Apr 19-25: A Trip to the Beach

Okay, technically, our trip to the beach took place on Sabbath, April 18, which falls into last week but I needed material for this week's blog entry!!  I have almost zero pictures from this week on my phone, so it must have been a quiet, uneventful week.  And yes, that statement means that I'm (once again) WAY behind in posting entries to this blog!  It's May 31st as I type this and I'm going to try to keep my weekly posts for the missing weeks rather than doing a huge post that no one would have the time to get through!

So, back to the beach.  For his birthday, Kent requested that we have a family day, and since we've had great weather lately (for Florida, I feel compelled to add!) and since we've not taken the kids to the beach very often, we made it our destination.  After some initial hesitation with the waves, both Erik & Elin had a great time!  Luckily, there was a little tide or eddy pool between the beach & the ocean proper and most of the kids at the beach spent the majority of their time in that.  We stayed for a few hours and then headed home in the early afternoon for naps.

Here are a few pictures from our trip (neither Erik nor Elin like to have their picture taken, so getting a group shot is nearly impossible!):

The rest of this week was our regular routine with school, work, appointments and the like.  I didn't even take very many pictures this week, so cannot remember what we did at all!  Here are a few other pictures from the week:

Elin decided to eat her snack while sitting in her doll's baby buggy!

Poor girl - she has to push Erik & Kent on the plasma car!!

This is a RARE event - Elin laid down on the floor and took her nap a full 2 hours early one day. I decided not to move her!

Erik telling me he didn't want his picture taken

Erik finally giving me a nice smile for a picture!

Apr 12-18: Oh My Darling

The big event for this week was Kent's birthday, which was on Thursday, April 16.  The kids had a "wonderful" morning where they decided that whatever toy the other one had, they needed to have it themselves.  It was lots of fun listening to the crying, fussing & screaming; I am not sure that I make a good referee!  The marquee event of the morning occurred while I was drying my hair.  The kids love to play in the bidet in our bathroom and this morning was no exception.  When I finished drying my hair, I walked into the toilet & bidet room and found the kids in full water-play mode.  They both turned to look at me with slightly sheepish expressions - oh boy, is this what I have to look forward to?!  Erik had, for some unknown reason, also decided that he needed to be completely naked and he was climbing in & out of the bidet!  I would have taken a picture but for the nudity!  Our afternoon & evening was better as the kids & I decorated the house for Kent's birthday, made him supper & special gluten-free cupcakes that we decorated with icing & lots of sprinkles!

The week started with Erik going back to school on Monday after his Spring Break; he wasn't too happy about it, but Kent was able to head off that early morning tantrum.  He told Erik that he would take him to school on his way to work - this is a super fun treat for Erik and made him very happy.  It seems that this week both Erik & Elin are playing together very well.  Erik is fully embracing being a big brother & making sure that others are being nice to Elin.  He told a friend at school this week "Hey, my sister was playing with that!"  Elin continues to love her dolls (or "babies", as she calls them); she will say "aww" when she picks them up to play with them!

Here are a few pictures from our week:

Taking her baby shopping & reading her stories!

Feeding her baby Cheerios

This week Erik has also begun to sing a song "Oh My Darling Clementine".  This is the first time that he has voluntarily started to sing!  Kent & I have both tried to record it but neither have gotten a great video.  This is the best of what we have!

Apr 5-11: Happy Easter & Happy Spring Break

We had a very low-key Easter weekend; we went to church on Sabbath and then stuck close to home on Sunday so that we could get some house chores done & we did some yard work.  Erik, of course, had to help Kent with the yard work and then wanted to to go to the neighborhood park to try out the new kite that we had purchased recently.  We struggled with the kite (read: Kent had to finally cut out the tangles in the line & restring it); it took a while to work through all the issues.  After the kids got bored, I took them exploring around the playground equipment and watching the ducks on the lake ("quack" is what Elin calls ducks)!

Kent & Erik doing yard work

Elin playing with her ride-on car

Erik & his kite

Elin enjoying the kite (notice that it doesn't get very high!)

