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Thursday, September 30, 2010

Ducks!

2 Saturdays ago we went and fed the ducks. Tori thought this was the most amazing thing ever invented. We went down the road to a cemetery that has a big pond of ducks, geese and swan. I am sure it was made to house just the swans, but all of the other feathered friends joined in the fun. I was passing the cemetery on the way home one day and saw a few families feeding the ducks, so I put it in my head as something to do as a family. We will be doing this more in the future too. We didn't stay too long because we were having the missionaries over for dinner (Mom's stew...Mmmm!), but we did get some good pictures and I am even uploading a video. (They always take forever, but for posterity sake...)Brooke thought the ducks were fun too...but she was just the observer.
"More please!" We brought quite a bit of bread, and Tori wasn't sure whether to give it to the ducks or eat it herself!
Do you see the goose eating it right out of her hands?! Jason threw a piece of bread towards the swan and all of the other ducks flew and swam after it!
Ah Mom! Do we have to leave?! Tori didn't want to load back into the car and wanted to give the ducks a hug, although with little success. Bye, bye duckies! Until next time!


Mind you, this video was taken off of our camera...not the best of quality, but cute. If you didn't see our Horses blog, here it is!

Horses!

We went with our friends, the Jones, to visit their horses almost a month ago! (I know...I am almost caught up!) I thought we were going to just take a peek at the horses and maybe let the girls pet them, but we went to ride! That was basically my first time riding a horse (going on a horse tied to a horse walk just doesn't count!), and I liked it. We just walked around the pasture. Tori was a little scared at first, but then she wanted more. She was very excited to be a cowgirl and she even brought her hat.
Brooke also took her first ride (she really wasn't all that interested and really just wanted her milk). After the horse rides Tori got to visit with some chickens (Tori LOVES chickens!) and see a bunny rabbit. We tried to take some cut pictures of Natalie, Emily and Tori on the hay, but Tori did not like the hay. Tiffany got some cute pictures of her girls and when she posts them I will put up more cute pictures!
Sadly, our friends Cory and Tiffany are back in LA. I am sure that they are happy to be back, but it was really nice to have good friends to play with who understand the little kids thing! We miss you and thanks for playing with us!

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Those Dinger Girls

Well, I just finished editing and making collages of the last few weeks. There were 130 some odd pictures. But "those Dinger girls are just so cute" (we hear this quite often around here!), so for your viewing pleasure...
THE DINGER GIRLS!

We haven't been up to to much since we left California. We just hang around the house, play outside and sometimes even go to the park. Brooke, of course, is growing like a weed. She has decided to pull up on everything including flat walls and has even figured how to get down from standing. Every once in a while I walk her around the room and then let go of her hands. She balances there for a minute and then falls to her little padded bum. The first picture of her licking the gate is actually the first time she pulled up. Now it is a usual sight in our house...licking the gate!More pictures of the cutie. Please note the unruly hair! She can't wear headbands anymore because she pulls them out!Look out little munchkins! Tori is still into dressing up in frilly skirts and playing with hats. A few weeks ago we were out shopping and Tori found a cowboy hat. Well, she would not let go of the cowboy hat and threw a monstrous crying fit when we had to leave the cowboy hat in the store. YIKES. Good thing I have a cowboy hat from my country dancing days! Anyway, the next day I dug it out of the closet and also found a sombrero from my 26th birthday party! She was instantly in love!
I also included the picture of her with the cowboy hat on watching TV because lately she has seen Sesame Street, Word World and Dora with a cowboy theme and immediately put on her cowboy hat. It's quite adorable and I wanted to remember it!
Of course, just as much as she likes to dress up, it is always fun to dress Brooke up too! Brooke is sporting the cowboy hat.
If you make the picture bigger you will notice Tori in a bucket, Tori in her "Pincess" PJs that she recently inherited from Liv playing with Daddy, Tori chilling watching her shows, Tori and I having a jam session playing on the Backyardigan guitar and Brookie having a good old time discovering the little kitchen.

