Pumpkinville Or Bust

Madeleine in blue and Emily in pink at Pumpkinville.


Last Thursday brought our aforementioned trip to "Pumpkinville", a small local farm, that makes its best attempts to put up a corn maze and lets you wander through their pumpkin patch. I had been previously warned their prices were high, and seeing as we already had our big pumpkins...we went with the understanding each girl could get one little pumpkin (the size that are used for centerpieces, etc). We came home with each girl having acquired three little pumpkins and two gourds, I'm a sucker, for a manageable grand total of $8. The girls had a great time and thought it was better than anything Linus could desire, The Great Pumpkin of course excluded. They were also thrilled to see the homemade cutouts of Sesame Street characters at Pumpkinville (it truly had a bit of everything).





Emily, Bert, and Madeleine

Madeleine with her "favorite" two gourds and a pumpkin

Emily, looking very distressed, trying to handle two gourds and a pumpkin. I suggested each of them take their favorite ONE pumpkin for the picture - what do I know?

Emily unpacking her pumpkins at home, the child owns shoes - she just removes them in the car.

Madeleine with two of her pumpkins right before we put them on the mantel. This lasted long enough for her to realize she couldn't reach them...then they were moved to the ledge between the kitchen and family room.

In other news....we are now eating dinner together as a family. We hadn't done so previously because the girls go to bed so early, it was easier to eat after they were down. It isn't the nicest dining experience for the adults, but the girls think it is just the neatest thing and are learning to set the table (they get everything at the appropriate person's spot - not necessarily in the right order, but they are two!) and are personally offended if I should do it in the hopes of eating before Christmas.

Last Wednesday we went to the "cafe" at the local Barnes and Noble (Williamsburg is slow to wake up and this is one of the few places open before 10) for a muffin. In the bookstore's development there is a large fountain, with surrounding courtyard, in front of a movie theater. We often watch the fountain, however it wasn't running on Wednesday. We ate our muffin and then went on a walk (wearing them out for their nap). When we were heading back to the car we went by the fountain again....Emily was running full-steam-ahead in front of me and Madeleine was behind me. Just as Emily was about 15 feet from the fountain - it turned on. I think she has a shot at making the Olympics in the high jump! The poor little thing jumped straight up, all four limbs outstretched, and hit the ground running back to me. Both girls were upset and my maternal instincts took over as demonstrated by my valiant effort to quell my laughter. Emily's eyes recently returned to their normal size. We had a lengthy conversation about the fountain "waking up", but haven't returned since.

This same visit to "New Town", as the movie/bookstore complex is known, prompted another discussion, this one about language. They are building condos and as we watched some of the construction there was a loud crash followed by "Mother f*****" from inside the building (serves me right for hanging around construction zones). We had a chat about how only big men who wear hats and build houses can use those words; they are not words for us (unless Mommy is driving).

Saturday we went to Busch Gardens (which we do pretty much every Saturday - there will be a crisis when it closes for the end of the season this month) and went on some new rides. I was personally disappointed that the balloon ride was "kids only" as it is about my speed. A video of it can be seen here - Madeleine is in the shirt with purple stripes and Emily is in pink stripes (Emily got to face forward as the balloon moved). We also went to "Ireland", we hadn't been in a while, and discovered it had the most pumpkins of any country - very popular!

Emily getting ready to go on the elephant "roller coaster" with Daddy. She loves it and her face lights up the whole time (unfortunately not captured in this picture).

Emily, left, and Madeleine in the tea cup before it starts spinning.

Emily

Madeleine

Just gives an overall idea of the ride...the girls are in the background

Madeleine

Emily

I didn't know the Irish kept pumpkins on their roofs...makes me wonder about mental health of ancestors.

This pumpkin was a highlight - I can not imagine the storage facility they must have for it.

BIG Pumpkins!

Madeleine with her pumpkin, Emily with her pumpkin, the "everybody" pumpkin in the middle

Emily

Emily picking up her pumpkin and telling me "heavy"

Madeleine

Madeleine also announcing "heavy"

Lazy, stubborn, black cat who has shared my home for EIGHT years and will not take a Halloween picture!

Today was a big day in our world as we got to go to the "food store" (as opposed to "Target store") and get our big pumpkins. The girls have been very excited about Halloween and the emergence of pumpkins. Each girl got to pick out her own pumpkin and then we got an "everybody" pumpkin (they came in sets of 3). Thursday we are planning on going to "Pumpkinville", a local farm, to check out hay rides, etc. However...we will get small pumpkins there as you pay by the pound.

