Same Difference

I hate to drive in it, but I love fog. I think it's so beautiful and mysterious, and I got really excited this morning when we looked out the window to see thick fog. The girls got excited too, but not for the same reason.

"Look! Fog! Isn't it cool?" I said.

"Frog?" says Emma, "Wanna see a frog! I pet it!" And she runs over to the window. 

"Where frog?" says Anna, "I see a frog too!"

"No Anna." Emma replied, "My frog! You no touch it!" 

They spent the whole day looking around, and were disappointed to never actually find a frog. 

Late Update

I meant to post these after going trick or treating, but got distracted and ate too much Halloween candy instead. It was a bad decision all around. At any rate, brace yourself for some adorable cheese.

I saw a shirt like this in the store, but it didn't come in Boo's size. So I bought some gold fabric paint and made my own. I love my Boo.

And ready to go trick-or-treating. They all demanded to be something with wings. So we did bugs again. One effect of living in townhouses is that trick-or-treating goes really fast. We didn't even make it halfway through the complex before their buckets were too full for them to carry.

They've been practicing their singing lately. It's adorable. They even sang along to the primary program last Sunday. 

They make me happy when skies are gray.

First Day of School

We officially have a kindergartner on our hands! She's been so excited all week, trying on her backpack, patting her lunchbox, and telling everyone (including random people we'd walk past on the street) that she was going to start this week. There were definitely no tears from this one.

These two, on the other hand, were very distressed that Paige wasn't walking home with us. After a couple minutes of staring at each other and looking around, we decided the house was too quiet and got in the car to go shopping. We needed duct tape anyway. Of course we had to stop and smell the roses.

We came across a woolly bear caterpillar, and spent a long time watching it crawl.

I love seeing these two with their heads together. I love that they're best buddies, or as Anna said today, "best twins!"

Plain Ol' Summer

School starts in three weeks, so I was thinking I should probably post some of our summer pictures. In all honesty, I've been horrible about taking pictures. Mostly it's because our adventures are usually playing in the sandbox, going to the park, swimming at the local pool, or riding bikes with the neighbors. Plus, when we have bigger adventures, I've usually got my hands full just keeping track of everyone.

One of our main attractions this year has been our garden. The girls love watching, picking, and eating everything we grow, meager harvest notwithstanding. This is the whole of our carrot crop, minus several that little mouths ate fresh from the soil, dirt and all.

We started some cosmos in little windowsill pots this spring. Now they're taller than any of us with pretty purple blossoms!

I sewed a couple of back-buttoned rompers as jammies to keep the girls from undressing during naptime and bedtime. They're mostly functional, but I do love the old-timey feel to them. They make me feel like we should be on a farm. 

I promise these are the best pictures I could get of these two. 

 Really, Anna? That's the fakest smile I've ever seen.

We've spent a decent amount of time at the swimming pool, but the only picture I have is one from swimming lessons:

And after talking about it all summer, we finally made it down to the zoo. Not that we have many pictures to prove it, because...twin toddlers at the zoo.

We spent the longest time watching the elephants eat hay and play in the water. The little girls still love to talk about seeing the elephants at the zoo. They are pretty cool.

 This frog statue was one of the few that was in the shade, so we stopped for a photo op.

Some were happier than others to be sitting on the frog.

 I don't know what this face means.

And...that's our show! Thanks for watching. Now I'm off to sell my liver to pay for school supplies. Kindergarten is expensive.

Five! Five! Five!

Paige turned five this week! She is so excited to be five. Of course, this meant party was in order. She's been inviting people to her birthday party since January. Monday, we had a cake, and presents from us and Grandmas: 

I promised her a quilt back in February. Just barely finished. I'm a slowpoke.

Can you tell she decorated it herself? She lined up the candles on the edge so the could run a race. 

Paints from Grandma Tucker!

Foot pillow from Grandma Cooper!

On Saturday, we invited some friends to the park for a bigger party. We went on a nature hunt with magnifying glasses and played duck-duck-goose, then broke our homemade pinata, opened presents, ate cupcakes, and played on the playground. It was a lot of fun. 

Pre-Op

Emma had eye surgery today. I was a bit of a wreck, but Boo was a doctor's dream come true. We took a couple scrubbed-up selfies to help kill time waiting for the OR nurse.

Everything went perfectly. Now we just have to wait through recovery. When we got home, she bragged to Daddy about getting popsicles, and showed Anna her funny hospital socks. What a sweetheart.

And Now, We Feast!

We picked one of our carrots to see how big they'd gotten.

We're pretty much pros.

Meanwhile, Back on the Farm...

We were going to go to the zoo on Saturday to celebrate the little girls' birthday, but we realized last minute that it was Memorial Day Weekend in DC and the whole city would be a zoo. So instead we went to a nearby county park that's a restored 1930's-style farm.
We saw a calf,

and some goats, along with chickens, ducks, pigs, and sheep!

They also had a huge playground.

Paige even got to ring an old wind-up doorbell!

It was a good day. And, we still made it home for naps!
For the girls' actual birthday, I made an Elmo cake using a pan I'd found at a church exchange.

Emma ate three big pieces!

Anna was a little more dainty.

One of the presents they got was a little shopping cart, with pretend veggies and cake. You know, basic needs.

Daddy gave train rides in a cardboard box it came in.

Paige spend a good half hour pretended to be Rapunzel with the packing paper.

 Yep, it was a good day.

Taco Tuesday

Sunday night, I was complaining to Jeff about how busy the month of May was going to be. So I decided to make a pinata for Cinco de Mayo. I'm pretty sure that's how my logic went. At any rate, instead of putting Paige to bed, we raided the recycling bin for newspapers and whipped up some paper mache. Monday we added a second layer of mache and asked some friends if they wanted to join us for Cinco de Mayo.

A couple layers of spray paint and some googly-eyes later, we had:

Sr. Penguino!

 I was a little bit afraid that Paige wouldn't want to hit the penguin after we'd spent the day building and painting him, but she couldn't wait for her turn to take a swing at it. Candy still wins over sentimentality, I guess.

 We went youngest to oldest. Emma could barely lift the sword.

 Anna gave it a couple good swings, but no dice.

We probably should have had the boys go last. Trae broke it open when we still had the two oldest girls to go. Because it was a fast project for a group of littles, it was a pretty thin pinata. One more layer of paper would have been a nice addition.

Even so, it was a good day. Feliz Cinco de Mayo!