The Beach

Saturday dawned sunny and warm. With a good low tide forecast for noon-ish, we headed down to the sound for some fun in the sun and sand. Unable to restrain themselves the girls trotted through tide pools as if it was August. Thankfully, it was summer-like. Searching the pools and under rocks usually there are countless crabs to be found, but oddly enough we only found one. I'm not sure why. But innumerable rocks were thrown into the water as the girls counted the sailboats going by. I hauled the girls around in the bicycle trailer. The hill leading back from the beach seems to be getting steeper. The girls total around 70 lbs now. Their weight plus the weight of the trailer means I can gain 100 lbs and still cycle ok.
 
 
 
 
 
 

Cousins

Tom, Rachael, Max, Colin and Chloe came down for the weekend. Everybody rallied at one of the girls favorite places--the Science Center. Not only do they get to practice looking cool in their shades, they get to check out the planetarium, learn about dinosaurs, watch goofball liquid nitrogen antics, see butterflies and think about eating a plate full of bugs. They love it.

The previous day the zoo hosted our clan. Wandering around the animals all day the girls grew enamored with their cousins. That night they not only named their dolls Max and Colin, they also renamed themselves. Max and Colin have practice being big brothers and it obviously shows.

The end of the weekend saw tuckered out kids at their grandparent's house getting a rare treat of watching some television.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Home Run

Isabella did a good job with a bat and ball the other day. Wearing sunglasses and swinging for the fences she hit the ball. Her mommy and I will be left arguing whose side of the family that comes from.

It's sometimes surprising what the girls are afraid of. Rightfully so, they are usually weary of strange dogs. But oddly enough they sometimes seem completely unafraid of heights. Heights scare me and I've spent a good amount of time being scared by them, often on purpose. But they seem to like physical feats. The other day I walked into my parents house only to see Isabella out of arms reach holding onto the railing and climbing up the *outside* of the stairs. Since I couldn't reach her, I had to ask her to climb back down and she did, giggling the whole way.

So they like physical activity which is cool. Kellie said when they drove on their cousins toy 4 wheeler they pushed it up and down the hill. Good girls. Motors are for wussies.
 
 
 

It's always birthday season

I don't think we can go more than 2 weeks without a birthday party. By the time their next birthday rolls around the girls will be fully versed in all the rituals. Frequently singing happy birthday (except on cue), they pretend to blow out candles. It's no longer a mystery that good things come in wrapped packages.

We went to a birthday party at a kids music center. They had a variety of instruments for the girls to attempt to break. The cello saw some action (which is one of their daddy's favorites) and keyboards usually pique some musical interest. Someday maybe we'll have to get a piano.

To top the day off, we walked a few blocks to the water so the girls could show us where octopus and sharks live. They were absolutely right about octopus. I am going to have to research how many sharks live there. But since the girls seem to remember everything they have ever heard, I tend to believe them.