There is a little confusion regarding "Hawoween Time" in our house: 1. we don't quite grasp the concept between "day" and "time", so we are forever asking to go to other houses for candy....2.I'm a bit worried they think other trick or treaters will be coming over to play, not merely collect goodies. On the bright side, we don't seem to begrudge other children their candy (that may change dramatically the evening of the 31st!).

We continue to enjoy "school" and are having fun learning the days of the week. We often recite these at lunch (for some reason), but frankly at this point, with the exception of "Sasaday", it is a bunch of mumbling followed by "day", seven times in a row. The girls are also beginning to sing along with their bedtime songs, which is pretty entertaining for their parents. The girls know that it is my turn to volunteer on Friday and have taken it upon themselves to instruct me on what is an acceptable snack, apparently we will be serving Teddy Grahams, apple juice, and possibly raisins.

Today was toddler story time at the library. The girls and Mommy go every Monday, but today Daddy came too (endless excitement over this novel approach) and the program was put on by a woman who teaches a music class (of which the girls are alumnae) locally. There was another mom there with her twins...who were very new...it brought back a lot of memories - until her 16 month-old toddled into the room. God help that woman, it was hard not to shudder as we passed her triple stroller parked in the hall.

Madeleine and Emily would like to thank Uncle Kyle and Aunt Chessy for the stickers and sticker books (it was the books that put them over the top and made them the coolest toddlers on the cul de sac!).

Teething, Vol. II

Madeleine very proud of her new hair ribbons and pumpkin shirt.

Emily, inadvertently showing her teeth, also proud of her new hair ribbons and pumpkin shirt.

It seems that we are teething again. However, this time it is our two-year molars and we are not going through gallons of Infant Motrin, in fact, other than a nightly check when teeth are brushed there doesn't seem to be much impact on daily life. Madeleine's second molar, lower left, broke through late last week and her upper right is just now coming through. Emily's first molar, lower left, also came through late last week and she is working on her lower right at this point. For once, the girls' teeth came in the "standard" order. When they first started getting teeth their "eye teeth" came in before the front two teeth, so they had a very nice vampire look going for a month or two....actually they looked a bit like The Count on Sesame Street.


The girls got to spend the weekend of September 22nd alone with Dad while Mom was in Seattle for a wedding. They appear to have had a great time and Dad seems to have had it all under control (this is his major mistake as now Mom knows she can go away overnight.....). Mom was also shocked at how much less stressful it is to fly across the country when one is only responsible for oneself. Grandpa and Grandma sent Mom back with pumpkin shirts from Old Navy and Mom bought Halloween hair ribbons in Seattle. The girls are rather enthused about "Hawoween" this year and are very excited when they spot houses that have pumpkins on the porch.

Not much is new except the "little potty" is being rejected in favor of the "big potty" (which is just fine with Mom) so we are learning to take turns using the facilities. The other night, after Emily's bath, I said "OK, Pumpkin Patch, let's go back to your room." Emily looked up and informed me "No pumpkin patch, dis is Memy." (while patting her chest - in case I didn't know who "dis" was).

Emily and Madeleine send their congratulations and best wishes to Kelly and Ben!

"Mission Accomplished"

Madeleine on Emily, Emily on the floor - picture explained below

While I'm not the Commander in Chief, I don't have a large banner behind me, and I'm not on the USS Abraham Lincoln, I feel I can say with some confidence "Mission Accomplished". Ladies and Gentlemen, I think we're potty trained. That is not to say we never have accidents, but near as I can tell that will go on, occasionally, for years and I don't want to have to tell their 2nd grade teacher they're "almost" trained....so we are saying they are trained. In fact, we are the only two out of our classmates at "school" who are trained, so we are feeling very proud of the fact we are "big girls". Madeleine has developed the ability to palm an additional M&M when they get their reward, which she flashes at me as she pops it in her mouth...of course Emily then gets an extra one because we have to be fair...however, the "chocolate Ms" will disappear eventually and we will go on. The truly sad thing is I've managed to gain 2lbs since the arrival of an endless supply of M&Ms has entered the house; hindsight being what it is - I should have used Skittles. While Madeleine palms additional "Ms", Emily has learned to lie about production so she can get them; I guess she doesn't think too highly of my grasp of the obvious - just the beginning of many years of my children thinking I'm a moron.

