Haircuts

Did you know we travel all the way to Florida to get haircuts?
The haircuts I give them in the bathroom at home . . . yeah, those aren't so great.

Barber Richard to the rescue!

Viggo had a great time and loved talking with Mr. Richard. He preferred the boy powder and rattlesnake oil for his 'do.

Svea was excited about getting her hair cut . . . until it was time for the actual event. We convinced her she would be okay. She sait motionless and emotionless while Richard cut her hair. He told her she was beautiful and looked like Cinderella. Even that didn't manage to get Svea to crack a smile!

She did get three stickers, a candycane and a pencil, which she was thrilled about! We left on a great note - and she and Viggo both look so spiffy now!

Thank you, Richard!

Elin is 6 months old!

On December 29th Elin hit her first 1/2 birthday.
We celebrated with baby oatmeal - her first solid food. She did great! No spitting up, and she relished using a spoon. She's such a big girl!

Mote Marine

We paid a visit to Mote Marine in Sarasota, Florida the other day. Because in case you haven't noticed we love aquariums.

Cute little seahorses. Svea loved these!

I got such a kick out of this guy! Who knew such a thing existed?

This pretty little octopus was so fun to watch.

Svea was completely obsessed with this thing. Under that magnifying lens, there was a single giant squid sucker, preserved forever. It was about the size and shape of a half-dollar and had a red rim around a murky white center. That was it. But she loved it!

There was a goofy octopus there too.

The octopus was quickly joined by a little scuba diver.

Grandpa holds Svea while she checks out the rays.

Svea enjoyed watching the rays swim around, but for her touching them was out of the question.

Dolphins play in the lab.

We had a great time! Thanks for taking us, Grandma and Grandpa Zeke!

We visit Great-Grandpa

At the beach / 2

Svea quickly got over her fear of sand on our second trip to the beach.

She was busy "diggin' holes".

While we were looking for shark's teeth (which everybody else seemed to be finding), I kept discovering little mollusks. They freaked me out because I'd be holding what I thought were shells and suddenly I would see frantic scuttling in my palm. Yikes!

I'm such a wimp.

Svea explores.

Here's a hermit crab I found too.

We kept the mollusks, hermit crab and other little living creatures in that blue bucket. Our pets for 45 minutes. Viggo and Svea made a nice habitat for them by dumping shells into it.

It got cold quickly as soon as the sun went behind the clouds, so Svea hid under a towel the last few moments we were on the beach.

Viggo proudly displays his sand castle!

After the beach, it was time for a treat! On to Nokomis Grove for some citrus-y ice cream.

That little white jacket wasn't quite the same once Svea finished eating.

Good messy fun.

And a couple of bonus photos of Elin!

She gets the royal treatment with a bath in the sink.

At the beach

Viggo found all sorts of treasures.

Svea really didn't like the sand.

Or the waves either. Poor Svea!

Viggo and Grandpa play soccer.

As you can see, getting the ball through the goal is a tight squeeze! Poor Grandpa.

Even though it was chilly, it was fun having dinner at the beach.

Elin and Grandma spend some time together.

Christmas

For Christmas Eve we had a delicious dinner, and a great time together. My only regret is that I didn't take enough pictures. I was busy with Elin and very distracted. So here are a few images from Christmas Eve and today.

I don't know why I was concerned about the lack of pictures. Everybody else was busy taking them!

Svea started fading after awhile, poor thing. She and Viggo worked very hard distributing the gifts.

It was so nice having Aunt Meem and Uncle John with us, and Grandpa Weeks. I wish that my photos of Grandpa had turned out! Hopefully we'll see him again so I can get some photos of him with the kids.

I love Elin's little happy expression.

She was excited about Christmas too - it was her very first Christmas, after all.

Oh, didn't you hear?

Reindeer need treats too.

This is magic reindeer food. For magic reindeer. Viggo wanted to eat it to see if it would make him fly too, but we assured him this was just for Santa's reindeer.

Goodies from Santa!

Santa remembered to bring goodies for Nate and I too.

The wreckage after gifts and stockings.

In fact the entire condo was a disaster.
I cleaned all of this up this morning.

And I remembered to get the baby off the floor, too, before she got stepped on.

You're welcome.

Here, we get ready for Christmas dinner.

Nate and Svea tickle Elin.

Svea explains the finer techniques of playing with a Slinky to Viggo and Mark.

She had been calling it a Stinky this morning but unfortunately figured out the correct name for it.

Viggo and Uncle Mark work on the V-Man's new puzzle.

Joe and Lois play Christmas carols on the violin and harp. Live music on Christmas. Beautiful!

We had a wonderful Christmas and I hope you did, too!