Morning at the Park

Cool, clear morning, with no other committments: time to go to the park!


(Tell me: are her bangs fashionably long... or am I late on the haircut?)

Family Dinner at Grandpa's

Saturday afternoon we packed up two kids, two loaves of french bread, one mommy, one chocolate cake, and a daddy and headed out the door for dinner with all my family in the area. I love that there are so many of us here. True, we're missing a lot of folks, but when we get everyone together we're fourteen strong, plus two dogs.

Which means I get to make BIG cakes. I love big cakes.

You know, you've got to keep your eye one Wonder Daddy. Now that he's not studying, he has free time...and a spring in his step...and when you're not looking, he's out with his face in the flowers, snapping macro shots!

Good shootin', Daddy!

Oh, and if you ever find yourself with leftover chocolate cake it makes a fabulous trifle with pudding, the leftover whipped cream, cherry pie filling, and chocolate chips. And yes, it sounds gross: that's why I don't often make trifles. It's hard to get myself worked up about making something that looks more like a mud pie than something fit to serve company. But OH is it ever good!

A Day at the Science Center

A few weeks ago Ernie filled her jar, and we were due for another family outing: she chose "Let's go to the museum together like a family!"

We had a really nice Saturday morning at the local science museum, and the kids especially enjoyed the childrens' section. We were there when the doors opened, so practically had the place to ourselves!

Mimi couldn't believe someone left all this water, just at her height. She loves to splash.

Oh, yes we're still using the baby wrap regularly. I can easily carry her twenty pounds for hours this way, and she loves it. She'll be happpy, strapped to me, for HOURS longer than she's content to ride in the stroller.

Wonder Daddy made a neat little fort!

Is anyone else impressed she knew this was a caterpillar?

Photo Editing: A Fun Thing to Do !

I've been messing around with a downloaded version of Google's photo editing software, Picasa 3. I love it! It's easy to use, cleverly designed, makes my photos look great, and has this great collage functionality that I'm totally addicted to right now. Here is my latest family-portrait mashup.

What do you use to edit your photos?

Portland Zoo

We spent last weekend in Portland- Wonder Daddy rode the Seattle-to-Portland bike ride, so we thought we'd combine a bit of sight-seeing and family-visiting with our Wonder-Daddy-meeting-at-the-other-end.

A few things didn't go as planned- Wonder Daddy and his friend thought they'd drive themselves to the 4:30 start time, but found out the night before parking passes had to be pre-purchased. Saturday morning found our whole, happy, sleepy family in the car an on the road at 3:45- Mimi was rather confused about the whole thing.

The girls and I stopped for an hour for breakfast, and made it to our desination where we'd be staying with family around 9:00...and as I was unbuckling Mimi, the call came: "I've been in a wreck. Can you come pick me up?" Sweet Aunt D collected my extremely sleep-deprived children into her home, and I hit the road to a spot two hours away. Poor Wonder Daddy- he was travelling 27 MPH in the "fast" column when a fellow in the "slow" column decided HE wanted to be fast too, right in front of Wonder Daddy! He wasn't quite fast enough to merge, and with nowhere to dodge, Wonder Daddy had to hit the brakes. The front wheel of the fellow behind him locked into Wonder Daddy's back derailer and both bikes were toast. Thankfully, mercifully, and perhaps miraculously, neither man was hurt. I picked up Wonder Daddy at the home of the "guy in back," and we loaded the poor bike (with a back wheel so bent it couldn't turn) onto the bike rack and started the 2-hour drive back to his aunt's house. Quick shower for Wonder Daddy, a well-deserved milk snack for Mimi, and we were on the road once more to visit my grandparents in a near-by suburb.

We had a lovely weekend, and Wonder Daddy's aunt and uncle were so to let us stay at their home, pick their fantastic blueberries, and be so welcoming.

Monday morning we took the girls to the Portland Zoo on the way out of town- here are a few pictures!

Fourth of July Morning

Ernie ran her first race on Independence Day- the neighborhood hosted a small (1/4 mile) fun run for the kids, then a longer 3-mile run for adults. Ernie was so excited! She woke up early, suited up in her running clothes (just like Mommy and Daddy) and had me braid her hair tight.

Here she is, waiting on the stairs for us.

She's not excited at all!

Big stretches to get ready for the race!

"Is it time to go yet?"

Here she is, at the starting line

And...Mimi is NOT impressed.

Recovery after the race- it was a long 1/4 mile!

Her trusty "support" staff- he ran with her, and encourage her to keep going ("Yes, that's a daisy. Yes, that car is red. No, let's not walk- keep going!")

And finally, her triumphant finish!

Birthday Portraits

In what I hope is a tradition, we had some portraits taken of Ernie for her birthday- these were taken by our good friend "The Berninger" at the local zoo. Isn't Ernie a ham?! These are a few of my favorites.

Was it worth it?

I gained a half hour to make dinner...but what have I lost??

Princess for a Day

Ernie's very FIRST birthday party! We had a blast- thank you EVERYONE who called and wrote today to wish her a happy birthday. For the last few weeks, every time she's seen a "24" she stops and exclaims "Mom! That's my BIRTHDAY!" So no, she wasn't excited at all.

Here are the party kids, in their "princess" and "King" hats.

With every iteration of our plans for today, Ernie would pipe up "and Duck Duck Goose!" It's a favorite game of hers, and VERY hard to play during the day with just Mommy for a companion.

It's been a LONG time since I've seen Ernie have so much fun! All the kids were such a joy to have here, and a HUGE thank you to T and "the Berninger" for coming to help. (Well, The Berninger was especially invited- she's one of E's special friends. But she WAS a huge help.

We finished the day by going as a family to see the Pixar movie "Up", then a quiet family dinner, presents, cake, and a well-deserved bed time. (And yes, we found out the movie was a little scary for Ernie- she ended up in Wonder Daddy's lap. The parts that most concerned her weren't what I was expecting-- the house catching fire, the house finally floating away-- along with the ones you'd expect --any chase scene, and any time someone was "dangling." Probably not a movie she'd choose to watch again any time soon, but Wonder Daddy and I really enjoyed it.

Piano

See, all this time I thought I was doing pretty well on the piano.  I push the keys, I push the pedals...but along comes Mimi.

I see now, I should have been EATING it.  

Singing Time!

Oh, it just warms my heart to see my youngest daughter stretching her musical wings... and I still humbly suggest that she's part eagle.  Or pterodactyl.

Old MacDonald Had a Pterodactyl from Myrnie Twin on Vimeo.

My Girls

My girls are so different, and love each other so much.

Yes, I'm pretty sure this is what heaven is.  I fall in love all over again, watching them fall in love with each other.

The Girls Eating Lunch from Myrnie Twin on Vimeo.

It's kind of funny...

So Aunt LoLo and I live on opposite sides of the country.  Our daughters are vanilla and chocolate (om nom nom) and they're 15 months apart.

They also look like sisters (sharing those Mama genes, you know) and their language seems to be following eerily similar courses.  

Now go here and tell me what you think.