The Mariano Family

trips to the park

2012-02-19T21:01:00.000-08:00

When it's warm enough, we love to take walks to the park.

Here's Natalie with her "bird watchers" checking out some birdies at the park.

Olivia on the big swings

Olivia checked out the birds too.

My favorite view at the park...

...or this! Two happy girls on the big swings!

New Years Day -- Christmas at Great Grandma's

2012-01-26T20:38:00.000-08:00

We celebrated Christmas with the Coyle clan on New Years Day. Here are my beautiful girls in their second set of Christmas outfits. We had a fun little photo shoot before heading to Great Grandma's.

Grandpa built Natalie & Olivia a beautiful dress up cabinte to house all of their dress up clothes, wands, crowns, and shoes. The girls were very excited about it. Especially because they could stand up in it while it was empty.

Here's Natalie with Shannon's boys AJ & Nick. She really likes hanging out with them. I like it because they have good manners and are very kind to both of the girls.

Natalie & Nick

Olivia & AJ

Time for presents! Olivia got to go first because she is the youngest.

Checking out a new book...

Natalie's turn!

A new dress up outfit

Introducing everyone to her new puppy

Here's a cute one of Great Grandma in her new purple coat. (Hmmmm... wonder if loving purple is in our genes :)

All the kids in the kitchen playing with some new cars that the boys got.

My pretty Natalie. She loves her stuffed animals.

The kids table :)

Olivia got a tiny piece of chocolate creme pie...

...and she wanted to share...

... but I just enjoyed it from behind the camera! :)

Merry Christmas!

2012-01-26T20:28:00.001-08:00

Christmas morning the girls slept in a little and then were excited to see what Santa brought for them. We started with their stockings.

Here's Natalie with a new bath scrubber in her favorite color!

Olivia found a "Me Mouse" placemat

...and a "Yee Haw" (her name for Toy Story) cup!

Already creating mischief with the cup!

Then the girls found their presents from Santa. Doodlebears! Natalie was consistent in asking Santa for this every time she saw him and when she wrote him a letter. Santa was pretty smart and brought Olivia a Doodlebear too. Santa obviously didn't want to deal with any arguments over a silly bear :)

Trying out their new toys

Natalie loves her Doodlebear

We played for quite a while and then I started on breakfast. Nana & Papa and Steph & Mike joined us for a yummy breakfast and more presents.

Olivia was a little overwhelmed by all of the presents this year...

She loved her Olivia chair

...and playing in the garbage bag.

Natalie really got into it and took her time with each gift. She was really excited about everything she got.

So glad that Uncle Mike joined us for Christmas this year. He just got out of the Navy and is starting school, studying engineering. He got a fancy schmancy calculator.

Here's Aunty Steph with her kindle. She LOVES to read!

After all the presents were opened we sipped our champagne while the girls enjoyed some of their new toys. Uncle Mike & Natalie put together one of their favorite new toys.

Olivia & Papa having a nice snuggle!

After some playtime and naps (and a change in venue to Nana's) we got dressed and headed out for a walk before Christmas dinner. Glad that the boys got to join us!

Cute kids + Katie :)

These crack me up. Here's Nick helping Olivia on the princess car...

Love her face in this one!

We hope you all had a Merry Christmas as well!

Christmas Eve

2012-01-26T20:19:00.000-08:00

For Christmas Eve we had a nice day relaxing and playing with Uncle Mike & Aunt Steph at Nana & Papa's house. We hung out in comfy clothes and played and ate the most delicious tamales that Papa has ever made.

Play-doh at the kid's table

Here are the girls in their reindeer shirts made by Auntie Corinne playing outside after we took a walk.

Visiting Friends

2011-12-22T14:58:00.000-08:00

We went to visit the Boria's and had a fun filled day. We started with decorating gingerbread houses. I wasn't sure Olivia would be able to or would even want to. But I was mistaken! She did a pretty good job & she really enjoyed it. Maybe it was because she put every other piece of candy she touched into her mouth. :) Anyway, it was a better experience than I expected it to be.

Olivia decorating.

Natalie decorating.

