Play Date

This morning Lucy had a playdate. One family that came is new to our community and it was so much fun to get to know the parents and to watch the girls play. Another family that came lives across the street and their daughter is a regular playmate of Lucy's both in and out of school.

The girls had so much fun and spent 2.5 hours running around our house laughing, dressing up, and playing with toys. Toward the end I decided to have them take a picture together. They were very good sports:

Within 30 minutes of her friends' departure, we found Lucy like this on the couch:

Needless to say, it was a great time had by all.

Blue's Clues

Well, the theme of my life the past few weeks has been this:

1) I am feeling overwhelmed and unable to find a routine that works for me.

2) I spend time like this (when I should be doing work) posting to the blog, looking for recipes on Pinterest, or catching up on email. Not one of these activities is helping me feel more settled.

Oh well. At least I can post some pictures during this non-productive time, right?

Here is Caroline this morning at 10 am. Still in PJs, sporting her Red Sox hat, and enjoying the latest installment of Blue's Clues.

It's Sunday - don't judge.

I believe the clue was "eye" at this point of the show.

Did Daddy's Team Win Yet?

On Saturday we headed to Steve's homecoming football game. There were plenty of booths, people, and games going on for the girls to check out. We helped ourselves to come cookies and then found the best spot in the entire place: a hill at the end of the field. It was behind the endzone and didn't give us a great angle, but there was a net that made it impossible for the girls to run into the field, a hill to keep them entertained (not to mention tired out), and I could see everything that happened. Those 45 minutes that I got to watch the game were more than I watched ALL of last season combined.

With every cheer from the sidelines, Lucy would ask, "Did Daddy's team win yet?" Clearly she was anxious to get out of there and head back to the cookie stand. Steve's team did eventually win, and while we didn't go back to get more cookies, the parents on the team were nice enough to give us dinner to take home. It was a great afternoon!

Caroline's first cotton candy experience

Playing with sticks and rocks ... as usual

She's got ups

Favorite game of the afternoon: putting sticks through the net

Playing with guys

Cheering for Daddy's team!

Happily playing while Mom got to watch some of the game

Coloring

Our girls are very active, but they also manage to entertain themselves for long periods of time. While I quickly snapped pictures and then cleaned the kitchen, Lucy and Caroline sat happily and colored with pens. They look so angelic, don't they?

Tammy and Keenan Visit

When we told the girls that Tammy and Keenan were visiting, that was all they wanted to talk about. The following phrases were repeated multiple times and at a very high volume:

"I want to give Tammy and Keenan big hugs when they get here!"

"When are Tammy and Keenan going to get here?"

"When Keenan comes I am going to show him my toys!"

"I love Tammy."

And then they showed up. And then our children became shy and hid behind my legs instead of giving Tammy and Keenan their proper welcome.

The girls eventually got over their shyness and we had a great time playing with our guests. Tammy and Keenan came to Lucy's soccer game and then we headed home to eat lunch and hang out before they had to get home.

Lucy loves her big brother Keenan

Caroline does too ... but refuses to give me any good photo opportunities

Snuggles with Tammy before she left

Lucy LOVES Tammy!

Thank you so much to Tammy and Keenan for making the trip down. It really is a special thing to have such good friends. We love you guys and can't wait to see you again soon!

Apple Pickin'

After a great breakfast at Cookie and Grumps' house, we headed out to a local apple orchard to go apple picking. Caroline, who had never been before and had no idea what apple picking was, kept telling anyone who would listen that we were "going apple pickin'." As we got into the car and started the drive, we heard a lot of conversations like this:

Caroline: Lucy, we go apple pickin'.

Lucy: I know, Caroline.

Two minutes later ...

Caroline: Lucy, we in car. We go apple pickin'.

Lucy: I know, Caroline.

Two minutes later ...

Caroline: Lucy, we go Cookie Grumps. We go apple pickin'.

Lucy: Caroline, I know. You already told me like seven times.

Steve and I couldn't help but laugh at Lucy's exasperated response.

We started the visit with a hayride:

Then we got to picking. The girls ate a LOT of apples.

Waving hello to the people on the hayride

Steve entertained us with his juggling.

And of course, it wouldn't be a trip out of the house unless Caroline required a public diaper change. Not shockingly, Steve thought this would be the perfect photo opportunity. As it turns out, poop humor is funny when you are 13 and 30.

There was also a small area with children's toys. The girls loved it:

I should say that they loved it until Lucy pulled her sister in a car which then tipped over into a puddle of "muddy water." I put it in quotes because although it looked innocent enough, it smelled of manure. That was enough to not only make us quickly leave but also to strip Caroline down immediately.

What are you lookin' at?

Breakfast at Cookie's

A long weekend combined with Steve's Friday football game allowed us to take a trip to Marion this weekend. I went to a coaching clinic on Saturday and was gone the entire day, but Sunday we were all able to spend together.

We began the day with pancakes and bacon courtesy of Cookie. I would say that everyone was a fan:

Our loyal dog, Boog, was there to clean up anything the girls dropped.

Before heading to the apple orchard (more on that in a minute), we headed outside so the girls could play on the swings.