Super Stuff in St. Louis!

The girls and hubby were out of school last week for spring break.  I took off on Thursday and Friday, and we enjoyed a short getaway to St. Louis.

We had a great time taking in the arch, the zoo – including the sea lion show – and plenty of green areas in downtown.  We ate some yummy food, and talked to some interesting people.  And we even got to meet a longtime bloggy friend in person, which made my heart smile.

At the zoo!

It was a wonderful, MUCH-needed break.  The sights and sounds were fantastic…but some of the best memories come outta the mouths of my sweet babes.

At supper on Friday night, we found ourselves in a family-style diner (I guess you’d call it) right downtown.  I was thinking about a burger, but the server really bragged about their pasta.  I ordered the girls a pasta dish with mushrooms and spinach, and when it came, I thought it looked delicious.  Apparently, B wasn’t quite as convinced.  She took her first bite, though, and immediately declared, “This tastes a lot better than it looks.”  HAHAHAHA!!!  It was a compliment in her book, but I'm not sure the chef would have thought so.

Daddy and the girls at dinner.

The next morning, we found an excellent place for breakfast (Rooster).  They serve a great menu of unique dishes using locally sourced ingredients…just our kind of place.  I ordered the girls a big breakfast platter to share.  B, who was sitting next to me, really liked the potatoes.  She addressed her daddy, who was sitting across the table from her, next to A, “Daddy, you really have to try some of Sissy’s potatoes!”  HA!  I thought it was too funny that she volunteered her sister to share!

Daddy and B traversing a downtown fountain.

On Saturday afternoon, I really wanted a coffee from the Starbucks in our hotel.  Baby A waited in the lobby with her daddy, and B went inside with me.  While we waited on my coffee, I encouraged B to stand by the window.  “Wave to the people on the sidewalk,” I told her.  She did, and so enthusiastically!  It was so much fun to see people walking by, getting a kick out of her big smile and voracious waves.

Baby A was fascinated with the arch, and the zoo, and the view of the Mississippi river from our hotel room.  Just as fascinating, though, was the construction going on next to our hotel.  On Sunday morning she exclaimed, “Look!  Yesterday that was flat, and today there are big huge piles of dirt!”  HA!

Baby A, looking out the window at the construction.

Baby A, true to herself, found any opportunity to RUN.  Just like in Central Park in NYC, I loved seeing this kiddo take off in the open field beneath the arch.  It’s amazing to watch her, no matter where we are…but doubly incredible to see her doing her thing in such a picturesque setting!!!

Playing tag on a random patch of grass.

The girls shared a full-size bed in the hotel…for the first time, sleeping in the “normal” direction, as opposed to perpendicular to the rest of us.  Baby A slept closest to me, and I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw her hop out of the bed one morning.  She is such a big girl!!!  It seems like just last year I was having to give the girls a boost into a bed like that!!!

And we had quite a few “twin” moments.  It probably happened at least 10 times, when people came over, out of their way, to ask if the girls were twins.  I know this is an annoyance to many twin mamas…but I’m savoring these inquiries.  I know they won’t last forever, and I love the opportunity to brag about my babies!

So very thankful for the {expected} super stuff of a getaway...and the wonderful {unexpected} surprises.

My heart is full!!!

Football = Soccer ???

...well, not in this country…but I can see my sweet kiddos trying to figure it all out.

This mama is a huge football fan (of the American sort), Alabama Crimson Tide football, to be more exact.  While it was only over the last year that we actually let the girls watch any football (the TV is rarely on while the girls are awake), they’ve been decked in Crimson and White since they were tiny.

Soccer also runs deep at our house.  I didn’t grow up with the sport, buy my hubby lives and breathes it.  It’s his true passion.

The girls have logged much more English Premier League soccer time in front of the telly than they have football, for sure.  And we play a lot of it, too…in our basement, in the front yard, and every chance we get to go to the park.

I see the sports as being so completely different, but I recognize now they can cause a little confusion to the wee ones.

We were at the park a few weeks ago, kicking the soccer ball around.  Baby A did something really nice, and I congratulated her, “That was AWESOME!”  She threw her little hands in the air and yelled, “TOUCHDOWN!”

Daddy just shook his head.

I got my turn at head shaking during the Alabama game this past weekend.  During the first quarter, the opposing team scored first on a field goal.  After a few minutes (still during the first quarter), B said somberly, “Mommy, I don’t think Alabama is going to win.”  WHY would you say that, Sweetie???  “Well, they have three goals, and we don’t have any.”

I had to laugh (perhaps to keep from crying)!

...hmmm...maybe they can play soccer at The University of Alabama...yes, that's it!!!

I'm Going to Miss This

I had a really hard time, the last few days before the girls started kindergarten.  It wasn't so much that I couldn't come to grips with my babies growing up...but it was all about how much I would miss the amazing 5 1/2 years we shared so intimately.

Sure, we'll have our mornings and our nights together, and we'll make the most of every weekend...but it's the random, middle-of-the-afternoon, impromptu trips to the orchard that I will miss so very much...

...it's being there for the most average of days, and enjoying the most incredible snuggles, any time I pleased.