This week the girls exhibited two behaviors that startled me in the fact they are in practice now, and not at least another year down the road, and that they clearly demonstrate the girls are girls, not babies. Truthfully, the whole "not babies anymore" issue really hit a little over a week ago when they officially turned two and a half - I turned around and there were these little people, who spend a lot of time telling me what to do, instead of our babies. The first behavior was when I told them they could not do something, in this case entirely strip the couch of all its cushions, and was informed "Daddy let do." with an air of authority. The second is when one girl wants to drive a car or airplane on the ground, or put the stuffed lion on the couch, and the second blocks her path with her feet, or puts her hand on the prized couch cushion. The driver/lion tamer (Emily) repeatedly states "cu me" (excuse me), while the roadblock (Madeleine) just smiles...mind you there are other flight paths and couch cushions, but what is the fun in that? I suppose this is some sort of karmic payback for my brother Paul and me fighting over who could look out which window in the car while on road trips, or going to the grocery store (road trips were better - you could block the view out of your window with your pillow - we didn't take our pillows to the grocery store, really cut down on the fun).

And now to explain the picture...this is how the girls hug each other good night. Sometimes, they will hug the way the rest of the world's population does, but the one on top of the other is their preferred method. On this particular day it is on the floor, but normally it is in their cribs (both have to have a turn on top AND on bottom and this has to happen in each crib - it is a lengthy process). Also, you may notice their jammies are on backward. This is because they can open zippers...one day last spring I had to make seven trips into their room during nap time (unusual, as normally they crash) and each time found them in various stages of disrobing. The second to last trip they were both happily, and proudly, buck-naked and had their diapers lying on the crib mattresses. The last trip in they were again naked, and drunk with power, but the diapers were thrown in the middle of the room. I was concerned for two reasons: 1. the whole situation was in no way conducive to sleeping 2. these are children who come absolutely unglued if they get the tiniest bit of mucous ("nose water") on their sheets if they have a cold - I didn't think they'd handle a puddle, or worse, with glee and I didn't want to clean that one up. So...in desperation I grabbed scissors, cut the feet off their jammies (which were nearly outgrown anyway), put socks on their feet, and zipped them up the back. Thankfully, the cribs are not close enough to each other for the girls to unzip one another. What really gets me is they will mess with zippers, but when they wear jammies that are just pants and shirts, nothing happens (I probably just jinxed myself).

Has Anyone Seen Our Pea?

Emily (left) and Madeleine (right) going "night-night" while playing in the family room.

The above picture was taken on Thursday of this past week. I was in another room and the girls were having a rather animated conversation about going "night-night", when I went in and saw the couch cushion arrangement I asked why the cushions had been moved (I didn't really care, but was curious). Apparently, Emily and Madeleine "need lots of pillows". OK. And to think we haven't even read The Princess and the Pea yet.

Thursday was a remarkable day in my opinion as it was the first day in about two weeks the girls actually played together and no one was threatened with whatever I can think of in the moment. It seems as if recently they have taken sibling rivalry to the level of blood-sport. Thursday night I went to bed with my blood pressure 30 points lower and foolishly thinking the girls would get along again on Friday....in the middle of Colonial Williamsburg, at 9:15 Friday morning, I told them if they didn't stop their current wretched behavior they could spend the rest of the day with Daddy at his office. This didn't phase them as they like to go to Till's office.

Thursday we not only got along, we also helped our puppets dance.


Emily


Madeleine (the white stuff on the lamp is fabric I wrapped around it so I could diaper pin it, as in the lamp, to the couch when we went through a phase that involved knocking over lamps....that has passed and now we just like to push the fabric up high)

"School" sort of started again this week. The girls went on their assigned days, but it was only for an hour, I stayed, and it was basically to meet their new teachers. There was significant angst in preparation as two of us were convinced we'd "no like" this year's teachers compared to last. However, upon meeting Miss Deena, Kim, and Erin - we decided they might be acceptable. Another highlight is that the toilet at school is a small low model and the girls were very excited to not have to use the adapter seat.

Potty training is going well and we have had streaks of several accident-free days in a row. Our newest issue is the inclination to swipe more M&Ms than we are allotted...if that's the worst of it we are in good shape.

Today we went, once again, to Busch Gardens and were thrilled (at least the adults were) to see the crowds have greatly diminished!!! I swear a season pass is worth it just for the spring and fall. The children's area is called Land Of The Dragons and there are dragons throughout. This was the first visit the girls really got into some of the dragon themed decorations and activities.

Mother Dragon inspects her new little ones - Emily left, Madeleine right.


Emily left, Madeleine right



Madeleine left, Emily right - in the top egg, Emily is waving to Daddy.