A week ago I got a fun birthday package from Marie. She sent me one of those huge cupcake molds and this adorable cupcake apron. Tori was instantly in love and had to have it on so she could dance in it! The other pictures are just some random PJ pictures. She loves her new "Pincess" nightgown (also inherited from Liv). In the other PJ picture she is playing peek-a-boo with Brooke!One of Tori's new favorite games is "Ready-Set-Go" which involves her going to the farthest corner of the room and yelling "Ready-Set-Go!" at the top of her lungs and then running to an invisible finish line. It is hilarious. Sure most of these pictures are out of focus, but it was fun to capture her little game and see her imagination take flight! This is Tori's new favorite shirt. I love it because it is so colorful. (Also a Liv inheritance...let's face it, most if not almost all, of Tori's clothes are inherited!) Anyway, this is a picture of her snack time. This day was Fruit Loops and apple juice. We have had this super huge box of Fruit Loops for like 4 months and she finally finished it! Sunday best. A real dress! I love it! While Jason and I get ready and Brookie is down for a nap, Tori gets to watch a show. That day it was the Wiggles...hence the amazing dancing pictures! Oh and I can never get her to look at me when I am taking pictures! The backyard! Really, it is amazing. Tori loves to explore, dig and play outside. Aren't these pictures adorable. My favorite is where she is scowling at me from the stack of lumber. She is not supposed to play on this wood, but I quite frequently find her there. Now if I find her there she gets time out!
In the afternoon after her nap she gets to play until 5 and do what she wants. Sometimes she likes to go outside and play, other days she likes to color, play with toys and listen to her CDs. She even loves classical stuff. Of course it is all Baby Einstein music, but she is all over it! Her favorite Cd though is a music that I used to listen to as a kid. It is the London Symphony and Children's choir singing some of the Primary songs and she calls it "I am a Child of God" (that is the first song).
Well, I guess you got a little taste of what we Dinger girls do during the day. We hope you enjoy the pictures! Stay tuned for Brooke's first horseback ride and feeding the ducks!

Thursday, September 16, 2010

The Dingers in California!

Warning: HUGE BLOG!
Now for round 2!
We went back to California with the Olesens. We left on Saturday night and made our way to wondrous Winnemucca, Nevada where we spent the night. The next day we made our way to Walnut Creek, CA (where Jake is from). We of course had to drive through the Sierra Nevadas, and of course there was puke in the car! YIKES! Tori decided that the roads were a little too windy for her and gave her breakfast to her booster seat.
So of course there was tons of traffic getting back into California too! Minus the smell of puke, the girls were great for me on an 11 hour car ride! We were excited for the washing machine that awaited us at Jake's parent's house! We were all very glad to be out of the car too! We had a fabulous dinner at the Olesen home (as usual) and stuffed to the bone. We then loaded the car one last time and made our way to Alameda.
I love Alameda. It has a fabulous small city feel and it is so quiet. It is also so marvelously cool all of the time...or at least we thought.

Our first morning we decided to take the kids on the Bay walk. Yeah, my sister is that close to the bay that it is a 15 minute walk and you are there! It was unusually hot on the walk. Lora commented that it usually isn't that hot, and I didn't think anything of it until on our way back home. Amazing pics, huh?!We continued our walk along the ponds that run through Alameda neighborhoods. We stopped at some parks and Tori actually played in the sand...and as you can see LOVED it. The last time we were in California (just a year ago) she wouldn't set her foot in the stuff! She is still afraid of the jungle gyms, but I bet this time next year she will be all over that too! She loves to swing in the big girl swing too! Oscar showed me his amazing jumping and climbing skills. He is such a monkey and really has no fear! I LOVE that picture of Liv. I caught her off guard, because she usually gives me a silly face when I am trying to take a picture of her (she really is hilarious!).Oscar loves Brooke so much. I tried with all of my might to get a good picture of Brooke and him together, but no such luck. Brookie chilled with us in the shade while the kids played in the park. This is when we thought to ourselves...it is only 11 and it is this hot already?! What is up with that? On our way back I was dripping sweat down my back! (I know that is graphic, but this hardly happens in Alameda!)Well, my Dad just happens to call during his lunch break and comments on the fact that it is going to be 92*. I said, "Oh Dad, we are in Alameda now, not in Meridian." and he said, "I know, it is actually only 77* in Meridian today!" WHAT??? So apparently, I came to Alameda again during their 3 day heat wave. Day 1 was sweltering because we were not prepared. We didn't leave the windows open at the right time. It took us all of our energy to keep our eyes open. We let all of the kids run around in their undies and diapers in the house to stay cool! If only Lora and I could have done that! And to top it off we decided to make a delicious cake in the OVEN! We were nuts! Tori loved jumping on the trampoline though. This might be an investment that we make in the near future. She was on that thing anytime the patio doors were open!So basically for 3 days we melted in the Alameda heat and the only reprieve was an air conditioned car ride and trips to the grocery store! Ha ha ha! At night Lora and I watched girly movies and shows (sorry Jake! I didn't mean to steal away your wife every night...I just miss hanging out with her!) and we hung out with the kiddos during the day. Tori loved all of Livy's toys. She had a blast with the princess vanity and this remote control My Little Pony scooter. She loved Fredo (a nice kitty!) and there was always a constant "Uh-cle" whenever Uncle Jake was around. Isn't Oscar so handsome?! Oh that kid is going to be a heart breaker! Lora made her famous chocolate chip cookies (on a much cooler regular Alameda day) and captured the girls eating together on the patio bench with their princesses. Tori loves Aurora, although she has never seen Sleeping Beauty and Livers had Belle. (I am trying not to call Livy Livers anymore because I apparently got a lot of weird looks in parking lots calling the cutest girl Livers!) Tori and Liv's love and hate relationship continued in California. When it was good, they held hands, sang songs and shared tutus. When it was bad, well, we just won't go there!

