Day at the discovery museum

Well, more like the morning. The Discovery Museums: Children in Acton was really fun. We spent a lot of time in there. It is built in an old victorian house, each room is a different play area. You walk into trains (which we walked right through on the way in, but on the way out had to stop and sell some train tickets), then the next room is the chain reaction/balls room





We spent what seemed like hours in there. At least twice. But it was fun. Loud, but very very fun.

Next was the bubble & water room. I shot some good video. Sideways. I can't remember how to fix that, so nevermind. But here they are in the bubble contraption.


Then upstairs through the rainbow room ...


... and onto another favorite, the diner.
This is Q3's I'm sick of serving this slop face. But C5 looks as though she's enjoying serving the slop


And then I had to serve them. They look at first like the people in Hopper's painting, but then Q3 leans over to see what plastic goodies C5 has on HER plate.


We headed next to the attic. Q3 had made a brief foray here earlier, but it was too crowded. But this time it was better. Tricked out with a seven seas theme, this was another big hit for us. They spent a lot of time with the sandbox, and the pretend rowboat was a surprise hit.



Doesn't C5 look like a ventriloquist's puppet here??




One last photo: Q3 in a little hidey cubby beneath a platform in the ball room.


So, a good outing.

Tea Party

OK, officially this happens tomorrow, but since this is my post and my blog it comes today. Ha. So there.





Pumpkin spice cake with caramel cream cheese frosting is amazingly good. Think I'll have it for breakfast two days from now.

The tea party was fun, girls got along mostly, C5 was a bit bummed because there were no presents for her, but got past it. K6 slept over, Q3 went to sleep in my bed, I had to cuddle C5 to sleep after her giant tantrum about baths, and then another kerfuffle because I took the book she was reading away because she kept saying rude things while I tried to read to K6 & Q3. K6 was well behaved although she had a difficult time falling asleep with all the problems swirling around her.

I am done with this day.

Let's try to remember them when they are sweet shall we?

Because right now I need this:

April drives go very well

The drive from Maryland to Massacusetts and back again is Hell from Thanksgiving to New Years, and then again from May through September. But April seems to be relatively easy.

The driving anyway. There are still children in the backseat to contend with, and this is what we had to deal with this time:



And yes, my first impulse was to pick up the camera instead of helping save her finger.

Friday entertainment

It is true, when things are too quiet you have to worry. Like when they picked about 50 buds off my camellia a few weeks ago. Too quiet. Like when they have scissors and cut each other's hair. Too quiet. Like digging around the cabinents to make food for the "bird restaurant" and leaving the detritus everywhere. Too quiet.

Here's another. When they want to have a "colored bath" so they draw all over themselves so the color can wash off in the tub.

This is what I saw first


Then I got to check out the belly button

Yesterday I got to Hyattsville after work early, so I thought I'd pick up Q3, then zip over to C5's classroom to help for the last 1/2 of the day (which I do every Wednesday, causing havok and bad behavior every week, I'm sure).

So I nipped into Q3's classroom and she told me to go,she was still eating. No, she didn't want to go to C5's classroom. Go away.

So I did, and picked her up after leaving the elementary school.

At dinner, we were discussing our days, when Q3 started to cry. Big, hot, wet tears rolling down her face. Sobbing. Heaving. Face on table crying. Why? Because she didn't get to go to C5's classroom. And next time I was to pick her up and take her with me no matter what she said.

Got it.

Books

C5 has been writing books. Books, books, and more books. Books about dogs and princessess. Most of them I throw away. Or stuff in her art drawer upstairs. But I thought I'd post her most recent here.


The New Princess Allyat! Book 2


The days are passing. Soon the book will be done.


Once upon a time, A long time ago, there was a princess. Her name was Allyat. Chapter 1 Songs


Allyat love to play. Very Much! The happy days are passing the happy days by.


The days were passing. Always days pass.


Passing days away away .... Long ago sang Allyat. (Singing songs makes you happy)


Chapter 2 A new name. Singing is Fun.


Allyat shortened her name to: Ally. Oh how Allyat loved the name Ally! Oh How!


Chapter 3 Loving


Allyat was faling in love with Prince Bush. Yay! She got to marry him!


She loved him for the rest of her life. He loved her for the rest of his life. The end.


P.S. That's what love is all about.


Love is Nice. To learn more, please look in Fort ((????))

The ball

Last Sunday, C5 asked if we could deliver some notes to her friends on the way to the library. I said sure, and we stopped at her friend's house. While there, C5 told me it was an invitation to a ball. So I looked at the note, and it was an invitation to a ball. At our house. On Saturday.

What??

Right, just in case you were wondering how C5 could have a BALL where members of the opposite sex might dance together, let me add there was also a picture of a boy, crying, with a big X through him and the caption "NO BOYS!"

So, a girls-only ball. Only two girls (and their sisters) invited. One of which declined. So, we invited a few more girls. As it turned out it was only 6 girls, one of whom had to leave after about 30 minutes because of a fever & lethargy. Down to 5 girls.

But, here is some dancing.


The party was a relaxed success.

Making Faces

Fairies

So, C40 showed the girls a video of a little girl searching for fairies and talking about her scientific methods and hypothosis.

