Oh, the drama!

Nora was "on" today. I don't know what she ate or drank, but she was high energy all day long. She performed "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" and "I've Been Workin' on the Railroad" for strangers on a bench at the zoo, causing her friend Claire to bury her head in her hand with embarrassment (her reaction to "drama," according to mom Alli). She skipped her nap, and then ran around the Hermitage playground all afternoon with her friends Taylor, Lauren and Pippa (don't you just love that name?!). Caroline pretty much took a back seat today (literally and figuratively), although she is starting to assert herself around her sister. She's taken a few swats at Nora whenever Nora has gotten too close or plays too rough with her, and she's starting to fight back. I even caught her pulling Nora's hair at the zoo. Luckily for me, Nora thinks it's funny. It won't be long, though, before they're pulling each other's hair and screaming at the top of their lungs. Mike, help! Come home soon! :-)

Acoustic music festival

Last night, we met up with Bernadette, her mom Maureen, and brothers Tom, Jerry, Frank and Charlie (all visiting from California) to enjoy some free folk music at the waterside park downtown. We spread out a picnic dinner and caught the end of the band Eddie from Ohio and a good part of the Old Crow Medicine Show. The music was great, as was the company, and Nora and Caroline especially loved being entertained by the Coughlin boys (and they loved entertaining!) Nora also had fun trying her hand at taking pictures with our digital cameras...she's getting better (see last photo)!

Relaxing day at home

We didn't do much today. Our big outings consisted of a morning trip to the commissary and afternoon walk over to ODU to check out "India Fest." We stayed to watch a few Bollywood dance numbers performed by young kids. Nora loved the costumes and jewelry on the girls, and Caroline enjoyed jumping up and down to the beat. At one point, we took a break and played around the water fountain on campus. As Mike observed today on the phone, it really does seem like Nora and Caroline are becoming friends. Nora has learned to calm Caroline down by singing "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star," and Caroline lights up whenever Nora walks into the room.

KISS

Among the many words of wisdom my mother spoke to me this past week (when she wasn't getting on my case! ha ha) was the acronym KISS ("Keep It Simple, Stupid"). KISS is what helped me decide to leave the restaurant on my birthday and opt for pizza and beer instead, and KISS is what led to us eating a simple dinner of fish sticks, spinach and leftover mac & cheese on Tuesday night, after we opted to meet Judy and Taylor at the playground just before 5. And KISS is what inspired us to spend a morning playing with the new empty box from Diapers.com, the biggest box we've ever received. It works as a cave, a jack-in-the-box, a train, plane or car, a telephone booth (do they even exist anymore?), and even, dare I say, a coffin (yes, I know...we're going to have weird kids...it's okay, it's too late anyway...it's in their DNA). I don't think we've ever gotten any pictures of the girls as happy as they are playing with the box in these photos. Hmmm...wonder if I could save some money and just wrap up empty boxes for them for Christmas this year?! But that would probably be cruel, and would come back to haunt me later in life, the way my handmade Amish Cabbage Patch Knockoff continues to haunt mom to this day.

I'm so excited...and I just can't hide it!

So Nora and Caroline have invented a new game, which, for lack of a better term, I'll dub "The Screaming Game." Caroline screams, then Nora screams, or vice versa, and so it goes until I have to break them up. And not just any scream...these are high pitched squeals, the kind that could send all the neighborhood dogs this way. And when Caroline screams, she opens up her mouth wide and tucks her chin into her chest as she lets out her scream. It's hysterical, and I did my best to capture it on camera. I hope to catch it on video soon. We've had a nice weekend. We attempted to celebrate my birthday with a dinner at a nice fish restaurant out in Virginia Beach, but after Nora and Caroline started the opening rounds of "The Screaming Game" while looking at their reflections in the mirror behind our booth, Omi and I decided to call it quits and just go home for pizza and beer (milk for Nora, of course!). We're headed to a classical music concert at ODU tonight and then Omi leaves tomorrow afternoon to return to NY. Let's hope she has a safe trip home and that her concerns about crazy LaGuardia Airport are unfounded!

Ah, autumn!

Although autumn doesn't officially begin until Monday, today sure felt like the first day of fall. It was beautiful - crisp air, clear blue skies, fallen leaves crunching under your feet. We're back to our normal routine (Nora had school this morning), but it's a lot more fun having Omi here to keep us company. After naps, we went back to the Ocean View beach for a picnic dinner. It was a little windy and a bit chilly, but the girls had a blast anyway. I ran back and forth across the waves lapping at the shore with Nora, and then brought Caroline down to dip her feet. Earlier today, we dressed Caroline in a pair of embroidered overalls that Ellen or Carol made for me when I was a baby...our little vintage baby. Caroline's been drooling lots, so Omi suspects that more teeth are coming (because teeth always seem to erupt when she's here for a visit!). She's getting stronger and stronger and it won't be long before she's taking steps (Caroline, that is). She's also trying to say words that begin with "b," like ball, bear and bottle. She pronounces them all the same ("Buh"), but she seems to know that those objects start with "b."

