Skating at the Hotel de Ville

Well we finally were able to take Sophia skating for the first time this year at the rink that is set up in front of the Hotel de Ville. She wasn't too sure about the skates (double blades that attached to her shoes), but after a couple times around the rink she was having a great time. Then we were able to put her on one of the small seats & whirl her around in the kids rink. The only concern was trying to keep her off the inch of standing water that covered the ice due to the warm weather. Otherwise, it was perfect to be able to skate without freezing!

Park time

The last day before we got on the plane was spent at the park with Nana & Papa, until it got so cold we had to have Sante Fe to warm us up from the inside. Sophia loves the park, LOVED swinging high (they don't have swings in the Parks in Paris - I think they take up too much space) and climbing all around. Obviously having Nana & Papa's full attention was the best part.
Thanks for making it so special!

Mommies, Nanas, and more 3 year olds...

Finally, all 3 are still for a second...
The moment is over.
With the Nanas.
Nana & Sophia.
With the mommies...

3 almost 3 yr olds

Liam, Sophia & MacKenzie taking over the playroom.

Negotiating the stairs to MacKenzie's room.
Chasing eachother around the couch took up the better part of a morning.

Trying to get them to keep still for a photo... Impossible!

New Years at the lake

The neighbors had polar bear swims in the afternoon...

Troy & Sophia with our friends Bryan & Susan. Sophia had been wearing a bandaid on her head to keep her from scratching & picking at a stubborn chicken pox that wouldn't go away, and when she saw that Bryan had a boo-boo on his head she insisted on picking out a Dora bandaid for him to wear. Needless to say Bryan was a great sport about it...

Hanging out with Leo

We had a short visit with Amy & Leo where Sophia decided it was better to feed Leo than to have her food taken out of her bowl (they were sharing some rice).

Christmas in Seattle

Dancing on Christmas Eve

Sophia & Papa playing with her new umbrella.

Pausing to play with a new book on Christmas morning. After opening about 3 or 4 presents Sophia was done & all she wanted to do was play with her new toys. It took the next week to finish opening the rest. A well loved little girl...

Sophia & Sean at Christmas

Scooters...

Last year Sophia had her first biking experience in Amsterdam on a seat attached to the handlebars of a giant Dutch bike. She had a great time, and we took the opportunity to purchase a tricycle with a push handle, and a helmet. Sophia has now taken to wearing her helmet around the house as she rides on her little scooter. No fear of crashing in our house, just fears for the woodwork!

Playtime with Peanut Butter & Jelly

Sophia LOVES Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches, and we love the fact that she loves them given her reluctance to eat most meat of any kind (although Chicken Nuggets & Fish Sticks covered /smothered in Ketchup have been a hit lately). On this day Sophia & Ava had reached the end of playtime, and were into that (not) very pleasant part of play, the tired & hungry time, when we decided it was Peanut Butter & Jelly time.

We can purchase Peanut Butter here, but the amount of sugar in the mix makes Skippy almost look healthy, so we prefer to bring back the all natural creamy from our visits to the US.

There seems to be quite a PB&J following lately. There is a banana that sings the Peanut Butter Jelly song, which then was actually spoofed on “the Family Guy”.
Wilkipedia has a great “history of the Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwich”.
Strange what you come up with when you use google for normal things…