Comparison

I hear it from so many people, 'Holly & Hudson look so much alike'! And, yes - it is true! I wish I had photos of Holly as a baby on my computer for better quality photos. But, I can take a shot of a real photo to compare. I know I have many more photos that are better examples but the other day I had this one shot and thought it was a pretty good comparison. It is hard because these are from different distances and lighting, but still a good comparison none the less.

Holly is first and then Hudson... They are definitely siblings!

Peacock Art

A few weeks back we went to the zoo and whenever we are there Holly enjoys the roaming peacocks in all the open spaces and the parking areas. After our last visit the peacocks have stayed on her mind. She has asked me a lot of questions about them, we have done a little research and read a book on peacocks at the library. The other day she asked to do a peacock art project. Ironically I had just stumbled upon an excellent blog that an elementary art teacher writes and had found a great peacock art project. I am very excited to try several other projects from her site down the road, as is Holly!

So, yesterday afternoon we brought up the site together and Holly worked through the steps of the project on her own. The peacock art project turned out amazing!!! She had a lot of fun doing it too.

Aunt Margie

This past weekend we had Aunt Margie come to town for a visit. This was her first chance to meet little Hudson. For the most part we just hung out around the house, Holly played and had a great time with Aunt Margie & Grandpa Hawk, Hudson was enjoyed by all. We had a really nice time with our visit from Aunt Margie!

Bird Watching

Outside our kitchen windows we have a Pampas Grass plant - it is huge and filled with several feathery seed clusters. The little chickadees have been coming and going, busily working on collecting beaks full of this feathery seed in which we are assuming is for their nest. They have been busy for days now, keeping us fully entertained. The kitchen comes to a halt when we see them flying up - we watch patiently and then scout out if we can see where they are going with the seed. It has truly been a joy to observe!

Beware of the Bull!

Friday we brought along Holly's cousin Kristina and we met up with some families from the Mom's Club at the Enumclaw Spring Fair. This was a small, country like fair with animals and bouncy houses for rides -- it was perfect! The sun was shining, the kids had a blast and it was nice to be out in the fresh air.

Holly had a great time with her close friends as they ran from bouncy house to bouncy house playing. She also tried out the trampoline experience and a mechanical bull. She was funny on the bull though -- she held on so long and well. As I was snapping photos I noticed she was starting to get really frustrated and angry looking. I asked if she was okay and she snapped back that this was HARD!!! I guess I forgot to tell her that she can fall off the bull if she wants, oops! She was desperately holding on afraid to fall until I gave her permission and then she finally let herself go... cautiously. I hadn't thought before she climbed up on the bull that she had never seen a mechanical bull before - so, she really had no idea what to expect or do. Bad Mom!

Now, before you think I am a bad mom... this bull was going super, super slow! It was safe, a big bouncy floor to fall on and really just some good ol' fashioned fun! Nothing to dangerous!

Earth Day

Yesterday was Earth Day. All this week Holly and I have been doing a lot of talking about earth day, reading about it, doing some crafts and learning projects on it. She has been asking all week about doing a nature trail on Earth Day that we could collect garbage on. So, I arranged to do that and some friends joined us. Not sure if we collected much garbage but she had a good time.

We started off with playing at the playground in which we saw a dad and his child walk up to toss out a couple bags of garbage... they had beat us to it. Bummer! So, the park was clean already.

Our friends brought along bread for the ducks in which the kids enjoyed feeding as we walked (not much garbage being collected). We crossed over to a different little trail... still not much garbage for the kids but a lot of running ahead, looking in the water, tossing some stones and exploring. Finally we made it over to a different playground. Garbage? Still not much collected. Except for our friend, she did a fantastic job of cleaning up the playground! She did really well for the earth, better than the rest of us on the walk did. Oh well, we did collect some garbage - better then nothing I suppose. Guess that is what happens when someone else beats you to the trail on Earth Day.

The kids did have a really good time taking a walk, feeding ducks and playing... so, we did appreciate a good dose of nature today!

Spring Fair

Saturday evening we headed out to enjoy the Spring Fair. We enjoyed a great night of children's crafts, activities, animals, food, fireworks and rides. It was a great night!

The highlight for Holly was the reptile petting zoo -- she was all over the animals and feared nothing. In fact, she had an albino python wrapped around her for some photos... and she loved it! She also loved the fireworks show and the roller coasters. A great night for sure!

Happy & Sad

Hudson has received some very cute little outfits and accessories since he has been around. Those silly little pieces that only a mom would love to dress a child in. He has his feelings about them too!

Happy:

The first is a warm, snuggly little bunting style fleece bear outfit from his cousin Kristina - perfect for chilly weather. The whole little outfit is warm and soft... maybe that is why he is so happy.

Sad:

The second is this adorable little knit monkey hat from our friend Devon. He hates it even though I think it is adorable. Hmph! He is not the biggest fan of hats in general, we found this out while he was getting his newborn photos. Guess I'll have to work on that some more... because what mommy can pass up a cute monkey hat?

In Love

Holly is in love with her new baby brother! She adores him, wants to hold him, sings to him daily, reads to him daily, asks to kiss & snuggle him and is always trying to make him laugh... which lately is the *thing* to do since he loves to smile and laugh!


And, on that same note when Hudson realizes Holly is around he *cannot* keep his eyes off of her. He will crank his head in all directions and arch his back to locate her. In the car he sits in his car seat and just watches her smiling the whole time. I'd say he too is in love with his big sister!