31/52

a portrait of my children once a week, every week in 2014.
as always joining in with Jodi over at practisingsimplicity.com

Cooling off in our Harvest Preserve. Uncle visited and lots of fun was had!

30/52- On the move

We are all thoroughly enjoying summer. The morning hike used to be our everyday start to the day but lately we've been, for different reasons, skipping it. I only realized this morning how much we all missed it.

29/52 - Gone Camping

A portrait of my children, once a week, every week in 2014.
Joining in with Jodi over at practisingsimplicity.blogspot.com

Went camping this week and we had a blast- thus the bizzilion pictures below.
Reed-morning in the camp
Siena-exploring her first cave

exploring caves with friends

lots of climbing to be had

kids of course were as excited about hanging out with each other and eating s'mores as they were about camping

staring contest

28/52

A portrait of my children, once a week, every week in 2014.
As always joining in with Jodi over at practisingsimplicity.blogspot.com

So behind on so many posts that are floating in my mind. But I guess the fact that life is getting in the way is a good thing:)
Two very simple in-your-face-pardon-the-pun portraits this week. But in a way they symbolize how I feel this summer: not working and more free time means I am more present and I see my kids- actually see them- and I love that.

26/52 and 27/52

A short trip back home to Serbia and a stopover in Paris means I am behind. I went alone with Siena so I have no pictures of my baby boy, instead there is a little phone/Skype shot of my handsome boys. We only Skyped once because each time we tried Reed got super sad crying "I go in" (as in 'I go in the computer') successfully breaking his mother's heart. Then Siena would try to make him happy by showing him a toy or something and when that failed she'd start crying "I can't make him happy," making said mommy even sadder:) Not being able to even see our boys made us miss them even more- so even though we had an absolute blast (more about that soon), we are also very happy to be back.

Siena turned 6 last week. Traveling means she got to celebrate her birthday twice. On her actual birthday she got a low key birthday, but exactly what she wanted- a visit to baka and deda's (grandparents) mountain house where she was picking apricots and sour cherries and went for a swim. Once we got back to the U.S. she had a birthday party - we had these big plans for a nature scavenger hunt, which we prepared weeks in advance only to be rained out:( The pictures below are from her "two" birthdays.

25/52

A portrait of my children, once a week, every week in 2014.
As always joining in with Jodi over at practisingsimplicity.blogspot.com

Watering garden time is fun time in this house. We bought a hose that is way too short to reach the garden which the kids think is just fine! The biggest problem? The hose is attached to the house right next to where we park the car so every single time we come back from somewhere as Reed is leaving the car he goes into a "agun wagun" trance (google/mom translator: i want water). Getting soaking wet never gets old apparently. In other news, we are in love with our tiny garden…but on that some other time.

24/52

We've been doing lots of little hikes every day lately and we've been loving it. Summer finally feels truly here. One of our favorite bits- stopping for snacks/picnics. I mean doesn't food taste that much better after a hike and with wind in your hair. These little ones sure think so (Siena's half angelic/half evil grin is because she has just grabbed a handful of cashews from dad…and Reed is having that I-have-never-eaten-before-in-my-life bite with the obligatory Oliver Twist dirty elbows:)

And a few more...

first a good run

long awaited snack

 

23/52

A portrait of my children, once a week, every week in 2014.
As always joining in with Jodi over at practisingsimplicity.com

Reed- this is how we do it- the monkey is a little dancer- don't believe me? check out the video below

Siena- more and more often I find her deep in thought and miles away- amazing to see the inner life of a person develop before your very eyes…

Best way to swing

A trip to the zoo

We went for a long awaited zoo trip- we missed the lovely, magical Taronga zoo for so long. We've been to the Minneapolis zoo several times over the last few years and now to the Des Moines zoo and while it is no Taronga zoo it was still nice and cozy and the kids loved it. We also checked out New World Cafe- an all vegan restaurant in Des Moines and loved pretty much everything on their lunch menu (which is mostly sandwiches and smoothies).