...it's sharing the ups and downs and restlessness...turned to incredible displays of imagination.

Here's just a snippet of some of the carefree fun we had this summer.

Swim lessons!

Picking tomatoes from the garden!

Picking strawberries from the berry patch!

Getting lost in a craft!

Having fun at birthday parties!

Playing at the park!

Hanging out at the orchard with friends!

Learning new skills!

Ceramics!

Ice cream with Mommy!

 ...and one of my favorite pictures of the summer...

The dancing fountains!

And, of course, we enjoyed two amazing trips (no vacation time required).

Chicago!!!

New York City...with friends!!!

I am beyond grateful for these baby girls, and for the 5 1/2 years we've ENJOYED, together.  New adventures await, for sure...but these days will forever have such a special place in our hearts.

A Challenging Day, Then a Good Day, and Integrity

Thursday was a challenging day.  

There were lots of good things about it…like the girls working together to build a block tower almost taller than they are…like them surprising me by making MY bed!...like having our friends bike over to our house and playing outside together for most of the morning…like snuggling on the couch, reaching Little House in the Big Woods…like all four of us playing Monkey in the Middle in the basement…but there were a couple of huge challenges, too.

Although the girls’ “no bikes” punishment carried over through Friday, I wanted to start Friday off on a very different note than on which Thursday ended.

The girlies got up, and I surprised them by taking the three of us out to breakfast.  Going out to breakfast is a huge treat…and the three of us have only gone together (without Daddy) once before.  The girls chose to go to JD’s, a downtown bakery/café that we hadn’t been to in quite a while…a place that has farm-fresh milk and eggs and THE BEST pancakes.  We each had a super-yummy pecan pancake and truly ahhh-mazing bacon.  Bliss!

After breakfast, I further surprised the girls with a trip to the park, “the park with the wiggly chain things,” that my A had requested just a few days before.  We had the park to ourselves! 

Before we went to the playground, though, both girls wanted to go to the little soccer field “to run”…and run, they did!  We played a little bit of tag, and then A suggested we take turns sprinting across the field (???).  The funny thing was that A went, then B, and then A wanted to go again before she allowed me to take a turn.

We hit the playground for a while, and then headed home…sweaty, but invigorated.

The girls played SO WELL when we got home from the park.  They spent most of the rest of their morning upstairs.  When I went up to join them, they had a “store” set up, and Baby A wowed me with her ability to count change.  (Seriously!!!) 

After lunch, the girls cleaned up the den, and then we settled for some Little House in the Big Woods.  I left them for a few minutes to get ready for a work meeting, and they prepared for their beloved Miss Jenny to come over – the first time since she left for a semester away in January!

It was such a fantastic day with my baby girls…just what I had hoped for after the challenges of the prior day.

And when I got home from my meeting, just before supper, I could not have been more proud to hear what Hubby had to tell me.  When he got home, he offered – as usual – for the girls to ride their bikes.  He told me how Baby A ponied up, “I don’t think Mommy wants us to ride our bikes today.”

What integrity my baby girl exhibited.

A proud Mommy moment to cap off such a great day!

Prehistoric Fun!

On Sunday, we took advantage of our Mothers of Multiples group rate at Dinosaur World, a statue park about 30 miles north of our town.  The girls love reading about dinosaurs, and we made sure to brush up on our prehistoric reading before our visit.

While it seemed kinda hokey to those of us outside the preschool set, the girls had a fun time seeing all the many kinds of dinosaurs.  We read each of the informational signs in front of the displays, and by the midway point of the park, the girls were pretty good about guessing whether the dinosaurs were plant-eaters or meat-eaters, and whether they were fast or slow.

Obligatory "walking in" photo!

Ta da!

Stegosaurus, one of our faves!

Feigning horror at the T-Rex!

I can't reach him!

In addition to the dinosaurs, there were also some wooly mammoths.

Between the toes of a T-Rex!

This guy is pretty big!

Triceratops is another fave!

This guy seemed pretty ominous, leering over the pathway.

Baby A, pretending she has a horn on her nose...right before she charged her sister...

And of course we spent a little time on the playground before we left.

The girls loved this slide!

And of course they had to climb inside the T-Rex head...say aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!!!

It was a really hot day, but the vast majority of the park was very shady.  It was a really fun afternoon...and we topped it off with some ice cream before we headed home.

Super-sized fun, indeed!

SUPER Stuff on a Sunday!

So much silly, SUPER stuff at our house this week!

1)      Baby A came running up to me: “Mommy!  ‘Gulp’ has four letters!”  The girls are on the verge of sounding out words, and I thought that was pretty awesome!

2)      One sweet little memory I don’t want to forget is how excited the girls get to watch the chickens cooking on the rotisserie when we go to Sam’s.  They’ll stand there and wave, “Hey, chickens!”  Hahaha!

3)      At Sam’s, they have most of their prices displayed in really big signs (at least in comparison to regular grocery stores).  Baby A read almost every sign to me…correctly!  “Mommy, that costs fifteen dollars and eighty-seven cents!  Mommy, that costs five dollars and twenty-four cents!”  She solicited quite a few laughs from people shopping near us.