It must help if you stick your tounge out while you are doing it :)

Natty & her cute house complete with snow on the front lawn, a car, a tree, and a snowman.

Olivia thought she was being sneaky & took this candy dish down to the floor.

Back to decorating...

Olivia & her house

After a break for lunch we headed to DellOso farms to have some more fun.

The kids had a blast jumping on the air pillow.

More silly pictures...

Then a ride on the train.

Climbing on gigantic tires.

Natalie loves Bobo!

Wrapped Up Girls

2011-12-22T14:25:00.000-08:00

Natalie gets silly ideas sometimes & I try to humor her as much as I can. One night she thought it would be fun to make skirts out of wrapping paper. It was pretty hilarious! These pics are blurry because it didn't last long enough for me to get the camera set right, but I love them bcause they are funny.

Kids Christmas Party

2011-12-22T14:20:00.000-08:00

Every year there is a Staff Kids Christmas Party at Mommy's school & since I am in charge of it, I always take the girls to see what kind of fun they will have.

Here's Natalie decorating a stocking.

Both girls getting ready to decorate cookies.

Olivia was more interested in eating the sprinkles than decorating the cookie.

Yeah! Frosting!

"Maybe you should put the sprinkles ON the cookie"

My pretty girl

Natalie loves Jacob!

Another decorating project

Here's the Santa pic... Natalie took a cuter one by herself when Nana & Papa took her to Bass Pro Shops. Oh well!

Santa asked Mommy if she had been a good girl this year... the answer? Of course! ;)

Christmas Decorating

2011-12-22T14:10:00.000-08:00

Natalie loved helping me decorate the house for Christmas this year. She is very into organizing & patterns right now so she had to start by putting all of these colored snowflake ornaments in pile by color.

No doubt about it, she is my child!

She did a great job helping me decorate the tree...

...except that she focused so much attention on one spot of the tree. Mommy went back later & moved them around a bit but I was still happy to have so much help!

Olivia didn't do much to help... she just wanted to explore the boxes & all of the decorations.

She did get into decorating the tree for her room though with some help from her big sister.

This cracks me up! I was trying to get them both to look at me & Natalie said "look at Mama" and grabbed Olivia's face. Too funny!

Our little turkies!

2011-12-04T14:14:00.000-08:00

On Thanksgiving evening... in turkey shirts made by Mommy & Auntie Corinne :)

Thanksgiving Weekend

2011-12-04T14:12:00.000-08:00

We had a great trip to Monterey during Thanksgiving weekend.

Girls getting ready to walk along the boardwalk

Our favorite place for posing pictures :)

This cracks me up... Natalie telling on Olivia for taking her shoes off...

You can tell by looking at her that she's mischevious, can't you?!?!

We always bring a few puzzles, games & usually the girls get one new toy during this trip. We brought the Toy Story Mr. Potato heads & a little fishing game. They were a hit.

Olivia trying on Jessie's hat

Her favorite thing to do right now is puzzles.

Another day... we go walking on the boardwalk when it's too cold to go down to the beach

Olivia is OBSESSED with Kate. And, even in all caps that might be an understatement ;) She had to be holding her leash or she wasn't happy.

Besides Thanksgiving day when it was really cold & rainy, the rest of the trip was sunny & pretty warm. We got to go down to the beach several times thanks to the weather.

Cousins & Great Grandma

2011-12-04T13:57:00.000-08:00

It's going to be a fun Christmas at Great Grandma & Grandpa's house with all of these girls running around!

We had a family get together recently because we were going to be gone for Thanksgiving & we all hadn't seen each other in a while. Great Grandma wanted to use a picture of the girls for her Christmas card this year so we had a fun little photo shoot & some pizza.

Then Grandma played the piano & the girls "helped" and danced around.

Turkey Craft

2011-12-04T13:53:00.000-08:00

Natalie likes to do projects and sometimes she comes up with ideas on her own. One day she asked if we had any beans. We checked the pantry & had one type. She needed more. So we went to the store & got a couple of different kinds of beans. She had this turkey project in mind where we traced her hand & each finger was filled with a different type of bean. She's a funny girl!

