Two in a Tent!

Elizabeth and Ashley are having a ton of fun...TOGETHER!

Ashley has long been interested in doing what BIG SISTER is doing. But now, Elizabeth is also discovering that some things are more fun with TWO!
Ashley doesn't quite understand all the "rules" of dual play—like sharing and making room for others, etc. But, have no fear...Elizabeth is sure to educate her in NO time! ;-)

Summer Cruisin'

It's hard to believe the years have gone by so fast...
but our eldest daughter is now behind the wheel of her first convertible!

YIKES! Clear the roads and look out!
No, seriously.

So...the story behind this little pink baby is that I scored it at a garage sale across the street from our house in Michigan last summer for the low-low bargain price of $20. (I know, right?!?! :-)) Anyway, the plan was to give it to Elizabeth (& Ashley) for Christmas...but then, well...we up and moved! So the jeep spent Christmas in a moving truck and while we spent it in a hotel in Pittsburgh! By the time we did get around to celebrating Christmas, there was a lot of snow on the ground and somehow it just didn't feel like the best time to do it. So we decided to put it off for a while. Then I came up with a grand plan to give it to her for Mother's Day! (Yes...why not? I mean...after all, they are the reason I get to celebrate Mother's Day!) Excellent plan foiled when the battery took over 72 hours to CHARGE! Oopsie! So...we again decided to postpone it for a bit.
So, today, while the girls were taking naps, Peter and I were cleaning out the carport area for the painters to come on Wednesday, and we decided to pull it out and get it all ready to give to E & A when they woke up! It was a GORGEOUS day and just perfect for cruising down the driveway!

E was THRILLED when she saw it, but was a little skeptical, too: "Is it for ME?!?!?!" (Hmmm...considering this is a PINK BARBIE JEEP, perhaps this would typically viewed as an odd question. But a few months ago, she accidentally discovered a portion of it hidden under a blanket, and clearly, she recalled being told "No, no..that's Daddy's!" LOL)

Here she is trying to reconcile whether or not the jeep actually belongs to her now...




Anyway, after that was cleared up, she hopped right in and we coached her on how to put the pedal to the metal! This resulted in a lot of abrupt stops and starts and tons of giggles. It's more difficult than you might imagine for a 3 year-old to control a foot pedal and steering wheel–at the same time!

As soon as Ashley woke up, we plopped her in the passenger seat so Elizabeth could take her for a ride!
Elizabeth seemed a wee bit nervous being the one in charge of the driving...but Ashley could not be more excited! I have a feeling that once E gets the hang of it, she will have a willing passenger anytime!




Honestly, I think Ashley would have stayed in there all afternoon!


Something tells me this was a wise investment! Hello, Summer!

Day Trip to the District

As I mentioned in the previous post, the girls and I took a little day trip in to the District last week to the Air & Space Museum.

We arrived just before the museum opened at 10:00am. As soon as we entered the building, we got our FREE tickets to the One World One Sky show (featuring Big Bird and Elmo!) and headed to the planetarium theater to wait for the show to begin.

Ashley was more than fascinated by how the seat wanted to fold her up into a little pancake...she kept flapping her legs up and down and found it very amusing!

After the show, we walked around for a bit, and the girls each had a snack. I like to call this one "synchronized snacking"! haha!
Then, we made sure to stop at all the fountains that we had hurriedly passed on our way from the metro to the museum. Elizabeth was soooo excited by the ENORMITY of this one that she would barely hold still for a picture!
I did manage to get her to hold still for about a half second--sort of. Honestly, I know this picture looks posed...but in reality she was in the middle of alternately swinging her arms behind and in front of her while giggling and tippy-toeing next to the water! I just happened the snap this at the right moment.

This was taken in front of the "wishing fountain" from the previous post...just outside the Smithsonian Gardens.
And this last one...well...it was probably the MOST fun of all because it just comes spurting out of the ground, just begging for bare feet to splash in!



Fun day!

Mommy's Favorite Wish!

