Haste Makes Waste For My Minis

We told the girls they can each pick out an outfit when we go to Germany this fall. Last night I was looking at the website for the department store we will probably visit and they had the children's sizes split into "baby", "minis", "kids". Madeleine and Emily's sizes are in the "mini" range - the term just struck me as funny (and pretty accurate, not babies, but not quite big kids). The girls saw the site and want the Ariel t-shirt...great we drag them to Germany and they want to buy a Disney product.

Yesterday I bought each of the girls a pair of jeans at a store where I had not shopped before (the girls were home with their dad). I guessed on the size and, of course, the jeans were too long. I knew the store had three pairs in the next size down, but it was a Saturday and there were a lot of people there - we needed fast action. I called the store and they very nicely put two pairs behind the counter and the girls and I headed out. I threw the dresses they had worn to church over their heads, slapped on four sandals and headed out the door. I buckled Emily in and was just starting on Madeleine when she got a rather distressed look on her face. I asked her what was the matter and she wailed "I don't have on underwear!!" (I know I handed her her pair in their room.) So, I ran back upstairs, grabbed underwear, put them on her in the garage and we exchanged the jeans without further incident.

Five Raccoons, A Truck and Other Adventures

Madeleine in green and Emily in yellow.

Everyone knows when kids are quiet it is time to investigate what is going on. This is very true in our house. Whispering also warrants concern. However, earlier this summer I overheard a question that sent red flags flying up the pole faster than anything to date. Emily and Madeleine share a room and the window is fairly close to Emily's bed. In fact, one of the curtains can stretch over to the head of Emily's bed.

Recently, Madeleine and Emily were supposed to be napping. Our room has a common wall with their room and I was in our room doing something when I heard "You think I need I helmet?" (we have pronoun issues)...hitting the floor running I rounded their doorway to find Emily sitting on the edge of the curtain, which was in fact stretched across her mattress - she was facing the wall and her back was facing the room. Both girls had contributed their pillows to the large pile on the floor, strategically placed for Emily to land on I might add. Madeleine had her hands on the curtain and her feet braced, ready to pull. As I came around the corner, she got as far as "Ready, set" before I chimed in with a few questions. As near as I can surmise, the plan was to yank the curtain and pull Emily backward off the bed, where she would of course land on the pillows, but might also require her helmet. I give up.

Having had the curtain adventure snatched away from them, the girls embarked on a trip to the Pacific Northwest. Our flight got in early enough we went straight to the lake where we spent about 11 days of our two weeks.

We quickly fell into our routine of a morning boat ride in search of M&Ms. Usually, our destination was Harrison, where we could play on the playground in the park.

Emily and Grandpa. She put on her own sunglasses and shunned any assistance in "correcting" the position of them. So be it.

Captain Madeleine and Grandpa.

Madeleine, our bear friend and Emily on the Harrison playground.

We decided to make homemade ice cream this year and opted for strawberry. I can't remember if we had seen this on Curious George or read about it, but we knew salt was involved and we got to crank the handle.

Uncle Kyle cranking while Madeleine sits on the freezer.

Emily showing Uncle Paul and Uncle Kyle how to crank the ice cream.

Continuing on the sugar-based food theme, we also made s'mores. This was better in theory than practice. The girls did not want "any brown on the marshmallows", but wanted them "cooked", and thought their chocolate was utterly ruined when covered in marshmallow and put between graham crackers.

There was also some sincere concern regarding the fire component. When asked to get closer to Uncle Paul to watch the marshmallow cook, Emily responded "No! This is as close as I get." Apparently, the monthly fire drills at preschool have made an impression. (Recently one of the smoke detectors at home beeped because of a low battery. Both of the girls came unglued, insisted Till take them outside and would not come back in until I "searched" the house.)

Madeleine
Emily in pink - that was as close as she got, even then she has a rather sober expression - and Madeleine in green.

Not at all related to dessert, Madeleine and Emily got to ride in Grandpa's truck. The truck is something that has been a topic of interest for quite some time. They got to leave our driveway, drive down the private gravel road about three houses and come back to the house!

The girls also got to ride with Aunt Liz - but not in the truck. This brave soul voluntarily took the girls shopping and to lunch. They went to the mall and bought sticker earrings and princess necklaces and bracelets. The understanding was they would probably go to lunch at a fine dining establishment like McDonald's, but the peanut gallery suckered their aunt into IHOP instead. I was not permitted on this trip, so do not have pictures of the actual events - however, I truly appreciate the peace and quiet!

