A Helping Hand

This week was rather standard fare for the girls.

Thursday we went to Colonial Williamsburg and, for the first time, explored the far end of the main street. We hit a true treasure trove when we found where they store the extra benches. The girls spent about 40 minutes climbing on and off benches. Initially they had to help each other as seen below (Emily climbing, Madeleine standing), but soon got the hang of it.

Emily left, Madeleine right

Saturday we went to Bluebird Gap Farm in Hampton. The girls and I had been there several times before and it was a hit every time. However, this time there was an inordinate amount of Canadian Geese hanging around. I don't know if they are stopping over on a journey or just simply found a pretty easy place to spend the summer. The long and short of it is - toddlers aren't excited about seeing eye to eye with a bird their size and Till and I got a workout lugging the girls to the various animal exhibits. The true highlights were playing on the playground in the middle of the "farm" and petting a plastic frog near the restroom....for this we drove 40 minutes, each direction.

Emily in green, Madeleine in pink.

A word on clothing; we basically let the girls pick out their own clothing each morning. We have two of many clothing items and some days they end up dressed the same (usually because the second to choose decides the first to choose shouldn't be the only one modeling the treasured item of the moment), but most often they don't. We do spend a lot of time wandering around in pink shorts and red shirt type combos, but if that is the worst of our problems it is a good thing. Madeleine always wears the pink shoes and Emily always wears the green.

Monday we went back to CW and inadvertently got in on the Memorial Day Tribute. The girls enjoyed the Fife and Drum Corp, but did not appreciate the firing of a cannon.

Today the girls displayed another confounding aspect of the toddler mind. They are very big on kissing "hurts" of any variety and suffered by any family member (cats included). Apparently, they were in an affectionate mood this morning and felt the need to give each other kisses. However, in their world a kiss is linked to either someone going bye-bye or a remedy for a perceived injury. I was in the kitchen when I witnessed today's "game" - before one could kiss the other, she first had to thump her sister on the head with a plastic slice of toast that came with their kitchen set. I officially give up.

Horses and Then Some

During their first nine months in Williamsburg the girls have become thoroughly acquainted with the horses in Colonial Williamsburg. In an effort to burn off energy and ensure a long nap we visit the horses on average three times a week (we aren't picky about weather and have been there in temperatures ranging from 29 degrees to 85 degrees). The girls refer to CW as "hahas" (horses) and have a fine time looking at the horses, petting them - on rare occasion, chasing squirrels, putting gravel and small sticks down storm drains, visiting the sheep, etc.


Today Madeleine and Emily met a horse of a different variety. We decided to succumb to the tourist trappings of our location and bought season passes to Busch Gardens, a place that not only sells beer at nearly every corner, but also houses a few of The Anheuser-Busch Clydesdales. The girls were not overwhelmingly impressed with the clydesdales as, let's face it, they aren't that different than the CW horses, at least to two-year olds. However, their attention was caught by the fiberglass horses composing the kiddy ride nearby. As seen, the ride was not a huge hit with Madeleine.

Madeleine

Emily cried right before they even started the ride, so at the time of the picture she is secure in her father's arms, while her mother uses the camera to capture Madeleine's glee - she did manage to hold out for a minute or two before going to pieces (for anyone concerned....they stopped the ride and we got her off).

Following our tremendously successful adventure with the small horses, we took the train that goes around the perimeter of the park and the girls loved it, as long as they were in our laps. We then watched a truly stimulating "show" titled "Pet Shenanigans", attempted the carousel with each girl riding a horse with a parent's arms around her waist - the four of us ended up seated on the bench, again with girls in parents' laps. We did manage four rides on the carousel (all on the bench) and emboldened by this new triumph we broke into teams of two with each pair riding in a small dragon-shaped boat. This ride met with requests for "mo" (more), so we followed it with flying dragons and eventually hit the pinnacle of the day with the girls being able to go on a "no adults allowed" kiddie ride! Madeleine is on the left and Emily is on the right.

Madeleine left, Emily right