Go outside.

It's mid-March and it's nice outside. So I'm trying to remember to GO OUTSIDE.

Olive has been enjoying being outside with Honey, usually while I'm getting June down for a nap but I still have to remind her and give her a little nudge since outside has barely been an option since something like October. Today she got really dirty. Again. I left the bag of potting soil outside since yesterday and I caught a glimpse of her tossing scoops into the wind. Whoops. Oh well!

Eventually June and I joined her.



June is really quite amazing photogenic. Look at that face.





Places to go. With a geode. Obviously.



Yum. Geode.



Bubbles! Said the butterfly.......





They got into the wagon and we went for a walk. It was a bit windy so I didn't plan on being out long.. It felt a little cooler than I would have preferred. Olive and I should have dressed for the weather.

On our walk we found a few things. These pine cones were exciting but they were covered in sap. In this moment I decided they need baths as soon as we got home. I should have decided that earlier when photographing Olive's hands blowing bubbles. Because.. dirty.

We also found some really cool sticks covered in lichen. I tossed one in the wagon but June's preferred stick activity was hitting Olive over the head. So I quickly tossed that out.



June: Always pointing.



We went to the parkway and Olive declared it was time for her to run around to get some energy out. But it sounded more like "to get some enerdy out". She soon stumbled in a hole and fell and was concerned that she was broken. She's been a little over the top lately. She was not, in fact, broken.



June is rediscovering everything outdoors. I'm not sure he remembers that life exists outside of snow.



And sticks!





We found a few stumps where trees had been until recently. So... sawdust!







Eventually Olive threw sawdust all over herself, June was trying to run down a hill toward a street, and I really had to use the bathroom. So headed homeward.



But not after finding 10,000 sticks.



I saw this as we got back into our yard. I was informed that she was hunting for worms.

If you want to see more photos.. click here!!!!!!

Transplanting Her Plant.

I bought Olive and Tyler little plants for Valentine's Day. I can't wait for Olive to get a little older so I can get gifts on these days, too!

Her little plant came in a very tiny pot and has been living in her room since Valentine's Day morning. I assume it could have immediately used more space but with sickness, birthday parties, and other things and stuff... we didn't get around to it until now. But the idea of a preschooler re-potting a plant themselves is much more attractive if outdoors than in - so I'm glad we waited.

The poor little plant isn't looking as nice as when I picked it out. It was covered in bright red flowers. But Olive likes her plant.. which means she touches it too much and probably waters it too much as well. But then also forgets about it. So I suppose it was a gift but also a lesson.
I grabbed everything she would need. She grabbed a small penguin wearing a large doll sleeper.



As I prepared to take a photo of the plant she held the penguins hands (but not really because it's wings are inside.. since this sleeper is much too large) and made it look like it was saying "yay", I believe.



Meet: Plant.



Today's weather was supposed to be 67 and sunny and then, late last night, they increased the temperature to 70! But it ended up being a cloudy and windy day and was quite chilly. She still insisted on shorts for a bit.





This is Olive talking with her instructional voice.. When she's describing something or giving directions she kind of talks out of the corner of her mouth and tilts her head to the side.



She's teaching me how to pot a plant.



And suddenly wanted a different pot. But they were too small.



It was windy so the potting soil was blowing all over. She said "oh no! We'll have to clean up out here!" But I reassured her that it's okay to make a mess outside. I need to get better at being okay with messy things. Kind of a sensory issue on my part...





She super duper carefully tried to figure out how to remove the plant from it's pot.



And super duper carefully placed it in it's new home.













Despite being concerned about the plant being over watered, I told her we had to water it a little now. She was reluctant and concerned.



Dirty bits on her sleeves, pants, thighs...



Style.



Messy kid hands.

Don't you just love documentary lifestyle photography? I do. I wish more people would hire me to document activities like this with their kids. I think it's so special and love that I can do it for my family. If you want to see the entire gallery of photos click here!

Minnehaha Falls

I've been meaning to take the kids to see Minnehaha Falls while it's still frozen. Who knows what our winter will pan out to be this year and the frozen falls is always a sight worth seeing. It's silly but I always forget about the amazing things found within our city. In the midst of a million errands today we stopped by for a peek.

 Here are a few of my favorites:



I have a photo of Olive by this same tree from last Spring.



The stairs are closed to visitors during the winter months due to safety concerns. This didn't stop me from photographing a maternity session there last year and doesn't stop nearly every visitor to the falls, but we stayed atop and looked down from below, much to Olive's disappointment. I wanted to stick with following the rules, though. The stairs said "closed" and were blocked by chains and I saw a few "no trespassing" signs that were not there last year. The stairs were clear or snow or ice but still - rules are rules!







This deep puddle right next to the wall was possibly more fun than the falls.





Don’t worry, she was safely clung to the wall.



Oh, June was there too.





I snapped a lot of photos of Olive’s back.



Our trip ended when Olive turned around suddenly and said “I have to go potty!”



The bathroom is closed in the main building there so we piled back into the car and headed to our next stop - IKEA.

Click here to see the entire gallery of photos.