We found Hazel a new bike with pedals for her birthday, it's a used Giant Lil' Pudd'n. I like that it's a giant, because it's pretty tiny. She's figured it out amazingly quickly. She still can't use the brakes, but other than that...
Vivian is still rocking the balance bike, and she can really zoom!
Look at her pedal! Have we mentioned that she's *four* now?
Andrew had to try out the Lil' Pudd'n for himself. More challenging than you might think, to ride a 12'' bicycle.
Hazel's birthday was nice, and I think it was pretty great for a four year old! We had a nice morning out, starting with a trip to the Rec. Center for swimming. We went to Turtle Rock Cafe for sandwiches and walked across the street to eat a picnic on the grass on campus, and visited the conservatory to poke at the sensitive plants. Hazel was especially interested in the Venus fly traps. After nap, we went to the park, and Andrew met us there after work.
In the evening, Nellie and Grammy and Nana and Grandad all came over for supper. Vivian helped open Hazel's presents.
Jane helped with the cards.
Hazel wanted a "P" party, so most everything we had for supper started with "P." Pickles, pretzels, pepperoni pizza, popcorn, peaches, and so on. We finished up with 'perfect' cake. It was an ice cream cake with homemade chocolate and vanilla ice cream layers, oreo cookies, and homemade fudge sauce, topped with whipped cream, chocolate sauce, sprinkles, and maraschino cherries. Not a lot of "P" words there, but it was tasty. Hazel made sure to make Nana her own little cake that didn't have any chocolate!
Tired, but happy to have so much of her family together at the same time! We even got to Skype with Grandpa Van.
One night at bedtime, Hazel was exceptionally slow to come upstairs from the family room for brushing her teeth and the rest of the bedtime routine. Long after the girls were asleep, we discovered what she had been up to! Hazel gave us each a stuffed animal for the night, and tucked them both in. So sweet!
Grammy gave us a little wheelbarrow that was Nellie's, and Vivian and Hazel have been using it to move all sorts of things around the yard. Vivian looks so purposeful in these pictures!
Hazel is reading to her sisters. They checked out every book in Olivier Dunrea's series with various goslings, and both Hazel and Vivian pretty much have them all memorized.
Later in the afternoon, I came upon this scene in the living room. Hazel, Vivian, and Jane were each quietly engaged with a book. It was the most amazing thing.
Jane has a board book version of Are You My Mother?, Hazel is reading Two Mice by Sergio Ruzzier and Vivian is reading Foxy and the Egg by Alex T. Smith.