Trunk or Treat

2011-11-09T15:02:00.000-08:00

Instead of Trick or Treating this year, we went to a Trunk or Treat at church. It was really fun because we knew most of the people giving out candy.

Caught, Red Handed!

2011-11-09T14:51:00.000-08:00

Halloween Parade at Preschool

2011-11-09T14:49:00.000-08:00

Natalie's school always has a Halloween parade & party. This year we had a furlough day so I got to get both girls dressed up & take them.

Here is my beautiful Rapunzel!

Getting ready for the parade.

Nana with Olivia as a purple butterfly

Rapunzel & Jessie are BFF's :)

Olivia sneaking a treat.

Coloring at the "big kids" table :)

A Visit with Nana & Papa G

2011-11-09T14:44:00.000-08:00

Nana & Papa G are headed for Mexico again for the winter :( We had breakfast & played at the park with them right before we left. (This was the Sunday before Halloween that is why the girls are in their Halloween outfits :)

Pumpkin Patch 2011

2011-10-29T21:28:00.000-07:00

Here are our pictures from the pumpkin patch. Mommy still has to finish Rapunzel's wig so I am not going to caption all of these. You will see the results of my handi work soon ;)

So Grown Up

2011-10-29T21:15:00.000-07:00

Natalie was invited to a birthday party for a girl in her class. She got dressed up & wow, she is looking very grow up lately! She is very into accesserizing her outfits and we have to shop in the girls section now instead of toddler clothes. It's making mommy a little sad. Just wait until Kindergarten sign ups. I am going to need a lot of tissue!

The party was at GymStars (a very cool place). The kids got to jump into this big foam pit.

ride on a three way swing...

and jump down a long, skinny trampoline into...

...another foam pit!

so fun!!!

Silly Girl!

2011-10-29T21:10:00.000-07:00

Yup! She's a goof!

If Sissy Only Knew...

2011-10-29T21:08:00.000-07:00

...that I let Olivia play with her jewelry in her room, she would be so upset! Natalie is very protective over her room & her stuff. She does share pretty well in the play room but when it comes to her room, that is a little bit different. One evening I was putting away some laundry & Olivia followed me into Natalie's room & jumped right up on the bed & started doing this...

I had a hard time stopping her because it made her so happy! :)

Shhhh! Don't tell sissy!

Silly

2011-10-29T21:04:00.002-07:00

Our pumpkins

2011-10-29T21:04:00.000-07:00

Ron & Natalie carved our pumpkins tonight. I think they did a pretty good job!

Daddy & the girls

our pumpkins

girlies with their pumpkins

A Treat

2011-10-21T21:26:00.000-07:00

Lounging in the wagon & eating an Oreo... no big deal :)

Play Time

2011-10-21T21:24:00.000-07:00

Most evenings it is so nice outside that we have dinner then play outside or go to the park until bath time.

Jumping in puddles

I just love pictures of kids from behind!

Natalie looking cute in her Halloween outfit

Olivia wants Mommy to sit in the little chair next to her :)

Playing Peek-A-Boo with sissy

Park Fun

2011-09-29T21:17:00.000-07:00

My happy girl practicing her ABC's

Being silly on the swing!

Check out Olivia! This child is so determined to do the things she wants to do.

Sisters!

2011-09-29T21:14:00.000-07:00

I love this so much especially because we didn't pose them like this.

They do this on their own. And I love it!

She got mail!

2011-09-29T21:12:00.000-07:00

Natalie & a couple of her friends have been writing letters & sending pictures back & forth lately. She loves getting things in the mail from her friends & also loves making pictures & writing letters to send back to them. Nana & Papa took a week golfing vacation recently & sent a post card. Here's Natalie's reaction!

I know this pic is blurry... but I don't care. Love her happy reaction to her postcard!

Cheeky Bean!

2011-09-29T21:10:00.000-07:00

I usually give warnings to the girls when I am trying to finish up one activity and move on to something else. For example, I say "You have five more minutes of play time before it's time for bath." With Olivia I usually say "One more time before we..." (bath, stories, bed, etc)

This is her being cheeky & asking for something one more time ;)

And, then her serious face. This baby cracks me up!

