bath time craziness (aka bad parents)

siri was a bit wound up for bath last night, and we indulged it because it was funny. as you can see from this video, the craziness went on a little too long...

tou er jian bang

and other performance! tou er jian bang. *the third performance was too long with too many intermissions, so we've opted to not post it here. it was a siri original though, sung in a language that only siri understands.

concert

siri decided to perform a set of three songs for daddy, mommy, and (uncle) bobby. san lun che was one of the songs.

team work

siri and harrah played a cute little game with bubbles!

harrah and siri

harrah and siri at parkside playground

siri chasing harrah like such a big girl

playing chimes

going down the twisty slide together

walking up to the slide

harrah goes to siri's school, and siri had been talking a lot about harrah for weeks. we were skeptical that harrah considered siri to be her friend, so just thought this was a one-sided friendship. apparently, we were wrong. these two had a fabulous time at their friend nana's (ariana) bday party this past weekend.

gymnastics

siri, almost 3!

getting ready to fall backwards

siri's favorite part of the obstacle course: hand stands

donkey kicks

bear walk on the poles. she went across the entire way, without stopping.

balance beam without mommy's help for once

rings - perhaps tied for favorite

getting some help from teacher micah

getting ready for gymnastics! siri dons daddy's scarf in an attempt to copy mommy's obsession with keeping my neck warm.

siri has been enrolled in gymnastics for a couple of months now, and i finally got around to taking some pictures.

weekend of firsts, part 2

hot and tired dustball

dustball is ready for her nap

siri touches sap on an "interesting" looking tree

we made it out!

even after drinking the water and eating most of the food, our packs were still pretty heavy

tired parents

dustball and mini dustball

so thirsty! going for the big water bottle rather than her own

obligatory victory shot, except for you can't see my v fingers and siri is trying to figure out how to do it

family picture at salmon lake

so excited about new stick acquisition

siri went out of her way to climb on rocks (trail to the right)

our little rock climber

siri self portrait

good morning!

mommy and siri (with beloved walking stick)

the walking stick!

picturesque salmon lake at approx. 6:30am

paranoid about bears and hung our food over night

here are pictures from the second day. it took about two hours to hike out to our car, but siri was a bit less cooperative this time. jeff held her for about 1/2 of the hike, and she was about to lose it toward the end of the trail (it was nap time and she sorely needed one).

it was a great trip and siri learned a lot about nature. but, lesson learned. perhaps best to car camp with little ones until they're old enough to carry their own clothes and sleeping bag, and walk the entire way.

weekend of firsts, pt. 1

daddy making dinner -- jeff and i camped at this exact site approximately six years ago.

salmon lake at dusk

our little dustball making a pudgy face

siri was covered in dust -- from head to toe, hence the nickname "dustball"

siri standing by the salmon lake sign

salmon lake

happily hanging out in our tent

new baby came along for the hike. now, she is in desperate need of a bath

our city kid enjoying nature

i turned off from the trail to take this picture of where we were hiking into. i also thought we could go this way to get there (salmon lake). good thing jeff told me was i was wrong.

siri, daddy and new baby hiking in

mommy self-portrait with dirt on my face

trail head

we have been meaning to go camping for a while now and decided to do it this past weekend. this is siri's first camping trip, and instead of taking things slowly, say car camping, we decided to backpack 1.25 miles into salmon lake. siri did really well, and hiked about 3/4 of the way in by herself. mommy introduced siri to walking sticks made out of branches, and she thought that was pretty cool. she also had a ton of questions about fallen trees and moss. she especially enjoyed climbing over fallen trees blocking our path, or scaling big rocks.

the parental unit was exhausted. we packed all necessities for the one night adventure including tent, sleeping bags, blankets, food, water, etc. we each had a backpack and prodded siri along on the path. it took over two hours to hike in, and we were ready to pitch our tent, make dinner, and call it a night.

siri was super excited by salmon lake as there was a ton of catfish that seemed a bit too domesticated for us (they came up to the edge looking for food as soon as they saw human presence). siri insisted on calling them "humming fish" (a la dr. seuss's the lorax), and threw pine cones into the lake for them.

here are some pictures from our trip!