This was a big day in the Gillespie household: Laura's first official day of preschool. Laura was very excited and has been asking us every morning if today is the day she gets to go to preschool. The big day arrived and she had her new outfit on.
Laura and Anna ready to go!
I'm ready mom & dad!
I walked her in and mom followed with the camera. Hurry up mom, don't embarrass me in front of the other kids! (Little does she know that it is our sworn duty to do so!)
As Laura would say: "What the?" It was a zoo on the first day. Kids everywhere. Alpha female mommies pushing their kids to be the first ones to get checked in. Elbowing their way to get the best picture position. I mean, can't you see my little pint sized perfection is the best!
Come on dad, they aren't that bad! This looks kinda fun. I see an art area!
This past weekend we went up to the iron range to celebrate the wedding of Laura & Anna's day care provider, Ms. Niemi. (now Mrs. Congdon)
We had a very nice trip, and for the most part the girls behaved about as well as one could expect. With some help from goldfish crackers, Anna sat through the ceremony, and Laura even got to release a butterfly at the end to cap off the ceremony.
Once we got to the reception, the kids eagerly awaiting their chance to hit the dance floor.
At the hotel, we got the little gals all prepped up.
Who would have guessed that they would be cute as a button?
Anna showing off her white dress and headband.
Laura loved her pink dress (and headband).
They were so excited to get to the wedding the improvised their own transportation. Anna would shove her side one way, and Laure the other.
They all got to blow bubbles, which Laura loved.
Anna too.
Anna chased the bride all day long for some attention. She was always busy, but still made time to get Anna some attention.
Laura loved doing the chicken dance. Anna was just a little confused (as am I about the chicken dance)
I'm back in the states after a week in Canada fishing the elusive walleye. I enjoyed a week outdoors and even caught a lot of fish.
The eagles were everywhere, they'd keep an eye on the fishermen to make sure all of the fish were nice & healthy when they were thrown back. If not, they'd scoop them up & take them back to the aerie. I suppose they had some medicine up there for them.
Here is the big moose rack in the cabin we stayed at. As I expected the cabin was rustic, but it kept the bears and bugs out, so that is good. The mice appreciated the chips we left on the floor for them.
Here is a nice walleye I caught. I believe this was was about 17.5".
Here is my large fish for the week, a 22" walleye.
I thought I'd put up one more post before Mike returns and takes back the blog!
The highlight of the week may have been our night at Lucy & Henry's, when Uncle Ben not only played the guitar for Laura but let her try it out. She couldn't believe she actually got to play the guitar!
That reminded me of an earlier encounter the girls had with music at Grandma & Grandpa B's.
Laura wanted to write a message for Mike on the chalkboard so that I could take a picture of it and send it to his phone, but it turned into a general expression of her love for the whole family. Or maybe it was just her love for the chalkboard.
One of Anna's favorite pasttimes is dressing up in the winter clothes. Love that smile! And yes, I'm admitting that I never got around to packing away the winter clothes this year.
Last but not least, the kids missed Mike a lot this week. They are looking forward to having him back so they can head out on their next adventure with him!
Last week, Laura attended her first 'big girl' birthday party (i.e. Mom dropped her off rather than staying with her for the party). The party was for Laura's cousin Sophia, who is really into cooking right now. To set the stage, you have to see the invitations that my sister Michael designed for the party:
Each guest was given an apron and chef's hat, they 'cooked lunch' (make-your-own pizzas and cupcakes to decorate), and they got to decorate their chef's hat.
Laura loved her chef outfit so much that she wore it the rest of that day and night. And she wore it to daycare the next day. And she wore it to daycare the day after that! I think her smile shows how much she loved celebrating Sophie's birthday with her... and without Mom and Dad!
Mike has not been able to post a blog update recently, so I thought I would take a stab at it.
First, the news on Anna. She has been learning how to dress herself. For a 21-month old, I think she's doing a fine job.
And yes, that is Laura's underwear on Anna's head. Laura occasionally sports the "unders hat" as well.
Anna has also made leaps & bounds in her relationship with Grandma Becky and Grandpa Bud's standard poodle, Koke. Last week, when she found Koke relaxing in the sunlight, she laid down face-to-face with her for some girl-talk.
Then she brought over a book and a drink for the dog.
Apparently unsatisifed with Koke's reading of the story, Anna took over and read it out loud herself -- in Anna-language, of course.
Next, Laura ... With our busy summer, we are grateful that she is such an adaptable girl. She doesn't even mind sleeping on the floor when we're traveling. Here we had made her a nice bed out of cushions, but despite my attempts to continually remake her bed for her throughout the night, I kept waking up to find her like this:
Laura loves assisting Mike with his vegetable garden. Here she is showing off today's harvest.
Anna is also very enthusiastic about the garden, but she indiscriminately picks whatever she wants, whether it's ripe, not quite ready yet, or hanging on the vine half-eaten by some other creature. I thought I had her under control this afternoon until I found her coming around the corner of the garden, with a tell-tale stream of tomato juice dripping down her chin and a huge smile on her face.
And lastly, the sisters together. While they do their fair share of squabbling, they can occasionally be caught in a moment that shows their sisterly bond growing.
