Late Summer Fun with Elsa

August has been a great month of watching Elsa develop into a wonderful little girl.



At the start of the month, Elsa graduated from MINI, her infant care center that she started at when she was 5 months old, to Downtown Children's Center (DCC), her pre-school.  It was so sad for us to leave the warmth and love of MINI, but after a rough few weeks adjustment, Elsa is thriving at DCC.  She is now the little one in a group of 2-5 year olds and we hear her talk, sing and count more.



Elsa likes her friend Emilia a lot.  She and Emilia are so cute holding hands and running around.



In late August, we headed down to LA for a weekend of friends and a wedding.  Elsa's friend Sage had fun putting lip gloss on Elsa.  Elsa really enjoyed the experience.



The next morning Elsa got to ride a pony - her first pony ride - all by herself!

We are blessed to have such an energetic girl.  Our latest activity is to cook.  Elsa loves cooking with mommy and wearing her apron.  She is particularly fond of stirring and pouring.  We made muffins, apple pie, cookies, spaghetti, tuna melts and fried rice.  Arne put together a great video of us making muffins.

Cooking with Elsa - Part 1 from Arne Stokstad on Vimeo.

Lair of the Bear 2012

This was Elsa's third year at the Lair of the Bear. Last year was a lot of fun, but this year was even better.

Elsa loved the water, and went swimming every day.

She was fearless, jumping into the water again and again. She was so quick to jump into the water that we developed a game where she had to go give someone a high five, in order jump into the water.

One of the new things this year was Elsa jumping off the diving board toward Daddy. After all the fun she still wanted to play with Daddy.

Once water play was done, we would wrap Elsa up in towels and she would finally take her afternoon nap. It was great.

At one of the parties, we had our annual picture with Mike White. He was back as the manager of Camp Blue and as always was a fabulous leader.

Later, Elsa crashed - she was so tired from missing her nap.

Arne played softball - I watched his great hit and him getting on base. It was awesome.

Elsa really just liked the post softball Popsicle.

Elsa was a pretty good sleeper, using a sleeping bag for the first time ever.

Elsa also made a good friend in Mackenzie. They would jump off of rocks together. I found this terrifying, because like in the pool - Elsa would just jump, without looking to see if anyone could catch her.

We had a wonderful week and were lucky to have Grandma in the tent next to ours. Elsa called our tent "my house" and grandma's tent "grandma's house."

Elsa's Second Birthday

Elsa is now TWO! It is amazing how big and interactive she is getting. She loves to play and explore. We love our baby girl, who is not really a baby anymore. It was at a park a few blocks from our home. Tunnels were new this year. Elsa exploring. Elsa and her aunt. Can't have a birthday without birthday cake. Two grandmas. Arne made a video of Elsa's birthday
Elsa's Second Birthday from Arne Stokstad on Vimeo.

Spring Adventures

Spring was filled with many great adventures.
 
For Mother's Day, Arne took Elsa, me, and my sister Amanda, along with our dog Summer out to Fort Funston for a walk at the beach.

At home, Elsa and I baked a Mother's Day cake and kept of the tradition of making strawberry jam on Mother's Day. I should have come up with a new tradition that did not involve so much boiling liquid, but the result was very yummy.

At the end of April, we all went to Portland to visit my college friend Phoebe. It was a wonderful trip with lots of great food and time with friends.

I was happy for the trip and the time with Elsa.

I had a little adventure of my own in April, a weekend with my friend Mel, skiing in the Sierra's.
 
It was the last day at Heavenly and it was heavenly. We had a great spring and are looking forward to a wonderful Summer!

May 15 was our 2 year anniversary. Arne and I went out to an amazing dinner in Woodside.

Life is very good.

Utah Road Trip

Memorial Weekend this year we headed to Utah for a road trip through national parks and then to Volleyball Nationals in Salt Lake City.



The adventure began in Las Vegas, where we picked up our car, checked out the sign and then drove to Zion National Park.

Once in Zion, we took the bus up to the Court of the Patriarchs and did a small walk up the hill to see the sights. Then it was back down to town for our first night on the road. Our hotel had a lovely view of the red rocks and was right next to a shuttle stop. Both the town and the park have convenient free shuttle service.



The next morning we took the shuttle up to the top of the Canyon. Elsa and Karna had fun mugging for the camera in their matching hats.

Arne took the backpack first and Elsa enjoyed the walk down to the Narrows.

She also liked being free to walk around and play in the water.

Karna carried her back to the bus stop.

We stopped at a stream for Elsa to play in the water and for us to enjoy the great views.



Then we drove off to Bryce Canyon, about 2 hours away.

We had a great morning at Bryce, where Elsa learned to say Hoodoo!

Then we drove along Scenic Highway 12, through Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. We stopped near Boulder, Utah at Anasazi State Park Museum.

Elsa had fun in the recreated Pueblo.

We had fun together.

Our drive continued through Dixie National Forest to Capitol Reef National Park. We stopped for pie at the old farmhouse.

Then, Elsa got to play in more water!

She loved the water and also wearing Mommy's jackets.

We were very lucky that Elsa was a good sleeper in the car. It is amazing the difference between a sleeping Elsa in the car and a wide awake Elsa in the car.
After a morning of wandering in at the Maple Leaf Grove of the Fishlake National Forest, we arrived in Salt Lake City. It was fun to explore the Temple Square, before heading over to the Salt Palace to see the setup for Volleyball Nationals.

The team did great, coming in 5th out of 20, after 4 days of volleyball.
We had a wonderful adventure in Utah and now know we can do road trips in the future with Elsa.