Our trip (pics from our camera)

We left on Wednesday morning, making several stops (at two playplaces, one fruit stand, and to get gas.) It took a long while to get there, but as we were in no hurry, it was fine.





When we arrived, the kids immediately found the couch and just HAD to jump on it and off it. We allowing the "offi-ng", but not the "on-ing".






Then they discovered the cabin's two main hazard (and therefore fun things for the kids to play with)...the giant spiral staircase and the wood burning stove. Since they were in the living room, we spent a good deal of the trip trying to get the kids to stop playing with and on them. The Cabin was very roomy, but extremely hot so we spent the first afternoon sitting around sweating and exclaiming how hot it was. Lucky for us, the downstairs bedrooms were much cooler than the loft upstairs where the Marcuses slept.




The first night we had burgers. Yes, we got all 10 of us around the table.




Thursday morning was spent a Hume Lake. It was one of the most idealic places you could go. It was empty, the water was warm, and it was shallow enough for even timid Miranda to enjoy it. We stayed there a good long time and then headed back to the cabin to burn up.








Back at the cabin, the kids played with the various toys I brought and the little animals and leggos Amy brought. And they all got to watch some dvds too!







On Friday, we went to look at the big trees in the morning. It was a little dusty and dirty for the girls (which led to Elizabeth needing to be carried a lot), but everyone did well. When Miranda saw the horses taking people on a trail ride, she was mezmerized and couldn't stop saying Horse! or Horse? for the rest of the trip. Parker especially liked walking through the fallen trees.
























After the trees, we stopped at the visitor's center and then a little picnic area for lunch. After lunch, the kids shared some rock candy lolly pops I got earlier.








After the lolly pop picnic, we drove for a while to let the kids sleep rather than go back to the hot cabin. They fell asleep fast, but didn't stay asleep very long. When all three kids were cying at the same time, I thought the afternoon would be ruined. But when we found a great creek our luck changed. Unfortunately, the Marcus camera has the photos (and there are some good ones) from that adventure. We finished the day off having dinner at the visitor center restaurant and got home just in time for the kids to go to sleep. It was a great day.

Trip Pics...sort of

We are back from our trip to Sequoia National Park. With the exception of the heat and the ants, it was a great trip. With only a couple minor exceptions, all the kids did great. We had a grand time at lakes, creeks, looking at trees, and going down caves. Unfortunately, most of the pics were taken by the Marcus/Martins so it might be Christmas before we are able to post them on the blog. To keep you all entertained, here are some pics from our visit to LA last week courtesy of Amy.


Parker and Julia in the parade.


Oliver decorated.


Peter decorated.


The girls after Miranda and Eli took off their checkered dresses.


Ad for crocs?


Ridiculously cute and tiny Julia.

Burying the hatchet

I was helping Miranda in the bathroom today and heard a fracas in the living room between Parker and Elizabeth. Upon investigation, I learned that Elizabeth had hit Parker on the head with a magnetic toy they have (which is rather clublike, actually).

I instructed Elizabeth that it was not ok to hit people on the head, and that she should say, "Sorry, Parker." She smiled and said, "Grblaka, Parpar."

I then turned to Parker and told him to say to Elizabeth, "I forgive you." Parker ignored me so I repeated the instruction. He then turned to Elizabeth and said, "Don't hit me on the head anymore, please." Close enough.

First Hats

When Miranda and Elizabeth were born, we had to put their names as well as Twin A and Twin B on their hats to tell them apart. After seeing my friend Rachel, who also has twins, frame the kids onesies, I thought framing these hats might be a sweet idea. Today, Miranda found one of the unmarked hats (that we use for the dolls) and wanted to put it on. So I told her the story of the framed hats and showed them to her.

Car Riding

Miranda and her baby doll took a nice trip today in the backyard.

Then Eli did it 'her' way before succumbing to social conventions.

Memories

When I saw this toy at the supermarket the other day, I thought back fondly to when we were little and played with it. I don't know how much we did, but I sure remember it being "fun".

So when I got it home and started to smell the toxic fumes, I wondered, What the hell is this?

The warning on the tube says, Not a gum. Do not chew or swallow. Not for Children under 6. Contains Acetate and plastic fortifiers.

Yikes!

All of this reminded me of this Saturday Night Live skit about the Super Happy Fun ball.

Oh, and yeah, I still made bubbles for the kids with it. I just didn't let them touch it or look at it. :)

Daddy!

The girls seem to think all men are Daddy. They point to people that look nothing like Michael and say Daddy. In fact, every day as we drive down the block, there is a big bill board for some plumbing contracting company and it has a photo of a young good looking Latino guy. Every day, the girls exclaim...."Daddy!" Now even Parker says, "That guy is not your daddy."

Today, as they were playing in the living room they saw the box to the dvd of Shawshank Redemption, my favorite movie of all time, and Elizabeth pointed to Morgan Freeman* and cheered, "Daddy!"

