Today was Solvei and Nels’ official second birthday. We are celebrating on Friday but I just wanted to take a photo on the actual day. Well…..not just one. Here are the best ones.
Nels
Fun with the fishies
We got invited to go to the Living Planet Aquarium the first day in Utah with Chad’s family. The kids were so happy to go!
Grandma Lori came with us and I was glad I had an extra person to keep track of my little runners. I brought the “leashes” for Solvei and Nels so they could actually see something and not be stuck in the stroller (which a woman in the gift shop gave me lip about). They do pretty well at holding hands normally but are getting to the age where if you let go for one second, like to take a picture, they may just take off – in opposite directions. There was a time or two when Nels was dragging Grandma along because he’d take off – “Ooh! Something shiny!” – and she could barely keep up!
For Saedi and Gavin, I think they were just as excited to see Zach as they were to go to the Aquarium, but they had a lot of fun with the Ray tank. Nels loved the turtles. Solvei liked the big fruit eating piranhas.
I’m so glad we got to go, thanks for inviting us Chad and Leslie!
After the aquarium we had a picnic lunch at a park near there. I have been to that park a few times before but this is the first time I noticed the tree out front. The kids thought the “magical tree” was very cool. They all knocked on or tried to open the door.
We made it
We got to Grandmas after a looonnnggg day in the car. Somehow Solvei kept herself awake for the entire car trip. When the videos were playing she was watching and when there weren’t videos (and the big kids were sleeping) Solvei and Nels took turns yelling at each other.
Everyone was happy to have arrived and not just because there’s all new stuff to play with, although that made things extra fun. Solvei and Saedi found Grandma Lori’s hats and wore them whenever they could (since this post is written in retrospect I can say the hats are in many pictures throughout the trip). Nels found Grandmas toys and couldn’t even be bothered to get pictures taken with everyone else because he was too busy playing. So here are a few pictures of the morning after we arrived sans Nels.
What Nels sees
Driving Saedi to school this morning, Nels told me about every car he saw. Our drive is mostly on busy roads (2-4 lane highways) so there are LOTS of other cars to look at. Towards the end of the drive he ran out of cars but that didn’t stop his commentary.
“Momma car!…….Momma car!…….Momma car!…….Momma car!…………….Momma grass!”
Categories: little things, Nels
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Identical Twins?
In the bath today I did up Nels’ mo-hawk with shampoo.
Solvei thought it was so funny she wanted me to do it to her. So she got her own faux-hawk to match.
Categories: little things, Nels, Solvei
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Dollar deals
I really like the dollar section at Target. We peruse every time we go. Today when we went I found all the kids a pair of snoopy sunglasses. We have a car trip coming up and Solvei and Nels always complain about the “bright” when the sun is in their face, so if they all have sunglasses maybe I will hear less whining while driving when I can’t do anything about it. Since they were all only a dollar, it won’t hurt my feelings if they get broken.
Pretty rockin’ huh?
**Sometime after taking these pictures and before bed that night, Nels lost his glasses. I looked everywhere and couldn’t find them -he was very upset. About a week later when putting the kids to bed, Nels found them in Saedi’s bedside table/cabinet (I think he knew exactly where they were).
Categories: Gavin, Nels, Saedi, Solvei, sunglasses
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"SIDEWALK" chalk
I needed to do a little yard work this weekend, to make it look like we do actually live here. I have mostly been working inside the house (unpacking and keeping up with dishes and laundry) since we have moved in. Nate has kept the lawn mowed, but we haven’t really done much else and the flower beds and shrubs are starting to show it. I brought the kids outside to play while I was working, so when I was done mowing the front I got out the sidewalk chalk for the kids to play with while I weeded the front flower beds.
It ended up being a lot more work than I thought so we were out there a while (good thing I sprayed everyone down with sun-screen when we went out). The kids got bored with the chalk before I was done with the work so they started to get creative with their drawing surfaces. (It may be called sidewalk chalk, but that’s not where they like to color with it.)
Nels started coloring on the front stoop,
Nels and Solvei colored their clothes and faces,
Solvei got her rear-end especially well,
and then they both colored on the house and the front door!
GOOD THING CHALK WASHES OFF!
After I got all the front work done and the chalk put away, I had to dump everyone into the bath before I could make lunch.
We ended up spending most of the day outside. After everyone got bathed and had lunch, I put the kids down for a nap and went back outside to mow the backyard and start weeding the iris beds in the back. I got quite a bit done before everyone woke up so when they did I brought them all back outside while I did a little more before dinner.
While we were out there we found a ladybug with no spots. Saedi said that made it zero years old.
Saedi and Gavin played on the big toy and Solvei and Nels were content to watch in their stroller for a little while.
When they got impatient, we went inside. Very long day but it was a nice one, now I’m just sore and tired.
Doctors visit
Solvei, and then Nels, both came down with a nasty something over the weekend (it does always seem to be that this happens at the beginning of a weekend or holiday). They weren’t emergency worthy so I watched them over the weekend, but decided that I would get an urgent care appointment for this morning since they were still fairly miserable. For the last three weeks or so Saedi has had a cough, no other symptoms, just a cough that at times could be a bit nasty. Since it wasn’t really getting better I thought I’d take her into the doctor as well since we were already going.
Solvei and Nels were examined and determined to have a viral something-or-other. Saedi got to have a chest x-ray. After it was read and she was given a breathing treatment,
the doctor said she has a touch of Asthma that was probably aggravated by allergies or a cold. I’ve thought about having her tested before when she was wheezing after running around playing outside, we just hadn’t made the appointment yet. Sent home with an inhaler, she will be doing better in a few days time. Now we just have to hope that Solvei and Nels will be feeling better by then too.
Categories: Nels, Saedi, sick, Solvei
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Nels’ First ‘Hawk
Gavin was VERY overdue for a haircut. When I told Nate that I was going to take him to the barber Nate asked Gavin if he wanted his hair short again or if he wanted another mo-hawk……of course he picked mo-hawk.
Since Nels was also due for a haircut, I thought I’d do matching ‘dos.
I think Nels looks a little bit like Judge Doom from Roger Rabbit in this one:
We even tried to dye Gavin’s hair blue but the product I used was very disappointing; it was supposed to be semi-permanent but it all washed out. I dyed a few drips worth of the bathroom counter more successfully than his hair. I trimmed Gavin’s mo-hawk so it really sticks up, but left Nels’ longer because I love his curls. Here he is with it done up in gel.
Categories: firsts, Gavin, haircut, Nels
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It’s So Nice…
…….when they all get along.
If only it happened more often than it does.
Wadman Clan 