Lesson learned

After spending a lazy day at home yesterday, doing things like playing with the hula hoop and painting, we had a day full of activity today. We started out with gymnastics class, followed by a trip to the pool (where we played with lots of neighborhood friends), then naptime. As a reward for napping, we took a walk to the "lollipop store" to buy some candy (Caroline got a real kick out of touching the leaves on some bushes we passed on Powhatan Ave. - see photo) and then stopped in on Bernadette and Willy. After that, we continued our walk through Larchmont and ended up at our new friends' house, the home of Jim and Katie McHugh and their boys Logan (who is Nora's age and was in her preschool class) and 6 month old Garrett. We ran into them during our walk the other night and they invited us over for dinner, which was really sweet. I had a great time getting to know Jim and Katie better, and Logan and Nora had loads of fun together. I think the highlight of Nora's evening was getting to try out Logan's two-wheeler and getting to take home a purple, helium-inflated balloon. Unfortunately, she let go of the balloon on our front steps shortly after we got home and had a complete meltdown as she watched it float up to the sky. She wanted me to get it back for her, the poor thing. Then, in between sobs, she asked me if she could watch a little t.v. because "it will make me feel better." Ahhh...still as manipulative as ever though in the depths of despair. So, naturally, I let her watch a little Noggin. She was so pathetically sad, I think I would have given her just about anything she wanted at that point -- good thing she just wanted a t.v. show and not a pony. As we got ready for bed, we discussed how important it is to hold onto balloons so that they don't float away and how tying balloons to your wrist is probably the best way to do that.

Over the river and through the woods

Okay, well, technically, we went under the Elizabeth River and through a scenic wooded stretch along VA-460W to get to the Gillikin homestead in Colonial Heights (just south of Richmond) where Kathleen, Pat and baby John William MacCubbin were visiting Kathleen's parents, Bill and Linda Gillikin. It was a smooth ride; the girls napped on the 2 hour ride there, and slept most of the way home (we left at 8 p.m.). And we had a wonderful time. It was so good to see Pat and Kathleen and to see how much John has blossomed in the past few months. He's a beautiful Irish lad, I tell ya. Nora had a hard time keeping her hands off of Linda's collectibles which are displayed throughout the house (i.e. corn husk dolls in the kitchen, a miniature village encased in a coffee table), but Pat was able to distract her with a deck of cards (he taught her how to play "war" and we taught him how to play "slap jack") while Kathleen and I took a short stroll. I enjoyed catching up a bit with Kathleen's parents after they got home from work and we sat down to dinner, and hearing about their positive experiences as career military (Army). Finally, Nora put on a show for us on the cover of Bill and Linda's hot tub (which she dubbed her "stage") while we ate a dessert of Amish Friendship Bread with fresh peaches, blueberries and whipped cream out on the deck. Caroline was thoroughly amused and chuckled quite a bit at Nora's antics, much to everyone's delight. After we said our goodbyes and pulled out of the driveway, Nora sighed and said, "That was a good time." I agreed. I'm so glad we've had the opportunity to see Pat and Kathleen a few times over the past year and look forward to more get togethers!

Keepin' cool

It was a bit warm today, but we had a steady, cool breeze that kept us comfortable almost all day. And we did lots of cool things too. We went to see a children's theater production at a small community theater not far from our house called the 40th Street Stage...it's a hole in the wall, but they do children's theater every Saturday at 11 am and do grown-up shows too (as well as comedy sketch nights). A cool find! Nora and Caroline behaved themselves pretty well. Unfortunately, the show (about Mother Goose) featured a life-size Jack-in-the-Box (with a real clown inside), which is the one toy that scares the living daylights out of Nora. So, she spent the first half of the show with her head buried in my lap. At least she didn't cry and/or scream. Caroline, on the other hand, couldn't take her eyes off the clown and started talking to the actors on stage (it wasn't happy babble, though...it was more like "Hey, what are you guys doing? And what's with that guy's yellow hair and pointy nose?"). I'm glad I brought a bottle -- that quieted her down a bit. The show itself was okay -- not the most well-written thing in the world (Mother Goose only spoke poetry, and they interwove 30 poems into the dialogue...a little tedious after a while and over most of the kids' heads), but it was fun exposing the girls to the "theahtah," since it's such a big part of the Walsh/Rudmann heritage. We stopped at the playground for a bit on our way home, then had lunch and naps. Then we picked up our veggie box at the Farmer's Market, had a tofu stir fry dinner (I can't believe they both love tofu!) and then walked over to the free outdoor concert going on behind the Constant Center at ODU. It was an acoustic trio, and they were wonderful. I'm so happy to live where we do --- we live so close to so many cool things! Oh, by the way, here's Nora playing teacher with the chalkboard/easel that Monica gave us and Aunt Irene's old chalk and eraser from her teaching days. Nora's getting better and better at writing her name by herself.