Playing Babies

2011-09-29T21:07:00.000-07:00

Olivia loves to play with babies. Her favorite thing is to put them in the stroller & push them around the hous or outside. She gets very frustrated when they fall out but she won't let us help her strap them in. It's pretty funny to see her developing into such an independent little girl.

I love this action shot with her arms full. This is so typical. She has to have three bottles for her baby & she has to carry them all herself.

Golden Gate Park

2011-09-18T20:54:00.000-07:00

We took a day trip to the "city" as Natalie likes to call it and took the girls to the playgroud in Golden Gate Park to play. But first we stopped for some much needed refueling at a cupcake shop.

Daddy grabbed a picture of Natalie enjoying hers.

"Cheese"

Having fun!

the super cool spinning cups

Love this one!

Here's the super cool cement slide

on the swings

trying to catch up to sissy on the spider web

brave climber

monkey bars

daddy being silly

A special note for our detailed oriented friends... We stayed at the park for quite a while and it was warm when we got there & it gradually got cooler... that is why you will notice some outfit changes :) AND, blogger just changed something on me & my pictures got all mixed up in order. I didn't want to deal with it so I just left them kind of mixed up. Enjoy!

This makes me smile...

2011-09-18T16:29:00.000-07:00

Precious!

2011-09-18T16:28:00.001-07:00

Note to self...

2011-09-18T16:27:00.001-07:00

Having TWO of everything = happy play time :)

Coloring

2011-09-18T16:26:00.000-07:00

Love their faces when they are concentrating :)

(by the way... Olivia + pens = danger! This only happens under close supervision!)

Cheeky!

2011-09-18T16:24:00.001-07:00

Evenings...

2011-09-18T16:23:00.001-07:00

Such a girly girl!

2011-09-18T16:21:00.000-07:00

Olivia loves to put on any jewelry she can find. She usually collects it all and then puts every piece on.

This girl loves rainbow!

2011-09-05T20:55:00.000-07:00

She dressed herself this morning & put on two articles of rainbow clothing. They really don't go together but I just let them "match" today because she was so happy with her outfit.

Sisters...

2011-09-05T20:54:00.000-07:00

She was being pulled around...

... by her!

Her Own Way

2011-09-05T20:52:00.000-07:00

Miss Olivia is a pretty independent girl already. This is how she decided she wanted to vacuum.

Too cute!

2011-09-05T20:46:00.001-07:00

Swimming!

2011-09-05T20:42:00.000-07:00

Since Natalie took swim lessons this summer and gained a lot of confidence in the pool, we have been swimming at Nana & Papa's quite a bit.

Natalie kicking her feet while waiting for her tummy to settle so she can go swimming!

Silly girl
Olivia kicking her feet

O in the pool

waving :)

Here's Natalie doing motor boat behind Olivia

Helping Sissy

2011-08-28T14:13:00.000-07:00

Comfort

2011-08-28T14:10:00.000-07:00

Both of our girls have a couple of "comfort items" that they LOVE. They rarely leave the house but when it comes to snuggle time at our house, these things take up a lot of room :) Natalie has her blanket, two kitties, and just recently added two bears. Olivia loves crocheted blankets & one doggy. We don't have them all out all the time but I thought it was something I had to capture at least once... or twice :)

Olivia's Obsession with Snaps

2011-08-28T14:07:00.000-07:00

This tiny girl is obsessed with snapping things together. Safety snaps on carseats & strollers and anything else that she can get her hands on. It's kind of funny, but I love to watch her because you can see the wheels turning in her little head. She's going to be a girl who loves to figure out puzzles & how things work.

First Day of Preschool 2011

2011-08-28T14:06:00.000-07:00

A B C 's

2011-08-28T14:04:00.000-07:00

Over the summer Natalie became OBSESSED with practicing writing the ABC's. :) I found a cool white board with the letters on it that she can trace. She spends lots of time practicing.

Miss O

2011-08-28T14:02:00.000-07:00

on her tippy toes...
...carrying a purse.

Cuteness...

2011-08-28T14:00:00.002-07:00

Love this sweet face! She's being a "baby puppy" sweet girls
precious

Flip Flops :)

2011-08-28T14:00:00.001-07:00

Hopefully...