4)      On Wednesday, we’d planned to meet a friend at the park.  She had to reschedule, but the girls and I went ahead with a hike, a little bit of play time, and then a picnic lunch.  It was so incredibly pleasant, and it just made this mama’s heart smile!  The girls were full of pep on the 1.25-mile hike, even up the hills!  They played nicely for a few minutes on the playground, and didn’t protest or drag their feet when it was time to leave the playground.  We found a nice picnic table for our lunch.  I opened their containers, and they ate every morsel, with no spills and no requests for help.  WOW!

5)      On Friday morning the girls and I went to Panera for a mid-morning snack.  We’d been in the habit of doing that last school year, before doing our weekly grocery shopping, but we haven’t done it much over the last few months.  It was so nice to be back in familiar surroundings with my babies!

6)      We hadn’t been out for breakfast in a while, either, so we hit our favorite country-cooking restaurant on Saturday.  The girls ate French toast, scrambled eggs, and bacon, and they didn’t leave a morsel on their plates!

7)      When we got home from breakfast, we decided on a family walk in the neighborhood.  The girls asked to go in their jogging stroller.  :)  Daddy and I took turns pushing them, and it was such a sweet throw-back to when they were smaller.  In fact, it was almost exactly four years ago we got that stroller…it’s served us well!

8)      On Saturday we needed to be at the new house to accept delivery on some appliances.  The house was cleaned a couple of days ago, so for the first time we got to relax a bit.  I took one of the girls’ storybooks, and we made official use of the reading room.  I loved seeing them lounging on the carpet, taking it all in!

My dream WINDOW SEAT is behind the girls!

9)      One morning I told B that she was a funny girl. "Yes," she said, "the funniest I've ever seen." She's humble, too.

10) And I overheard the girls playing…B said to A, "Sissy, do you want to go on a hunt for Christmas trees and dinosaur babies?" I love their imaginations (even if they do have their time periods a bit confused).

So thankful for this SUPER stuff!

Super Stuff!!!

1)      As we were waiting to turn left on a busy highway, B remarked, “They need a traffic light here.  I will get Granddaddy to help me design one.”  HA!  I love that she was thinking of solutions…and that she thinks her granddaddy (an architect) can design anything.

2)      Thursday was our last tumbling class for the summer.  When we got out of the car, a couple of little girls called out to A&B, waving.  After class, another couple came up to give them hugs.  It was so sweet to see their new little friends – older girls who have taken them under their wings.

3)      Miss Jennifer was our first baby sitter, playing with the girls once a week from just after their second birthday until they turned three.  We hadn’t seen her in almost a year – save from running into her here and there in town – and she came over to visit this past week.  The girls were SO excited to learn she was coming.  It took them a few minutes to warm back up to her, but they were so sweet showing her the things she’d missed (new toys and new tricks) over the past year.  And I couldn’t help but appreciate how blessed we are to have had some really wonderful people in the girls’ lives.

4)      We met a friend at Lost River Cave, intending to play on the outdoor playground.  It was closed that morning, though, so we took a short hike to the butterfly conservatory.  This was my first time to “hike” with the girls by myself, and they did a great job.  And it was so very sweet to see the girls and Baby V.

5)      On Sunday night, the weather was absolutely perfect.  We made an impromptu trip to the park, where we played and played, and then enjoyed a pizza picnic.  We chose the park that’s within walking distance to the pizza place, and Daddy picked up a pie, which we enjoyed with our bottled water and bananas.  Just a year ago, I probably wouldn’t have been comfortable “winging” a meal like this…but it’s so very nice to be able to do it now!

6)      While we were at The Farm this weekend, and then again at the park, Baby A wanted to race.  I can still beat her, but I really have to put in the effort!  I cannot believe how fast my little speedster is getting!

7)      Over breakfast at The Farm on Saturday morning, B held up a piece of her melon for me to see.  “Look, Mommy!  It’s a rhombus!”  Hee hee!

8)      The girls were cackling at each other one morning over the pronunciation of the word “warmer” [in the context of a bottle warmer, I think].  One of them, B, I think, kept saying “wormer”…and A kept correcting her.  They were cracking each other – and me! – up for a solid ten minutes.

9)      Daddy accidentally dropped A's baby doll one morning, and she came running to me: "Mommy! I don't think Daddy knows how to be respectful of my baby!"

10)   Baby A, in particular, has been using the words “actually” and “in fact” quite proficiently lately.  It’s so funny in her scrappy little baby voice…and she is totally serious about it.

11)   Baby A was telling me this morning, “When I grow up, I will have a newborn baby…not a pretend baby…but a real one.  And I will have two babies at once, just like you did.  And I will have a swing and a bouncy seat.”  B chimed in, “I will just have one baby, but I will have a swing and a bouncy seat, too.”  [I guess baby gear is top of mind for all future mamas, huh?]

12)  I complimented A on a block tower she built, telling her it was perfectly symmetrical.  Do you know what that means, I asked her?  "It means it's the same on both sides!" I consider the girls to have a pretty big vocabulary, but I love when they can actually define a word back to me...pretty cool!!!