C5 and Q3 went crazy. They gathered together all their fairy books (all four of them) and a couple of fairy-catching container and a fairy-catching net and headed outside to rustle through the bushes.

They consulted the fairy books to figure out what to do.







C5 thought we would would definitely find evidence of fairies. Q3, a little more pragmatic, thought that the video was just pretend, and that fairies were make believe, but she was game to go through the bushes anyway.



We never found a fairy this afternoon, but we did have fun looking.

Ice pack on forehead

Visit C40's blog for the back story.

Another tooth lost today

This one involved Q3's head hitting C5's mouth during a little tussle. And the tooth ... flinging out and away.

C40 did find the tooth -- man, those baby teeth are little!!

C5 and I had some discussion about where the tooth should be put so the tooth fairy could find it. The tooth fairy left her golden dollar in a ramekin on the dining room table last time. So when C5 told me it should go under her pillow I told her I thought the tooth fairy might not be able to find it, since clearly she was partial to the dining room table. We compromised and she put the tooth in a ziplock containor on her bedside table, where the tooth fairy, I am sure, will leave another golden dollar.

rain rain rain

The rain this week did not keep C5 & Q3 from going outside. They spent a half hour outside in the rain under umbrellas, in rain jackets, just walking around, running up and down the sidewalks and into the back yard.

And look, there is C5 with the pink raincoat on that we had to physically put on her last fall. She even put that on this week intentionally ... no prompting from me or C40. Crazy.

Pictures from the week 1

They were hamming for the camera

Favorite part of the day

At dinner we like to ask the girls what their favorite parts of the day were. So tonight, sitting down with C5's favorte dish (garbanzos, spinach, spices, tomatos, with a dollop of yogurt on top), and asked the question.

C5 discussed a birthday party she went to, we all talked about the brunch we went to, Carter mentioned the grocery shopping to Safeway, Glut, and 7-11 with Q3.

And then Q3 said her favorite bit was "Swimming!"

I asked her when she went swimming, and she said, "After yogurt!" ... meaning after the yogurt she was eating RIGHT THEN.

But, then, we didn't go swimming after all. Unless you count the bath.

Q3 asked that I take her picture

So, here she is.

What passes for fashion with the 3-year-old set

Need I say more?

Spring!

Thank god it is almost spring again. Everybody is glad to be getting outside.

Back to yard work, just wanted to share.

A Busha Salad

C5 and I went grocery shopping today, since Q3 called me at work this morning and asked if she could stay at school through naptime so she could watch the movie. Unfortunately for her, she slept through naptime and missed the movie (they have 2 hours of quiet time if they stay for the afternoon. If after 45 minutes you aren't asleep, you can go watch a movie).

But anyway, I had food to buy for this week's dinners; C5 decided she wanted to make something as well. So she bought apples, bananas, blueberries, blackraspberries, strawberries, yogurt, ice cream, a cucumber, and raisin bran.

I managed to get her to NOT include the cucumber and raisin bran, but she did then decide to include a crumbled up chocolate chip cookie. And I had to melt the icecream before it went in.

It was basically a fruit salad with a nice yogurt/sweet cream dressing. So we threw it back in the freezer til after dinner (which nobody liked but me — split pea and fresh pea soup). They both ate their age in bites twice, so I let them move onto the so-called "Busha salad."

Ice skating

In hindsight, one parent taking two children who had never gone ice skating before to a public rink was a mistake. But they both seemed so so excited to go. Our friend Z5's mom had invited us to go with them anc C5 jumped at the chance, she thought it sounded fantastic. Q3, too, thought it sounded like a great idea.

But two steps onto the ice and Q3 was screaming to go back to the door (we didn't. I told her we had to go all the way around with the flow of the skaters). They did get better, able to stand and move forward a bit, but it was very slow going. And about halfway around C5 was ready to get off the ice. Luckily at that point a neighbor who was there took C5 to the door by skating backwards with her; it was just too difficult for me to handle two children.

Q3 and I skated around the rest of the way and I thought she was having a good time, but when we arrived at the doors she was ready to get off the ice. We did so, looped back, and got right back on the ice.

When we got back on the ice C5 decided to skate BACKWARDS. I thought she should master going forwards first, but how was I to stop her while I was holding Q's hand? So I managed to procure a cone, which the rink has around for the smaller kids to hold onto. It actually works very well. We'd started out with one, and C5 rejected it after a bit. So this time I put Q3 onto the base of the cone, and I pushed her. This was quite fun for her. She loved it. But C5 wanted to do that, too. But she was too big. And we managed to get about 3/4 of the way around and our neighbor skated with C5 back to the exit.

Both girls did quite well one-on-one with an adult; not so well when I had both of them.

By the time Q3 and I got all the way around again it was time to get off and let the Zamboni do its magic. We took a break and had some hot chocolate, and when it was time to go back on the ice C5 refused, crying, and Q3 insisted she need to ride.

Ug. I did get to go around three more times. Once with Q3 on the cone; once with K3 who showed up with after the Zamboni cleared the ice, and once with H6, to help him get steady on the ice. That was the most fun, even if I was constantly saying bend your knees, lean forward.

We are going to go back, I think, but with a one parent, one child ratio.