Sliding

This is how Esther uses the slide by herself.

Happy Birthday Esther

Our beautiful, gentle, wonderful little Esther turned one today. Here are some pictures from her day.

In her birthday dress

Singing happy birthday

Her first bite, she was not instantly impressed.

But it grew on her.

Three ponytails

This one is my favorite

Then here are some comparison pictures with Van eating the same cake on his first birthday 

Trip to Seward

Last weekend we took a family trip to Seward, it was what I wanted for my birthday, to go on a family adventure together. It was really fun, we stayed at a cute little cabin that overlooked Seward http://www.acabinonthecliff.com/

It had a hot tub on the porch and Van was really sad to leave it. He wanted to move there.

Then we went to the sea life center before driving home. Unfortunately we only took terrible quality phone pictures, we really need a new camera set up. But I'll post them anyway.

Here is the view from the porch of the cabin.

Van by the hottub.

Our cute cabin.

I love the pictures below so I posted all of them. It seems like Andy or Esther was doing something funny in each one. They are playing on a boat in the Sea Life Center. Van spent quite a bit of time 'driving' this boat around. They have real controls on the inside.

Esther Shopping

Happy Birthday Esther!
Today is the day, but since she's not awake yet I'll post these videos of her walking with a shopping cart the other night at grandma and grandpa's house.

2/19/2014

Andy heard Van talking to himself this morning. The door to Van's bedroom was closed and he heard him say, "Ok, now it's time to start my day." before he opened the door and walked out.

The best.

Happy Birthday

Today I got this birthday card. A collaborative effort between Andy and Van.

Also there is a 'making of the birthday card' video that I got to watch at 5:30 this morning, which shows the development of the message inside the card.

 

Then I went to crossfit, which is my favorite way to start the day. We worked on power cleans, and then did a tabata style interval workout with jump rope, air squats, pushups, and rowing.

 

After work my family promised to meet me for bowling with the kids. I hope it's fun for the boys, I had been wanting to take Finn and Van for a while.

 

I like birthdays, and today is turning out to be a great one. :)

Esther's ponytail

Esther is so much fun these days. She's so focused and careful about everything she does. I loved watching her color today with a purple crayon.
She's happy, smiling and wonderful. Here are some pictures of her watching her brother play outside with a cute ponytail.