Making friends

Random pics from December

I didn't realize it had been quite so long since I'd posted something.  Have a random dump of pictures from December:

Mystery exercises at gymnastics

Stretch!

Daycare visited the holiday train when it was here

Haven't quite gotten the hang of dressing yet

The outfit says "just like mom", but I don't think I've ever seen Jenni in an apron

Leaving milk and cookies for Santa

Just realized there was a potty accident

At holiday express

Making art at Science City

 

Gymnastics again

Walking on a frozen creek

Maybe a mechanic

Well, if I can't convince her to be an engineer, maybe she'll show some aptitude as a mechanic.  It'd actually be quite nice to have one in the family, I'm amazingly useless with cars...

So I go to pick her up from day care and I find her, Colin, and Amber either making a car or fixing a bike, depending on when I asked. 

Some videos of their antics:

The moon has been a big deal as of late.  She insists that it's going to fall on her head, but she seems to ignore my explanations of orbital mechanics...

Eating the moon has also been a thing recently:

Halloween 2013

We do have a creative child.  Must have gotten it from her mother.  She (Gwen, not Jenni) decided on a costume over a month ago and has stuck to her guns.  She was...

A flashlight.

I can't take any credit for the costume - Jenni found all the stuff and showed me how to put it together.  I just assembled it to the best of my ability, which is pretty lacking unfortunately.  So here's some random pics:

And some videos too:

It turned out to be heavier than we had expected, but apparently she didn't complain or take it off once while trick or treating at daycare.  Halloween night was another matter.  I was carrying it between stations at Hy-Vee, then we used a different costume for walking through the neighborhood.  It probably weighs a good 10 pounds - we could't expect a 25 pound munchkin to walk around in it all night.

And now she is three

Although she DOES insist that next year she'll be one.  Arithmetic is one area we still need to work on, quite frankly.

She insisted she wanted a pink cake:

[Video]

Every girl is a princess on her birthday.  I couldn't decide which pic I liked better, so have both:

There must be presents:

I don't want to grow up!

In case you couldn't tell from the fact that she's in a stroller with two babies...

RenFest 2013

Jenni and I love the Renaissance Festival.  I've gone since high school, no sure how long she has but it's certainly been a long time.  This was Gwen's second RenFest, and she certainly seemed to enjoy herself pretty well.  Aunt Emily came along to play too.

First up, we have Gwen as a butterfly-like thing riding a robin:

Next, as a cat:

Now, making a magic shaker.  She's being helped by a vegetarian werewolf whose baby (hiding under the blue skirt) doesn't ever change out of wolf form:

And here she's getting a dragon's tear and giving a dragon kiss:

And of course, she was promoted to princess and took part in the princess parade:

(I had to include the last one just to show that Aunt Emily is silly)

She was also made a special friend of the princesses:

Pickle!

Of all the animals to choose from (pony, llama, and cow), which does she choose?  She's the first one there, can choose any of them, and...

Moo.

I bought myself a cider float.  I didn't end up getting much of it...

We had to abandon my friends for a good 20 minutes because Gwen saw this swing and just HAD to do it.  It was worth the $2, she had a great time on it.

And finally, I just added this one because I liked it: