Spring

Winter was long and tough for Nina... jackets, boots, no sandals or summer dresses (well maybe occasionally.)

so sad.

But now spring is in the air!

Time to freshen up and enjoy the sun!

Because

Nina's language abilities has exploded so much in recent months that is it nearly impossible to capture it for the blog. One thing that I just noticed in the past couple of days is that she is experimenting with "because". Sometimes she hits is spot on, for example:

"We need to move this because someone will trip."

"Put this on my back because I am cold."

Other times, she tries but is not quite sure where to go with it.

"She has ouwies, because she has ouwies.

"I need my pillow like this because ...... [silence]"

Recent pictures. Here are a few shots from our trip to the wine country for Mirko's marathon a couple weeks ago.

On the gondola at Sterling. Big hit with Nina as you can imagine.

Visiting St. Francis at Mondavi. A big hit with Maria as you can imagine (what?! I didn't have to run 26 miles the next day!)

The weather didn't hold out for the race though. Mirko ran the entire marathon in the pouring rain. We cheered for him at the finish line. Nina was somewhat bewildered by the whole thing, but at least had the sense to steal his banana.

Nina's favorite friend Hannah came over for the day. I bought the girls matching Easter dresses, which as you can tell from the pictures, was just too much!!

That evening when we dropped her off, we met Hannah's new baby brother, James. Yay! Many congratulations to the Chevalier family!