2011-08-28T13:57:00.000-07:00

...this isn't what we have to look forward to when Olivia hits two! :)

Dress Up

2011-07-26T20:55:00.000-07:00

We had so much fun playing dress up the other night. I was getting the girls into their ensembles and Ron caught all of the action on camera... Now you too can enjoy the show! :)

olivia in a tutu...

natty was so happy that olivia was playing too & she was really into it!
I think I might have a little fashionista on my hands... she was very concerned about the accessories for this outfit. Bracelet, hat & purse... then we added the scarf & she was happy!
As tinkerbell
Mommy & NatThis one is special to me because this was one of my dance costumes! Love it!

FairyTale Town

2011-07-21T15:29:00.000-07:00

Ann (Natalie's old babysitter) & I took our kids for a play date to Fairy Tale Town. They had a great time!!!

Kids going down the slide

happy Natalie
cute Olivia

Alyssa taking Olivia down the slide

my sweet girlies in the king's chair

Natalie being silly in the "cheese"

on Cinderella's horses

Olivia pointing out the goats

another slide

and one coming out of a tree house

Alyssa & Olivia on the crooked mile

Natty & Bobo on the crooked mile

Olivia in a tiny house

trying to run off by herself on the crooked mile

Natalie Loving the hippo water fountain

Bobo loves Natalie

such a HAM!

these kids really have fun together!

feeding the ducks

is this how you do it Mom?

there were lots of babies to feed. so fun!

It was supposed to be SNUGGLE time...

2011-07-21T15:22:00.000-07:00

but, this quickly turned to......this!
Some of these are a little blurry (because I was still figuring out my new camera) but I don't care because they are so funny!

A Trip to the Zoo

2011-07-21T14:12:00.000-07:00

Nana & I took the girls to the Sacramento zoo for the day. It is a nice, small zoo. So it was perfect for a morning outing for us.

Here are Natalie & Nana on the zoo train.

Natalie got to feed the giraffes.

She really liked it although their long tongues freaked her out a little. :)

Nana & Olivia watching Nat feed the giraffes

gorgeous, even with a cheesy chip face!

Natalie checking out the tiger right behind the glass window

Hmm... where should we go next?

Miss Olivia in a car

Natalie as a zookeeper :)

And, Olivia's turn

both girls fascinated by a laughing kookaburra at the animal show

little kids clapping is probably one of the cutest things ever!

Time for the zoo carousel!

Waving at Nana from the carousel!

Hello, Cupcake!

2011-07-14T15:11:00.000-07:00

Olivia was lucky enough to benefit from our cupcake making. As with most food that is put in front of her, she thoroughly enjoyed it!

Swim Lessons

2011-07-14T15:09:00.000-07:00

Natalie has been taking swim lessons for the last few weeks taught by a friend of mine. She is progressing so well! She might be swimming across the pool before the end of summer!!!

Making DORA cupcakes

2011-07-14T15:07:00.001-07:00

Pine Needle Raking at the Cabin

2011-07-12T08:24:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we went to the cabin to help rake pine needles. I am not sure how much help we really were, but we did have a lot of fun exploring the cabin with the girls.

Natalie was actually a big helper with the raking.

Olivia wanted to help too

The girls loved watching all the birds & squirrels

They had fun swinging on our neighbors tree swing

Olivia got sick of having her picture taken...

But then after a nap she was into it again :)

Natalie & Great Grandma playing with this antique picture thing

(cannot remember the name of it :(

We went to the park too & played on the swings I just love how the relationship between these two is developing every day! Sweet sisters!

My Beauties

2011-07-07T15:55:00.000-07:00

4th of July BBQ

2011-07-07T15:51:00.000-07:00

We went to my dad's for our 4th of July BBQ. Great Grandma Coyle rented a bounce house for the girls & their cousins.

Natalie always loves jumping!

Olivia started to get the hang of it too!

