Kyra's birthday

Kyra turned 2 years old on Saturday. Her big event was riding up to the mountains for Daniel's ski class. We took 2 cars so she wouldn't have to stay all day. It turned out (as we already knew) that she hates the cold. I had to carry her all over creation from the overflow parking lot (did I mention it was snowing like crazy and everyone and their brother was up there skiing?) to the shuttle bus and to the PowderPigs (that's the ski program) class. She did okay but wanted nothing to do with the snow. We did open presents and have cake on Saturday night. The part was yesterday and was a big success. We had Princess Annabelle come and do face painting and balloon animals. The party only had three girls, though (Maddie (4), Kyra (2) and Sofie (1)) so Princess Annabelle did a lot of boys stuff including Spiderman facepaint and balloon swords (I think there were 4 left at our house along with at least three popped during sword fights). Anyway, here are a few pictures - she was adorable especially singing "Happy Birthday" to herself along with everyone else.

Update

I'm posting these in mutliple postings because they are discrete things and it's awkward to put more than 2 pictures on a post -- Anyway, we've had a busy couple of weeks - my mom's been in town and it's been great having her to help out and participate in lots of fun new things. Kyra started swimming classes -- she hated them when she was a baby but is loving it now. We can't take her with us for Daniel's classes because she goes nuts wanting to "Swim too! Swim too!" Daniel has started the Baby Grads program where he swims with two other kids and the teacher - no parents in the water. He did a great job and really likes his teacher. I worried a bit about him because sometimes he gets worked up about new things. For example, Daniel started skiing classes on Saturday -- this went as expected which means lots of crying and "I want to go home". We spent a lot of time playing in the snow and less time skiing -- but that's okay for a 3 year old, I think. It's hard work for both the kid and the parent who's holding the kid up! Of course, it was snowing like crazy and he was on the front end of a cold and I don't think feeling on the top of his game. He really enjoyed the times in the class where his teacher (who is great!) and I were able to work with him 1 on 1. But of course there is more than Daniel in the class so we didn't have her full time. It's also an all day affair. Class starts at 11am and goes until 4pm with two hot chocolate breaks and a lunch break... Our friends who are in the class too said that everyone was pretty much done by 2:30 (we left about 2:00). I'm thinking about asking the teacher whether it makes sense to just come up for the 2-4pm time -- more 1 on 1 attention and possibly a nap in the car on the way up -- although naps are few and far between anymore. We got over the hump this fall on swimming after about 3 classes so we'll see if the same holds true for skiing...

Christmas

Yes, this is long overdue -- Christmas was really nice and the kids had a great time (as you can tell). Kyra pooped out about 3/4 through. She loved her baby doll and new Princess CD player. She also really enjoyed her vetrinary kit. Daniel loves is Cars game and Cars tent. He also really likes the new Legos and play food! And movies, as we know, are always a hit. Ratatouille is a new favorite. The clothes came off when Kyra tried on one of her outfits -- and Daniel had to take his off too! The second picture is a pre-Christmas paint party - note the theme of shirtless kids!