Liz leaves for Paraguay in a few days and will be there for a year. Upon realizing we will not see her at Christmas I was informed "that sucks" and the situation is "a bummer".

Madeleine and Aunt Liz
Emily and Aunt Liz (Em looks a bit downcast because she had suffered some sort of emotional trauma at the time of the picture - I think it involved taking turns in the hammock....)

One afternoon we were sitting on the deck when the dog got upset and tried to take off. Thankfully, she was tied to the railing, so she did not experience her desired interaction with a mother raccoon who was out and about with her five babies. The babies went up a tree and stayed put for some time, while mom stayed out of sight, but probably not too far away. As soon as we left them alone (as in not taking pictures), they went on their merry way.

There are two on the left side of the trunk and three on the right.

When we ventured back to Spokane, we went to a family picnic. My cousin Diane was there with her children, including 8 month old Tayler. Emily and Madeleine were smitten with this young lady and got to hold her (with heavy assistance) and played with her.


Madeleine in blue and Emily in pink offering toys to Tayler.

Yesterday we went to the last movie of the summer and it was a bust. However, the rest of the movies have been great and the girls did a good job making it through several in their entirety. The overwhelming favorite was Horton Hears A Who. We now own this particular bit of cinematic magic. Unfortunately, one character calls another a "boob" as an insult and the girls, especially, Madeleine think this is hysterically funny to repeat. I am not looking forward to this conversation with our preschool teachers and may try and pre-empt it by warning them in advance. This is a word we don't use and while there are others for which I should take responsibility, but will blame on Till as he won't be there to defend himself should it come up at preschool, this isn't one of them.

Big Girls and Summer

Madeleine, Sarah, Samantha, Emily, Kaitlin and Drea on the Elmo ride

The "big girls" reference is not to ourselves, but rather some 9th graders who came to visit. One of my good friends, Sarah, teaches junior high. This summer she bravely embarked on an east coast trip with three of her students. Their final stop was the "Historic Triangle" of Williamsburg, Jamestown and Yorktown before they flew out of Richmond. We got to spend time with them and Madeleine and Emily are in awe of the "big girls". My Little Ponies received braided manes and tails, the big girls came to our house for dinner and they even rode with Emily and Madeleine on some of the Busch Garden rides!!

In non-big girl news. It was with more than a bit of trepidation I was looking ahead to this summer. I have been completely spoiled by preschool and the luxury of being able to predictably and reliably run to the grocery store alone! However, it has been a great summer so far.

Madeleine and Emily participated in "Tuesday Turtles" through the county park and rec department. Each Tuesday, for four weeks, the girls would join other children at a park, make crafts, go on a nature hike and eat a snack. It seemed the program was a success as we would like to do it again next year.

Emily and Madeleine also did a week of "day camp" (Mo-Th 8:30-11:30) and will do another later in the summer. Again crafts seemed to be key, which is great as we love them.

The early part of the summer was spent with our friend Emerson at Busch Gardens, Water Country and her neighborhood pool. One day she and her mom Amy came to our house and taught us how to make strawberry mice!

Emily in pink and Madeleine in green making strawberry mice.

Madeleine, Emily, Emerson.

Madeleine, Emerson and Emily with Lincoln who decided to camp out in the bathroom sink - I have no idea why, but it amused the girls.

And...we managed to catch a movie. Regal is once again doing free kids movies and we managed to sit through an entire feature-length film. Our debut was with Horton Hears A Who. Honestly, it looked pretty touch-and-go at the beginning as the movie starts with a close-up, as in a bug's perspective, of water drops on a leaf and a rolling seed pod. This was enough to make Emily burst into tears and Madeleine whimper. I put Emily in my lap and tried to calm her down, when that did not work I began hissing loving maternal things like "Emily you are fine!", "Emily suck it up", "Emily it can't get you", "For crying out loud Emily it is a kids' movie!!"...we were not through the opening credits. However, we found the movie was about a friendly elephant and his "speck", so we survived. Madeleine burst into tears and shook at the point a character has to go the dentist and they show a close up of the numbing shot - granted it is Dr. Seuss and a bit dramatic, but the needle was not pointed at her! Anyhow, we went back and saw it again 24 hours later and managed to power through the "scary parts" - there was still whimpering.

