You might have been wondering

Have you been wondering? I'm sure you have. People have been asking. Over and over. Mostly, "What did she say?"

So ... C4 has started speech therapy. Apparently she was unintelligible. Well, not completely. 25% intelligible (in an unknown context) !!

This speech issue has been problematic for C4 and her particular favorite subject (dogs). For two weeks C4 was saying Tchi-yow-yah ... and I couldn't understand that she was saying chihuahua. So, that is a main focus, to get those sounds. She started with F & V last week, and today she got S & Z homework. I'm hoping we'll go for the W's soon.

The therapist thinks C4 is doing great, and has no physical problems, or hearing problems ... Let me brag and say the therapist thinks C4 is very intelligent, and because things come so easy to her when it takes work ... she balks.

So, we are biting our lips to say our Fs & Vs, closing our teeth to say our Ss and Zs. We get practice sheets to do 2-3 times a day and I can already hear C4 improving with her F words.

We've told C4 when she can say Chihuahua we can go see Beverly Hills Chihuahua ... So, best of luck to us!

Farmer's market

Yeah, boring, blah blah blah. But they are holding hand and hugging spontaneously! Usually it is scratching and biting spontaneously! And I can never get a camera fast enough for that.




They got balloon poodles (one teal, one pink), bounced in the bouncy castle (I kicked out the big kids, but Q2 still only did 4 bounces before leaving saying that the bounces were too big), ate pickles on sticks, petted a 4-year-old poodle, ran around the park/graveyard, listened to music, and bought cookies.

Fun.

And here is C4 with her favorite "Pointer" shirt on at the park/graveyard

Now, just where have we been?

It was a lovely vacation. Much much too short! Actually, no, it was perfect, but surrounded by whole days of driving on either end, which is difficult.

But, here's the scoop.

Tuesday, C39 had to go to work to get stuff done before we left. The girls & I packed the car and made food and did stuff. Vacuuming. Dishes. Laundry. Cutting up paper into millions of little pieces. Vacuuming again. Packing up toys and blankies for the car. Unpacking and playing with toys and blankies. Spilling oatmeal, peas, blueberries & honey on the floor. Washing the floor. Spilling soy milk on the floor. Washing the floor again. Getting excited about eating lunch in the car. And so forth.

But, by 1:00 C39 was home, we threw the children into the car and took off. We made good time, actually, and were in South Yarmouth by 8:30, I think.

I am definitely a September beach fan. Being on Cape Cod made me want to live on Cape Cod. It was gorgeous. And not busy (although I know it is during the summer). And just wonderful. The girls loved the beach.

Here's C4 at Race Beach in P-Town


And here is Q2 at the same beach.


After two days there, C39 & I left with a little bit of trepidation for the wedding in Vermont. We left C4 & Q2 with my parents on Cape Code (left them for the first time ever). But I got over it pretty quickly ... Vermont was amazing, gorgeous, incredible and I remembered why I liked the mountains better than the beach, and I switched back to wanting to live in Vermont and the mountains.

We visited Queeche Gorge ... nice little hike there ... C39 took this photo with the telephoto or somethingorother lens.
The "swish" of it makes it especially interesting to me since after we left to visit a farm but before we came back through on our way back, somebody decided to committ sucide at the Gorge. Apparently this happens 2-3 times a year. Usually locals, this was a man from CT. It was disturbing to drive through, see the ambulance and police cars parked there, small groups of officials looking over the edge, and sad groups of people standing around. I'm very glad we weren't there, because even having been so close you wonder if you could have helped the person and kept them from jumping. But imagine if you were right there and he'd climbed over while you were just 20 feet away and unable to do anything? Much worse.


We visited a load of covered bridges, the Morrill House in Strafford, VT. Our tour guide loved the place, obviously, and was fantastic. I would highly recommend that anybody who likes old houses & history visit if they have the opportunity. We didn't have time to visit the grounds, and both C39 and I were disappointed about that, but the wedding beckoned, and we had to get back to our B&B to get dressed.

J & A's wedding was beautiful. The food was fantastic. The music was great. And I got to meet some of the people I've been hearing about for years and years. And see some again that I haven't seen for a long time. So that was really nice.

We drove back down on Sunday, met my parents and our children in CT at a D'Angelo's in Cromwell. I recommend their classic veggie pocket. Best fast food ever.

And then we drove home. Whew.

Vacation

We had a fantastic time. I have no time to post pictures tonight.

What happened to the weekend?

Oh, yeah, a party (C39 had to stay home with the girls, but I had fun!), Port Towns Day, a trip to the National Mall, and the beginnings of preparing to go to Cape Cod. And now it is almost Monday.

We went to Port Towns Day on Saturday ... so much fun! It even started off well ... we took a bus from the parking lot to the festival area. C4 & Q2 are seasoned bus riders now, and enjoyed it.



The first thing we did was hit the bouncy castle. Free, fun, freakin' awesome. C4 crawled in and was up and away, no looking back (and this is the girl who last year wouldn't go in until Q2 went in!). Q2 was able to hold her own, even though some of the kids were bigger and had a more forceful bounce trajectory.



Then we did some crafts involving fabric paint ... that stuff doesn't come out of clothes, y'know?

Then we headed to the ... face painting. The man who did C4 & Q2 was nice enough, but really didn't know his dogs ...

View the Daschund on C4. Those are not Daschund legs!:


And even worse ... I know that some people call Chihuahuas "rat dogs" but really, this thing looks like a cross between a chipmunk, a squirrel, an anteater, and a rat. Climbing a tree.



Q2 & C4 were happy enough with them, however, so that is good enough.

I can't resist, I have to post this picture. You can't have enough hug photos, so why not.


On other fronts, C4 & Q2 are demanding "I need you!" when they go to bed. This is a mite trying. In fact, I have to go check on C4 right now, since she seems to have woken and should be brought to the potty.

I'm trying

A bit ago I finished my purse ... and the girls both wanted one. Especially C4 who liked the dog word pattern I'd picked out and the dog button I used. But the bag was much too big for her (dragged on the ground). So I scaled down the pattern, omitted the button, and made them bags:

Here is all three ... C4's is inside out:


And here they are reversed:


And here is Q2 with hers to give you an idea of size:



I'm so proud!

Next stop: Fusible interface & stabilizers. Seriously. Expect a bag for Christmas.

well, it ain't a school bus

When C39 returned from Amsterdam he brought chocolate for me in the form of cocoa & jimmies & a chocolate bar, for the girls in the form of Smarties in large tubes shaped like crayons (with real crayon tips ... I have to say these are cool).

And, best of all, clogs for the girls. Foam clogs.

C4 took one look at the clogs and gave hers to Q2, but Q2 liked them and put them on and wore them out the very next day. Day-glow orange clogs.

Q2 in orange clogs

But the highlight of the morning for me was this: Nursing the stuffed animals.

Q3 decided to nurse a horse

And C4, of course, nursed a dog.



I think their tecnique leaves a little to be desired, but we do supplement the stuffed animals with cotton wool and sawdust, so they should have enough nourishment.