Grandpa turned on the sprinkler for the girls because it was already hot & being in the bounce house definitely didn't make anyone any cooler.

the girls & their 4th of July picnic on Grandpa's lawn

having a cookie before fireworks

4th of July Parade

2011-07-04T14:56:00.000-07:00

Summer Fun

2011-07-04T14:05:00.000-07:00

Silly Time is the BEST time :)

2011-07-04T14:03:00.000-07:00

Natalie loves Papa

2011-07-04T14:02:00.000-07:00

Blueberry Picking

2011-06-21T14:51:00.000-07:00

Nana & I took the girls to a local farm where you can pick your own blueberries & strawberries. It was really hot even though we went at 10 in the morning but it was really fun!

Olivia ate more blueberries than she picked :)Nana filling up Olivia's bucketNatalie really got into itLook at our bucket! We picked over 2lbs. We will definitely do this earlier in the year next year!After blueberry picking we had to go home & do this... :)

Park Fountains

2011-06-21T14:42:00.000-07:00

At both parks that are close to our house, they have fountains that turn on during the summer. In the evenings when it is hot Natalie doesn't have a hard time convincing me to take them to play & get cooled off.

Olivia waving to sissy in the fountains

She wasn't as interested in the fountains as Natalie was...But she did enjoy splashing in the puddles.Natalie loved running around in the fountains...

Beach Part 2

2011-06-17T21:04:00.000-07:00

We walked around Santa Monica quite a bit. Natalie loved the dinosaur bush water fountains.

We also went to the Santa Monica pier. Natalie LOVED all the rides at Disneyland & didn't show any fear at all. She wanted to try everything at the pier too including a little roller coaster.

Here she is on the trampoline bouncy thing.And a little air balloon ride.Olivia really wanted to try these too but she was too small.She had to settle with watching sissy this time.Having a treat after all those rides.Back on the beach... Olivia LOVED digging in the sand.Nana & Natalie We buried her feet Another day at the beach... My bathing beauties!And, that's it for our vacation pictures!

Beach Part 1

2011-06-17T20:50:00.000-07:00

After a GREAT time in Disneyland we moved to a house on Venice Beach by Santa Monica.

Here's Olivia keeping herself busy in the backseat :)

We went to the Santa Monica Farmer's Market. Wow! This was an amazing market! They also had pony rides & a petting zoo for the kids. Natalie enjoyed both!

Most evenings we went to play on the beach. Here's pics from the first night. Natty & Nana and their sand castle.Oops! Olivia tasted sand......and decided it was more fun to play with than to eat.O & mama on the beachSassy Natalie Nana & Papa and the girlsMama & the girls Giving Natalie a pedicure Olivia explored all the furniture by climbing in & finding places to hide

My cute girlies!

Disneyland Part 2

2011-06-17T13:22:00.000-07:00

We started our second day in Disneyland at Ariel's Grotto where we had breakfast & got to meet lots of princesses!

First, Ariel!

Olivia in her princess crown

You'll notice a pattern with Olivia in these pictures. She was fascinated by & a little leary of the princesses so she stared at them each time they came by. Natalie was pretty excited to meet all of her favorite princesses!

Here we are with Belle!

Belle gave Natalie a hug before she moved on!Natalie & Sleeping BeautyCheese!With Snow White Natty & NanaOlivia & Nanabeing sillyAfter that we headed into Disneyland but we took it a little slow because we were all still a little tired from our first big day.
Waiting to ride the rockets in Fantasyland

Love this one!

Taking a break & having a snack in front of Sleeping Beauty's castle

Cheese!

Having a cookie while waiting for the parade. She thought she was part of the show.O in her Minnie earsN in her Minnie earsLoving the parade!My silly milk loving girls!Having a churro.

(FYI this is Day #3... I'm not crazy enough to give her a churro & a giant cookie in one day ;)On the Mickey ferris wheel in CA adventure

We are in a toy box :)Natalie & her Jessie doll.

Water bath

2011-06-16T21:07:00.000-07:00

This happened on the day before we left on vacation. I didn't really want them doing this but I had just cleaned out the bird bath & put fresh water in it earlier in the day so I knew it wasn't icky. And, the girls were having so much fun splashing around in there, it was too hard to break up their fun.

Oh Olivia!

2011-06-16T21:05:00.000-07:00

This girl makes us laugh EVERYDAY!

Too Funny!

