Those pearly whites!

... despite a bad cough, runny nose, daily tantrums, and general growing pains, the kid sure can turn that frown upside down!

Some golf and a little dress-up...

We haven't quite cleaned up all of our vacation accessories. More specifically, we can't exactly recall where we actually got the golf clubs out of our closet, but we can't quite find the space to put them back in so Kate has been entertaining us with her interest in some of the "stuff" she has found in the various outside pockets (and some stuff inside, she's recently learned how to manipulate zippers!). The glove is covering her face because she was waving at me/the camera and it was so cute, she was so excited. Not long after that, (imagine that, she lost interest in something after about five minutes!) she discovered our pile of winter outerwear and decided she'd give us a little fashion show. 

Also very exciting - and quite the getup, eh?!

At the ball game...

Last day in NC...watching the Towson Softball team win a game before hittin' the road.

Nana Fo brought Kate's backpack with toys in it, but it made her a wee bit off-kilter. The extra weight was hard on those tiny legs! 

Practicing her cup stacking tricks (this might be our money-maker - ha!) and practicing drinking from her big girl cup...

Put me in coach!

We're outta here!

Finally spring break is upon us, and we hit the road for Wilmington, NC. The drive down was relatively smooth with Katelyn, and a few stops along the way certainly helped her run off some energy. Nana Fo and Papou joined us for the trip, and were wonderfully helpful in taking care of the little monster throughout the week. These are pics from the first days of our trip, taking a pit stop along the way, and then a great outdoor park (McRae Park) in Wilmington that we visited twice during our stay for a little outdoor fun. 

Beach fun in NC...

Katelyn would literally have darted straight into the ocean when we got down here if we let her! Such a change from the very un-enjoyable beach experience with her last summer. She's so excited to play in the sand, check out the seashells, and run free in the fresh air. I love her energy.

New friends!

While in NC, we were able to catch up with old friends that live down here, and our kids happily became best buds! And Kate even made friends with some complete strangers along the way, as in the beach photo above! She's in a phase right now where she ADORES younger babies, and she will stalk older kids, who thankfully take very good care of her, and seem to enjoy the attention themselves, so it all balances out...toddlers her age, though? That's where the trouble begins... 

Vacation cuddles...

Every morning Katelyn gets outta bed, and then comes and cuddles a little longer with her Daddy...so sweet!

Nana and Kate read a million stories. Check out that belly!!

And Kate ate a HUGE breakfast this morning, but still wanted to nosh on an apple while watching her cartoons with Daddy...

Would ya leave the hair alone already?!?!?!

...all of this the result of tearing apart Mommy's handiwork on the pigtails!

Go team!

Kate took in a few Towson baseball games recently, and seemed to enjoy cheering along with everyone else when things went our way. We also learned she's a huge fan of smoothies!

Snowballs...

... and snow angels

While Daddy was busy working on snowballs to toss at me and the kiddo, I was busy making snow angels. The little one on the left is of course my little angel Kate - and yes, I actually laid her down and waved her arms and legs around...not her favorite part of the day!

SNOW DAY!!

The good thing about working for a university is that we still have the luxury of periodic (though very rare) *snow days* and we LOVE that! Too bad Jess still worked about 5 hours that day - all before 10am...but that's beside the point, we still got to spend the rest of the day together and finally got to use the new saucer Kate got for Christmas!

Mostly Kate liked the snow, but it was very windy, and it had drifted enough that the deep spots were a little too much for her toddler steps!

Kate loves her cuz!

Just as much as Katelyn loved the kitties, she was lovin' her cousin Evan as well! She loves giving hugs, (and I think it had a little to do with "someone pay attention to me!!!") but Ev was a wee bit concerned most of the time when Katelyn was near! Poor guy...as soon as he gets movin' around, he better be ready to rumble! She even planted a big ol' smacker on his lips at one point!

Just for the record, this isn't a wet-willy! Just a friendly poke!

Oh boy...poor kitty!

We visited Aunt Kimberly and Uncle Josh a bit this weekend as well, and boy did she try to rule the roost! 

Kitties beware...

We did realize that Kate now knows the word "Kitty" and spoke it repeatedly while pointing and chasing the poor things around and around the house. Aside from a few swats (from both her and the kitty), she didn't do too much damage, but I hope they'll let us visit again!

Hey there kitty kitty!

I'm gonna get ya!

Almost there!

Gotcha!

Learning to care...

This weekend, while in Delaware, we visited a little petting zoo with Katelyn in the chilly weather. It took some time for her to "warm up" to the animals, but once we showed her how to feed them with the corn kernels, she was enthralled with the task and hated to leave! So sweet to watch our little girl taking care of her fellow creatures!

Wild and Crazy Girl...

A not-so-rare cuddle with my little Krazy Kate...it takes a while to wind down when you're that active during the day!

I know, the hair. But she's finally keeping some clips in that 'do for longer than 30 seconds, so it's actually kinda cute...when it's clipped.

Modeling Daddy's t-shirt...