The Magic Of Age Three

Emily (left) and Madeleine with a bear at the Harrison, ID playground.

Without so much of a glimpse of the homesickness that plagued last year's summer trip to Spokane, Emily and Madeleine rated this summer's journey as a success and were asking "Why we leave 'Pokane" as the plane backed away from our gate. Their mother is taking this as a sign we should visit longer (read - avoid heat and humidity) next year. The difference between age 2 and 3 was startling in the girls' willingness to try new things and engage in those already sampled.

We spent the first few days in Spokane playing with our special toys, some of which are rather noisy, that live at Grandpa and Grandma's house, exploring the park and eating Wheat Thins (a tremendous hit and something Mom does not buy on a regular basis).

Our only disappointment was the fact we had wanted to feed the ducks like we did last summer, but the Spokane Park Dept. has decided these ducks are wild and should no longer be fed (After decades of being fed by the general public, the ducks seem to take umbrage with this new policy). Sadly, we had spent weeks saving heels and scraps of bread and had even gone to the effort to fly them across the country (in multiple zip-loc bags in an effort to reduce crumbs in our clothes). We did go visit the ducks, who are no more wild than I am as they expectantly waddle toward anyone who hesitates on the pond's edge, and took our bread scraps to the birds at the lake; who fled from the boat and the bread being thrown at them - demonstrating the correct behavior of a wild bird.

Madeleine in yellow and Emily in blue at the fountain at the Duncan Gardens in Manito Park.

Madeleine in blue and Emily in yellow running through the Duncan Gardens.

Upon our arrival at the lake we quickly fell into the daily routine of a morning boat ride (to get M&Ms!), usually to Harrison where we had to walk up the big hill and could play on the playground, followed by lunch and nap, then swimming. Emily and Madeleine showed new enthusiasm for driving the boat and took great delight in "turning" the boat which means the captain of the moment would grab the wheel and sharply turn it in one direction....kept the adults on their toes.

The first day Emily was "driving" as we approached the dock and, in an effort to avoid a collision with said floating wooden platform, Grandpa had to take over a bit more than Emily deemed necessary. This led to a complete temper tantrum and hasty retreat from the freshly-docked boat. The next morning when we went to get in the boat we realized the blower had been left on in the chaos of the previous day and the battery was dead. None the less our quest for "chocolate m's" (as M&Ms are called) had to go on. Luckily, Uncle Paul had recently obtained a paddleboat and so a very brave and self-sacrificing Grandpa and Mommy loaded Emily and Madeleine in the paddleboat and headed for the marina at the end of our bay. Two of us got candy and two of us got lactic acid in our thighs, but all of us got a boat ride. The battery on the motor boat was recharged and there was no workout the following day.


Emily (left), Madeleine (right).

Grandpa, Madeleine (purple shirt), Emily (dotted shirt) and a couple more Harrison bears.

Captain Emily.

Captain Madeleine.

When the Virginia Circus rolls into town it cramps things a bit at the lake if the entire family is there. So Uncle Kyle and Aunt Chessy generously (wisely) sleep in a tent. I offered to take the tent and they could be in charge of the girls for the night, but my offer was not accepted. Last year the girls would only peek in the tent and have spent the rest of the year convinced that their aunt and uncle live in a tent at all times. This year they: 1. saw Kyle and Chessy's "real house" and 2. could not get enough of the tent, thinking it is the niftiest thing they have seen in a long time.

Emily (pink) Madeleine (blue) "helping" Uncle Kyle set up the tent.

While Kyle and Chessy were at the lake we took the opportunity to celebrate Uncle Kyle and Aunt Liz's birthdays (which we had missed). Basically, we will take literally any excuse that results in cake.
Uncle Kyle, Madeleine (purple), Aunt Liz, Emily (pink). Upon taking this picture I realized that nearly three and a half years after the girls' birth this is the first picture of both sets of the family's twins. Guess it goes to show our family doesn't get into the "twin thing" a whole lot. It always amuses me when strangers are shocked I don't belong to a "twins group", as if you are not allowed to leave the hospital with twins unless you have a membership card to one of these groups.

While we were not in the Pacific Northwest for the 4th of July, Uncle Paul bought a few fireworks for us to see when we came. While we were not the biggest fans of any firework requiring lighting, we did think pop-its were pretty spiffy and are still looking for more.

Madeleine (blue), Uncle Paul, Emily (pink)

Aunt Liz was once again a constant source of creative ideas, craft supplies and glue. The girls would go through gallons of glue if given the chance. I was recently informed my crafts at home are not as much fun as "Aunt Liz crafts".

Emily in pink, Aunt Liz, Madeleine in purple.

Our faithful paddleboat - Madeleine in blue, Emily in pink.

Our last evening at the lake the girls discovered they could "walk buoys" down the road and took to it with great enthusiasm. They dragged the buoys up and down the driveway and road, singing to them most of the time. I think the buoys were a combination of babies and dogs as sometimes they were encouraged "over here baby" and other times they were clicked at the way you click to a dog you are calling. The buoys were eventually sung to sleep (click here for video) and Uncle Paul graciously promised to sing to them every night in our absence.

