Friday, May 28, 2010

Outside fun

PB&J and a picnic - what could be better?
Audrey (finally) getting into the spirit of splashing around outside!
Brooke jumps right in!
Audrey: I don't understand how this is fun.
Brooke pedaling away!





A little video of Brooke on her tricycle.

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Let's Go Nats!

This weekend we went took the girls to their first ever baseball game! D got some free tickets to the game (Nats vs. Orioles - aka the Battle of the Beltway) and I decided that it should be a family outing. So we loaded up and headed to the game - amidst great concerns, mine, over the weather as it was supposed to rain and apparently not all stadiums come with a roof. But alas, we packed ponchos and rain coats and were ready for anything. Fortunately it turned out that our seats were actually under the cover!! Hooray! (though the weather gear was needed for our walk back to the car!)

The girls were very excited about the game - Audrey kept saying all morning that she "loves baseball." The game was a success and we stayed until midway through the sixth. They both really enjoyed the popcorn and the racing of the Presidents. Brooke kept talking about how she wanted to see "more runners" Here is our game chronicled in pictures:


D and the girls outside the ballpark - the Nats are pretty awful, which explains the lack of crowd in the picture.

Audrey intently watching the game

Me and Audrey - our family was one of the few not dressed in red or orange. Next time we will dress more appropriately.


Brooke getting to meet George, aka The Runner. She was THRILLED!!

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Terrible and Terrific Twos

Sunday we experienced our greatest demonstration of terrible twos so far. We were pulling into the church parking lot when randomly Audrey started getting very upset. I thought it was because she dropped her bug (they insist on randomly carrying around small items and are currently on a bug phase). So we parked and I got her bug from the ground. This was apparently not it. She continued to scream -and I mean really scream - that she wanted to go home. As this really was not an option, I scooped her up and proceeded to carry her toward church. All the while she is HYSTERICALLY trying to wriggle out of my arms while crying and screaming. I can only wonder what the other people in the parking lot must have thought. We got to church and realized that no way could be leave her in the nursery like this - we have only been going to this church for a couple of months. So D gave it a shot to calm her down. Then I tried. Then we went back to the car - maybe I had unbuckled her when she wanted to do it herself and perhaps a do-over was all that was needed. No such luck. Finally - after what seemed like an hour, but was really probably closer to 20 minutes - we were able to calm her down with promises of drinking water from the fountain inside. Mercy. It was rough. Though once calm, she went right into her class. And when we came back to pick them up, they were both quite happy.

The terrific part of twos to me is finally having kids that talk in pretty much complete sentences and seeing what in the world they are thinking. Here are my favorites from the past couple of days:
Brooke, said with utter delight and amazement after going to the bathroom: "Holey Moley! That is very big poopie!"

Audrey: "I have baby in belly." Then she showed me her new sister. Then she ran away and came back. I asked her where she went. She replied "put sister in trash can." Hmmm. Perhaps it is a good thing that we are done with kids!
Playing their first board game - candy land. Of course this was again a clothing optional activity.

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Our Park

Ever since D and I moved into our house, we always talked about how nice it would be to have a swing set/play ground thing in our yard. We don't really live close enough to a park to walk to - yes there is theoretically one within walking distance, but it is way far. So we finally decided to bite the bullet and get one for our yard. Our backyard has a flat spot and then goes up a hill to this tree filled, ground cover filled area. We decided that we would just clear out the groundcover and level it out and put it up there. And by "we would just clear it out" I mean we would hire people to clear it out. They cleared it and built the edging last weekend.
Then all week I waited for them to come and level it cause as it turned out, it was much more uneven once you got rid of all the stuff on the ground. So Friday night they came and leveled it with topsoil....and Saturday morning our swingset arrived and was assembled! The girls are so cute and call it our park! Now all that is left to do is get the mulch to put over the dirt. We are super happy with it. And I can see it from the back patio and from inside in the kitchen. So eventually the girls will be able to play outside without me!!