While on a little visit to the National Air & Space Museum last Friday, Elizabeth wanted to stop at EVERY fountain we passed. So, on the way back to the metro, we did just that. At this one, she saw all the pennies, nickels, and dimes in the bottom and begged me to let her throw money in the "wishing fountain"! (Can you tell we have done this before??)

Anyway, except for the tiny little grammar issue (sorry--the teacher in me had to say it!), I think you will enjoy her wish as much as I did!

"There's an Animal In Trouble..."

So...Elizabeth was recently introduced to this TV show called WonderPets! (Actually, I don't think she has seen a whole episode of it. Instead, she saw an ad for WonderPets that came on while she was watching something else.) At any rate...they have this catchy little tune they sing that includes the phrase: "There's an animal in trouble..." And, of course, the WonderPets' mission is to go and rescue said animal.

This morning, Elizabeth thought it would be a fun idea to dress Little Sister up in her caterpillar outfit and add butterfly wings (with Mom's help!) so that Ashley could play the part of an "animal in trouble"...and, naturally, it was Elizabeth's job to RESCUE her!

Not sure Ashley knew what to make of this grand plan! What do you think?

Cracker!!!

Ashley is quickly acquiring some new words! Hooray! Trouble is...once she "has" these words, she often refuses to USE them! Stubborn little thing!

In this video, you can hear her say cracker at the very beginning...and then, of course, she only says it again once the camera pans away! Enjoy!

Social Butterfly?...Maybe not so much!

This post is a little overdue...but I just ran across these pictures and it makes me laugh. This is Elizabeth at a birthday party in February.
Now, to be fair, she did not know ANY of these children, whereas they all knew each other b/c they attend the same class at day care. She even met the Birthday Boy (the son of one of Peter's grad school classmates) for the first time when we arrived at the party! They live about 25 minutes away in Maryland and were kind enough to invite us to the event, which was held at a local sportsplex...included bounce house (which E LOVED!!!) and cake and ice cream.

Every picture looks like Elizabeth just didn't know quite what to make of the whole situation.

I should mention, though, that she said she had a great time! LOVED the bounce house and cake and ice cream time! Just wasn't all that thrilled with having to interact with the other kids! LOL

On another note, I can report that, as she was playing on the playscape at the dentist's office this morning (yes...a HUGE playscape like they have at fast food places...IN the waiting room!), I overheard little Elizabeth informing other kids (herself?) at least two years older than she, "Okay...'it's your turn now' ...that's what you say when someone else wants a turn.'" Oh, brother! ;-)

The Picture Is In My Mind

Well...as the title to this post suggests, I don't have a picture to accompany this blog entry. But at the suggestion of a friend, thought it was a good idea to document this afternoon's events.

Today is the first day of Daddy's summer school evening class. So, as most Tuesdays are when class is in session, it was a LONG day. After the girls awoke from their naps, we were playing around in the living room...and it was so nice outside that I suggested that we take a walk. Well...E wanted none of that. She just wanted to "play outside" in the front yard...fine, fine...just so long as we were OUTSIDE for a while! So, I grabbed the large picnic quilt from the hall closet spread it out on the front lawn along with the little inflatable innertube for Ashley to climb in and out of.

Once outside, Ashley and I plopped down on the quilt and E wandered around outside for a while. Then, she joined us on the blanket and the two of us lay on our backs and I started pointing out the movement of the clouds. A was curious and came scooch/crawling over to us and I promise you she squirmed herself RIGHT SMACK IN THE MIDDLE of us and joined us on her back looking up at the clouds as well. The three of us just relaxed there together, pointing at birds, laughing at different sounds (helicopters, planes, chirping birds) and observing the trees and cloud formations. We must have remained there for a good 15 minutes! No joke! It was at that point that it occurred to me that this was one of those moments that was not likely to repeat itself again. It was bliss!

I LOVE my girls so much and this time together was PRECIOUS beyond words!

Eventually, Elizabeth got up and then Ashley rolled over and, as more and more cars began driving down the road, E exclaimed "We're watching all the Daddies come home!" Hilarious!

Great afternoon! And now it is permanently etched into my memory! So grateful to be at home with these two angels! XO