On the Fourth we went to Busch Gardens in the morning and assumed it would be crowded. It wasn't at first! We got the characters all to ourselves!!

"Promoted"

Madeleine

Emily

Emily on the left and Madeleine on the right checking the twirling ability of their dresses (from Opa and Oma).

The three-year-olds at the girls' preschool are referred to as "Little Monkeys". As of last Friday the girls are no longer monkeys. They have been promoted to "Frogs". I took pictures of Emily and Madeleine on their first day of preschool and wanted to do the same on their last. On the first we took the pictures in front of the house, but it was too sunny to do so on their last, so we went to the parking lot Till uses at work and took pictures there (Must share this locale with local photographers!).

The "Promotion Ceremony" was nice, but the adults in our party were a bit thrown by the "Pledge of Allegiance to the Bible" (not kidding!).....We are doing some work on opening little minds to the concept that different people worship different gods and that is not only okay, but actually a good thing.

The Wednesday before "Promotion Day" was an end of the year party in the girls' classroom. The kids had fun and there was even a limbo contest - watching preschoolers "limbo" is rather amusing as no one had the proper form and eventually contestants resort to belly crawling.

Madeleine listening to directions before the beginning of the "limbo".

Emily getting under the bar in her own fashion.

Emily in orange and Madeleine in stripes

Leading up to the end of the year, we have been trying to partake in some spring time activities. I recently took the girls to College Run Farms to pick strawberries. This destination was very popular last fall, pumpkin picking, as it involves a 10 minute ferry ride to Surrey. We had a good time and, after much effort, found a row with lots of nice berries. The farm also sells homemade strawberry ice cream which was a hit. I asked if they sold green beans in the summer and on the way home Madeleine suggested they might have green bean ice cream (ugh) in the summer since they have strawberry ice cream in the spring.

Till survived another commencement weekend in which he attends three ceremonies, of some sort, over the course of two days. This year Madeleine and Emily decided they needed to partake on some level and tried on his "hat". We didn't let them near his robes, or in our house "big purple coat", as it would most certainly guarantee a trip the dry cleaners.

Emily, Ph.D.

Madeleine, Ph.D. - This particular professor was not too interested in holding still for a picture...

The day following commencement, Oma and Opa flew in for a two week visit. We went strawberry picking again, played on the playground, went to the folk art museum and played in the water at Yorktown.

Emily, Madeleine behind her, Till on sand and Oma and Opa in chairs.

Madeleine on the left (a little startled by the depth and temperature of the water) and Emily "swimming".

Emily
Madeleine

The day Oma and Opa left, Till took them to the airport and the girls and I headed to Emerson's house. Emerson is a friend of Emily and Madeleine's from school. Her family was taking care of the ducklings from Emerson's brother's kindergarten class and her mom graciously invited us over to see the ducklings.

I have to admit my favorite part was when the ducklings were put in the bathtub and literally zoomed around the water "chasing" each other. Apparently, they wear themselves out and then take a long nap - much like a couple of young ladies I know after they swim for a bit.

Madeleine

Emily

Today was the start of "Tuesday Turtles" through the park and rec department. It is a four week program wear kids learn about nature, go on a hike and make a craft each Tuesday morning. We will only attend three weeks as we have a conflict on the last Tuesday. The park where the program is located is 30 minutes from the house, so I didn't go home, but the girls had fun and I went to a nearby library branch and read in peace and quiet!

Adventures, A Party and Opinions

Honestly, we bought them beds. However, there are times when I go in to check on them before I go to bed and this is what I find. Everything on the floor and the girls sound asleep. Emily is on the left and Madeleine is on the right. The next morning when I brought up the topic, I was informed they had been "camping".

We did have a bit of a bedtime "adventure" this past week. Usually after we say good night to the girls, they play around in their room for about 30 minutes and then give up and go to sleep. However, Wednesday night I heard crying coming from their room and it was the type of crying little kids do when they are absolutely terrified. I went running in to find Madeleine with her head solidly stuck under Emily's bed and both girls screaming at the top of their lungs. Apparently, Madeleine had tossed their nightlight under the bed and then went after it. My guess is she put her head sideways to get it under there and then turned her head so her chin was against the floor. Apparently, Emily had tried to grab Madeleine's feet and pull her out, but did not meet with success.