2011-06-16T21:02:00.000-07:00

Both girls having suckers & reading magazines while they patiently waited for me to get our Disneyland tickets :)

Disneyland Part 1

2011-06-16T20:45:00.000-07:00

This will be the first of several posts to get all of our pictures from vacation on the blog :)

Nana & Papa and I took the girls to Disneyland & the beach. Ron had to stay home for work.

As soon as we got there we went to Downtown Disney for dinner.

Me & the girls

Nana & Papa & Natalie

Natalie doing a silly pose in her mouse ears.

Olivia & her silly faces...I'm telling you, this girl is a crack up!Girls in their mouse ears = :)

Here is our first day at Disneyland. Riding the carousel!Olivia & Papa wait for us on the Dumbo ride.Natty & Mommy riding Dumbo

All the girls in a tea cup!Riding the tea cups Happy girl on her horseOlivia had to do a lot of waiting around because she wasn't big enough for a lot of the rides. But she found ways to keep herself occupied.On the tea cups!Love this pic of my girlies in their minnie mouse shirts on the tea cups!Loving the spinning!We got Olivia this backpack leash because we knew we couldn't keep her in the stroller all day long because she loves to be out & moving around. This helped us keep her within arms reach but let her have her freedom to walk around. At first she didn't love it, but once she realized it was the only way I was letting her run around, she got used to the idea :)Heading into "Small World"Loving it!

Natalie was like this with everything! Her reactions & excitedment just made the trip amazing!Natalie meeting Mickey Mouse All of the girls with MickeyPlaying in Mickey's carIn Chip & Dale's tree houseNatty & Papa on the Toon town coasterNatalie in Minnie's chairReady for a napYeah! We got to meet Minnie Mouse too!

Natalie & Papa on the tram (heading back for naps)Then we headed into CA Adventure where there were almost no lines! Walking into Ariel's new ride.Riding in the clam shells! It's a great ride!Natty & mommy on "Jumping Jellyfish"Then we did the swings a couple of times because Natalie LOVED them & there was no line.Olivia on the carousel in CA adventureNataline on a whaleAnd, finally... the end of the night & fireworks. Surprisingly Olivia loved them. She pointed & said "Oooh!"

Visiting Nana & Papa G

2011-06-05T19:46:00.000-07:00

Olivia enjoyed hanging out with Papa G on his chair.

Then we took a walk to a nearby park. There was lots to climb on & Natalie loved that!

Of course, Olivia had to try to climb too!

"I want to go higher, Nana!"

Blowing kisses once she got to the top. Too cheeky!

Her New Trick

2011-06-05T19:43:00.000-07:00

Olivia definitely keeps us on our toes around the house! Lately she loves to take my Tupperware out of the cupboard & climb in. She also closes the door & pops out. Too funny!

From Preschool

2011-05-29T21:19:00.000-07:00

At the end of the year we get a CD of photos that were taken during the year at Natalie's school. Here are some of my favorites from this year...

Natalie's Promotion

2011-05-29T16:06:00.000-07:00

They had a graduation for the 4-5 year olds and a promotion for the 3-4 year olds at Natalie's school.

Here's Natalie singing. She LOVES to sing!

Natalie with her teachers! Ms. Cogzill

Mrs. Yoder

Little Monkies

2011-05-29T15:53:00.000-07:00

Natalie loves to do dot-to-dots

She's so mischievous!

Peek a boo

2011-05-22T14:43:00.000-07:00

Olivia playing peek a boo with daddy. And, showing that she can be naughty! She thinks its funny to stand on chairs & see if we are looking.
Then big sissy had to join in the fun too!

Happy Mother's Day

2011-05-08T14:40:00.000-07:00

A couple of cute pictures of all the girls at our Mother's Day celebration at my mom's.

(4 generations with Nana G, Nana, me & the girls)

Easter

2011-05-01T20:31:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of our Easter egg hunt.
Hershey kisses! Checking out the goods :)

Our Spring Break Getaway

2011-05-01T20:24:00.000-07:00

We took a little trip to Monterey during spring break. Some friends met us there for a few hours of play time on the beach.

