Antelope Island

Jared attempted to surprise our family with a trip out to Antelope Island with our friends Mark and Chelsey on Saturday. I mention attempted because he told me it would be something fun that we have not done before and it would be a bit of a drive. Since there is not much to do up north that does not require extra gear, Chloe and I figured it out fairly quickly.

It was a cool experience. We got to see several bison up close. One lady got a little too close, and two free roaming bison charged at her. Not to worry, she is fine, but hopefully she knows now to give them some space.

The odd experience of the day was Chloe's reaction to sand. Many of you have seen in person, or on photos, how she freely roamed the California beaches, picking up sand and rocks. Well, not so this time. Maybe she didn't like the feeling of it between her toes (she normally has shoes on in CA because we often visit in the winter), or maybe she's not used to any ground surface being hot (in which case she'll be a lot of fun this summer). Either way, she refused to walk any where, requiring carrying every step of the way.

Family Pampering

For our birthdays, we got a certificate from my mom to use on pedicures and manicures for all three of us. It took us a while to find the time to do it together, but it was a lot of fun. Chloe was so patient getting her nails done, though she didn't quite get that they would still be wet. Needless to say, hers were redone a few times! Chloe's new favorite color is blue. We let her pick her polish and that's what she chose for both her fingers and toes.

We asked her to show off her new nails. :)

Potty Training: Successes and Failures

We decided to start training Chloe last week... well, to be fair, Chloe decided it was time. I was getting her ready for bath time and I asked her if she was ready to hop in. She said, "No, I wanna pee on the potty." I told her she could. She usually takes off her bottoms, sits on her little potty (does absolutely nothing) then exclaims "All done!" and puts her pants back on, or runs away pants-less, laughing. So imagine my shock when I actually heard a tinkle this time! I thought it might be a fluke, so I continued to get the bath ready, when she told me she was going to use the potty again. Sure enough, she went a second time!
We realized that she was ready, and we needed to jump on this opportunity. The first day, she wet her pants nine times, the second day only twice. She had no trouble sitting on the potty, and didn't fight it at all.
So I thought I was doing great, but that was about as good as it was going to get. She still has at least 2 accidents each day. I need to ask her to go, she wont initiate it yet. Also, I am doing more Lysol-ing, Spot-Shot-ing, and laundry in the past few days than I feel like I ever have in my whole life.
But there is light at the end of the tunnel...
Jared took her out today to run some errands. He tried to get her into some training pants (we wont even attempt underwear when leaving the house) and she threw a fit. She exclaimed "No, Daddy, I wanna wear my big girl panties!"

I guess she's not my little baby anymore!

Tulip Festival and Dutch Days

A few years ago, Jared and I purchased Dutch costumes. Somehow, each year that the Thanksgiving Point Gardens host the Dutch Days, we attend not knowing it to be the Dutch Days. This is disappointing because the Old Dutch Store does a costume contest each year. After seeing the contestants for the past 2 years, we know we would win by a landslide. Anyway, we had a wonderful time. If you have a property membership, I recommend going more than once, with about a week in between visits. Something new blooms or wilts each week. OH! We also had some croquetten, stroopwafels, and cassis. It was delicious, but made me miss the real things!

Easter

We were fortunate enough to have both sets of grandparents in town for Easter weekend. That meant that Chloe got 2 Easter egg hunts... lucky girl... not so lucky parents of a sugar-rushed 2 year old! All in all it was a fun, yet relaxing weekend with the family. Chloe had a duckie-themed Easter basket. She got a chocolate duck (above) instead of a bunny, a duckie Pez dispenser, 5 new rubber duckies, a few activity books, and some bubbles.She did a great job finding her purple eggs, though admittedly, she did better with finding her cousin Jacob's eggs.

Rockband Baby

Chloe loves to play Rockband with Jared. Most times he plays the drums and she takes any and all other instruments. Usually, for no reason at all, she is pants-less as she plays. My Favorite episode was from last year. We were playing at Mark and Chelsey's house, and Chloe was going crazy. I just love this, because you can imagine her in a little, tiny, toddler mosh pit! Of course this time she was shirt-less, rather than pants-less.

Jared's Bithday

March 12, 2010
Jared took the day off work to relax and enjoy being with our family. We had breakfast at Hagermann's- endless french toast and sugar cookies. We played together the rest of the day. That night, Jared and I went out to the SkyBox to watch the Jazz game and have dinner. Of course they offered a brownie dessert that Jared just couldn't resist. Thanks everyone for the great birthday cards, messages, and other great wishes that truly brightened his day!