Madeleine (left) Emily (right)

Madeleine carrying her "tired buoy". Emily's just had to walk home.

Madeleine left, Emily right, wearing shirts they tie-dyed with Aunt Liz, "walking" Cindy - buoys are easier to handle!

Emily and Madeleine picking "fuzzy flowers" - dandelions - at the park our last day in Spokane

Bapa, Emily, Madeleine and Mama waiting for the plane at the Spokane airport.

Gate C18

Emily working on her noodle necklace for Grandma on the flight from Norfolk to Las Vegas.

Madeleine making Grandpa's noodle necklace on our flight to Las Vegas from Norfolk.

If you are ever stuck in the Las Vegas airport and outnumbered by preschoolers who "want to be done riding airplanes", I highly recommend gate C18. Gate C18 affords a lovely view of the runway and should you be fortunate enough to snag chairs by the window, your traveling companion(s) can be distracted from whining, asking how many more hours, etc. by being told about every 90 seconds or so - "There goes another airplane!"

Emily and Madeleine handled our cross-country flight beautifully and are now in the process of trying to adjust to local time (we are in our second full day here). We have had "lunch" at 9:30 AM two days in a row, followed by a rather substantial nap. Thursday night (arrival night) they went through their standard procedure of happily going to sleep in their beds here, crashing for about an hour or so, then waking disoriented and hysterical. At this point parents are faced with the options of throwing the girls out the window, running back and forth to their room all night as they wake every two hours or so, or just putting them in our bed. We obviously go for the last option - one night only. I'm honestly suspicious Madeleine would have made it through the night in her own bed had her sister not sounded the alarm; once she was in my bed (barely awake walking across the hall to get there) Madeleine crashed, not be heard from again until about 5 AM, while Emily clung to me all night.

The portable DVD player bought about 30 minutes of peace on the plane (was hoping for more), but the dyed noodles with which we made necklaces and small notebooks in which we stuck stickers paid off dramatically. The girls were also intrigued by the picture of the people using the oxygen mask in "the airplane book" (the safety instruction card). In light of recent events with Qantas Airlines I told the girls that sometimes you need special airplane air if the pilot decides to go down really fast. I also told them that if Mommy, or any other grown-up, put the mask on them they are to leave it there until a grown-up takes it off and it covers your entire face so you will not be able to suck your thumb. I should have my head examined. We probably spent a total of an hour, over the course of the trip, discussing whether or not the masks were needed at this point, that they cover the entire face, are we going down too fast and need the mask, etc. etc. etc.

While the girls did a great job, it is a bit wearing to lug two kids, and all of their "accessories" across the country. While in the Vegas airport, I saw a man wearing a baseball cap with a message that appealed to me, and while it is not complimentary to my children it is tempting to have a T-shirt made with the same message for when we fly at Christmas - "I'm Grumpy and I'm with Dopey".... I won't as I usually don't wander around with writing on my chest, but the message has some validity.

Two days before we left Williamsburg Till and I had put the girls in their room (they like to play a bit "without grown-ups" before their baths) and were getting their bath ready, toothbrushes set-up, etc. Madeleine was ticked about some perceived injustice and was howling at the top of her lungs. There is that point in the evening when parents' patience is running low, couple that with the classic situation where nothing you can do is going to make the upset child happy and there is no point wasting your time. So, we told Madeleine we'd be right back, we had to get baths ready, she should play and feel better and we closed the door. Things quieted down just a bit and then there was a definite increase in both pitch and volume. I opened the bedroom door to find Emily sitting on Madeleine's back, she had pinned Madeleine to the floor, and "thumping" her with a shoe (it's a light weight sneaker). As I removed Emily from her sister I asked why in the world she was sitting on Madeleine and was told "she no stop crying". While I completely empathise with the inclination to sit on a screaming child who will not be consoled, it is not permissible and apparently not effective. Emily was removed to her bath and Madeleine was consoled. It was also pointed out to Miss Madeleine that Emily is heavier by only eight ounces and Madeleine is allowed to fight back a bit. It appears there are no hard feelings.

Yesterday we went to the playground at the park, picked dandelions and clover for a lovely centerpiece and discovered "fluffy" dandelions - they were left at the park and not brought to our grandparents' yard. This morning I heard a conversation in the girls room about 4:35 so I got up and took a shower. When I got out I heard flat-out caterwauling. I went in and told the girls it was early and while I had had a chance to shower, I'd like to dry my hair too. They said, "Sure, no problem, please excuse us. Take all the time you want, put on a little make-up!" No, really, I changed them out of diapers, flipped the wastebasket upside down, brought in the portable DVD player put it on the "wastebasket table", turned on Cinderella and enjoyed another hour of peace and quiet during which I finished getting ready and got to talk to Mom in peace. The DVD player pays off!! Just not on a Boeing 737, but pays off none the less.

This morning we went to Safeway (huge adventure as we don't have Safeway in Williamsburg and apparently it is startling different from our Virginia grocery stores) and this afternoon will probably go to see Uncle Kyle and Aunt Chessy's house and meet their kitties.