*Morgan Freeman must work more than any other person on the planet earth. In fact, as I told my parents this weekend, I think there was some national law recently passed that requires Morgan Freeman to do all narration voice over for TV, movies and commercials. My parents thought the law was intergalactic.

More math

After music class today, I took the kids to studio grow to meet up with Ebba and Monika and their kids. It was twin tuesday so we all got to save a few bucks. Parker immediately wanted to play with the magnet numbers (great, $7 so he can do something he can do at home for free). He went off with Monika and Sammie, who is in love with Parker. I stayed with Charlie and my girls at the water play area. A while later, we all moved inside and I found Parker explaining some math to an employee. I told her "thanks" and she said, "is he yours?" "Yup." She looked stunned and said, "He's very, very smart." Yeah, yeah. I said, "if you want to really flip your lid, ask him what one number minus a bigger number is." She did and flipped out.

One the way home, we were talking about what we liked there. Parker said, "They had MORE than 10 numbers." I said, "Oh, how many more?" He replied, "MORE!" I said, "Did they have 12 numbers." "No!, they didn't have 6, they had MORE THAN 10!" I asked again, "Did they have 16 numbers? NO, not 8...10!" Finally, I got it. "Did they have 20 numbers?" YES! So I explained that he was doubling the numbers and doing multiplication. Which he somehow understood immediately. When I asked "what is 10 times 2?" He said, "20!" Then he said, "What is 5 times 2? 10!" Then he went on to tell me what every number up to 12 was times 2.

Crazy.

Trip to LA

My trip to LA this weekend was good and bad. Good because it's always fun to see the kids playing together, there was a cool 4th of july parade and block party, and parker got to swim in "the pool where he can stand." Bad because the kids slept like crap, Parker was in a bad mood (probably because of the sleeping) most of the time, I was cranky (definitely because of the sleep thing), and the drive back was pure hell. Tons of traffic, highway construction, the kids didn't fall asleep until after 9, Parker had to pee around 10:30 in the middle of no where, etc, etc, etc.

Anyway, here are some highlights...


The girls taking a nap in their stroller after parade and party.


Aunt Amy with the girls at the pool. The girls seemed to only want Mommy in the water and cried and screamed with Grandpa or Uncle Eran tried to hold them. But when Amy tried, they were fine with it.



Miranda getting ready for some fun in the kiddie pool.



Playing the piano.

Hammock, Corn, Go Fish, Swimming

Getting Gas

Parker is really into filling up the car with gas these days. He also enjoys finding a good parking spot.

Conversation with Parker

Parker and I were driving somewhere the other day. I turned on the CD player and almost immediately Parker, without knowing which CD was going to play, said,

"I wanna hear 9."

(This generally means that track 9 is a favorite.) So I asked,

"What is track 9?" meaning, what song is it and thinking he couldn't possibly know since he didn't know what CD it was. He replied,

"It's the one after 8."

The "Duh" was silent.

Eli Potty Training Day 5

I think Elizabeth has figured out that this potty training thing isn't just a game and it isn't as much fun to go on the potty as it used to be. I think this because all day yesterday, she only peed in the potty twice (2 for 12) and today, nothing in the potty yet (0 for 3). We go sit on the potty all day long and nothing. Then five minutes after getting up, pee or poop in her underwear. It can't be a coincidence.

I was planning on bringing the underwear and potty to LA and to Sequoia where we are vacationing next week, but I think I might postpone (not cancel) the potty training to make everyone's (mostly mine) lives more pleasant on these trips. I'll regroup when we return on the 13th.

Parker Swims!

For a while Parker was making no progress in swim class. He couldn't get the whole hold your breath thing. Then I took him to Waterworld where he got to where a life vest and everything changed after that. Something about going down the slides made him fearless.

Yesterday, he had a make up class with an instructor he didn't know. I worried that she wouldn't know what he could do or not do, which as it turns out was a valid concern. But since she didn't know, she pushed him and he did great. He dived (hands above his head from a sitting position into the pool) and then swam...on his own...back to the wall. It was great. It was one of the first times that I've actually felt really proud of him. Sure, I've been impressed with him in the past, but this was a genuine feeling of, "Ahhh, That's my boy!" He was even happy saying, "Let's go somewhere different and go swimming", right after class. But since it was 6:00pm, that wouldn't work.

I told him we could go swimming in LA this weekend. (I decided to drive down for a long weekend since my babysitter Jenna was going down. I pay for gas, she helps deal with kids....PERFECT!)

Computer Camera Discovered

Sorry, it's kinda shaky. And kinda...well...very, boring.

Tea Party

After being up half the night crying, Elizabeth crashed out early today for naps. Parker, Miranda and I had a tea party while she was sleeping. It was down right civil.

The blue chair keeps on giving.

The blue chair continues to provide entertainment possibilities. Add this video to the one on the hammock and you've got a true picture of the difference between Elizabeth and Miranda.

Smart Cat

Stress?

Sometimes, and for seemingly no reason, Elizabeth does this strange thing where she makes fists and then grits her teeth and shakes. It's very odd.