Spring

 

Seems like spring has taken forever to get to Albuquerque, we had what is sure to be (knock on wood) our last snowstorm last week, and now we hope these blue skies and 70s are here to stay.  

 

We've been hard at work anticipating the nice weather, this black plastic hole is where we will plant our garden soon. Our little seedlings are getting bigger and bigger in the windowsill. 

In the meantime we planted some lettuces and broccoli in a planter. 

 

Camille tried roller skates for the first time and absolutely hated it, predictably. I have many horrible memories upon roller skates and am not at all surprised that my control-oriented daughter despised them too. I kept them on her for about as long as it took me to get this picture, then relented and let her take them off. 

Here's a silly video.

 

Then Camille got her first hair cut!

 It was getting so long.

We did some more gardening...

And playing outside,

And inside.

Our good friend from New York, Nate, came to visit and ski last month. He and Camille get along great, they both spent the whole time trying to make each other laugh.

A very good friend.

Remi went to Orlando for a few days and brought back some Disneyrific presents for Camille.

Here we were experimenting with homemade face paint.

Admiring her masterpiece

And a little dance

At the carousel

And then our lettuces started taking off, we ate from our first harvest in middle March, pasta with spring lettuce.

We hosted an egg hunt for one of our playgroups. Everyone came to the house for brunch, then we went out to the arroyo to hunt. It was so fun! Camille had a successful hunt for sure, I think all the kids did.

 

That last snowstorm.

Some playground pictures

Camille is still taking ballet and loooves it. She will have a recital at the end of May, get ready for some video!

Birthday post

Guess who turned 3!

 

Birthday morning pancakes

Here's Remi putting together Camille's birthday present, a dollhouse.

I love her reaction we say "Camille"

The following are pictures of her birthday party. I left her completely in charge of the guest list, and so it was a small party. Of course it was "girls only," except Remi and my dad, who came in town with my mom for the party.

 

There was dancing, singing, present opening and cake eating! All the girls wore princess get-ups. I think the birthday girl loved it. 

Just after the party, Remi and I left for a two night mini vacation in Durango. It was our first time leaving Camille overnight and she handled it wonderfully. Actually, she was a little too comfortable with the arrangement for my liking! With my parents around, she hardly even knew we were gone. 

But we had a blast in Durango! We spent a long morning snowshoeing near the ski slopes.

The views were killer.

Then we drove up to Silverton for lunch. It's a Victorian mining town that's well preserved. In the warmer weather there is a steam train that runs from Durango to Silverton, and it usually brings a lot of tourism. In the winter, though, it's a bit of a ghost town.

 

For dinner we had drinks at nice bar in downtown Durango called The Office, then dinner at the Mahogany Grill next door.

Mmmm... martinis at the bar.

Our bed and breakfast (Country Sunshine) was sooo great! There was even a cat to cozy with if you wanted. 

The best part of the trip was coming home to this...

Cabbage head.

Caught this sleepy snuggle on the video monitor.

We went snow hiking in the East Mountains.

My parents hung around for a week or so after our trip. It is always so much fun to have them here.

At a favorite diner, the Owl Cafe. ("Chez hibou")

Camille at her good friend Ann's house. They love reading books together on that chair. This and the next couple of pictures were taken at Ann's birthday party.

Ah, little girls.

Camille started dance classes again, and she loves loves loves them.

Finally, our Valentines Day dinner.

Love to you all!