Fun Weekend

Some friends invited us to go snowshoeing with some friends last weekend, and it was a challenge. We had a great time, however, and really did not mind the stiff muscles or tired limbs that we are still feeling today.

We hiked along the "snowmobile only" road for about 4 miles to reach the cabin. It was uphill pretty much the entire way, but we were not discouraged. It was a good chance to escape the smog and congestion of city life and remember that we love the mountains.

Did I mention that we were all carrying 40lb packs?

This is me objecting to having my picture taken.

I should have objected to this one. We stopped here for lunch and a sun screen application break.

David hardly even broke a sweat.

I think that considering it was our first time snowshoeing it was not half bad. I think we would even do it again.

You really can't beat the views!

This is the cabin we stayed in. Thanks to everyone, we had a really great time!

A Day at the Zoo

In honor of Teacher Comp day we decided to take a trip to the Hogle Zoo. The girls had a lot of fun and we were blessed with very pleasant weather.

This was the coolest part of the Zoo. They were feeding the tigers when we got there and they are so big, and gorgeous, and fun to watch
Maile liked everything we saw. I think she liked it more then Darci.
Darci had to see how she measured up.
Maile too.

We took our large double jogging stroller with us, but not once did either of the girls ride in it. They wanted to walk the whole time. What troopers!
Nothing like a little lunch of PB&J by the penguins. Fortunately we were down-wind from the fishy smell.
Maile and Darci loved the giraffes. Darci kept calling all of them Melman. I found that funny since we don't even own the movie Madagascar.
These tiger statues were kind of close together and Darci got her foot stuck between them. She was stressed, but we had to take a picture.
Maile and Grandpa looking at the bears.
The cougars were alert and fun to watch. It is rare that we come this early in the year, so it was nice to see them awake and looking around.
More with the pacing black bear.

Darci and grandpa with the elephants.
Maile holding on for dear life.
Cool shot of the Rhino.

We detoured a little to play and rest from running all over the zoo.
Darci and Maile got to play on the giant elephant. In the summer it squirts water, but this time it was a good think it didn't or we would have been wet and sorry.But they did get to see the real thing, and that was the best part to them.

Posing for photos is not our strongest attribute. But you get the gist.
Maile and Darci wearing their "Costumes."

This is what happens when I tell Darci to "smile for the camera." She was trying to hop like a bunny. I think it is funny.

Bad Hair Day

This week so far has been eventful. The most dramatic event involved Darci, (big shock there.)She decided on Sunday night that she wanted to play with the scissors. I know that should have been a red flag, however in my defense, she has played with scissors numerous times in the past under supervision and done just fine. Both David and I were present along with my parents I figured all would be well. We gave her a pair of scissors and some old newspaper and let her cut it up. We were watching a movie while all of this was happening and during a few minutes of now regretful distraction Darci took full advantage and cut her hair off.

I was not happy, but what can I do now? Her once waist-length curly hair now sits just past her shoulders. Much of the natural curl had to be cut off and that is something I hope will come back one day, but who knows? She looks cute and I should be grateful that it was no worse, but I am really sad about loosing her length. (Notice how I talk like it is my loss). In some ways it is. Like all parents who want to live vicariously through their children, I always wanted long hair. I could never grow it, but my daughter can. So this blog is a tribute to my personal loss of Darci's hair. I know, pathetic. But I will march on!

Here are pictures of the "before" and "after". Notice the contrast in length. I would say about 8 inches difference.

Like I said. It does not seem to bother her at all. She is probably glad. It takes a lot less time to fix and does not hurt as much when mommy combs it. It is probably more practical for an almost-4-year-old.

As you can tell we finally got all of our holiday pictures off the camera and were able to post them in a timely manner. Hey better late then never, and I tend to lean more toward the never side of things.
Things are looking better in the car department. We got our black car back on Friday and it looks better then before the accident. I will post some new pics when I get them. It does smell very strongly of glue and I feel a little high every time I drive it, but I think that will fade with time. I just hope I don't get pulled over in the meantime. Thanks to everyone who helped shuttle me and my kids around during this deprivation period. Also, thank you to "Nice Guy" for driving David to work for the last two weeks. We are in your debt!

At midnight Maile and Darci both had a blast banging pans and trying to wake up the whole neighborhood. The both actually did really well considering they were about five hours past their bed time by the time we went home. It is amazing how far a little Dr. Pepper can go.
Maile is not a shy child. At the New Years Eve party at the Johnson's she found the first person she could and roped her in to reading her a story. The funny thing is, it wasn't anyone she had met before, it was Kyle's friend, Nicole. Maile really took a shine to her.
Darci is a big fan of her animals. She loves to get all her animals out and line them up and play zoo with them. It gets to be quite a mess sometimes when she is able to find all of them. She also likes to "teach" them and when it is time to go to bed she sometimes makes them say prayers.
On Christmas Darci seemed to have just as much fun helping hand out gifts as she did opening them. She did get a bike and a kitchen set. She love to play with her kitchen set with Maile and make her parents lunch and birthday cakes.
Darci also got a couple of movies that she enjoys watching. It is so cool to see her remember the lines and music to these movies after only watching them a couple of times. She also likes to quote "Elf" and tell you everything that happened to the characters in the latest movie that she watched.

Two of Maile's favorite new toys that she got for Christmas was a rocking horse that makes sounds, and a giant stuffed snake.
Unfortunately for Maile she does feel the cold and after a few minutes this cute smile was gone as she started to shiver and cry for something warm.

After the first big snow of the season Darci was just dying to go out and play in the snow and build a snowman The biggest problem that we had while trying to build the snowman was that Maile and Darci don't really have any good snow stuff so they were constantly getting snow in their gloves and boots. Luckily for Darci she doesn't feel the cold.
It has been fun to see Maile and Darci really start to bond and find that they have things in common. Maile really like to be read to and Darci likes to try to read to her.

What a week!

This was the result of David's commute last week. He was heading to work early Tuesday morning when he hit a patch of black ice and spun off the road. While sitting on the side of the freeway waiting for a chance to pull back into traffic another car veared off of the street and slammed into our suzuki. After he hit David, he drove off, leaving our mangled car on the side of the road. Fortunately David was unhurt, but we have had to get rather creative in our commuting efforts having only one car and two working adults.

The good news is that the car is not totaled and we will be able to get it back in a few weeks. However, in the meantime there is some smug driver out there who thinks he got away with something really clever. I guess he did, for the time being, but I also believe that the universe has a special way of dealing with hit-and-run drivers and I believe that he will get what he deserves in the long run.