A Picture is Worth...

Sydney recently had her picture taken with her BFF Maggie.  Rebecca Brethauer took these amazing pictures, so instead of rambling on in another post, even as intellectually stimulating and humorous as every single post may be, I decided to share these great photos instead.

Have a great weekend!!! 

Friends, Fireworks, and the Fourth!

Every few weeks Sydney gets online and Skypes with her cousin Reina.  Reina, who is just two weeks younger than Sydney, currently lives in Okinawa, Japan, and typically comes back to the U.S. each July.  While Skype is great to keep in touch, Sydney thoroughly enjoyed having a house mate for the week.  She loved playing, coloring, sharing, and talking with Reina.  This also meant that bath time was a little more fun, and it also gave her the first chance of playing with makeup (they of course will not be allowed to actually wear it out of the house until the correct age of 37...ha ha!).

It was great spending time with Chris and Jillian, too, who in addition to serving as Reina's parents are just cool people.  We don't get to see them enough so it's great to make the most out of the time they're here!
 
This past weekend also marked the 4th of July.  So, with extremely close supervision Sydney got to experience her very first fireworks.  The only purchase for this 4th was a couple of sparklers, and she decided that she liked them very much.  I'm sure we won't be able to get away with just a few sparklers forever, so we'll enjoy these low-key years while they exist.

Sydney also enjoyed her second cinematic experience...at least from within the actual movie theaters.  She watched Cars 2.  She was very excited to watch this sequel, as she has viewed the original film a few weeks ago.  She did, on occasion, say that she liked 'Two Cars,' but we made sure she understood that it was the second movie, and was not a movie just about two different cars.

We have a ton of pictures from Reina's visit, so we look forward to posting more of those in our next post!!!

First visit...





Second visit...



Third visit...



Scarves Up!

There's something blue and green of which Qwest stadium had not seen the likes of before...and that, of course, is Sydney.  She got to go to her second official Sounders match.  She was very excited to make her return trip to cheer on her team.  As with the first trip, Grandpa Don also made the travel.  Linda was also able to join us for the game this year.

So, as is Sydney's nature, she doesn't do anything half-way.  She made sure if she was going to go to support her team she would make the most out of it.  As a result, she decided sporting the blue shirt that day, but more importantly it was key for her to remember her tutu, her Sounder Monkey, and the Seattle Sounders fan's weapon of choice...the scarf!

"Are you blind ref!!!"

GOOOOAAAAL!!!

We only had a minor set back during dinner, where towards the end she decided that she would not swallow her food, but rather let it sit in her mouth and liquefy.  This granted her the time out she earned, and despite sitting outside of the restaurant for 15 minutes, she still did not swallow her food.  Personally, I think it's just gotta be nasty if your food is now juice, swishing around in your mouth.  Once we passed that hiccup, though, she was a princess the rest of the time.  She got many comments about how cute and adorable she was.

She not only would join in the chants (fortunately one chant she did not know the words to...yikes), but she even looked at us on occasion, raised her her scarf high above her head, and would say "scarf up daddy."  Overall, she had a great time.  Of course, the following day this led to "I wanna watch soccer game," almost as if we can just go anytime.  Certainly I appreciated the enthusiasm, but the organization actually has a schedule they follow, and aren't able to play on the whims of a two-year old...ha ha!  We look forward to taking her to more games in the future.

Have a great weekend everyone!!!

Hair, Haggis, and More

The past couple of weeks have been extremely busy.  Last weekend Sydney's BFF Maggie came over to BBQ, get some sun, and have some fun.  They always enjoy spending time together.  The morning after Sydney asked, "where's Maggie?"  Since the last place she saw Maggie was playing with toys in the living room, naturally she should be there the next morning still playing with them :)

I wanted to include a few more pictures from Nana's recent visit.  Nana's visit was certainly a fun-filled time, and on one occasion we took a small jaunt to Lake Padden.  Not only did Sydney get to play on some of her favorite toys, but she also got to locate some ducks.  Fortunately there were no mean geese there.

One monumental thing did happen recently.  Sydney got her very first hair cut.  We decided it was getting to a length that was a little unmanageable...she kept tripping on it...ha ha!  It wasn't as bad as in the movie Tangled, but it was time to at make some change.  So, after Karen consulted Vogue, Cosmo, and a few local stylists, the decision for the appropriate hair cut was made...just a slight trim off the ends.

In other news, last weekend also included a short trip out to Ferndale to get in touch with my cultural roots at the Highland Games.  It is always a fun event, and Sydney had another first experience...haggis.  That's right, haggis.  And for those of you who do not know what it is, you'll have to Google it.  But Sydney was braver than her mother and easily tried it.  In fact, on the way home she kept asking for more (no joke).  So, we'll see if that is something she continues to enjoy.

Well, that's it for now.  I hope everyone has a great weekend!!!



