Here's the Diehl

Julia was invited to a very special birthday party at Bridget 's house. She was turning four and had a princess party. You can see all the girls are somewhat into princesses. Just a little, maybe? I almost felt like a failing parent of a darling daughter because Julia ended up being the girl at the table, who at first was entranced, then decided power tools were more exciting than the REAL Cinderella. I guess it was a bit much pink for her taste. But hey, if she grows up to be handy with power tools, she'll be ahead. Nothing wrong with a little tomboy action!  But after the party all she talked about was Cinderella and the princess dresses and the glitter and the sparkly cupcakes. I guess she was just a bit shy on someone else's turf. A big thanks to Jamie and Bridget for such a fun afternoon! Julia is not drinking the wine above, by the way. That was only served to the moms, who definitely enjoyed it! I included a singing clip, because honestly, you ...

Saturday was Healthy Kids Day at the YMCA, which is right behind our house. We couldn't resist the train rides, pony rides, fire trucks and ambulances and face painting. So much excitement for one morning! It was blissful. Yes, the train cars do seem to be made out of barrels. The pony Julia rode is named Buttercup (and The Princess Bride was reeling through my head the whole time!). And Jules chose a purple butterfly for her face painting.

Julia had a few weeks where she was really into this book she got from her cousins called My First Sushi book. So when we decided on sushi for dinner one night, we figured it was time to introduce Julia to the awesome cuisine we love so much. She didn't care for any of the rolls, I think the nori wrapper was weird to her. But the shrimp ebi, she totally loved.

April 19 marked the big three for Julia this year. We celebrated during the week by taking her out to dinner. We went to a mexican restaurant, thinking she'd really enjoy the attention of getting serenaded. But she was so tired that we opted for just some Mommy and Daddy singing over cupcakes at home.

TCI, Turks & Caicos, Provo, paradise...whatever you may call it....this place is heaven. Brian and I spent three very quick nights in Providenciales and basked in the sun. Hey, did you know that you really have to liberally apply spray sunscreen? If you don't, you get these really funny and painful streaks of sunburn. Just ask my arms and legs. I looked like a graffiti painting gone bad for a day or so. Still, it was worth it. Gorgeous hotel (Point Grace), amazing sand that was so soft it gave Brian blisters when we ran on it, great food and really really really blue water. If any of you dedicated readers are thinking of a vacation (and it's a great spot for kids because there's lots to do), let us know and we'll tag along if you head to TCI. You'll just have to look the other way for the whole airport portion...that's a bit of a buzz kill. This is the view from our balcony. This is the view from my beach chair. This is me at 16 weeks. Th...

We went to a neighborhood easter egg hunt at the local garden center. It seemed like a great idea until we got there 2 minutes late and all the eggs were gone. Fortunately, we got one great purple egg for Julia that had stickers AND a starfish ring inside. Phew! The garden center had other activities like face painting (which Julia ducked out of in her shy mode), the Easter Bunny (who was in fact rather scary), and a seed planting (our cat grass is growing vigorously on the kitchen windowsill). Thankfully, on Easter Sunday, Dee Dee was here to throw Julia her very own easter egg hunt (which I don't have photos of). Little does Jules know that Bella ate all the jellybeans out of the eggs days ago.