We also had lunch at Busch Gardens (only the second time, out of all our trips, we have attempted this). We ate in "Germany" and managed to catch the 30 minute show This Is Oktoberfest. The girls were rather nervous when the lights went out and loud music started, but seeing as their parents seemed to think it was kind of interesting - and they were given their blankies - they decided to go with the flow and take it all in. Their attention was solidly held for 25 of the 30 minutes and Madeleine got so she'd clap at the end of some of the songs. Both girls said thank you as the performers left the room. If you'd like a quick trip to "Oktoberfest", click on this video (sorry it is so dark - it was a very dark room) to see the processional. I think the part that impressed Till and me the most was when the musicians came out, entered a round platform, the platform moved up and remained suspended above the dancers for the whole show. Apparently a lot of people have confidence in the Busch Gardens maintenance staff!

Musicians above, dancers below, strangers in foreground

Day 9, And Counting

Madeleine and sunglasses (M's are pink, E's are green)

Emily and sunglasses.

My apologies to the blog readership...things have been busy.

The girls had a wonderful time in Spokane. They had been rather timid about swimminig in the lake, prefering instead to gather rocks and play in the sand. On the last day they surpassed their previous achievement of walking out until the water was chest-high and actually got in the little floaty "boats" designed for toddlers. They went so far as to let me push them out a little beyond the dock. Actually, Emily went for this first and when Madeleine realized that she was on the beach while Emily was in the water with me, we were called back to land so the three of us could go out in the water together. My thanks to Aunt Liz for swimming along with us in the event of an unforseen swamping. Of course, this occurred on our last day at the lake, literally hours before we went back to town. Hopefully, next year we can pick up where we left off.

Emily in white "boat", Madeleine in yellow - Mom's head in between.

The girls were also interested in Grandpa's approach to swimming which involved wearing a life jacket while sitting in a lawn chair, in the water, and drinking Caffeine-Free Diet Pepsi. When I asked why he wore the life jacket, he can swim, I was informed "I might want to float around." The final straw was the addition of the beach umbrella.

Grandpa

Both girls had fun feeding the ducks at the park and Madeleine learned to roll down hills, something she then tried to demonstrate in the bathtub with limited success. Emily became a little homesick and wanted her daddy, house, and kitties - in that order. With the assistance of Grandpa and Grandma both girls conquered the twisty slide at the park. The girls also delighted in the fact that, for some reason, the light switches at the lake and in Spokane are lower than those in Williamsburg...there was a lot of "on/off" going on.

Madeleine on the left, Emily on the right.

Uncle Kyle helps Madeleine conquer the waterfall boulders in the Japenese Gardens.

Mom and Emily make it across the boulders too.

Our return trip was very similar to our out-bound. Emily and Madeleine did a great job and we went through many, many, many stickers. I've included a video of how the girls helped the pilot "blast off"....this is something they literally do during take-off.

Since our return to Williamsburg we have begun potty training. The girls have been basically ready for quite some time. I was holding out hope their kindergarten teacher would volunteer for the task, but Mom told me that wasn't realistic. Also, since there is some cosmic joke where I have to do this with two kids simultaneously the first time I do it - we were going to be VERY ready for it. We are nine days into it and the girls are making steady progress. Today was our first accident-free day and they have a solid grasp of what is supposed to happen and a pretty good handle on letting one of us know they need to visit the bathroom. My type A personality bars me from ever being a professional potty trainer (they do exist). That and I was horrified to find "potties" that actually sing to the child when a deposit is made - talk about a letdown when you transition to a real toilet. In the spirit of 'Never say never' I claimed there was NO way a child sized potty was coming into our house...chamber pots should be a thing of the past, moving from the potty to the toliet was one more step, they could make do with the adapter seat for the toilet, etc. Then Emily wet on the floor while Madeleine was sitting on the toilet. So, we now have one potty and one adapter seat for the big toilet, that way both girls can visit the facilities at the same time. There was some distress when the potty was purchased as there was a request for two "big potties", apparently toddlers don't realize plumbing is involved. The first day I made the mistake of rewarding both attempts and production, one M&M for the first and two for the second. However, I heard the girls conferring about needing more M&Ms ("chocolate Ms" in our house) followed by an announcement they needed to go "poppy". From the second day on rewards were given for production only and the amount of time I spent in our bathroom decreased by five hours. I now travel with two complete changes of toddler clothing (just in case), including shoes, but at least we are getting out of the house again - better than a week ago. About 4 days into our adventure, Madeleine leaned down, put her face right in mine and infomed me "Mama try really hard, chocolate M"....since Emily had produced and Madeleine hadn't - I waited until Emily left the room to slip Madeleine a chocolate M. Yesterday, Emily fell off the toilet and literally landed on the top of her head then backflipped into the shower stall. I was kneeling in front of her and I'm still not sure exactly how this happened. I was worried it would cause a setback, who wants to get back on that horse, but she seemed rather undaunted yesterday afternoon and this morning - perhaps she'll sit still a little bit more.