Here are the kids playing in the icy cold water. Natty playing with her dolphin shovelOlivia was not too sure of the sand this time. She hated it on her feet at first.Then she got into it a little.Ann brought little golf clubs & balls for the kids to play sand golf. And, of course, there was sand castle making.My pretty girl enjoying a treat on the beach.Our favorite picture spot at the condo :)Evening walk on the "boardwalk" by the condoLOVE these pics!!!

Play time

2011-05-01T20:23:00.001-07:00

One of many tunnels that was built to crawl through & play under during spring break :)

Girly

2011-05-01T20:21:00.000-07:00

Olivia loves to put on necklaces. I think she's going to be a girly girl!

Fun Start to Spring Break

2011-04-18T12:56:00.000-07:00

Natalie got to go to the movies with Nana. She took her princess purse full of snacks ;)

Then we had an early dinner & then went to the park.

Olivia ready to climb up the stairs.

Natalie on the swing

One end of the teeter-totter...

...and the other! :)

Such a big girl!

Her First Bike "Race"

2011-04-18T12:46:00.000-07:00

Natalie's school had a trike a thon & she got her new bike just in time. Daddy took the day of to go watch :)

Super Baby!

2011-04-18T12:44:00.000-07:00

Ron always comes up with silly things to do with the girls. This day he took a little drape from their play kitchen & turned it into a cape. Here is Olivia as Super Baby! This kept us laughing all day!

Look Who's Four!

2011-04-14T20:23:00.000-07:00

Daddy & his girls!

making rainbow cupcakes for her class party!

New Bikes

2011-04-13T20:29:00.000-07:00

For their birthday's, we got the girls each a new bike. Natalie got a "big girl bike" with training wheels. She is doing great on it so far!

We found this awesome trike for Olivia that has a handle on it that I can push her around with for now. Then when she is ready, that part comes of & she can ride on her own. She loves her bike too!

Just Cute

2011-04-13T20:19:00.000-07:00

Silly Girls

2011-04-13T20:09:00.000-07:00

Want to know why she's laughing so hard???

Cause she's being a silly girl & putting a little bowl on Olivia's head. These two crack me up everyday! They are just so fun!

Birthday Party for Two!

2011-04-09T20:37:00.000-07:00

Since the girls birthdays are so close, we decided to do a double birthday party. I'm really happy with how everything turned out & the girls both really enjoyed the day!

Some party decor

Olivia is ONE!Natalie & her buddy AlexNatalie is FOUR!

Minnie ear cakes :)

Party animals with their noise makersCakes & cupcakes! Yummy!Alex adores Natalie! Olivia really enjoyed her first cupcake!

As usual, Natalie enjoyed hers too!Both girls did a good job of opening their presents

My TWO girlies

2011-03-29T18:55:00.000-07:00

having breakfast together

having a snack togetherwatching a movie togetherand just being cute together!

Birthday Fun

2011-03-28T19:53:00.000-07:00

To celebrate Olivia's birthday I got out of work right on time & picked the girls up to have a fun afternoon. We went to the park by our new house & the girls really love it there!

Natalie loves the big swirly slide. Her hair always goes crazy & staticy when she goes down.

She loves hanging on the bars now too.

Olivia is so adventurous at the park (but where or when is she not adventurous?!?!)

She climbs up the stairs on the big kid side (with me RIGHT behind her :)

Who doesn't love the swings? I especially love baby laughs on the swings!Natalie & I made a giant cupcake for Olivia's birthday evening.

Of course, Nat had to do the sprinkles :)Happy birthday to Olivia!Clapping for cake! Playing with necklacesOopsey!Our little one year old!The balloon lady that I work with at school brought me a bouquet of balloons for Olivia. So sweet! She & Natalie loved playing with them. And in true Olivia style, she had to carry something about three times larger than herself across the room to her sissy!

Memory Lane

2011-03-27T21:14:00.000-07:00

I can hardly believe that she is a year old already! This spunky, loving & fun little girl has brought us so much happiness over the past year. Happy birthday Miss O! We love you!!!

More Tickles

2011-03-15T20:04:00.001-07:00

Her Shirt Says It All

2011-03-15T20:02:00.000-07:00