gretchen says

Ingrid is very expressive — when she cries, she CRIIIIIIIEEES and her whole face turns just about inside out. Her “mad face” looks just like Dave’s (who also has the very expressive face, it’s like they are made of rubber or something).  Also, in the hubbub of getting ready in the morning (always a crazy time) Ingrid has started having conversations that come from left field, like while I’m racing around to get my stuff together or get her breakfast or change Willa I’ll hear “mama mama mama mama — will you draw me a piggie and cut it out for me?” (Um, no. Eat your cereal.) Yesterday’s was “mama mama mama mama — why does Jerry sometimes close his eyes a little bit?” Jerry is our dear friend, the father of the much beloved Finn, and we had been at their house the night before. “What do you mean ‘close his eyes a little bit,Ingrid?” “Like this!” she said, and proceeded to pop out the most dead-on impression of Jerry’s incredulous face that I’d ever seen.

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This fall, we repaired and repainted our picnic table! Ingrid also had fun with sidewalk chalk. (Note the rainbow order of colors — she knows how to draw an accurate rainbow these days, and loves doing it.)

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Dave had to work so it was just me and the girls at Amy's wedding. Thanks to Audrey for holding my camera when she wasn't holding my baby!

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Ingrid and Finn have been hanging out since Finn was tiny and Ingrid was a gigantic 18 month old towering over him. The age gap is meaning less and less as they get older, and here Finn tries to give Ingrid a flower, and eventually kind of gives up in favor of browsing the gift table.

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Ingrid had so much fun at her first wedding. She’d been talking about it for weeks! Here she is, dancing with the bride, and the bride’s little sister (who has been to all of Ing’s parties) and Willa is dancing with my friend Audrey in the clip, too. Dave had to work, so thankfully there were lots of people to help hold the little one!

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Ingrid (and the rest of us) had so much fun at StoryLand! We arrived when the gates opened and didn’t leave til 15 minutes before closing. She is very into nursery rhymes, so loved finding the characters to her favorites all over the park. While she was nervous about the antique cars (that move at a snail’s pace) she LOVED the roller coaster. We can’t wait to go next year! 

I put all the photos on flickr with descriptions, but here’s a slideshow to start: 

We stayed at a neat little family owned motel that had a great playground, which Ingrid loved. We signed her up for gymnastics this year, and you can see why — she is very interested in climbing and swinging and jumping — we hope she likes it! The next morning we had breakfast — Willa enjoyed eating her giraffe's ears. Ingrid picked out Giraffey for Willa (before she was born) with Aunt Julie's help, and Willa LOVES it. We try to make sure it goes with us whenever possible.

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Ingrid colored a picture for Willa, and then found her two hats from last winter, and wanted to match.

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Dave and Bill have been doing lots of long and challenging bike rides this year, but on Sunday they let Ingrid go with them. They did a more leisurely ride along the University trail system, and even found a playground! This was the first time that Ingrid has been on a ride without an adult walking alongside, but with everyone on bikes. 

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