Three!

Or, you know, "free". Whatever works.

Natalie had a pretty fun birthday. No party yet - we're waiting until October when we can do a kitty-themed party in a local park. That said, we still had all the other birthday essentials, like toys and cake!

Her gift from us was a toy box. I had bought the toy box some months ago, but never really liked the color. I had always planned to paint it or paint some designs on it, but I was suddenly out of time (and ideas). Luckily, I found these pre-painted wooden cut-outs at the craft store. Those, plus a little wood glue made for a far less cloyingly colored toy box, if I do say so myself!

Natalie's Bubbe and Gramps got her a tricycle, complete with a bell. She loves it!

Responsible parents we are, we totally neglected to get her a bike helmet until she started asking for her "bike hat". To be fair, it is 106 here right now, so we really didn't have the expectation that she'd be riding outside for some months. At any rate, a purple bike helmet has now been acquired.

Grandma Pat got Natalie some gymnastics lessons.

Among other gifts, Aunt Jenny got Natalie a much-beloved butterfly / fairy set, consisting of wings, a wand, and a headband. What more could a girl want?

Also, I mentioned in our last post that Big Girl had moved into her Big Girl Bed. Here's a picture of her, in her new pjs from Uncle Eric and Aunt Melanie.

Of course, Natalie also received many other nice gifts. Pictures to come! Stay tuned!

In closing, since I'm all of 3.5 weeks into three years old, I can tell you that three is much harder than two. When I mentioned this - gingerly - to the pediatrician at Natalie's 3 year check-up, the doctor nodded knowingly. Awesome. Another friend of mine pointed out that it's really the terrible twos, the terrifying threes, and the f-ing fours. So there's that. I'm not super-sure I'm ready to go there (yet), but it's good to know that others have found the combination of enhanced verbal skills + bigger / stronger + more autonomy a wee bit challenging. But she, of course, remains totally adorable. Most of the time.

There's no picture of this, but one sweet thing she's done lately is to decide that I am, in fact, not a person, but a squirrel. So she'll offer me peanuts, call me a squirrel, point at me and declare that she likes "that squirrel better than a lady", narrate my actions by stating "the squirrel is . . . .", and pet me. Odd, but totally adorable.

Mammoth Lakes

I guess this blog is becoming a bit of a monthly thing, eh? I promise to pick up the pace and post something soon about Natalie's 3rd birthday. However, this post is all about our first ever non-family visit / non-conference family trip (okay, there was that one weekend in Austin, but other than that...).

So, Mammoth. Mike and I hadn't been there since the summer before we moved to Japan - and we've both resolved not to let it be so long again. It was, simply,  beautiful. Living here, you forget. In a way, you don't, because you're always longing for the mountains, but in a way you do, since the mountains sort of become more myth than reality.

(I know - so many pics - but how could I choose? For those in the know, we hiked to Heart Lake, Arrowhead Lake, Panorama Dome, Crystal Lake, Emerald Lake, and TJ Lake.)

Anyway, despite my initial fears, our plan of flying into LAX - lunch with my brother and his girlfriend - and then a 5hr drive to Mammoth (with stops at Target and Costco along the way) actually worked remarkably well. It really was nothing short of a miracle.

 
And then we were there! And we took our first hike as a family.

Mike was a real superstar, carrying Natalie hiking every day.

The best part was when she'd start declaring she was tired....

We had a very nice daily routine. In the mornings, Mike would work, and Natalie and I would go to, quite possibly, the most scenic park ever. Ever.

 

Then, we'd return to the condo, have lunch and nap (all parties - love me some vacation!), and hike. While Natalie didn't actually do the walking (see above), she did do the snacking.

Of course, Natalie also got to explore the lakes!

Daddy even taught Natalie how to skip stones:

Grandma Pat also joined us for a few days.

 

 

 

(The bottom picture was taken on one of the free town trolleys - Natalie was totally enthralled by them, and we'd promised her the chance to ride on one. The ride was a total success, but, alas, we had a tragic encounter with a redwood fence upon disembarking. Luckily, Grandma Pat was there to remove the splinters, and with some ice cream before lunch, all was [mostly] resolved.)

We also played some in the condo:

Although we brought the pack-n-play (thanks, Uncle Eric!), we actually ended up putting Natalie in a "big girl bed" - and it worked pretty well. We've since converted the crib at home.

As I mentioned above, we got to see my brother. We actually saw him both on the day we arrived, and on the night before we left (when we had a hotel-room early birthday party for Natalie).

(swimming in the hotel pool)

(home-made cake by Uncle Eric)

In closing, possibly my favorite picture ever:

And, in sum, family vacations: highly recommended!