Crystal Growing

I saw a crystal growing kit at Aldi and thought it would be fun to do with Hylie for preschool.

As you can see, our results are only 'slightly' smaller than the advertised product...

Sorry for the blurry picture, I had already thrown away the box by the time our crystals had grown.  I took a snap shot of the box at Aldi with my phone.  Their crystals somehow grew to be bigger than softballs...I wonder what we did wrong?

Let's Go Fly a Kite!

These past few weekends have been quite delightful with a little warmer weather.  We took advantage of the sunshine and spent some time at the park.

Dad showing Hylie the ropes to successful kite flying. 

She caught on quick and let out all the string and watched that kite soar as high as it could!

Curls! Curls! Curls!

A few months ago Hylie wanted to try a new 'do and go curly.  I have fond memories of my mom putting foam curlers in my hair before bed time and I would lie in bed counting the curlers, hoping none would fall out during the night.  So we picked up some classic foam curlers the next time we were at the store.

Well, it took a few attempts before a success.  The first time, Hylie squealed with delight when she got curlers in her hair, but after 5 minutes of being in bed she came out and said she couldn't sleep with all that stuff on her head.  A few months passed and Hylie decided it was time to try again.  She kept them in while she fell asleep, but all her nighttime acrobats knocked quite a few out, so I had to figure out what to do with hair that was half straight/half curly.  Hmm.

Despite the disheveled look, Hylie was thrilled.  We went to the library that day and she couldn't wait for everyone to see her curls.  She was pretty disappointed when no one said anything to her about her hair.  I didn't have the heart to tell her it was probably because people didn't know if she tried to do something different with her hair or if the wind did a crazy number on her locks.

Anyways, attempt three was way more successful!  We curled her hair for church on Sunday and she looked darling!  Hylie was giddy all day and it seemed EVERYONE noticed her bouncy curls.  One of her friends, Miles, turned to his mom and said, "Hylie looks so sparkly today!"

Trip to PA for Hyrum and Tanner's Baptism

Last week the girls and I went on an adventure and took off to PA--without Daddy!  I will admit, I was pretty nervous to drive 8 hours without Geoff, but I just didn't allow myself to think about it too much.  We went to attend Hyrum and Tanner's baptism and because Geoff was scheduled to go to the Mayo Clinic for some testing, we figured it would be a good time to be out of town as well.  It turns out, Geoff's appointment was cancelled, so he stayed  home all alone, but I think he enjoyed his 'man time' and opportunity to conquer the skunk that moved in under our shed.

The drive was uneventful and pleasant--each way.  The girls were wonderful and we only stopped once to fuel up the car and our tummies.  I was grateful the weather was kind to us as well.

Hylie passing the time in the car by figuring out some new 'dos!

We had a wonderful time with family!  Eliana took a little while to warm up to everyone, but she fortunately gave family some pleasant moments.

Hylie had an absolute blast playing with cousins.

Hylie showing off her mad "Hide-n-Seek" skills...

Great Grandma doing her birthday tradition of 'pulling ears'

We had a great time celebrating Tanner and Hyrum's eighth birthdays and were so grateful to attend their baptism.  It was a beautiful occasion and being surrounded by family made it even more special.  Hylie even got to participate in singing "When I Am Baptized" in the cousin ensemble.

On Sunday, I had the pleasure of playing in a violin ensemble with Pap Pap, my nieces: Leah and Kaitlyn, and Mom on the piano.  What a beautiful privilege this was.

Leah even humored me and agreed to play along with my rusty fingers in Bach's double concerto! Thanks, Leah!

After our long drive home on Monday, Eliana was cracking us up at dinner--you could tell she was super excited to be out of the car and in more-familiar surroundings.  It is nice to be back home with Daddy!

Eliana Loves to Eat!

Our little girl has been insisting on using a spoon or fork all by herself at mealtime.

It works really well if the food is kind enough to stick to her utensil!