Staying afloat in a sea of sickness

It's been quite a few weeks for us. Matt started off April with a cough/cold that is still lingering. Then I came down with bronchitis a week ago. Lucy and Clara didn't want to miss out, and both have come down with bad cough/colds over the weekend. Thankfully my parents' visit has been perfectly timed for them to come to our rescue. Now we're hoping for some fun times together before they leave!

Here are some pix from before the illnesses hit us, showing what the girls are into these days.

Clara loves reading/pointing.

And carrying around dolls (seems like just yesterday she was the baby!).

Clara has a deep passion for all grown-up electronic things, like the sound machine, phones, remote controls. She really gets absorbed in them!

Lucy learning about the human body. She's very curious, and it's so fun to teach her about the world.

And they always love hugs!

Adventures abroad- part 1

I've been wanting to post some pictures from our visit with Mimi and Papa Jack. With 3 cameras going, and a month there, we came away with quite a few photos, so I'll do a few separate posts.

These are some shots from around the house, to get a feel for what their place is like.

The girls throwing/munching on lemons in the walled front garden

Clara in a local outfit for our delicious couscous meal! This picture is in the salon, which is lined with long couches.

The back garden- the girls loved playing out here and sitting out on the back porch.

The view from our bedroom.

The view from the upstairs patio. You can see goats in the foreground, and then some of the walls from an ancient fort on the left, and beyond, the city and the ocean.

Matt and I enjoyed breakfasting upstairs on our own while my folks watched the girls.

Lucy waiting in front of church.

Stay tuned for parts 2 and 3!

Easter fun

We had a wonderful Easter celebration. Matt was home in bed with a bad cold :(  but the girls and I were glad we could join my grandparents and extended family and friends after church. Lucy hid eggs for Clara in the morning at our house, and then I hid eggs for all the kids (big and little) in the afternoon.

I asked Lucy to tell me captions for the pictures- here they are.

"You took a picture of me sinking an easter egg into a water bowl. I liked the different colors and I liked looking at the different colors. I like the picture because it's pretty with all the easter eggs."

"I'm helping Clara find an Easter egg."

"I'm giving Clara her Easter bag."

"I'm helping Clara find a Easter egg under the table."

"I'm like giving a hug to someone and I'm smiling with my pink dress."

"Clara is smiling with 2 Easter eggs."

"I'm showing Clara [and Aunt Katy] my Easter eggs with my eggs in it."

"I'm running with my braid and my pink coat and pink tights and black shoes. That's all I want to say."

Joy-riding

 Whew, hard to believe we've been back for almost 3 weeks already. We had a marvelous time with my folks; I'll post some pictures from the visit soon.

In the meantime, here are a few recent pictures.

 Lucy having fun (safely with her new bike helmet).

Gosh, aren't they cute together?

 Enjoying one of the recent sunny days.

 

The girls are getting along really well, on the whole. Clara has started sitting at the big kid table for snack.

 

Quality time reading with Papa.

 

We spent last weekend with Matt's cousin, Sarah, plus 3 dogs and a cat. It was a wonderful weekend and the girls actually did well with the pets! By the end of the visit, Lucy was going up to them to pet them and have them lick her.