Home on the Range

We spent another day close to home today and ended up having a lot of fun. We built a tent in the sunroom with an old sheet and had a tea party with Minnie, Mickey and Mr. Bear (and even Caroline was permitted to attend), played dress up with Aunt Irene's old slips and gloves and played in the backyard and picked the first ripe cucumber from our garden. After naps (yay! they napped!), we walked over to Monica's to say our final farewells (by the way, "Home on the Range" is the Kansas state song, which is where they're moving) and took a walk with her and the boys to the corner market near their house (we call it the "ice cream store," they call it the "gum store") and bought lollipops. Then it was home for dinner, baths and bedtime. All in all, a good day. I'm looking forward to hanging out with Bernadette tonight, and am thinking of taking the girls to a local children's theater production in the morning.

Attack of the 2 1/2 Foot Woman

Earlier this morning, I was upstairs putting something away when I heard Nora yell "No, Caroline!" and then heard a loud grunt and growl out of Caroline. I came downstairs to find Nora attempting to play nicely with her miniature cars and garage, and Caroline grabbing whatever cars she could get and putting them in her mouth. It was something straight out of King Kong or Godzilla and I had to laugh outloud and take a picture. Other than that excitement, it was a relatively quiet day; we played at home this morning just to be on stand-by in case Monica needed to escape her house with the boys (the packers arrived today at her house). I was only able to get the girls to nap by taking them for a drive for a 1/2 hr., but hey...whatever it takes, man. After naps, Nora helped Bernadette walk Willy around our neighborhood while Caroline and I followed behind, in hot pursuit of the ice cream truck, which we could hear nearby (alas, we lost him!). Then it was dinner, and a quick visit to Monica's to say hi and pick up an easel she's passing on to us, and a last stop at the University Market on Powhatan Ave. to pick up a push pop for Nora and Chardonnay for mommy. (It's been a long week!) I've forgotten to mention in my previous posts how much Caroline is "talking" these days...she's progressed from "bah bah" to "eh" and "eh-duh" (see? She's learned your name already, Grandpa!) and, finally, "da-duh." Mike got to hear all of that on the phone during our short conversation this afternoon, which was nice. Not sure what the plan is for tomorrow, other than watching a movie with Bernadette after the girls go to sleep. I'm sure we'll think of something fun!

Hit me with your best shot

It was a hot and sticky morning here, and although things went a little more smoothly today than yesterday, I still found myself flustered and stressed a various points throughout the day. We went to gymnastics class, then did a quick trip to the commissary, and finished off the morning with a trip to the pool (which is what did me in, I think, although the girls had a good time). It was our last day at the pool with Monica, Thomas and Zach, and Bronwyn made cupcakes in their honor, which both Nora and Caroline got to sample. It was Caroline's first cupcake and she loved it! (see her in photo with Monica) The girls napped as severe thunderstorms rolled into town. We had a late afternoon visit from Judy and Taylor, and then more thunderstorms during dinner and bedtime. And another one just started (4th, by my count). I had a hard time getting the girls to eat their dinners and, seeing that there was still another hour until bedtime, felt pretty stressed and overwhelmed. So, I thought, what would Daddy do if he were here? Guitar Hero! So, believe it or not, I broke out the XBox 360 and, under the pseudonym "Rockmom," entertained Nora and Caroline with a couple of songs, including Nora's favorite Pat Benetar. We all had fun, and I discovered that I really like "Paint it Black" by the Rolling Stones. I rocked, if I do say so myself, and didn't get booed off once!

Back to basics

Just like after our big trip to Washington, we hit a few bumps in the road today during our transition back to reality and the old routine here at home. I spent a better part of the day trying to get Nora to rephrase her requests from demand form into question form, and had to give her three time outs: one for trying to feed her baby doll apple juice from her cup on the sunroom couch (want to guess where the apple juice ended up?), one for staring me down and saying "no" when I told her to get out of her sister's exersaucer, and one for pushing Caroline down onto the ground at Bernadette's house (where we went for dinner). Caroline was a walk in the park compared to Nora...she napped when she was supposed to and was full of smiles, as usua. One of our more fun moments together today was when Nora hid in a storage box I pulled out of the garage and jumped out to surprise Caroline (see photos...Nora took the last one!). We stayed close to home today, venturing out only to pick up a few things at the fabric store, buy some ice cream and then go to Bernadette's for dinner. It was so nice of Bernadette to have us over - she is so easy to talk to, so patient with the girls, and never seems to be bothered by their antics (i.e. Nora screaming and chasing Willy around the house, Caroline trying to pull up on everything). We are so lucky to have her as a friend!