They love the ducks!

While the kids napped, Kent & I hid a few plastic eggs around the yard so the kids could have an egg hunt since our busy morning & late naps made us miss the large annual Easter party.  We finished off the egg hunt with cold popsicle treats & cuddle time!

Elin preferred to be chauffeured during her egg hunt!

A rare photo of me!

Erik was on Spring Break from school this week, and since we didn't do anything super big I told him that he was having a "stay-cation"!  He looked at me sideways and asked What is that?!  Since we had some nice weather this week, I tried to get the kids out-of-doors as much as I could stand it.  [Interesting fact about me - while most people consider this week to be "nice" weather with temps in upper 80's/90's; I think it is already much too hot and don't like to be outside much at all.  Where's a nice breeze to help me cope with the monstrous heat?!] 

Elin pulled this sweater vest out of Erik's dresser & insisted on wearing it all day!

Playing bean bag toss

Getting comfortable while reading!

Thursday was our big day!  Kent agreed to stay home from work in the morning so he could go with us to ride the new commuter Sun-Rail that was recently opened in Central Florida.  We got on the train in Altamonte Springs around 10:20, rode it two stops down to Winter Park where we played in the park for a little while and then found a delicious ice cream shop for a special treat.  We were back on the train at 11:40 and got back to our car before noon.  It was a super fun outing that the kids got a huge kick out of.  We will definitely do that again. Maybe next time, we will ride it all the way down to Sand Lake.

So happy that Daddy can ride the train with us!

So cute - holding hands!

Erik held Elin's hand all the way into the Winter Park train station, telling her how to be safe on the street

Elin has begun putting her hands on her cheeks as she says "Uh Oh"!

Mar 29-Apr 4: The Big 4-0 (yikes)

This is a week that always seems to fly by for me.  My Mom's birthday is March 23 and mine is April 4.  For some reason, my brain has always struggled with the fact that our birthdays are actually very close together rather than a month apart!!  It seems like my birthday always sneaks up on me and I'm never quite prepared.  This year was no exception, though the fact that I turned the big 4-0 could be part of my mental block!!  I started practicing saying "I'm forty" last month so it wouldn't be such a shock - and I think it really helped!!  As I'm sure those of you who know me can guess, I didn't want a large party where I would be on display!!  Kent, my wonderful, loving husband, took pity on me and instead of a big party, he coordinated 2 small get-together's with friends!  I spent Friday afternoon, April 3, with Amy Z - we had a late lunch/dessert and then got manicures & pedicures done!  Friday evening, we had a pizza party with our friends, the Martin's and the Ng's, at the Martin's house.  We all have kids that are similar ages, so it is always fun to see how the kids interact and play together!  Unfortunately, Kent & I forgot to take group pictures, but Kent did snag some photos of the kids playing "doctor" with Kar-yee!!  On Saturday night, we got a babysitter and then hit the town - ha, ha!!  Kent & I met up with Amy & Karis, Heather & William and Lisa & Rob.  We tried out a new (to us) Mexican restaurant, La Cocina, in Winter Park.  While we were there, we saw our friends, Magally & Tim Putt, who were on a date night of their own! The whole weekend was a wonderful & easy way to ease into a new decade!

Date night - first group photo (notice that Amy is leaning towards Rob)

Second group photo (Amy realized 1st photo made it look like she was with Rob, so she leaned toward Karis this time!!!)

Kar-yee with Doctors Elin, Peter, Erik & Nora

Elin has really become enamored with her baby dolls lately; she can most often be seen carrying one of her dolls around the house.  If a doll cannot be located, she will accept a bear (or "be-air" as she pronounces it) as a substitute!  Elin has also decided that she likes to lay on her tummy when playing or watching videos (see 2nd photo below).  Erik has adopted the amazing ability to repeat back to Kent & I the things that we must frequently say to him.  It's either really funny or really eye-opening when he says it back.  For instance, at the supper table this week, Erik had told Kent a few things and when he didn't get a response from Kent, Erik looked at me and said "Daddy's not listening to me! Why doesn't he answer?"!  He will also tell Kent or I to "pay attention" if he thinks that we are getting sidetracked from doing something with him!  This week, I made the attempt to explain to Erik whose birthday came after mine (Kent's) and then asked Erik what he wanted to get Daddy for his birthday.  Erik's response was "Daddy doesn't need another present.  He has everything!"  Ha, ha. I've been telling Erik lately that he doesn't need to get a new toy every time he goes into a store or whenever someone else gets a present.  Guess he was listening to me!!

