Photo shoot

It's been a while since I got a good photo of all three kids. Now that Cole is walking it's virtually impossible to convince him to sit still next to his sisters long enough to take a picture. I tried getting a good shot of everyone the other day while we were at the botanical gardens, but I didn't end up with much. Having silly sisters makes things tricky too! For better or worse, here's what I ended up with...

Funny faces!

These two were willing to sit for a minute - they are becoming good friends :-)

Before long Cole wanted to keep moving up the stairs.

A solo shot of Mead - she's our hardest smile. This one is fairly genuine.

Hey, handsome!

I don't know why, but I love this outfit on Cole. The pants are so cool! They feel kind of retro - maybe they remind me of pictures of my brother when he was a little guy. Whatever the reason, I'm sure you'll see him sporting these several more times before he outgrows them.

The pants aside, check out that huge smile and big belly. What a cutie! Cole's ongoing happiness is such a blessing. We love you, buddy!

Let's get outside!

It's official - spring is here! The kids and I have been outside a lot lately. Such a pleasant change to feeling cooped up.

Cole has become obsessed with bike helmets, whether he's riding a tricycle or not! He even tried to steal someone else's helmet at the park the other day. At least he's safety conscious!

Best friends

Mead and Mary are best friends. They are kind of inseparable when they see each other. And Mary dotes on Cole like it's her job! It's really cute to see how much they all enjoy each other.

Next year Mead and Mary will be at school together, so they'll either be in bliss each day or they'll begin to grow tired of one another. Hopefully they'll remain fast friends.

Ouch!

So this is what my son looks like this week... I've had many questions about what happened to him, poor guy! Clearly he is still happy - I don't think he realizes he has a giant cut across his face.

The story is that he was outside on our patio carrying a plastic bucket. He tripped and fell, landing on top of the bucket, which cracked and splintered, cutting him right up his face. I'm so thankful it didn't get him in the eye - it came really close!

More adventures in Florida

Here are a few other pictures from our Florida trip. Below, Mead is wearing a genuine Japanese outfit that was given to my mom when she was born (in Japan, thanks to WWII).

One afternoon we went to Great Explorations museum in St. Pete - free admission because we are members at the Magic House in St. Louis. The girls had a great time!

Making pizzas, milking cows...

Thanks, Nan and Pop, for letting us come and visit. We had a lot of fun!

Beach trip

This past weekend I took the girls to Florida to visit my mom and Alex (Nan and Pop). They will be moving to Asheville, NC this summer, so this was our last FL beach trip for a while.

We had a great time - the weather was wonderful for spending a couple mornings at the beach.

The girls loved digging in the sand, building sand castles, hauling water from the Gulf, and collecting sea shells.

And though the water was a bit chilly we got acclimated to it and had a good time jumping over waves (and occasionally being knocked down by them.)

More pictures to come of our other adventures.