broke the camera

So I haven't blogged because I don't have as many pics.  And it's still been sunny I broke the camera on Labor day by dropping it in the sand.  It is stuck half way between open and shut and I can't shut it off or open it to take pics.  Oh well.

On Saturday we went to feel some heat by going on the other side of the mountains.  It was heavenly.  We had a relaxing fall day as a family where everyone was happy.  On the way up we stopped to picnic along a river and get some energy out.  Tucker and Whitney both had a blast throwing rocks in the river and climbing over the rocks "all by myself, Mom!".  We did the same thing in the town we visited, just on a sandy beach along a river.

At the second river, they made us sand cupcakes to eat with a cherry on top.  Tucker copied Whitney in this game.  They drew in the sand.  Tucker liked making turtles and smily faces.  They ran in and and out of the water and threw sand, giggling a bunch.  It's at times like these that I really enjoy the fam and am glad I'm not a pioneer.  If I were a pioneer the fall season wouldn't be so relaxing, considering all the harvest and canning I'd have to do.

On the way home, we found an awesome fruit stand.  They had 48 peaches for $10.  And they had the "honor system"  You just stuff the money in a hole in the wall.  I guess they aren't staffed to pick the fruit and sell it, too.  That was pretty cool to see that around!  We bought a ton of peaches and tomatoes, so I'm going to do canning of peaches and salsa with some yummy stuff.  Should be a lot of work, so we'll see how things go.

On the drive home Tucker and Whitney were being really silly.  It could possibly be because we had listened to ba ba black sheep for an hour straight.  They started shouting random words and then laughing hysterically about the word.  I guess because it sounded funny.  They liked saying porcupine fish lots. 

Friday it was our turn to drop the kids off and go on a date.  We went to the driving range and then to eat some pho.  I've never tried golfing except that one time in 7th grade.  Last time I tried it, the ball went about 18" to the left, so I wasn't so sure it was going to be much fun. But surprisingly it was pretty fun.  It's interesting to be at the driving range.  Not much talking.  Lots of guys around; two other women who looked serious about the whole thing with their cute golfing outfits.  I felt a bit silly and out of place because I kept asking all these questions of Jim.  He put up with me.  I'm pretty impressed with myself.  I got the ball to go about 75 feet in a straight line after about 45 minutes.  Beginner's luck.

I felt really bad, though, when I went to pick the kids back up.  Apparently Tucker was not happy.  He cried for the first hour, then slept the second hour, then was in a dazed condition for the last half hour.  Apparently he was tired.  Lucky, lucky me he went to sleep again about 20 minutes after we got home.  I thought for sure with the nap that he was going to be up until midnight, but I guess he was just plain tired.  I didn't think we had had an especially eventful or tiring day.  But then there was the playground.

We found a triple decker playground that day with three tunnels at three levels.  Pretty cool, huh!  They thought so.  We played for 2 hours there, but other than that, it was just errands and chores around the house.

Thursday we went to another beach park.  We keep having these gorgeous days and I keep thinking that tomorrow is when the rains will come back, so we keep playing.  The great thing, though, is now that school started, babies rule at the beach parks.  It is way more fun and way less crowded.  While we we there, they were splashing water toward the ducks.  Tucker counted his splashes.  He can easily count to 10.  He attempts to go to 20, but those numbers are a bit out of order.  I guess counting twice a day really helps (every time I give him his medicine we count to 20.

Earlier in the day we went to clogging.  Before that, though, the babies figured out how to get into the toy rotation closet and pulled out all sorts of toys.  One of the toys they pulled out were the stacking rings.  They really like them.  They invented all sorts of games.  Whitney puts them on her arms like bracelets and says that she has "special O's for Tucker".  Special O's are fruit loops.  They do look like fruit loops.  The other game they play with them is putting them on their feet and walking around the house.  It looks like they are walking in high heels.  Whitney picked up on that and said " Mom!  I have my dancing shoes on, too!"  Later that night when I had a bunch of kids over watching them while their parents were on a date, they played "dancing" on the "stage" of the mattress while I played the piano.  Whitney really shows an interest in my dancing.

Monday and Wednesday were the first days of pre-school.  By the end of the day on Monday I was certain I wasn't going to continue with this "great idea" of mine, but by the end of the day on Wednesday we were having lots of fun.

Monday Tucker had zero desire to participate in school and was not happy that he had to share attention with mommy.  He had a lot of time outs in his room and pretty much ran around the house in between the time outs, only occasionlly coming to check on the activity.  Whitney put up with it, and was good just to be obedient.  But then Wednesday happened.  The art activity was cutting and gluing.  Holy cow.  Had I known this earlier, I would have bought them scissors a while back.  They both love cutting paper.  But Tucker really likes cutting paper.  Duh.  Mechanical thing that changes the environment.  We were supposed to cut and glue for about 15 minutes, but he did it for 25 and stopped only because I made him.  He loved it!  He is now our expert confetti maker.  After that, they were both more interested to see what's next.  We'll see how it goes this week.  It's not my turn to teach for another month, so they will be going to the other kids' houses. 

