Springtime Festival with Uncles

With our recent road trip to Notre Dame for Katarina's baptism, I am a bit behind on blogging. The weekend before our vacation, Uncle Stephen and Uncle Brian came to Little Rock for an impromptu visit because Uncle Stephen wanted to meet baby Katarina.

Gabi and Annabelle put on a show for their uncles using the fireplace as a stage. They each sang their favorite song: "ABC" from Bella and "Hey Diddle Diddle" from Gabi.

On Saturday, Daddy had to work, but the rest of us went to the Springtime Festival at Wildwood Park. When a harpist played live over an outdoor loud speaker, Bella told me that she liked the music. We heard story time in the Asian Garden, followed a moving play about different forms of art, danced around a May Pole, hiked through the gardens, and watched electric trains. Gabi enjoyed sitting by a mini-town and blowing her train whistle as the train passed.

It was an enjoyable day, but spending all morning in the sun tired everyone out!

Of course, Uncle Stephen also spent much time over the weekend reading books with the two older girls. Thanks for coming to visit! We'd love to have you any time.

Circus

The Scimitar Shriner Circus came to Little Rock, and we went with Gabi's friend Isabella. Overall, it was rather disappointing, but the girls were entertained. I did enjoy the acrobat who climbed the long scarves as well as the large group of boys sitting next to us who sang along with "Who Let the Dogs Out" during the dog and pony show. Gabi's favorite part was riding the elephant during intermission. After the circus, the girls listened to a player piano in a cart outside and even got to climb in to check it out.

Tita and Tito Visit

Last weekend, Tita Christine and Tito Jordan came down from Seattle to meet their new niece and play with their first two nieces. We enjoyed much quality family time with this aunt and uncle who live so far away!

After church on Sunday, we went to Chi's Chinese for lunch with the whole family.

Tita Chrissie planned a fun day flying kites at Pinnacle Mountain. As it turned out, there wasn't enough wind to fly kites, but we enjoyed tossing some balls around, taking a short hike, and playing on the playground.

Tita and Tito hung out at our house most evenings. Tita played Wii Bowling while holding a sleeping baby, which startled Katarina every time she threw the ball. Katarina also tried to hide from the flash on my camera. Neither of those would bother her as much as being put down, though, so Tita continued to hold her.

Tito says a trip to Little Rock wouldn't be complete without eating at the Purple Cow, so we met there for lunch one day. The girls love Purple Cow and consider it quite a treat; they even have a short song about it (repetitions of "purple cow" comprising the entirety of the lyrics).

Gabi enjoyed showing Tita that she can read some books all by herself now! Our girls always welcome extra attention from doting family members.

Gabi's Journal

In Gabi's class at school, each student keeps a journal. Here are a few of her March journal entries: (Her teacher wrote the correct spellings in ink as necessary.)

Gabi likes to point out in the above picture, on the right, she drew herself going to the Wonder Place. I am impressed by her sentences, but it is also fun to see her artwork illustrating her thoughts.

And in the next journal entry, you can see that two weeks after her birthday, she still had birthday on her mind. Actually, I think my kids have birthdays on their mind year-round! They love wrapping (in a blanket) each other "presents" (from their playroom) and singing "Happy Birthday."

For her St. Patrick's Day journal entry, Gabi says this is what she would buy if she caught a leprechaun and got his pot of gold:

Gabi's 5-year check-up was on March 29th, a month after her birthday. (Life around here was a bit crazy immediately after her birthday!) Gabi weighed in at 40 pounds, which is 50th percentile for her age. She is 43 and 1/4 inches tall, measuring 60-65th percentile.