back from a long blog vaca before the next blog vaca starts

The other day a deer came down into our driveway area.  He happened to come while Jim was playing with the kids in the play room.  We were all admiring the deer until it started eating the strawberry plants, so I rushed to the door and let Sammy chase him off.  Jim was sad.  Whitney said "no, no, deer.  no eating the strawberries"  Yeah.  No, no, deer.

We've been generally having a good time in this sun.  I'm absolutely whooped, but that's ok.  I have 10 months of winter to rest up again.

Jim decided the kids "need" trikes.  So trikes we have.  We have a rojo one for Tucker and a pink one for Whitney.  Hers has a very important feature of a hiding place to stash her collection.  We decided to try one particular style first, to see if it would take.  Tucker didn't let Whitney touch it at all for 5 days.  Until Whitney got hers 5 days later.  Now it's a regular fight.  Whitney's is better because you can push it without having the skill of pedaling.  I have no fear, though.  Tucker's will become popular at a later age when they figure out to use it like a scooter.  He has a big wheel.

Another skill they've learned is blowing bubbles.  Tucker has more patience, and thus, more skill and ability in this department.  Every time he gets a string of bubbles, he proclaims "Tucker did it" and smiles.  Whitney can do it too, but she's not as persistant at getting bubbles out.  She also is happy to draw bubbles on her legs or cement, pop the bubbles on the wand before they are even 3-D, etc.

They've also learned the I-pad.  I let Daddy be in charge a few nights these past few weeks.  Yesterday I realized just how much practice they've gotten.  Tucker more than Whitney of course.   He is bigger and thus beats her up or pulls her hair if she gets too close to his toys/i-pad.  What happened yesterday took me by surprise, though.  He got the i-pad off of Jim's desk, walked into the playroom and proceeded to turn it on and push all the buttons in the right sequence to get to his favorite games, "drums" and "piano".  It's that kids phone app thing where you can play instruments. He's got it down pat how to get to that thing.

Hey, Auntie Jill.  They have figured out how to make those bears sing and they love them!  New favorite toy now that they get them.

Grandma Ieva visited again with more toys.  We got a basketball hoop and golf clubs.  Whitney loved the golf clubs because they are just like Daddy's.  I had to quickly confiscate them, though.  Perfect driving irons for hitting.  I'm sure all you parents saw that coming as soon as Grandma Ieva brought them over.  But the basketball hoop is a hit and Mommy is very excited about that one.  I have been making my arms a hoop for a couple of weeks now because Tucker likes basketball so much.

Whitney really likes mimic play at the moment. She does all sorts of things "just like Mommy" or "just like Daddy".  Very humbling at times.
They are both learning tons of songs, but Whitney knows words better.  Girl skills, of course.  The one that I didn't realize, though, is that she can quickly memorize books and put the idea into her normal life.  Or maybe the other way around.  I read somewhere once that kids can't really tell the difference completely between reality and fiction until they are 8.  So maybe she thinks those books really happen.  We've been reading If You Give A Mouse a Cookie.  On Monday Whitney took the broom from me and proceeded to "sweep every room in the house" with the broom as well as repeat the phrase over and over.  By that time we'd only had the book a couple of nights.

In the past 3 weeks we've only had a few cold rainy, days.  I know the rest of you are totally jealous, but I have to laugh.  None of us really are fans of those days.  One of the rainy days, I pulled up the blackout shade in the morning and Whitney said "It's raining again.  The apples are all wet."  I had to laugh at her voice influction of "again".  It made me laugh.  Now she uses that word a bunch for repetitive activities throughout the day.  And I'm surprised she notices that she has an apple tree out her window.  This is the first time in two years it's even had apples.

Another connection she made was last week.  I might have misunderstood her, but it sounded like she said "mom, I'm older".  It was used in the right context, but she hasn't repeated it since.

With the good weather we've been going to the beach or playing in the water almost every day.  I love how Tucker says swimsuit.  He leaves the first s off.  Whitney's skill for make believe transfers over to her use of sand.  She made me a pillow of sand for me to use right next to my towel.  She has also made me cupcakes with her shovel and likes to draw in the sand in addition to her mounds.  The beach has been good but an adjustment for me.  Up to this point, amazingly, my kids stick really close by to me in new situations.  This makes for my ability to go in public on a regular basis.  Except last week.  Whitney gets too cold in the water too fast, so she prefers to create things in the sand instead.  Tucker gets too hot playing in the sand too fast, so he wants to be in the ring in the water, for like, and hour at a time.  So Whitney plays on the shore while I'm arm's distance to Tucker in the water.  Stresses me out to have them be in opposite directions.  I've never had this really until now and I'm started to feel a little bit what it's like to have two kids.  Can't imagine more.  How do you possibily have more than two?  I feel like my head is on a constant swivel when they are like this.  And they aren't wild in the water or the sand and follow the rules.  Although Tucker does like to see how deep he can go before I pull him back.

 Dad, this is sooooo good!

 Dad in charge of bathtime

 I love it when Dad is in charge of bathtime!

 Camping with Rocky under Dad's desk

 Licking the bowl and the spoon.  mom's idea

Yep.  These brownies are going to be good!

All this fun, fun, fun is starting to get a little tiring, though.  Since it's been light out and they switched out of cribs, they haven't been going to bed until between 9 and 10 pm.  It makes for a really long day without naps.  I'm feeling whooped, yet I sleep through the night.  One of the nights I let Daddy be in charge, he picked to watch a movie.   It was kind of cute that Whitney has a routine for movies.  She got everyone situated.  She made sure both her and Tucker had their chairs, a bag of fish crackers (we keep pepperidge farm in business) and blankets for everyone, including mommy and daddy.  Daddy had also gotten a helium balloon for each of them and she made sure hers was by her chair while the other was with Tucker to watch a movie.  She is very good at taking care of us.  She also is very intent on whatever a nurse is doing when we go to the doctor......  We'll see where that takes her.

Even with the constant care of, sometimes cranky, 2 year olds, I've had some fun myself as well as Jim.  A friend treated me to my first pedicure.  never had one, but I'd go back for the foot and leg massage bit.  Lovely!  What cracks me up, though, is that Tucker and Whitney love my pedicure.  Every morning for thepast week, they comment on it.  Look!  Mom's toes!  Pink!  Look, mommy has a flower on her toe!, etc.  I've also been kayaking a few times and made raspberry jam for the first time.  This is the first time making jam with berries can be economical.  I got the raspberries for free!  A friend has a garden bursting with them.  Jim played in a golf tournament for work and is back to SCUBA diving for crab every week.  This year he has a buddy, which makes me a lot happier in that department.

Tomorrow we're going blueberry picking and Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt B and Ryan are coming.  I'm very excited for the visit.