More hiking, more cake, more park

After doing Emma's birthday hike, the kids were begging to go hiking again. So on Saturday afternoon we ventured out on a different trail, near the house. The hiking trails around here are really amazing - I always assumed that desert hiking would be blah, but I've learned that the desert can be beautiful and diverse, so it's fun to explore. Ben was post-call and exhausted after working overnight, but he agreed to keep Claire at home, so I didn't have to have her strapped to me while we hiked...




















Here's a few videos - just for kicks - I've been trying to remember to take videos and not just pictures all the time. They are just SO fun to watch when the kids get older and look back to see how they talked, moved, etc. In the first video, Jake is saying at the beginning "I'm not going to fall down. I'm not." hahaha...






We had birthday party number 2 for Emma on Sunday. Emma's birthday is the same day as her Uncle Peter (Ben's brother). It's fun that they share a birthday. Emma's Aunt Emily made a really delicious cake/cupcakes - we all always rave about her chocolate cakes - so yummy! Emma got some awesome gifts - a cute purple bean bag from the Lee's (which she's been using daily this week - to read and watch t.v. in), and her Grandma and Grandpa Dangerfield got her an American Girl doll! What a lucky Emma! Now that the doll is home, she's seriously in love with it. She got some birthday money from her Grandma and Grandpa Szymanski and her Great Grandma Szymanski, and she quickly decided she wanted to use it to get some accessories for her new doll friend.








On President's Day, Emma wanted to make a list in the morning of 'fun things to do'. She definitely gets excited when she has a day off of school and can play - one of the things she added to her list was to have a picnic at a park. So we went to the West Wing park (first time), and took some lunch...