Whitney loved helping getting ready for school the saturday before.  This week she loved the crayon melting activity the most.  Wednesday afternoon they had already started to sing some of the songs.  One of the songs has the lyrics "we never hit or kick or push".  Whitney sings that part over and over.  I think she is trying to give Tucker a hint.

Wednesday we had PB and J for lunch.  Whitney has a scab on her nose from a fall earlier this week.  She scraped it on some cement.  After eating her sandwich, I told her to go in the bathroom to clean her face.  She got pretty upset after awhile. I went in to help her out and she said she was upset because her face was still dirty.  She had been working pretty hard to scrub the scab off, poor thing.

We also had smoothies for lunch.  They were more frothy than normal that day.  Tucker made me laugh by saying very ernestly, "Mom!  I LOVE eating bubbles". 

Later in the day we were outside playing.  They were riding bikes around and playing "go to work"  Tucker was daddy and he kept pedeling off to work.  He would say goodnight each time.  Whitney went off to work by working in the plants.

They say all sorts of funny things.  Bear with me while I randomly write some of the silly stuff they say and do.

Whitney: "I like it!  I'll show you! I'll eat it!" In reference to trying some new food Jim offered her. 

Whitney also says " Mom, I want to help Tucker" with lots of things.  Feeding him, wiping his bum, helping him off the stool washing hands, giving him food or kisses if he is upset.  She also will help him get him food. 

In reference to kayaking, Whitney told me the next day that "I like kayaking, Mom.  Tucker likes kayaking, too!".    They really liked going under the dock on the kayaks the day before.

In the mornings lately, Whitney has wanted to snuggle with me in her bed before getting up while Tucker goes and looks for Papa.  She usually doesn't like Tucker touching her bed, let alone getting in to get snuggles from Mommy.  But one morning, she scooted over and said " Mom, I made espacio para Tucker" and let him lay his head down on the pillow next to her.  It was pretty cute.

She also doesn't really like it when Tucker gives her a hug because it usually ends up looking more like a tackle.  The other day, though, Tucker figured out how to softly give her a hug and she tolerated it.  She might have even liked it.

One time I felt like eating fruit snacks during the day.  That always means I have to share, so I shared.  Whitney was very confused.  I don't ever give fruit snacks at random.  I realized this when I gave her some and she said, "this is for.... This is for..... This is for...." and couldn't think of why I was giving them to her.  I realized the only other time they've gotten fruit snacks was for potty training.

Tucker does lots of cute stuff, too.  He really likes taking care of the dogs.  He has learned that they like their ears petted and does it a bunch, especially in the mornings when they are most distressed or wanting food.

He gets really excited for people.  He screeches in delight when he sees his friends coming or when Papa comes in the door from work.

They play pretend a lot more.  Tucker likes to play dedo with me.  He pretends his fingers talk, eat my food, drink my water, etc.

He still is really good at mechanical stuff.  One time Jim was trying to text someone and Tucker kept asking him to push "Q" and pointing to the Q button.  Learned that from the i-pad.

They know how to open and shut the sliding glass door.  It's nice when they watch out for the dogs and open and shut the door for them when they need to come in or out, but a little more nerve wracking to go to the bathroom.  I'm always listening for that door to open.

How he says things cracks me up.  He is so earnest and excited.  He loves his rain boots.  One time he stopped mid-stride in running to tell me "hey mom, I have my BOOTS on!".

Tucker has been  having fun playing with Whitney's toys, mostly to irritate her.  He likes to wear her hair bow, her necklace, play with her dolls, etc.  One day he came in with her beads on and said to me "Mom,  I 'm ready to go to church now"

It always makes me laugh to see how they describe things with their new language skills.  One night we had pizza and Tucker said "he has cheese on him" pointing to the slice.

She does lots of funny things, too.  She likes to make tents in various places all over the house with different things.  She used the couch pillows one day to make extra chairs like the soft chairs they have.  She also played garage with the blocks, opening and shutting the doors to let Tucker drive his truck in and out of her "garage".

When we were at the beach, she heard some girls singing row row row your boat while they were on the lake.  She was fascinated and paid a lot of attention to them until they ended the song.

They've really been helping me with my harvest projects.  We've picked blackberries and made jam together.  They are really good at making the jam with the smashing bit.  They have liked harvest time, I think.  Our neighbor has been letting them eat apples off the tree and they love them!

Hopefully I'll have pics for the next blog