little willows

The color of this photo makes it appear like it may actually be from the 80's but it is Lily's preschool photo from this year (the scanner just didn't transfer the color well).  Below are her two class pictures - there are two because not every child comes each day of the week.  And, if you notice in the first one, which is her Monday class, she is the only girl.  Yep, that is right.  Lily ran that class.  Lily and the boys :)  According to her teachers she made their days very entertaining.  I didn't ask for elaboration... 

Apparently she is also unable to smile in group photos. :)

Madison

My most recent trip to Madison included a few fun stops at some of my favorite places!  Here is Lily enjoying a giant pancake at Mickey's Dairy Bar - an iconic diner only a few blocks from my parents' house.  It was a crazy visit that also included a chocolate shake...yum!

The Henry Vilas Zoo is also one of my favorite stops in Madison.  Here are some pics of Lily enjoying the zoo. 

Lily and Grandpa Paul

slide

In case you didn't notice, Jeff decided to bombard the blog with random old photos again.  But here are some recent hilarious videos of Carter on the slide.  He learned the method at McDonald's - where he slide something like 100 times.  But he has improved his technique and grown significantly less timid as you can see in the second video.  He must think he is an invincible penguin...

treats in the chariot

lean on me

inside the chariot 

brother - sister

cse #2

one

oops...

Our normal morning routine is to head up these stairs when we are ready to go.  Carter insists on climbing them himself and usually drags his backpack up as we go.  He isn't completely stable going up yet so we keep the gate closed most of the time to avoid accidents and random visitors for the Shallats.  Anyway, recently we heard a bunch of ruckus and laughing, and after a brief search for Carter, we followed the noise to one very happy little boy who clearly took advantage of me leaving the gate open.  He was so proud...

like my hair?

Carter has always had crazy blond hair.  It stood straight up for most of the first year of his life.  This after-bath photo shows his at hair and all its glory thanks to a little towel dry action :)

big sister dinner

This video is a at least a month old.  Carter now wants to feed himself all the time - which means we have some very messy meals.  But I still enjoy this one.  Who knew Lily could be so helpful?

bah bah bah

One of my favorite baby noises!

tickle

Who doesn't love a good baby laugh?  Here is Carter's while we try to keep him awake on our way home for nap.

A song for Grandpa

Lily loves music.  She loves to sing in the car to her daddy's favorites, belt out a Sofia or Frozen number, or quietly comfort Carter with a lullaby.  But she truly loves to listen to her Grandpa Paul play guitar and sing.  She talks about it a lot.  (everytime she sees a guitar, hears someone like Grandpa, sees Grandpa, in the middle of dinner, at Target...)  Anyway, recently she was "playing" the guitar and singing and asked me to send a song to Grandpa.  So, here it is Grandpa Paul - enjoy!