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Two and a Half

Today is the girls' half birthday. I can not believe that they are already 2 1/2. That seems so crazy. This is just a little post to help me remember.
  • Potty Training: I am going to say that they are completely potty trained. We are even wearing just panties for naps and nighttimes. Speaking of panties, Brooke's favorite pair are her purple elmo panties and she would wear them EVERY day if she were allowed. The one downside of the potty training is that Brooke seems to realize that if she announces that she needs to tinkle, mommy and daddy drop whatever they are doing and immediately rush to her. Slightly annoying when it then takes 4 trips - during dinner no less - to actually tinkle in the potty. Currently we are not confident enough in her holding abilities to just ignore it.
  • Favorite Games: Memory (though they say it with about 5 syllables me-me-me-me-eee) where Brooke has a slight edge in the concentrating and remembering part (Audrey is not quite as into the game - she would prefer to just make a long line of cards out of her matches) and The Ark Game - where the girls and I (or D) go and "hide" the little people/animals from Noah's ark and then we have a game of seeking them. It is really one of the funniest things to see. Audrey is the worst hider in the world. She basically just lines up the ones she is supposed to be hiding either on the stairs or the coffee table. Brooke insists that she hide Mr. & Mrs. Noah each time, and each time they end up together on the tray of the doll's high chair. And then those are the first ones that Brooke goes to "find"
  • Cute sayings: Audrey frequently says "I need a little help now." They both still call their pacifiers "Mommy Woos" (we have no idea) They both like things done "Right Now" and if that doesn't happen they say "Just one minute." My favorite saying of Brooke's is how she says "Yes" - it is all drawn out and said with such flair, like yes you finally get it. Whenever they want to keep doing something they say "more do that." They are super cuddly right now and tell us "Me keep Mommy/Daddy" as they hold on to us. And their favorite question is "what that is?" They have very good noses and frequently remark that they "mell momething" (smell something)
  • Whenever we discuss going out to eat the girls always want to eat at McDonalds (that is embarrassing!)
  • Currently when you ask them to run, they stop and say "both arms out" (and they hold them out front) and then "now run, run, run" and they take off while pumping their arms back and forth frantically. This description really does not show just how hilarious this is. I will try to get a video.All of these pictures were taken last weekend at a park.This picture is included because it is here to illustrate how they insisted on wearing the outfits that they selected (Brooke "PINK ONE" and Audrey "BLUE ONE" Brooke "No that tur-qu-ose not blue" Audrey "TUR-QUE-OSE ONE") rather than the way I had planned it where Audrey would have been in pink. Nice Tushy Brookie!!
  • They love/are obsessed with Dora and Diego. If given the opportunity, I believe that they would lay on the couch all day and watch them. They insist on getting up and the end and doing the "we did it" dance...this has also translated over into day to day life anytime one of them says I/me did it. Also funny is how they say that food is "delicioso"

Here is a little video of them dancing.

Friday, May 7, 2010

Visit from Di and Papa

In front of Mount Vernon

Last weekend, D's parents came for a visit to see us (well, mainly to see the girls!). We had lots of fun and here is some photographic evidence of said fun:


The girls with the statues of the Washington family at Mount Vernon

D with the girls with some oxen - not sure if you can tell or not, but the girls were wearing Thing 1 and Thing 2 shirts and were quite the sensation with all of the tourists...especially the older crowd.

This is the life...pedis by Di and vegging on the couch watching Dora
Last Sunday it was super hot, so we got out the sprinkler first and then a splash mat to play with in the front yard. Brooke loved it all, but Audrey was not a fan of running through the sprinkler but clearly enjoyed the mat.

Monday, May 3, 2010

Spring Day

Just a few pictures of us outside enjoying the weather from a few weeks ago. Though I am not sure I am going to be able to move back south as this weekend I was totally complaining about the heat and humidity and it was BARELY 80 degrees!
Brooke rocking her runway walk - that girl's walk is fierce!Too Slow Brookie - they are not great at blowing these but they certainly love to wave them around and around...they alone may be responsible for a dandelion epidemic on our street next year.Artist at work- note they still insist on silly socks!