Annika Antics

I just wasted a full hour flipping through old blog posts looking for a pretzel recipe.  (Never even found it, but luckily google did.)  Truth to be told, that wasted hour was pretty awesome.  I was drawn back to a magical time when Eli was a bra-snatching babe, Talia was licking race fences, and Brooklyn was brimming with kindergarten confidence.

This time is pretty magical too.  Another five years down the line, and I'm sure I will look back with just as much longing for the days when my children were young.  Annika and I particularly have some fun hours while the bigger kids are all at school.  Messy, yes, but always fun.  Here she is planting a pear in the raised garden bed to the side of the house.  We may not have an actual sandbox, but she's created one all on her own.

Planting pears is messy work, but someone's gotta do it.

Our little brown-noser also enjoys climbing trees.

She got so tuckered out that she crashed before I could get her into the bathtub.

Usually I pluck Annika from the backyard and plop her into the utility sink for a quick rinse. 


One thing's for certain.  She's not allowed on the furniture until she's clean!  We had to buy a new couch when we couldn't fit our old striped one through the narrow front door.


All of the kids have loved playing in the front yard ever since we set up a rope swing.

Inside the house, she loves to dress up and build houses for her Little People out of MagnaTiles.  Do you have a building permit for that multi-family residence, little miss?

She also begs to put on her swimsuit, regardless of whether or not we have any plans of going to the pool.

Fortunately, the Northwest Rec Center has a lovely place for us both to swim after I've finished my workout.

Cutest little froggy around.

Next to this bumblebee, of course.

Oops!  How embarrassing!  At the beginning of summer, I pulled out the size 3 clothes for Annika to wear, figuring that it was time they got some use.  Well, she may be pushing four, but her little hiney still can't manage to keep those shorts up.  She kept stepping right out of them during our neighborhood walk.  I finally gave up and stripped her down to her swimsuit, which worked fine until she had to walk through some sprinklers.  When she started to cry, I asked what was wrong: "My swimsuit's all wet!"

Finally, here's Annika trying out her roller skates while wearing her favorite leotard.  This pink tutu gets lots of use during her private dance classes, held in our living room whenever she feels like jamming.

Whoa!  Skating is harder than it looks.

Messy or not, life is pretty idyllic.


I sometimes question why I still keep a blog when family blogs are kind of falling out of fashion.  I blog for my children, extended family, and a few faithful friends.  But most of all, I blog for me--because these are the days I want to remember.