Aunt Alli got married!

Congrats Aunt Alli and Uncle Gregory! What a weekend. A great time was had by all, although I wish I hadn't hung out at the bar so long (and drank so much) on Friday night. Sorry your matron of honor was a bit "fuzzy" on Saturday, Alli! But I probably had my best conversations that night, between the rehearsal, rehearsal dinner and partying at the bar. When's the next time that Dutch will buy me a red wine, or that I get to hear Daniel Birney trying to get Matt to "cast a line" to the ladies at the corner table, or get to watch Matty and Dad-Bob get into heated political discussion (see classic photo of them in action). Alli, you were a gorgeous bride and Gregory looked, well, pretty good too. :-) We're all thrilled for both of you - and thanks for throwing such a great party! (And thanks to Annie and Daniel for hosting us on our way up north on Wednesday, and for reading bedtime stories to Nora!)

Symphony at the zoo

We went to the zoo with Bernadette tonight to hear the symphony give a free concert. It was mobbed, but we finally found a parking spot and found a place to sit just in time. It was lots of fun, and we ran into a couple of people we knew. The girls had a blast, although Nora had to learn how to deal with a bit of rejection, when a little girl nearby refused to let Nora dance with her, after Nora asked politely (due to my encouragement). I felt so bad. But she made a quick rebound after we formed a circle with Caroline and started jumping up and down to the music. Less than a week to go until Aunt Alli's wedding -- woo hoo!

Stormy weather

Well, after all the hype about Hurricane Hanna, we ended up getting a bit of rain and wind yesterday, but not much more. We spent the morning inside, playing and baking apple bread, and then ventured outside around 4 p.m. to go puddle jumping and collect fallen leaves and sticks. We had a delicious dinner at Bernadette's (with the apple bread and vanilla ice cream for dessert), and then after the kids were in bed, Bernadette came over so that we could continue watching the John Adams DVD. Abigail Adams is my hero(ine)! (By the way, Nora took the pictures of Caroline, and Mommy & Caroline)

I'm ready for my close-up, Mr. De Mille

Today was Nora's first day back at Loch Meadow Kindergarten. Yippee! She had a great time, and one of her teachers told me that Nora even taught them a song (the pirate song that we learned at story hour at the library). I'm so proud of her! Caroline was probably hoping for a little one-on-one time with Mommy, but it was not to be...had to stop at the bank and then do grocery shopping (to prepare for a possible tropical storm this weekend). We all had a fun lunch together...we discovered that Caroline loves cold apple slices. I was trying to take photos of her joyously crunching on an apple slice when she gave me this movie star pose. What a riot. After naps, we headed over to the Ocean View library to return books, borrow new books and play in their awesome kids' section. Then, I came up with the brilliant plan of buying Subway sandwiches for dinner and walking the kids over to the boardwalk/beach for a sunset dinner and beach playtime. It was fantastic...we got home just after 8 p.m. We need to enjoy as much of the good weather as we can, since Hurricane Hanna seems to be on her way.

C is for cookie

This afternoon we said goodbye to the last 6 Oreos from the package of Oreo cookies that has been living on top of our refrigerator for over a week. We each had 2 cookies and enjoyed them thoroughly, but Caroline was by far the most enthusiastic. Am I a bad parent for giving a 10 month old 2 Oreos? That's probably half of her caloric intake for the day. But it's so much fun to watch! Caroline is full of surprises these days...she can wave hello/goodbye, will clap her hands if you sing "If You're Happy And You Know It" or "Open, Shut Them," and has started to shake her head back and forth. She first did it last night, as I tried to feed her 2 day old stir fried tofu (can you blame her?!). While I think she's primarily using it to say "no," I caught her practicing the head shake today for no apparent reason. She's probably working on perfecting it so that she's prepared for the next time mom tries to shove more nastiness in her mouth. We had a good day today - met up with Alli Paul and daughters Claire and Elise at the playground this morning, and then had a short playdate with Taylor after naptime. Tomorrow is open house at Nora's preschool (which starts Thurs. - YAY!) and gymnastics, and will probably also include a trip to the mall to buy Nora some new shoes and a pretty outfit for Caroline for Allison's wedding. Enjoy the Oreo pics and the photo dad took of us Rudmann girls at the zoo on Friday.