And the Little Women
To celebrate their tenth anniversary, Jenelle and Jonathan spent three days enjoying Grand Teton National Park (by themselves).
They enjoyed hiking and photographing the local wildflowers. Also, Jenelle measured the park’s magnetic pull on tourists by tracking the different license plates that they saw: 40 different US states, plus three Canadian provinces and the District of Columbia.
More pictures are here.
Annika recently celebrated her eight birthday. As a newly minted eight-year-old, she also chose to be baptized. Congratulations Annika!
To celebrate Memorial Day, Jenelle and Jonathan thought would be a great idea to escape the city and enjoy the great outdoors. To do this, they took the Little Women for a hike to Franklin Falls, on a trail that turned out to have about a thousand other people.
Fortunately, there were enough snacks to keep the three girls happy.
Earlier this year, Clara decided that she absolutely needed to go fishing. It’s not clear where she got this idea, but she told her parents repeatedly that fishing was on her mind.
Last Friday, on the shores of Lake Nahwatzel in western Washington, Clara got her big chance. She wasted no time: her first cast snagged a trout right away. Her second cast also hooked a fish, but the line broke before she could reel it in. She caught an additional trout before long.
Nicolyn joined her later, and Nicolyn also caught a fish (but she was too cool to be photographed with a dead animal).
Clara and Nicolyn have been diligently honing their cardboard-crafting skills, with much to show for their efforts.
Last month Clara learned a song at school about five little pumpkins sitting on a fence. This inspired her to make her own fence and pumpkins.
Nicolyn built a little person out of cardboard boxes, complete with hair and arms.
“Every piece of cardboard has an artwork inside it, and it is the task of the five-year-old to discover it.” — Clara and Nicolyn Vance
One of the things the Vances missed during their time in Switzerland was camping. So, at the end of the summer, the Little Women decided to take their parents into the wilderness and see how it compared to their last camping trip.
They found a lovely spot at a campground near the southern Washington coast. Most of the other campers were there to dig clams and oysters for eating, but the Little Women were happy to just take their shells.
Highlights from the trip included playing in the sand, cooking over an open fire, and sleeping thru the night even though the whole family shared one tent.
More pictures are here.
Recently the Little Women found Jonathan’s old space Legos. Annika and Clara wanted to build something “by-the-book” (or booklet, actually), but Nicolyn wanted to create something completely original. Our readers can decide if she succeeded: according to Nicolyn, her creation drives, flies, goes up hills, and collects garbage.
Occasionally a reader asks about the chariot that the Little Women allowed themselves to be carted around in during their time in Switzerland. Their vehicle was a Toyota Avensis Verso, which was never available in the United States, but could be described as a “mini-minivan.” Three rows of seats allowed it to hold seven passengers, or the Little Women, their parents, and lots of luggage.
Since the Avensis Verso is smaller than a regular minivan, it was a little easier to handle on narrow European streets, and it didn’t guzzle the $8/gallon gasoline as quickly.
So Jenelle and Jonathan survived another year with Clara and Nicolyn. The birthday girls each took rainbow cupcakes to their respective pre-school classes, which Jenelle made the night before. Jenelle managed to find some radioactive-pink frosting to top them with.
WARNING: PROLONGED VIEWING OF THESE CUPCAKES MAY CAUSE EYE DAMAGE
The cupcakes were really just a dry run for the Peeps Rainbow Cakes that Jenelle made the next day. Of course, Clara and Nicolyn each had their own ideas about what a Peeps Rainbow Cake should look like, and so each five-year-old needed her own cake.
After three-and-a-half years in Switzerland, the Little Women are excited to return to the United States. They are looking forward to getting settled in the Seattle area.
The Little Women and their parents are grateful for the good experiences that they had in Switzerland and for the many good people they met there.