Jason came to join us in beautiful Alameda after a week of slight disaster in Meridian. Apparently there was a huge wind storm that blew over our beautiful curly willow tree in our backyard (luckily onto the maple tree to the side of it and not onto the house!) and a whole bunch of shingles from our roof. Jason was a bit stressed with the removal of the tree and then finding someone to take care of the roof al while working full time! Yikes. But Jason was welcomed with open arms and excited screams from Oscar.

Our first morning we went to the park with the munchkins and Lora and I managed to get the one and only picture of us together! Oscar loved pushing Brooke on the swings, while Liv and Tori shoveled their way to China in the sand. It is so much fun to see our kids together! I wish that we could do this more than once or twice a year!

Oscar LOVES Brooke. I think that he would have kept her if he could. He was very proud to put her on his shoulder! Uncle Jason also read to the girls to get them ready for the night!

What says Princess more than a makeover?! Livy Lou made me over! My hair was fabulous! I love all of her little faces, so make sure that you click on the picture to make it bigger.

Brookie photo shoot in the blue egg chair! SO CUTE!

Mmmm! Nothing says California than In-N-Out! Mmmm...Oscar got to have some fries for the first time in a long time, so we documented. The bird...well, Tori wanted a picture of the birds that were attacking all of the left over fries that people discarded. It was quite the different little bird.

Saturday we took a field trip to Walnut Creek again! We always get good food there and we get to swim! Oscar can dive! Tori didn't like the water all that much this year, but she did look fashionable in the goggles and stayed comfy on a whole chair of warm towels. We of course all crowded into the hot tub because the other part of the pool is not heated and it was soooo cold!

It was baby Brookie's first pool experience and oh doesn't she look so cute in her little suit. Lora bought the Princess mobile at CVS pharmacy for $2! Lora caught all of these amazing pictures of Brookie enjoying the pool with all of us! Brooke's last move in the pool, dunking her face in the water. After a few tears and a warm towel, she was fine. Ha ha ha.

Here is my favorite. Do you see those eyes! All I did to the picture was add in shadow! She is gorgeous (and ghostly white!)

Well, we went home on Sunday after we went to church. Jake gave a talk on the Beatitudes and got called as the early morning seminary teacher! I would have loved him as a teacher! We almost left pink blanket in Alameda, but a quick trip back to the house and we retrieved it! That would have been a disaster! The ride home went well (no puke!), the girls really are quite amazing in the car and they even napped well. We pulled into the driveway before midnight too! What a trip. Can't wait until we get together again!

Monday, September 13, 2010

The Olesens visit Idaho!

Really? Has it taken me a whole month to post this?! YES! I know! But, I am finally documenting it, and there are tons of pictures! (Warning: it takes a lot of effort to get children to look at the camera, let alone get them to all look at the camera at the exact moment in time...so not all pictures are amazing, but it is documentation that they were together!)
Lora and her family came on Friday, the 13th of August. I could not wait until they got to the house and I cleaned the whole house while I waited to keep me from looking at the clock every minute. Immediately out of the car the Livy and Tori were instant besties and went inside to play. (Tori and Livy had a love/hate relationship while on this rendezvous. One moment they were besties, holding hands and sharing and the next it was pushing, hitting and coveting. What more do you say about a 2 and 3 year old...sounds typical to me!) I missed Lora a ton (although I talk to her almost every day), so she got an instant hug. It was great to see Oscar (who is getting so big and is so ridiculously clever) and Jake too.
During the duration of the Idaho shenanigans the "Big Ball" was the coveted spot in the house for jumping, acrobatic and viewing movie pleasures! Uncle Jason was at the lead teaching them how to land cartwheels and such onto the Luv Sac! These pictures of the girls were taken the first day.
We had amazing sleeping arrangements. All of the kids were in the girls' room. Livy and Oscar were on a queen sized air mattress! That week Brookie was a bit congested and we were in and out of that room a lot in those tight quarters. Lora has some great pictures of Livy and Tori up at night talking to each other. One night (I think it was Saturday because Jake was still here) we hear Livy yell for Daddy and he goes in there to find that Tori had yanked the nightlight out of the socket (Livy likes to have a nightlight) and her exclamation, "Daddy, she ruined my life. She ruined my freaking life!" Ha ha ha! It was hilarious. It definitely left us all in stitches.