Got haggis???



What Could Be Better?...

Sydney was so excited...she could
'bear'ly contain it...haha!

Sydney's Nana from Montana came for a recent visit.  This meant a lot of fun catching up with Sydney, and she proudly showed off her many talents.  Since Donna saw her previously, Sydney's speech, humor, and general personality has blossomed even more (even though that's hard to imagine).

So, what could be better than spending time with Nana?...a trip to the zoo with her Nana.  We took a quick jaunt down to the Woodland Park Zoo to look at the lions, bears, tigers, elephants, birds of prey, and other wild creatures.  It was a little busy because of Memorial Day Weekend, but it was still a great time. 

Ever have that feeling of being
watched by a prehistoric animal?


Strangely, we had many people approaching us, pointing at Sydney, and asking 'what species is that?'  I told them we were unsure, but that she certainly was not tame, and not to feed her.  We fed her once and haven't been able to get rid of her since.  On a similar note, I did tell Sydney that if she saw anything big and hairy not to call out and say 'hi uncle'...haha, I'm only kidding, or am I?

Sydney was fascinated with many of the animals, but in contrast to previous trips to the zoo she could actually name most of the animals that she saw.  And to take advantage of the situation, I thought it would be fun to take some comparison pictures to show how much she's grown in the past year or so.  Probably to their own delight, Karen and Donna do not look any different than the year before.

We have many other fun pictures to share from Nana's visit, including Sydney's first hair cut and Sydney sporting some new attire, but that will have to wait until our next post :)



Does the elephant have any junk
in his trunk?  I don't know...

Have a great weekend everyone!!!

Another Year Gone By...

It's amazing how quickly kids grow.  In just a matter of months so many things can change.  Getting bigger, speaking more, and everything that comes with getting older.  Because those things are so noticeable when kids are younger, it makes it very easy for us to remember that we, too, are getting older.  As tragic as it is to add another year to my own longevity, Sydney was at least present to help me bring in another year.  She was very excited to repeatedly tell me happy birthday, and she was also very instrumental with helping to unwrap some presents.  So, as painful as it was to turn 28...at least it was nice to usher in this occasion with such excitement from her.

In other news, Sydney moved rooms at school.  What does this mean?  It means she has progressed academically (or perhaps chronologically), from toddlerhood into young girlhood.  I've picked her up from school a few times where she was playing with her four and five year old friends.  This doesn't really surprise me since she is an advanced little tike (she gets that from me).  But she has loved moving into her new room at school, and she always shares what she has done at school.  And it's a little funny, but Fridays are now 'show and tell' for her.  I guess that's another marker of her age.

In other news, Sydney's last tumbling class was today.  This means she'll have a little break before starting back up with either swimming, more tumbling, or archery.  She also mentioned wanting to take some culinary courses, so we'll have to weigh everything out and see what she ends up taking.

In other news, Sydney's Nana from Montana will be here next week.  She is looking forward to spending some time with her, as well as an excursion to the zoo.  It's always a fun time when she's here, so Sydney will make sure to rest up for Nana's arrival.

Have a great weekend!!!

Happy Mothers Day!!!

If you're a mother, a mother of a mother, or a mother of a mother of a mother, we appreciate you and hope you have a relaxing Mother's Day.  Sydney appreciates all of those important women in her life...her Momma Karen (obviously), her Nana Donna, her Grandma Gloria, and her Great Grandma Pagels.  And for all of the other mothers out there (excluding those on the freeway...those are a different type), thank you for all that you do.  You are appreciated!

In Sydney news, she recently achieved another major milestone....accomplishing her first cinematic experience.  That's right, she went to the movie theater and watched the movie Rio with her dad, mom, and grandma.  She watched the entire movie and never made a peep.  The possible reality could have included one of those unfortunate situations of having an obnoxious kid that ends up crying or throwing a tantrum much to the dismay of the audience in the theater.  And while we hid our natural fear of the unknown as we entered a darkened theater, we were very pleased that she watched the whole movie and liked it.  This will ease our fears of taking her to other movies in the future.

On a different note, Sydney also had a blast at Easter.  She had no shortage of family members on hand willing to blow bubbles for her.  Like any kid, she loved running around and popping all of them.  Of course, she was intent on trying to produce bubbles as well.  Unfortunately, this often resulted in her blowing very hard into the wand.  While bubbles typically did not form, she excelled at spitting violently trying to produce them (she did not catch on to the technique others were using).  For some reason she also thought the wand had to be pushed against her lips, which did not help her bubble-producing cause but did result in rather large soap deposits on her chin.  Well, I'm sure she'll get it in time :)

Sydney also continues to enjoy tumbling class.  This is an opportunity that also doubles as a time to visit with BFF's Maggie and Kate.  Well, there's always a lot more that's going on, but that's a quick summary of the past two weeks. 

Have a great weekend everyone!!!