Thursday night had some "hiccups" too. Friday was the end of the year picnic at school (mind you it is one of THREE end of the year events - this is preschool, not college!!) and we had signed up to go. However, there have been a few too many bedtime shenanigans of late and both girls were very tired and needed sleep on Thursday. They were told if they got out of bed and goofed off they would not be attending the picnic the next day. They got out of bed and goofed off. They were warned again. They got out of bed and goofed off. They did not go to the picnic. We were submitted to some of the most pathetic begging and pleading we have ever heard, but there is a point where one has to realize parents are for more than driving us places and providing the occasional grilled cheese sandwich.

You may notice in some of the pictures on this posting that two of us have very colorful fingernails. Miss Deena babysat for us last Sunday and brought her nail supplies. She painted our toenails too!

Yesterday Madeleine and Emily had a busy day. They attended Amanda's birthday party in the afternoon, and in an effort to avoid six hours of "Is it time for the party yet?" the girls and I went to Busch Gardens in the morning. We got there early and were consequently able to avoid the lines. We also tackled a couple of new rides and the girls rode alone on the Grover roller coaster (or rather they rode with each other and I was in the next car - not that I could have reached them if needed...)


Emily in her dragon boat.

Madeleine in her boat.

Dragon boat ride from last week, Emily in front and Madeleine in back.

Ready for roller coaster take-off. Madeleine on the left and Emily on the right. Madeleine had a great time and Emily said it was okay, but once was enough. I was also informed that Emily had been scared, but Madeleine held on to her.

So far, we have managed to catch the Sesame Street characters on each of our visits to Busch Gardens. I honestly can not imagine how hot it must be in those costumes - it was pushing 90 yesterday (at 10 AM) and fairly humid....

Madeleine, Zoe and Emily.

Madeleine, Abby Cadabby and Emily.

This week we got in on a new Busch Gardens adventure. We went and saw the Sesame Street 4D movie (about 15 minutes long). I have to be honest the "4D" part of it threw me a bit...to my knowledge there are 3 dimensions, but I don't spend a whole lot of time with the CNN.com science section, so maybe they discovered something new? Anyhow, we decided to give it a shot. I had never been to a 3 D movie before and thought it was great.

The movie starts and it is 3D and I'm laughing at the girls when they try to reach out and touch things, etc. Then the "4th dimension" kicks in. When Ernie tosses Rubber Duckie in the bath tub the chair in front of you squirts water at you. Or when Oscar calls his "trash vermin" from the back of the theater to the front, they puff air at your legs that is supposed to feel like critters running by. The girls, especially Emily, did not like the water being squirted at them - and in fairness, at their height it hits them in their faces. About the third squirt I had some royally ticked preschoolers on my hands. Then the "dogfish" came. Mind you this is a Sesame Street dogfish, so it is a fish that looks like a beagle and has long floppy ears, but we were convinced it would swim up and bite us. I tried telling them to take the glasses off when they got scared because then they saw everything was on the screen, but no luck. We left, in tears, 7 minutes into the movie. Maybe next year and with a raincoat.

In our glasses, ready for the movie to start. Emily's shirt (blue) is proof we had just visited a water fountain.

We skipped our nap, something which we are not ready to do, and went to Amanda's party at 2. If I had had to drive them one more exit on the highway they would have been asleep in their carseats. Amanda had her party at a place where you paint pottery and both girls painted gorgeous butterflies. Amanda also had a pinata (this is the "new" kind where children take turns pulling ribbons from the bottom and one ribbon opens it...while safer, it is less dramatic in that there is no wondering who will end up with a black eye from the stick!) which we thought was "pretty cool" and call it "the candy game".

Madeleine left and Emily right at the party. It was not my idea that they wear identical jumpers, especially when there are adults, who do not know them, trying to keep track of who is who. However, Amanda's mom is an identical twin and didn't seem phased at all.

In other news, for which there are no photos...

We are developing strong opinions about many things and not hesitating a whole lot in sharing them. The day of the preschool art show I came in to get the girls up from their naps and Madeleine looked me up and down and then asked if that was what I was going to wear to the art show. When I said yes and asked if that was okay I was informed "Your hair looks a little bit goofy." It did (bad haircut last time), but I really didn't need to hear it.

