Welcome Spring

The arrival of spring brightened the moods of everyone in Pittsburgh and Juliana is especially happy to be able to run outside without a coat.

She is happy to share her swingset with the boys as long as she occasionally gets a turn.

The New Bike

When Scott and I were out for our anniversary, we went to dinner and did some shopping. Our last stop was Target (are you thinking, seriously Target on your anniversary date...just remember I don't get to leave the house without children very often, so this shopping time was a luxury). Juliana had outgrown her tricycle and I had been thinking about buying a bike, so it wasn't completely an impulse when we passed the bikes and I announced that we were buying one...plus it is purple and pink.

We decided that she should earn the bike. Scott found a stack of 8 carnival tickets and we agreed that she would earn a ticket when she was mostly good that day (perfectly good and the bike would still be in the box). The first day we told her about the tickets and that there would be a surprise when she collected all 8. She was so good and very excited to collect her 1st ticket. The next day she was soooo bad and therefore no ticket; and she told me she would rather be bad than have a ticket...she would just get her 2nd ticket the next day. Each day she got a ticket she would tell me how many she had and how many she needed to add up to 8. When she earned her last ticket I told her that her surprise was a bike.

Juliana - A bike!!! Is it a Dora bike?

Me: No, even better, it's purple and pink.

Juliana: Is it a purple and pink Dora bike?

Thursday after school her bike was assembled and waiting. She counted her 8 tickets out and hopped on her bike. She is still getting the hang of peddling and driving straight at the same time. She has her fist bike related scraped knee from an over-steering fall.

Enjoying Summer

Juliana spent some time out of the sandbox on Saturday to swim. This is her 3rd summer using the sprinkle pool and she still loves it. (Photo credit: G-Daddy Photography)

Bubbles

Playing in the Snow

Last Sunday we had a yard full of snow and the temperature went up to a reasonable number so we could go outside and enjoy it. Juliana built piles of snow and then kicked them over, shoveled and raked, ran in circles, made a snow angel and overall just enjoyed being outside playing in the snow.

Play Date

Juliana's best friend came over to play last weekend. They had lots of fun playing in the pool and running around outside. This was her official play date and they had lots of fun!

Planting Grass Seed

Juliana always wants to help if there is a shovel or rake involved. Although she has her own rake, she also likes to "share" the big rake.

Spectator

Juliana loves watching Scott mow the lawn. She will sit by the front door the entire time he is outside mowing only getting concerned when he disapears from view to empty the cuttings. I especially like that she puts her feet up and keeps a refreshing beverage handy.

Splashing in the Puddle

Well, Juliana calls them ponds...she had lots of fun splashing and walking around in her boots and carrying her umbrella.

This Morning Before School

I loved her outfit this morning (tried to post this on Wednesday...blogger trouble). The combination of the t-shirt, skirt and socks was adorable. And with the morning sunshine we played outside for a few minutes. After taking the bubble mower for a drive across the lawn she jumped up and down for some pictures.

A Little Bit of Snow Fun

Yesterday we had a nice snow fall - enough to play in and it was just below freezing so we could be outside for a while without getting too cold. Juliana was happy to get bundled up with the prospect of walking on and touching the snow - whenever she sees that it has snowed, she wants to go outside and "touch it and hold some".

She took her rake and shovel outside and dug holes and threw snow in the air for a while. Then she decided to eat some snow - good and cold is how she described it. But she spent most of the time running and yelling - just happy to be outside, it's been too cold to play outside the past few weeks.























When I was shoveling the driveway she couldn't resist the snow pile I was creating - she ran and jumped into it and rolled around. She decided to shed her mittens at that point so she could hold the snow in her hands. Once the mittens were discarded we couldn't stay outside much longer...