather good sense of style (making a good outfit). She only cannot turn her clothes right side out and zip/button her pants.
• Avery is completely potty trained and doing very well.

Aspen is super sweet and laughs all the time! She will even laugh at herself after saying 'no' (I think it's her favorite word and she gets a kick out of it). She understands the word "prayer/blessing" and will immediately fold her arms before we do. She understands a lot. She says: down, uh-oh, no, ENH (to the dog), hi, bye, poop. She shakes her head vigorously, especially when I say "do you want milk?/breakfast?/down?" She will shake her head no when she's done with food. She's really good at pointing too. I love how almost every time I pick her up, she'll briefly lay her head on my shoulder and cuddle me. She's got 5 teeth now and shows 'em! Her cheesy smile is to die for. 

More Salad, Please?

Today I whipped up a salad to be proud of - all on my own accord! And this is a BIG deal to me!

I've never felt like I had the knack at green salads - probably because a typical garden salad doesn't wow me and those are usually the ingredients I have on hand (tomato, carrot, even cucumber). Thus I feel like a failure at putting together an exciting salad. I've decided that to fix my problem, I must start having more exciting ingredients on hand - even if it means buying expensive cheese. And by that, I mean: feta. Yes, I'm really branching out, I know.

So today for dinner we had barbecued beef on rolls and this salad. Can you guess what Brian wanted seconds of??? THE SALAD!!! I was completely floored! I usually have to force Brian to eat vegetables, but this time I had to make him leave some more for me!

This is what I put in my salad:

green leaf lettuce

spinach

apple

avocado

green onion

feta cheese

sunflower seeds

homemade poppyseed dressing

A day with the kids

Making a bird feeder

 "Going to school"

Boulder

This past weekend, we accompanied Brian on a work-related trip to Boulder, Colorado! It was very fun, and the 7-hour drive each way wasn't bad. Boulder is such a beautiful place and very outdoor oriented. I think we would have done very well living there. :) (I still love Los Alamos though!)

Friday we got a personal tour of NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration). It's the place where they collect all sorts of weather data around the world and space to do research and report! Pretty much any place you go to get weather, the info originates from them. It was a very interesting place!!

The historic downtown was really neat and had a fun atmosphere with neat shops and street performers (which Brian cared for neither). Saturday morning, Brian stayed with sleeping Aspen at the hotel while Avery and I went thrift shopping downtown. It's my favorite thing to do! We had a great time. Brian and Aspen joined us later.

 The hotel was great with an entire kitchenette!

 Ice cream- oh yeah!

Boulder happened to be having a fairy parade that day and little girls dressed up and paraded! 

Avery liked to blow the magic fairy dust (glitter).

Deer Trap Trail

One of the many trails in Los Alamos; at the end of Barranca Mesa. We are exploring them one by one! We went out the mesa on the lower trail closer to the edge which was tough with the kids and Nala but very beautiful. We went back on the top which was easier, but the trail was vague near the end and you climb up and down big rocks and guess where the trail is, which was actually much fun! It was about 2 hours round trip, including our sack dinner stop.

 Brian trying out his new ipod nano and laughing at Avery's funny faces.