Send in the Clowns

Naomi loves, loves, loves black beans. She eats them like candy. After she's buzzsawed through a few handfuls of them, she often looks like she's in the first stages of applying her make-up as a hobo clown.



Thankfully, she's a happy little hobo.

Mooo!!!!!

This is what Lillian said for the first half hour of our visit to Lake Farmpark.

After the milking demonstration and cow-petting, the girls found the playroom with a plastic barn. It seemed like it was going to be the highlight of the trip. Glad we drove to another county to play with the same toy we have at home.



Thankfully things perked up a bit after we met up with the rest of our field trip crew and toured the pastures and buildings of this working farm. Tiffany and Scott, with Greg and Jeff; Amanda with Jack and Ivy; Rob with Ellen and the four of us pet goats and looked at piglets and fed horses handfuls of grass. And then...?

The girls went on a pony ride.




If your brain's processor is not overloaded, please review the following sentence until you are feeling the same emotional fritz that I am:

OUR BABIES ARE BIG ENOUGH TO GO ON PONY RIDES.

After lunch, it decided to pour down rain. The rain just pounded on the tent next to the pavillion and made waterfalls along each edge of the tent for running through. Happy shreiks echoed impressively in the big empty tent. For the kiddos, this may have been the best part of the whole wonderful day.

Wade Oval Wednesday

It's officialy summer now. Not only does the calendar tell us so, but we've had our first outing to Wade Oval Wednesday. It seems like all of Cleveland brings their blankets, their picnics, their kids and their dogs and we all run rumpus in the sunshine while a band plays in the background. Sometimes reggae, klezmer or bluegrass. Doesn't matter. It's the gathering and the golden evening light that make it all so intoxicating. And chaotic. No, wait. That's the babies.

Lillian had a great time hanging out on this blanket. I'd like you to know that it wasn't ours.



Here is a flashback to one of last year's outings. All three girls laid next to eachother on this picnic blanket, chirping and squirming together. Ivy was quite new--only about 2 months old, and the girls were about 8 months (the three are seperated by 6 months to the day)


So, we decided to recreate old times. That went about as well as you might expect.

Father's Day

I've tried before to explain how much these girls love their daddy. They just worship him. And with good reason. William is such a spectacular father. His devotion to them is unmatched. Listening to him this morning as he sang "99 Bottles of Beer" to calm Naomi through a diaper change was both funny and heartwarming.

How did I get so lucky?

Hula-Hoopla!

When we moved into this house 7 years ago, we were one of the few households not approaching or already in retirement. There were no kids on the street.

This evening, we attended a block party--everyone gathered in the blocked-off street, brought side dishes and plates and we chatted away while the dozen or so children ran around, rode bikes, tossed water balloons and sang on the karaoke machine. Lillian and Naomi threw themselves right into the mix, even though they were almost the youngest there. (Aside from a little pumpkin in a stroller.) Naomi's learned that she's tall enough to reach the cookie table. Both girls roamed the street, trying to wander into people's backyards, no matter how hard we tried to convince them that the party was out front!

And then Lillian found this hula hoop that perfectly matched her outfit. She carried it around for the duration of the party.

California Dreamin'

We made it. We flew two babies across 3,000 miles and 3 time zones (twice) and are still alive to tell the tale. Actually, aside from a new sworn hatred for the Las Vegas airport and the casinos there, and strollers sent randomly to Detroit, it was a relatively smooth trip.

Before we even left, though, we had the treat of a visit from Luke (whom Lillian calls "Bluuu"). The girls loved his attention and playfulness and his guitar.

Also, he mowed the lawn for us. So, he rocks.

Naomi has found the petals on the rosebush in the front yard and was eager to share them with everyone. Including the turtle in her front pocket.


Once we did make it to Sacramento (with much acclaim to Kate F. for helping us get through security), we got to visit with Holly and Aamir and meet their little girl, Penny. Penny is just as precocious as can be and is a total delight. She was fascinated by the girls and played wonderfully with them. Every morning, as she awoke before them, we'd all be peppered with the questions, "Babies, please? Babies sleep? Babies wake up, please?"

We enjoyed a lovely day and half in Sacramento, testing playgrounds and farmer's markets. Including a wonderful place called Fairy Tale Town. (Or, TairyTaleTown, if you're two.) The cheese does not stand alone, not when filled with three little girls.

Then, we gathered the caravan to head to Lake Tahoe. It turns out, they have playgrounds there, too. Only with much better views.

Aamir and the girls at the playground.



We had reserved a cabin up there, which was perfect. And it had this stupendously adorable mini-cabin in the back yard.



And snow. Lots of it. We groaned when Holly and Aamir told us that there was snow in Tahoe and nearly refused to go. As Kate said, "We are from Cleveland. Snow is not a novelty." But, it turns out it is. When there a 6 foot drifts along the side of the house and you can go sledding in the backyard in a tshirt, snow is totally a novelty.


Lake Tahoe is a really gorgeous place and we just relaxed most of the time. (Several of us were battling a cold acquired on the first plane ride.) We did one big(ish) hike at a place called Emerald Bay, which was really breathtaking. Both in beauty and in the uphill climbing. Here we are at the top.



Here, Lillian spots some geese at the beach at the bottom. (She calls them ducks, but we'll let her get away with that for now.)


We have made it home, and at least gotten the suitcases upstairs, which I am counting as a victory. I won't bother to put them away, as our next trip is in only two weeks! At least Boston is still in Eastern Standard Time.

Sugar Dale

That's going to be Naomi's name as a boxer.

This is going to be her feisty fight face.



Papa's going to be her cut guy.

She got two mosquito bites on Friday night and, because we're getting on a plane in two days, one of them decided to get all inflamed and swell her eye nearly closed. She woke up this morning looking like she'd gone a full 12 rounds. So, off to the doctor we went. Some prescription strength antibiotic cream and oral antibiotics later, she's just left with a little mark on her cheek and a whole lot of attitude.

Attack of the Bunnies!

Here, for your viewing pleasure, is evidence of why I cannot go downstairs to get laundry while the girls are playing in the kitchen.