In other news, the girls now have the courage to pet the sheep in Colonial Williamsburg. They like this except for if a sheep turns its head and his/her nose bumps one of our arms - we disapprove of wet noses! Also, there are two four-week old calves, Lily and Bessie, and we got to pet Lily, she was lying next to the fence. Lily's mother is very protective and would bellow and lower her horns in the direction of people coming near Lily. However, she was ok with the girls and I was allowed to pet Lily too - I guess since I brought my calves, I was given a pass. Either that, or she recognized me as a "local" due to the absence of flip-flops and a slurpee.


Emily left, Madeleine right - sheep on the other side of the fence.


Bessie left, Lily right.


Emily left, Madeleine right, Lily's mom in background.

Good luck to all who are headed back to school, whether you want to or not. We hope you have a great year!

Flying The Friendly Skies

Madeleine in purple and Emily in white model the new FAA CARES harness on the plane.

With a little trepidation, on Mom's part (this was the first time the child to adult ratio was 2:1 on a plane trip), the girls headed across the country on August 1st. They arrived in Spokane only an hour late (morning thunderstorms in Vegas had backed up traffic on the runways) and in good spirits. Emily and Madeleine behaved beautifully the entire trip and, while they refused to nap at all, cried for only five minutes of the many many hours.

Emily revealed herself to be a bit of a white-knuckle flier when she grabbed her arm rests and announced "hold on tight, hold on tight" during the initial descent into Las Vegas. In fairness, she had the window seat and it seemed this was the first flight the girls were actually aware of the plane's movement.

The next person to open our copies of SkyMall Magazine will wonder why those copies are plastered in garage sale stickers (the colored dots you buy at the grocery store), but the passengers on our flight appreciated the resulting peace and quiet. After we covered the magazines, we covered ourselves.

Emily, very proud of her idea for sticker placement.

Madeleine, looking a bit sleepy after missing her nap.

Melissa highly recommends two products that helped immeasurably, the first is the FAA approved harness that takes the place of a car seat on the plane (click here) and the second is the small seat that attaches to the carry-on suitcase and allows you to leave the stroller at home (click here). She also appreciates the countless offers of help from kind strangers and the initiative of an off-duty Southwest Airlines employee in Las Vegas. She would also like to thank the three passengers, on each leg of the trip, who sat in front of us and did not put their seats back; giving us a bit of extra room.

Playing with our harnesses in an effort to stretch our legs and avoid screaming...about 4 hours into first flight.

Emily offered a fair assessment of Vegas when she looked out her window, turned to her mother, and announced "dirt". She looked back out the window, turned to her mother again, and announced "rocks". Madeleine made friends with the toddler across the aisle and brokered a deal in which the girls were given a page of Little Einstein stickers in exchange for a small rubber duck. One of the many "only on the airplane" toys we travel with is a Fisher Price flip phone for each girl. About an hour into our first flight I was informed Emily wanted "plane down, out", I told her we had to wait for the pilot to put the plane down....she opened her phone, held it to her ear, and said "Mama, Bapa plane down, out" - alas her grandparents were as powerless as her mother (who would happily have a cross-country trip take a mere hour!).

When asked if they were going to Spokane, the girls became very upset and said "no can, Mama Bapa house". As far as they are concerned we are simply at Mama Bapa's house, not Spokane.

Yesterday we went to the lake with Aunt Liz to spend the day with Uncle Paul who has to be out of town on business all next week. We had a very nice boat ride (much better than a year ago) and went swimming in the afternoon.

Emily left, Madeleine right.


Madeleine in pink, Emily in blue.

This morning we went to the playground with Grandpa in lower Manito Park, as opposed to the one across the street from the house which we had already visited the other day. We also conversed with the ducks at the duck pond and splashed a bit (hands only) in the fountain in the middle of the Duncan Garden.

Madeleine offers to "catch Memy" at the bottom of the slide. Memy never did go down the slide.

Madeleine getting into position to go down the slide, something she did repeatedly.

The girls would like to wish Mama and Bapa a Happy 35th Anniversary.