Cara enjoyed her first Easter egg hunt this year. On Saturday she and Mom decorated some blown eggs (had to switch to white eggs that week) and on Sunday while Cara was napping the Easter bunny hid the decorated eggs and a dozen plastic ones in the backyard. Cara was quick to find them, needing only a few hints from Mom and Dad.
The first egg was obvious!
Cara places the eggs carefully in the basket.
But why does this egg rattle?
Jelly beans!
The flamingo laid an egg.
The weather for most of March was amazingly spring-like and dry, providing many opportunities to run around and play outside. The main exception was the week Cara's grandparents visited from Maine, and brought winter back with them. So no photos from that visit, but there will be plenty when we head east in August.
Cara can hang from rings for increasingly spans of time.
Swinging remains a popular pass-time, and she's working on learning to pump her legs. But having someone push is so much more fun!
And she's a great climber.
It's hard to swing like this, though.
Sunny afternoons on the deck - time for the hanging swing!
With all the warm weather the cherry blossoms bloomed early this year. We made our annual pilgrimage on a sunny Saturday morning.
Any outing must involve careful timing of snacks.
No shoes!
Cara has a bit of energy to run off.
Can't quite reach those blossoms.
Unless Dad helps out!
The second weekend of February was jam-packed for Cara. On Saturday Ms. A invited her over for a Valentine's Day lunch on Saturday, and they baked cookies together and decorated heart-shaped boxes. Then Sunday was the Lunar New Year, with a trip to the International District to see Lion Dances and buy some ingredients for a special dinner. Finally, Monday was President's Day, and Mom took Cara up to the snow to play some more while Dad finished putting together Cara's new big kid bed. We were all pretty tired by the time Tuesday rolled around.
Baking Cookies with Ms. A
Ms. A arranges the best art projects! She helped Cara make this beautiful box.
Cara gets a new dress - a tradition for the Lunar New Year.
Peaking out of a snow cave.
Climbing way up high on the snow, Cara learns to step-kick. We'll have to find an ice-axe for her soon!
Building a snow person.
What a great new bed!
It hasn't been a great snow year in the Pacific Northwest, but Mom and Dad finally got in gear and headed on up to Snoqualmie Pass for some snow fun. A year certainly makes a difference, and while Cara wasn't at all sure about snow and sledding last year, this year she had no doubts. All aspects of snow were delightful!
Mom's a member of an alpine club that has a cabin at Snoqualmie Pass, with a small sledding hill. This year we were lucky enough to run into some other families who were also up for a day a sledding. Cara had a great time watching the bigger kids, and sometime trying to follow along.
Having fun.
Mom tries out the camera.
Being towed back up.
Catching air!
Enough sledding, this snow is fun to play peek-a-boo in. Not to mention tromping around, falling down, rolling in, building snow sculptures and knocking them down! Now that's a busy day.
The bigger kids had fun too - here's a sled train.
And here's the train wreck at the bottom!
There are always a few extra photos that don't quite make it into another post but deserve to be shared. Here are a few extra highlights from 2009.
When it comes to phones, Cara doesn't seem so far away from being a teenager. She loves talking to friends and family on the phone.
Cara also enjoys all aspects of Mom's iPhone. Of course this will be passe by the time she's a teenager.
We didn't get out for quite as many hikes this year, but did make it out for some of the favorite hiking activities. To Cara's great delight, we visited Rattlesnake Lake when the blackberries were ripe.
Big leaves at Cougar Mountain are always a favorite in the fall.
A new passion for Cara this year has been helping out cooking in the kitchen. She now has her own knife, whisk and wooden spoon, but of course she is more than happy to use the grown-up utensils as well, when Mom and Dad let her (no knives of course!)
The last stage of licking the spoon is often the best part of cooking.
Boxing Day isn't usually a holiday we pay much attention to, but this year it turned into a special day due to a pleasant coincidence of calendar and weather. With Christmas on a Friday, that meant the Saturday University Farmer's Market was open the next day, plus we had an unexpected spell of dry, sunny weather. So Cara, Mom and Dad set off for a fun morning at the Farmer's Market with a stop at one of our favorite parks on the way home.
Sunny glasses in December - that's something different in Seattle!
Cara loves music.
Yummy carrot!
Whee, down the slide she goes!
Our girl is all tired out. What a morning!
