ANNIKKA IS TWO!!

Happy birthday, dearest Annikka!

From September 2009

She's less baby and more little girl every day. To celebrate, she brought cupcakes to school to share at afternoon snack, because cupcakes are what two-year-olds think birthdays are all about. Then we had a nice quiet birthday dinner at home--Annikka requested green bean casserole--and she opened her present:

From September 2009

From September 2009

It's cupcakes, of course! :)

From September 2009

After dinner, Annikka blew out the 2 candles on her cupcake.



She's having a Play Factory party next weekend, so the birthday excitement (and cupcakes) will continue.

Annikka, the musical

From September 2009

Her life is, I swear. Do all little kids love music this much? This girl is always singing. She knows more songs than I can possibly count, and so many our "conversations" are interrupted by one--something will make her think of a song. She also makes up her own words to songs, to better fit her situation I suppose. We'll work on getting some on video, although she still hates performing--guess you'll just have to come to visit to hear for yourself.

Scenic valley

Instead of rushing into work on Tuesday morning, Joel and I had a kid-free adventure and went for a short tour of the valley.

From September 2009

From September 2009

Neither of us had ever been in such a small plane before, and we were surprised by how quiet and stable it felt. The take off and landing were very smooth, too. It was a little strange, however, to have to pilot tell us to let him know if we noticed others plane near by ("it never hurts to have more eyes on the sky").

From September 2009

From September 2009

We were only flying at ~1900-2100 ft (above sea level). It was really fun to see our area from that vantage point.

From September 2009

Although there was a little morning haze, we had great views of the mountains. You can see Mary's Peak in the Coast Range in the photo above. Can you make out the Three Sisters in the photo below?

From September 2009

And here's Mt. Hood:

From September 2009

We had a great time, but it was a bit strange to head back to work for a regular Tuesday afternoon after enjoying such an unusual morning.