It was definitely hotter in Idaho that week than in California (my sister and family live in Alameda, the land of forever 70*, or at least we thought...) and her kids were melting in the heat (although we were in air conditioning most of the time). Meridian, ID is not exactly the funnest place in the universe for little kids either, but we did our best. When it wasn't too sweltering we let the kids play outside. They climbed our willow tree (which now has become bark dust...more on that story later), ran around on the lawn, picked flowers, played in pool and played soccer with Uncle Jason (there is no contest on who the favorite in our family is!).
But we do have a few things here that the Olesens do not have in California: Flatbread Pizza and a free Community Water Park. Jake was here both weekends and we had to go to Flatbread Pizza both weekends! (There are always pounds to be added when you get together with family!) We didn't get a picture of us eating their scrumptious food, but if was fabulous! Their pizza is as close as you can get to Italian pizza in the states.
Oh the water park. I love this park that we have in Meridian...it's called Settler's Park and it has everything you can think of for little kids to do: climbing rocks, musical instruments, swings, a small jungle gym for the little kids and a humongous jungle gym for the big kids and a nice water park that is free to the public during the summer. Lora has the pictures of the kids playing at the park, so when those are blogged or sent to me I will make another blog of the missing pieces. The kids had a blast (especially Oscar) and Tori even got a little wet in one of the mini sprinklers.
A few more pictures of enjoying the outdoors.

This is the only picture that I got of my sister with Brooke, and the worst part...it is blurry. In black and white it is not as bad, but I was very sad. This was kind of an illegal shot too. Lora didn't want me to take a picture of her without her new haircut. Lora might have some more pictures though, so more to come. (And of course there is only 1 picture of the 2 of us! figures! we need to get out from behind the cameras!)
Pretend that this is our refrigerator. The kids were very artistic this week. Especially Oscar. He drew pictures of all of his super hero guys. I think that they are pretty impressive. (Except that Lora helped Oscar spell Modock when it was supposed to be Doom...so there is 1 mislabeled). The pictures with the 4 suns and flowers is Livy's. I asked her what her painting was and she said, "In my world there are 4 suns!" Well, there you have it. 4 suns and beautiful purple flowers. Tori made her first stick figure person (lower right picture). I drew Daddy, Mommy and Brooke (she added Brooke's shoes) and she drew a picture of herself. Although the figure does have 5 limbs, I think that it is very good for her first time. I think that there are people in Tori's picture in the top right to. What do you see?Sunday was crazy because we had to get two families ready in the allotted amount of time. But we were a success. We made it to church on time and the kids were good. We took a whole entire middle row too! Brooke looked so cute in her dress that we had a mini photo shoot.
So Brookie got a lot of lovin' out of this get together. Both Liv and Oscar loved and were a bit obsessed with Brookie. But I guess who isn't? Oscar was constantly looking for Brooke, giving her hugs and kisses, giving her toys and trying to hold her. Livy was just amazing with her and would give her toys and sing to her when she cried.
I don't have many pictures of Oscar, but it was fun to watch old school Transformer cartoons with him and to steal some kisses from him. Just because, he would say "I love you Auntie Kendra" and it would just make the day 100x better! He is so sweet.
We ventured out a few more times during the week (Lora has all of the pictures from the Birds of Prey museum), but my favorite time was just hanging out with the kids and with Lora and Jake. We sure miss you guys and it makes me really sad that we don't live closer and can't see each other more often. It was really fun to hang out with Lora at night and reminisce. I MISS MY SISTER SO MUCH!
Now I am remembering what it was like just the two of us hanging out on our trundle bed wondering what our futures would hold...dreaming of the time when we would marry identical twins and live right next door to each other. Well, at least our husbands like each other and we don't live on opposite sides of the country...but I still dream of the day when we live closer than this!
P.S. I totally cried while making this blog because I miss them so much already (I am such a cry baby!). Thank heavens for Skype, cell phones and Blogs! I think I would be a wreck without technology!