When Mom and Dad were here Liz sent the girls sticker earrings. We are apparently unable to leave the house without wearing them. The second time we were bowling Madeleine gasped and grabbed her ear. This was dramatic enough I looked over to see if her ear had fallen off and and when I asked what was wrong was informed she had forgotten to put on her earrings. "O-rings" in our house. I told her that was okay, I wasn't wearing any either.

We continue to have fun riding our bikes. And, at least for the moment, appear to have given up holding on to our sister's handlebar while she pedals....they were doing this on Easter morning when Dad and I took them out. The bikes are the hotwheels kind (3 wheels, low to the ground) and shockingly Emily got her feet tangled and fell. When she got up you could see the mental wheels turning and that she thought she'd be in trouble for continuing to do what she was told not to - holding her sister's moving bike. So, in an effort to recover, she announced, "See, that is why you wear helmets!" and then proceeded to bend over and thump her helmeted head on the pavement a time or two to illustrate her point.

Recently, while walking downstairs the girls and I were talking about the guest room. Emily informed me "It is called the guess room because I get to guess who is in there."

Easter and Other April Happenings

April brought Easter, spring break, better weather and a visit from Grandma and Grandpa!

All of the March birthdays. Emily in red and Madeleine in green helping Grandpa organize his birthday cards. Both girls felt strongly they needed to celebrate Grandpa's birthday as it is the same month as theirs....never mind it was an excuse to obtain yet another birthday cake.

The girls only had one day of preschool the entire time Grandpa and Grandma were here (don't get me started...I'm slightly bitter over the schedule and getting bilked out of tuition), so we did lots of things we had not done before.

We went to Jamestown Settlement (not to be confused with Historic Jamestown which is exactly .1 miles from the "other" Jamestown - it only took 2 years living here to figure out which is which and the difference....). There is a "Powhatan Indian Village", 2/3 scale models of the ships that brought the English in 1607 and a re-created English fort. There is also a pretty impressive visitors' center which we went through rather quickly.


Grandpa, Emily, Grandma and Madeleine in front of one of the ships.

Emily pounding corn while Madeleine watches (she got a turn too) in the Powhatan Village (First they had to dismiss the very plump squirrel who was determined to enjoy his corn breakfast and not particularly afraid of children).

Soldier Madeleine.

Soldier Emily.

We also went to Yorktown to play in the sand again. There were quite a few jellyfish, so we didn't really go in the water.

Madeleine (L) and Emily conferring - this usually is not a good thing.

Emily and Grandma.
Madeleine and Grandpa.

Emily in brown and Madeleine in green getting their Easter baskets out of the hall.

Emily's eggs.

Madeleine's eggs.

Hunting eggs - plastic and "real". The girls are wearing the shorts and t-shirts the Easter Bunny brought them, hence the less-than-formal attire. Emily in yellow, Madeleine in purple.

Both Tuesdays the grandparents were here it poured rain. Grandpa and Grandma even got in on a bit of a thunderstorm, which around here deserve respect. So, we went bowling. When Dad and I bowled the average speed was 10-11 miles an hour. For the girls it was 1-1.5 mph. There were times they would have had a strike, if there had been any speed by the time the ball got to the pins. Emily took the prize though, clocking in one time at .76 mph.

Grandpa, Emily, Madeline.

When the girls finally went back to school it was "Week of the Young Child" with all kinds of activities involving parents.

Emily in pink and Madeleine in purple on Monday morning's "Muffins for Mom".

Tuesday night's art show. Madeleine in red, Emily in green.

Emily on the left and Madeleine on the right on Friday morning's "Donuts for Dads"

Madeleine in purple and Emily in pink working in the "garden" we decided to plant this year. I'm not holding my breath. The funny thing is we started our seeds the same day Michelle Obama broke ground on the White House garden...the girls are convinced she copied our idea!

We have returned to Busch Gardens. We honestly put it off a bit and told the girls it wasn't open yet. This involved not listening to the radio in the car so as not to blow our cover by them hearing an ad. But, we gave up and went last weekend. The new Sesame Street themed area is open and a huge hit!


Grover with Madeleine's back and Emily

Emily, Zoe and Madeleine

Emily, Abby Cadabby and Madeleine

This week we also added Rice Krispy Treats to the girl's recipe portfolio. At first there was some reticence to tackle the bowl with left-over Krispies in it as I had warned them that I was the only one to handle the hot marshmallow goo...but we got over it.

Emily on the left and Madeleine on the right.