You get what you ask for

Karen is becoming a talking machine. Aside from her latest favorite word, two/to/too, she is mastering lots of words.

Foods: milk, cheese, cookie, cracker, cup
Commands: up, more, hep (help), op[en], down, "do it!"
People: MomMEEE!, DAddy!, Mememe (Who's a big girl? Mememe!), Ba-pa (Grandpa)
Animals: Kitty-meow, puppy-oof oof, duck-quack
Basics: Yes, no, pease, thanks

She's getting better at asking for things too. It's always frustrating to have her come ask, "Pease? Pease?" And then play the guessing game called "Please what? What do you want?" Her new, improved request: "Pease? I want! Pease? I want!" That's very helpful Karen.

Our trip to Utah

Mr. Zebra Goes to Utah

Sarah's Dance Recital

Sarah with dance friends Kiya and Jasmine.
And hamming it up outside before going backstage.

If you're up for a slightly longish video, here's the dress rehearsal (she's fourth in the line behind the teacher). Karen helped with sound effects a little toward the end:

It actually might have been better than the performace for Sarah, because during the performance, Sarah kept turning around to admire the fog coming from the machine at the back curtain.

Karen: 18 months old!

Karen in her cute summer dress and sandals.

And, of course, her Cinderella phone.

Who is soooo adorable? Karen, that's who!


She is so cute in the sunglasses. She kept taking them off though.


Oooh. She has some good pouts. We see them a lot. Usually accompanied by "Noo!"


Sarah wanted to get in the picture too. She made the little yellow hair thing herself.
The second picture is "Give Sarah a kiss Karen!" When she doesn't want to give kisses, she offers you her cheek to kiss instead. Unless she pouts and says, "Noo!"

Cruising

We already did a detailed summary of the cruise for our weekly email, but here are some pictures and highlights.

Formal night, and a sunset at sea

Catalina Island:

The captain of the glass bottom boat took the picture for us, and let me touch the steering wheel...er, helm. I didn't notice that one side of my necklace had broken and all the beads slid down to the center. I wore it that way all day before I discovered it. The island is very pretty, but I won't bore you with all the pictures of cool houses and things I took. Just this one shot of the coast and the birds posing for me. Very cooperative of them.

Look! Rich is all relaxed and happy! We must be having fun!

These towel guys were way fun. They appeared in different incarnations every night, usually wearing my sunglasses. You can tell how giddy I was from so much relaxation and sleep because I was posing with them. We'll spare you the rest of that reel too...

Best thing about the cruise: Food. Nice formal dining without having to find a babysitter, ordering random stuff like roast lamb and Caprese salad. Buffets open just about any time. Desserts of all varieties.

Close second: Freedom to get up and go do anything we wanted without having to spend 1/2 hour finding everyone's shoes, pack a diaper bag, make sure everyone's used the bathroom, fixing snacks first... Spontaneity. That's what that's called. Remember that?