Dance Party

The kids had a dance party tonight!

Shannon bounces up and down and claps her hands, while Mitch seems to wander and do lots of head bobs. It's all very rhythmic.

Helps that they were fueled by cookies!

Shannon loves to tackle Mitch and he's pretty tolerant. In another year they'll be able to wrestle with fewer "Gentle!" commands from the audience.

And here's Mitch posing with a silly face.

Birthday Weekend

We had our annual February birthdays celebration in Ephrata this weekend. There was lovely weather, fun with family, and too much good food!

We enjoyed some time with the new toys at Columbia Ridge, elementary alma mater of the finest of Ephrata.

Played some catch (excellent form) . . .

and ran amok on the slides. The kids were very happy and certainly wore themselves out.

 

Bryan turned 32 Saturday and Kim will celebrate her birthday Monday. There was some good-natured sibling rivalry and lots of teasing.

The kids were very involved and very 'helpful' when it came time to open presents. Mitch would open Bryan's, tell him what is was, and then hand it over. 

Shannon had the audacity to take a toy Haylee wanted. I loved this photo of the two of them in a power play!

Rachel and Chad also got in on the antics, as per their norm.  It was a wild night at the Johnson home!

Go Huskies! Happy birthday, Bryan!

Presidents' Weekend

We took our almost-annual trip to Leavenworth for Presidents' Weekend and enjoyed ourselves!

On Friday we got to visit with Great Grama Sally. She's moving so it was likely our finale at that home.

Shannon played 'gently' with her great-great grandmother's doll, Pearl. Pearl is well over 100 years old and was carved from a piece of firewood. We also visited with Great Grandparents Pobst, but the camera wasn't out for that rendezvous.

Then it was on to Leavenworth for the Enzian and its fun. We hit up a very muddy park and did some swinging and puddle stomping.

Shannon is a serious mimic and does EVERYTHING her brother does. It's entertaining and somewhat alarming.

We walked along Blackbird Island and enjoyed the beautiful views, throwing rocks in the Icicle, and even had a pair of lovely swans float past. The weather was so nice!

The Enzian does a nice job of moving Christmas decor into Valentine decor. The kids played in the sweethearts' sled in the lobby and Mitch even absconded with the bear. It was returned to its rightful seat before we left!

The swimming pool was a major hit with the kids. Mitch was fortunate to borrow a lifevest and he had fun in the hot tub and pool alike. Shannon was absolutely fearless and would jump off the edge of the pool expecting to be caught. She was . . . but this summer will certainly require water vigilance!

Grama and Grampa Allstot spent lots of time watching the kids, playing with them, and even giving us some time to ourselves.
It was lovely!

We did lots of walking around, visiting our favorite artist's gallery, eating, strolling, and, as you can see above, interpretive dancing to the Bavarian tunes in the park!

Mitch really wore himself out, with all the playing, swimming, and attention-getting antics. He fell asleep listening to his nighttime story.

Happy Presidents' Day!

Sweet Valentines!

 Mitch wanted to wear a tie to 'work' this morning in the spirit of the day!

 Here he is bestowing a kiss on his Valentine. She did return the favor.

Here's the result of a "Smile!" request.

 The lovely neighbor kids over to play!

Happy St. Valentine's Day!

Marking Time

It seems like I've been a bit slow with posts lately, but truthfully, I'm not taking any photos. We're in the grey days of winter doldrums, I guess. Things will pick up soon, though, with holidays, birthdays and baseball on the very near horizon.

Both Mitchell and Shannon have reached new age milestones of 3.5 years and 15 months, respectively. Mitchell has grown another 2 inches in the last 6 months and we proudly marked a new line on the wall. It's a bit wild to believe that he's getting so old. I watched him play out back today when he didn't know I was there. He was narrating his game, running around and jumping like it was nothing (which is easy to put in perspective when you see Shannon concentrate so hard on her movements), building ramps for his cars with 2x4s drug from the shed, and generally having a wonderful time. He has learned how to play Candy Land and seems so very much like a preschooler that it makes me catch my breath.

Shannon weighed in at 21 pounds and 13 ounces at her appointment. Her height puts her in the 70th percentile, while her weight is down in the 30th. It appears that her incessant movement is contributing to slight weight gain; something her mother should take to heart. The doctor was also impressed with her large head and wants me to have her remeasured if we happen to come in before the next scheduled 2-year appointment. I don't know what she expects . . . we need room for these brains!