Outdoor Soapy Fun

After a playground outing with some friends the morning, we filled up a bucket of soapy water and got to work cleaning all our outside plastic toys.  Finley also washed the car and had fun with the sprayer on the hose, but I couldn't get too close with the camera!

 But soon, Dagny decided she was in need of being soaped up more than the toys!

Guess I will only have to bathe Finley tonight! Love this soapy almost-two-year-old!

Picking Our Own Strawberries

Yesterday, we went to nearby Verril Farms' Strawberry Fesitval and got to pick our own strawberries.  After parking REALLY far away and trekking all the into the fields, we got to work.  I showed Finley what kind of strawberries to pick (mostly dark red all over with no squishy parts) and the kids started to hunt for berries.

Dagny was having hard time finding ripe berries, but she really enjoyed pulling off all the stems/leaves of the berries I would drop into her basket.  Seemed a little OCD to me, but she was happy as a clam.

 Soon enough, Finley had filled his quart basket and went back to our wagon to dump them into the big box we had.

Then, it was back to picking!  And finally, they realized they could be eating the berries, too.

They devoured a couple of handfuls and got pretty skilled at eating right up to the stem/leaves before tossing those away.  We ended up moving over a couple rows for variety's sake and ran into a family from Finley's preschool, so that was an unexpected surprise and we had fun using our "strawberry radars" together until our baskets were all full.  We made our way back to the wagon and Dagny did a great job carrying her full basket without spilling a single berry.

 The kids climbed into the wagon and Finley kindly offered to hold the big tray while we made our way to weigh our berries and pay.

Not sure what the farm was charging per pound, but since we had to wait nearly 20 minutes to check out, we probably should have weighed Dagny on the scale, too!  

What a great way to spend the morning.  I think the only downside was that the kids overdosed on strawberries in those two hours and now we have 4+ pounds of strawberries left to eat....

Father's Day 2014

We had a great time at the Father's Day Family Fun Fest at a local park in town on Sunday.  A bouncy house, carnival games, a classic rock band, and absolutely gorgeous weather--who could ask for more?? How about a Home Depot booth which little wooden crafts that required real nails and hammers?! Finley chose to make a tugboat and Dan spearheaded the effort while Finley wielded the hammer.  

Finley had fun and I'm pretty sure Dan did, too.  The final project is now "floating" in the pond on Finley's lego/train table.

Happy Father's Day, Dan! We love you!!

Liam's Party, One Year Later

On Saturday, Dagny and I went to Liam's 2nd birthday party.  Liam is my friend's son and we went to his first birthday exactly one year ago and I posted about it, see the link below.  Look at little Dagny with her short hair and rather tiny stature.

http://findingfinley.blogspot.com/2013/06/water-play-baby.html

The party was the same lovely backyard, water filled theme as last year but boy were the kids different!  However, just like last year, Dagny camped out at the water table.  Here she is with the birthday boy.

She loved using my water cup and after dumping out most of the water with it, she changed gears to washing the plastic chair nearby.

 I love her curly, blonde locks and the adorable orange crocs (that used to belong to Finley)!  My friend, Allison, snapped this cute photo of me and Dags having some lunch before it was time for cake.

What a difference a year makes!

Two Peas in a Pod

Finley and Dagny, Dagny and Finley -- either way you say it, they are quite a pair! They certainly seem to make their own fun wherever they go.

At 4.5 and nearly 2, they adore each other (when they aren't poking each other or arguing over what book to read next).   I can't help but think how much more "full" their lives are because they have each other :) It's hard for me to think back, but Finley was just about 2 when we found out we were pregnant with Dagny and now she's that same age---amazing!

Dagny Nears 2

In a couple weeks (give or take a day), Dagny will be 2.  Gulp.  I found an assortment of photos on my phone and figured I'd drop them all here to catalog a bit of her adorable personality.

Dressed for school (with her favorite shovel).

She adores eating Life cereal and is managing to eat more than she wears lately.

 Dagny is a pro at peeling off the back of foam stickers all by herself.  Now if only she'd start using them for artistic purposes instead of just piling them on top of each other...

Entertaining herself during Finley's gym class back in April.

 Her tower building skills are greatly improving thanks to these great blocks from Aunt Linda and Uncle Jacob down in White Plains.

She's likes you to start the structures and then she'll take over.

 Dagny can make her train track with minor support from us and she loves connecting as many train carriages together as possible.

She's got musical genes.

 A series of three goofy photos with Finley's Purim crown.

My sous chef.

And here she is being Mrs. Potato Head trying to wear the tiny glasses that come with the set.

She's quite something! But no pictures can capture her true personality, I realize.  She's amazingly articulate and talks like a "big person" trapped in a little person's body at times.  She knows what she wants and rarely accepts alternatives, though can still be pretty easily tricked/fooled into following our suggestions--thank goodness.  She is super sensitive to others' needs and is quick to offer a hug or some reassurance "you're okay, mama."  That brings up another recent development, I'm now "mama" to Dagny and not "mommy" anymore.  Dan's still Daddy, but I'm Mama and I have to admit, it's growing on me.  Finley calls me Moms and Dagny calls me Mama...at least I can tell who is yelling for me from the basement or their bedrooms!!

But back to Dagny, we are just loving watching her grow and learn.  She loves trucks and trains just like Finley, but also loves caring for babies and stuffed animals.  She attaches to certain toys/objects for days at a time and just when you think she'll never stop toting them around, she switches to something new.  Currently, she can't go anywhere without her $1 pink Target watering can, a blue mega-block piece, and a bouncy ball with a smiley face on it.  If it wasn't so adorable to watch her organize and keep track of all her items, it would probably drive me crazy! Oh, not mention that since she found a handful of baby spoons aka yogurt spoons in the utensil drawer, she's never more than a few feet from one of them.  "Where my yogurt spoons, Mama? I need my yogurt spoons, okay?" Okay, girl, whatever you want :)