The Last Free Flight - A Denver Trip in March

It's been a wild and crazy last couple of months.

The girls turned 2 at the end of March and we decided that we a) needed to take one last plane flight before we have to buy them their owns seats and b) we didn't want that plane flight to be very long.   

So we headed to Denver in mid-March to see Evans family and college friends.

First, Uncle Rick was gracious enough to put us up and the girls discovered that they had really been missing out on stairs.  We were worried that they would have a hard time with these stairs, but they loved them.

Then Mike's Aunt Loie, Uncle John, cousin Lynn and her husband Mark and their girls Zoe, and Spencer drove in for lunch on Saturday.  It was great seeing family and having some older second cousins once removed (?) to teach the girls the finer points of tossing socks down two flights of stairs.

With Uncle Rick 

Zoe and Spencer read to the girls, played on the stairs with them, and helped to put on their shoes.  Our girls were smitten!

"Birds!"

Today we popped into the aviary to see how the birds are enjoying spring. We saw ducks, owls, peacocks, and much more, including a very forward Canada goose who was just there for the free food. If you ask her, Zora will now tell you her favorite birds are ducks (although, frankly, we don't need our aviary membership to see those!).

Being silly at the aviary 

Noey was more interested in looking at her feet than the camera

We're Two!

Today, March 28, is the girls' birthday. Two years ago today they slid into the world at 12:06 and 12:08pm, weighing 4 lbs. 14 oz. and 5 lbs. 2 oz. respectively. What followed was almost two weeks living in the hospital while Zora built her strength to eat on her own. Those two weeks felt like an eternity and we couldn't have made it through without all the support from family and friends - food deliveries, visits, late-night skype calls, movie nights in a hospital room (Amelie with sub-titles is probably not the best choice as you're trying to figure out breastfeeding). But now we see that time as just a blip at the start of these wonderful two years watching Noemi and Zora grow and develop into the little people they already were on Day 1. Happy Birthday N & Z!

Noemi (L) and Zora - Week 1

Zora and Noemi - 1 year

Zora and Noemi - 2 years

Sorry this last photo is so blurry. I don't have a good one of them recently since they're always on the go (or trying to take the picture themselves).

Have we mentioned how much the girls love picture day at school?

Swim Lessons, A Year Later

Last winter we started swim lessons with the girls at Westminster. This year we're back again. Noemi loves the water and splashes her way through the half-hour lesson. Zora needs a little more convincing and is a little more upset by just how cold the pool is.

In the pool in Feb.  2013

A year later - Feb. 2014

Owls!!

The girls have been on a big owl kick for the past 2 or 3 months.  In that time, we've acquired a number of owl books and toys and the girls take endless pleasure in pointing out each passing owl in every non-owl-centric book we read with them.  

(from left to right) Peek-A-Who, the pull-toy, Uncle Bob's  tree bark carving from the late 70s/early 80s, one of our favorite owl books, two stuffed owl puppets, and a beanbag toy made by Aunt Chris

We also live three blocks from a big park - one corner of which is dedicated as an aviary.  Fortunately, they have a nice owl exhibit. And now that we have a family membership, we pop in pretty frequently, even if it's just for a minute to say hi to the owls. Below is a short video of some owl-time at the Tracy Aviary this past Saturday.

Fun with Hair

Collectively, Team Evans Twins has a lot of hair.  Every morning just after they finish breakfast in their high chairs, the girls moan and groan as Katy puts their hair up using hair elastics and barrettes.  Sometimes their daycare providers work their magic during the day and they are sent home quite stylish.  And sometimes Mom is away and so Dad does his best.

Occasionally, we have fun hats to play with too.  (Thanks, Aunt Janet, for these!)