Another major event of the week included our first ever Pajama Day!  I sometimes have a hard time getting the kids out of their PJ's and into regular clothes in the morning.  They both love, love, love the pajamas we bought them for Valentine's day (guess that will have to be a Johnson family tradition).  So, I decided that Tuesday of this week was going to be Pajama Day!  Erik was super excited about the whole concept.  I wasn't sure how long the novelty would last, but both kids stayed in their pjs the entire day!!

Erik & Elin playing "nite-nite" on Pajama Day!!

Elin's hair after her nap on Pajama Day - she is finally getting more hair on top & in front!!

Mar 22-28: "Spring" in Florida

Over the last 2 months, we've had an interesting spring in Florida.  When I lived in Michigan growing up, spring was my favorite season.  I loved seeing all the birds coming back north, the trees starting to bud and having all the slushy snow disappear.  Now that I am a Floridian, I really miss spring - since Florida doesn't have that season!  If spring came to Florida this year, it must have been the week that we were in Montana!  I've included some pictures for this week's post to help illustrate the season change from winter to summer!

Elin needing hats & mitten on a morning walk

Both kids need hats & coats for a family walk

Erik daring to dress for summer, but he looks cold.  Elin's wearing her coat!

Our super cute kids on the one day of spring that we may have been present for!

Hot enough on March 17 to have inaugural opening of pool!

Elin on pool-opening day - she loves pointing out airplanes!

Erik had another program at school this week; his class got up front during a special assembly and sang a few songs.  Erik did pretty good keeping up with the actions this time, but there were, of course, some times when he was just being a 3-year-old, running his hands over the floor or swinging his arms back & forth.  In the past few weeks, Erik has begun covering his eyes when he enters his classroom at school.  He will stand in the doorway or walk a few steps into the room with his hands over his eyes until his teachers comment that Erik is missing and that they haven't seen him!  Thankfully, they think it's cute!

A recent incident with Erik still makes me laugh.  When we were in Montana, I was in my room & Erik was in the next room (connected by a Jack & Jill bathroom).  I like to sing at random times throughout the day (and, ha ha, I've got both kids doing it now, too!!), so I started singing a song to the Arky, Arky tune.  After a verse or two, I stopped and asked Erik if he liked my song.  His response?  "I do like that song, Mommy, but I really want you to stop singing it now"!!!!!!!  I could hear Erik messing around with the window blinds, so my lyrics were something like "Oh, Erik, Oh Erik, What are you doing doing? Erik, Oh Erik, you better not be playing with the window blinds or you're in trouble, trouble. Erik, what are you doing?" Ha, Ha.  I just loved his response!

This week, Elin began "stuttering" with certain words like Mama-ma, wa-babababo (water bottle), baby-bee-bee, dada daddy.  Not sure what caused that, but thankfully I can decipher most of her words with extra syllables.  The water bottle was the hardest to figure out.  Thankfully, she is also really good at pointing and saying "Dat, Dat.  No, Dis" to help me determine what item in the room she is asking for!  Elin has also rediscovered her love of the game of Peek-a-Boo; she especially loves to play this at the table when we are all essentially a captive audience!

Some fun new words that Elin has started saying this week is "Ee-ah" for Elin and "Gee-geek" for Erik.  Not sure how she came up with that rendition of Erik's name, but Kent & I latched onto it, of course, and have been perpetuating it.  Erik's not too sure about it and will most often insist that he is NOT Gee-Geek!!