Useless

C42 and I have been reading the Narnia series to Q5 at bedtime. Currently we are reading Prince Caspian. Sometimes Q5 has been less than attentive, but she has of late been quite engaged by it, to the point of also listening to the BBC radio play near constantly.




Currently she is listening to "Voyage of the Dawn Treader." She had just reached the part where Eustace turned into a dragon when the CD ended, and she needed the next CD.

Q5: Mumma! Eustace just turned into a dragon!
E41: Really! How did that happen?
Q5: He slept on a dragon's treasure!

After this we arrived at the pack of CDs with the radio play to get the next CD. The next CD had a dragon's tail on it.

Q5: Mumma! Is that Useless' tail??
E41: Useless? Yes, it is.

I gave her the CD and she put it in. Off we go.

Trip to the Mall

The National Mall, that is.

We decided to go down to the Mall with Uncle A to the Natural History Museum (at C6's request) to see the rocks and minerals. Since it is summer we left a wee bit early and got the Mall by 9:30 so we could get a parking space. Parking space duly found and occupied, we exited the car and looked around and saw the carousel.

Ah, the carousel. We headed over, but it, too, was not open yet. Poor Q5, she was very desperate for it to open.





Finally, after multiple trips around the carousel, many chats with the operator, a few stops to pet dogs, and a lot of standing in a non-existant line, the carousel opened, and they BOLTED in and onto the horses they'd chosen from outside the gates, and tied themselves up.






We managed to keep them down to one ride and then off to the museum.

We saw (and played with) a lodestone (a stone that had been struck by lightening and has been made magnetic). See those paperclips?




C6 was in good form and was very amenable to to getting pictures taken.

C6 with a rock that she liked. She's propped up her gemstones book!




We were going throug the Kenneth E. Behring Hall of Mammels at Q5's request, and stopped to watch the movie about Morgie and mammels. In the theater C40 asked C6 to pose with this guy. I am amazed that C42 managed to get this photo!!




We breezed through the David H. Koch
Hall of Human Origins where Q5 was amazed at the size of the "Hobbits" Q5 was taller than the average "Hobbit" woman. There are lots of interesting things in that hall, but we managed to get out and into the Sant Ocean Hall

While at the Sant Ocean Hall Q5 stood in front of a small aquarium for a good long time. I heard C6 yelling "Q5!" from a distance, but didn't see her for about 5 minutes, when she came to rest 2 feet from us an leaned against a wall and sighed and said to C42, "I can't find Q5 anywhere!"

So, after they looked at the aquarium together C6 took Q5 back to what she'd wanted to show her. A stuffed penguin.





Then we went home. SOMEBODY in our party was getting hungry and cranky. Me.

New morning routine

Q5: Wait wait wait everybody.
Q5: I was thinking, what if I wake up in the middle of the night, put on my clothes and my shoes and [hand in the middle of the air waving back and forth] -- stop laughing stop laughing! -- brush my teeth and brush my hair and come downstairs and have breakfast and sit very quietly and wait for daddy to wake up?
C42: How about, if you wake up in the middle of the night you go back to sleep?

Ocean City, NJ

We spent a few days at Ocean City, NJ this week, visiting friends and the beach.

C42 and C6 played putt-putt golf (C6 got the high score of 147)




We walked along the boardwalk and ate pizza at Mack and Manco's and frozen custard at Kohr's.




But most importantly, I think C6 would attest, we visited the amusement parks.

On the bumper cars:




Bumper boats:




The swings:




The rollar coaster:




Q5's favorite, the carousel:




Q5 is very picky about what rides she goes on. She wasn't sure about going on the kiddie log flume ride, but she decided she could go on if I went on. You had to be under 62" tall, so I squeeeeeeked in. OK, fine, I sashayed in, it wasn't a problem.





And the antique cars:




C42's favorite part of the trip might have been the ferry home.

Sprinkler fun

How well do you know Q5? She is very sensory oriented. She'll do anything to stimulate her senses. At bedtime if I snuggle with her I'll squeeze her foot or leg in time with music to help her relax. She likes it if I rub her belly briskly.

This carries over to her daytime being, too. The more her senses are stimulated the better.

Here is one of her new favorite things to do ... it is loud, cold, and can make you dizzy. She is using her ears, skin, eyes, probably her mouth drinking the water. I think it is Q5 heaven.

Dunkin' Donuts

Yes, I love Dunkin' Donuts. And so do C6 & Q5, of course. What is not to love? Sweet, sweet, fatty delicious donuts!

Today after my run I offered to walk with them to D&D if they had a protein-filled breakfast. We did this a few times last summer, fairly successfully for C5, but Q4 just couldn't walk the whole way without collapsing into a crying heap. Both girls agreed, C6 had a veggie hotdog for breakfast, and Q5 an egg. And out the door we went.

We started off at 8:13 am, very happily walking hand in hand. This was not a powerwalk, to be sure, but more of a friendly family stroll.




I'm not sure how long it took us to get there, but C6, upon finishing her doughnut, told me it was worth it.





And the walk home, where any tiredness and trouble is likely to emerge, was easy. C6 walked the last quarter mile home herself, and let herself in the house.





Q5 complained about feeling sick, but never stopped walking and never started to whine.




The whole trip took over an hour and a half to walk a mile there, eat in the store, and walk a mile home. But it was worth it.

No-fair part 2

Last year we instituted a "No-fair" policy which was quite effective. I rarely rarely hear it. Until yesterday, when C6 had opened her window and Q5 couldn't open hers, and so I opened hers for her, just a crack, both windows. That of course, set her off, because C6 had STUCK HER HEAD OUT HER WINDOW and Q5 COULDN'T and it WASN'T FAIR!

Whoops. It sure isn't fair that C6 stuck her head out the window and I wouldn't let Q5, but now we can't have icecream until Sunday.