What's your name?

Larkin is learning everyone's "real" first and last names and loves to use them. She calls Joel "Joel" more than "Daddy" lately! She calls me "Mother" most of the time and does not like to be called daughter- "No! I'm not daughter! I'm Larkin!" She gives almost everyone the last name of Bock. Today the plumber was here and she kept saying, "Hello Plumber Bock!" She is constantly asking for the first and last names of all her friends and family, and even wants to know what stranger's names are-"What dat guy name?"

The girls are playing together more and more everyday. Willa thinks she can do whatever Larkin does (and Larkin is fearless!), so she's gotten quite a few scratches and bruises these last few weeks. Their favorite new stunt is to jump from the coffee table or ottoman to the couch! Here's a pic of them riding around in their car-when it's Willa's turn to drive Larkin is always on the roof.


At naptime I'm trying to get into the habit of reading to both of them together for at least one or two short books (and then I put them to bed separately and each gets her own books). So far it's going pretty well. Usually I lay in between them in Larkin's bed, but by the end of the books they are usually trying to out-scoot the other one to get closer to the book-and then I can't even see the page! Larkin's favorite books right now are Puss in Boots and Henny Penny, and Willa's is Go Dog, Go!

We made it!!

What a return ride home!! As soon as our plane FINALLY landed at 11pm (lots of delays, sitting on the runway for 45min, circling airport, etc.), Larkin and Willa both yelled, "We made it!" about 20 times, and everyone around us on the plane giggled. Once we saw Joel they did a squeal unlike anything we'd ever heard before, and Larkin ran to him and jumped up into his arms. She hugged him and kept yelling, "This is my Daddy! Hi Daddy!" It was so cute!!

Here's a pic of the girls on the ride up. I gave them both pacis on the plane. Larkin's has been "on the moon" for a while now, so she was SUPER excited to have one and hardly talked the whole way up-she just sat there and enjoyed it. Unfortunately the pacis were not as successful on our return flight, so they are back on the moon!

Here's a few more pics that I didn't get a chance to post while I was up north.

Jaime (Ryan's girlfriend) and Auntie Lisa enjoying some smores. A few days later we made smores again and I'm pretty sure I set the record for the # of smores eaten!!


Larkin was particularly smitten over "Gampa" and would always follow him around. "Where you going Gampa? Oh, I coming wif you!" Everyday he'd take both the girls out into the yard for at least an hour- to throw corn to the deer, "fix" things with hammers and screwdrivers, paint watering cans and rocks, collect firewood, catch frogs or butterflies, walk to the mailbox, and swing!
Check out Willa's face in this pic-she is soaking up Grampa's lesson on firewood!




While Larkin was busy working with Grampa, Willa became super attached to "Gam-ma-ma." Almost everyday when Willa woke up she would ask for her, and then the two would play together-picking flowers, playing with dolls, pointing at a ceramic chicken in the kitchen (??) "Gam-ma-ma, LOOK! Chicken!!!" Willa just could not get over this chicken! She pointed out the chicken to Grandma almost everyday.

Yesterday the girls saw some of the pics that I took from our trip. Willa got really excited at Grandma's pictures- she reached her arms out to grab her, whimpered and said, "Gam-ma-ma, come!" :( It's hard to live so far away from them, and I'm sure it will only get harder for the girls (and Grandparents!) as these girls get older!


We also headed out to Auntie Lisa's house for a sleepover. She lives about 1.5 hours away (2 hours if it's me driving and you get lost!). We went paddle boating on their pond, caught lots of frogs and fish, and Auntie Lisa even waded out into the water to show the girls a lily pad and flower!

Lisa's boyfriend owns a mink ranch and we got the grand tour in a mule. The girls loved riding in it, and we also went for a ride on a four wheeler!
What I liked most about this visit was how relaxed it was-we just took it day by day and did whatever we thought the girls would enjoy most each day. So we spent a lot of time outside smelling the flowers, chasing bugs, and doing whatever our little peas were interested in at that moment.


Thanks so much for having us, Grandma and Grandpa!! See you again in 3 weeks, this time with Joel!

Little girls in the big woods

Here's some pics from our trip! I'm having trouble moving them around so they're out of order and mixed up a bit, but it's better than nothing.
The flight went great, and we're all having a wonderful time up here with Grandma and Grandpa. The girls are keeping them busy!! Both girls are usually up by 7am, and then they head right to Gma and Gpa's bedroom door, knock, and then tell them they want to go outside!


Swimming at Elmer's house. They spent about an hour filling up this pail with sand, and then sat in chairs and watched boats go by! Very relaxing afternoon.

Grandpa buried some worms in the yard for the girls to find before we headed out fishing. Willa kept saying "No No No!" and would not touch any worms. These Wisconsin worms are about 10 times the size of the ones in our backyard! :)

Taking Daddy's motorcycle out for a spin!

Both girls caught lots of fish on Maple Lake. Willa finally touched a fish! Larkin is following in her Uncle Ryan's footsteps (he's a fishing guide) and caught more than the rest of us. She really wanted to make some "fish stew" like Little Bear does, but we tossed them all back!

Somebody had her first smore! Can you tell?

One serious marshmallow roaster.

Walking hand in hand down to the shore at Elmer's.

Berry picking-we've been eating tons of fresh strawberries all week!

Grandma and Gpa's yard is filled with daisies, and the girls love to run shirtless and let the flowers tickle their tummies!

Overall the girls are doing great. Larkin is a little homesick ("Momma, I finish my milk then we go see Daddy and Harley!") but she's so busy she doesn't have much time to miss home. I probably won't be able to post again til we get home, but wanted to share some pics with everyone!

Packing, if the girls let me

I've been trying to pack for our trip to Wisconsin but these girls will not get out of the suitcases! They have turned them into little beds and every morning they climb in, yelling, "bank-it! bank-it!" (blanket) and then they snuggle down, drink their milk and watch Winnie the Pooh.



Larkin is very excited about going to Boat Mama and Grampa's house ("twee lakes"). She keeps talking about making snow angels and wearing snow shoes up there, and doesn't believe us when we tell her that there's no snow right now. All winter/spring we told her how cold it was at Boat Mama's and she learned about all the winter sports, and now we're headed up in the summer and she's going to be a little confused! We may have to do a trip again in the winter so she can see some snow!