The Usual Sunday Evening

The ladies entertained themselves with a variety of methods this evening before we had dinner. It was the normal progression of activities.

#1. Dance party to Bob Dylan's "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35"

Caroline's go-to move: galloping in circles with her
hands above her head.

Lucy and Dad dance

Then Lucy needed a dance solo

#2. Playing the drums with broken Barbie legs

Caroline preferred a Hot Wheels car for her drum.

Lucy went for the box of pasta.

#3. Wrestling match

It's the normal sequence for all of you, yes?

Is there anything funnier ...

than a baby running around with shoes and nothing else?

You decide.

Here was the scene in our living room/kitchen area this afternoon -

Steve: Ha! Is there anything funnier than this?

Me: What?

Caroline: Nakeeeeeeeeeeyyyyyyyyyyy! (enter two year old with Scooby Doo crocs on and nothing else)

I immediately grabbed my camera and below you will see what I saw.

A cute bum running away from me:

And jumping into her Dad's arms:

Airborne!

Big hugs!

Pool Party

Maybe someday we will have our own in-ground pool. (Not likely) In the meantime, we have a lovely plastic one from a hardware store. Combine that with our neighbor's slide and you have a solid hour's worth of entertainment.

Happy Fourth of July!

With the Fourth of July coming on a Wednesday and my work schedule requiring me to be there Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, we didn't have much motivation to travel for the holiday. There are some things going on in our area, but I think we will probably pass. Neither of us is really into crowds, so sitting shoulder to shoulder in blazing heat and humidity with strangers and screaming toddlers while staring at the sky tonight didn't sound too appealing.

We have had a great morning though. We had breakfast at The Diner and then headed to our local children's museum for the morning. Here are some pictures of the ladies having a blast:

Caroline loved pressing these buttons to hear the barnyard noise.

She would then yell, "WHO IS THAT? A HORSE!"

Lucy played dress up. She then instructed me to
take a picture of her while she looked in the mirror.
Dear God.

As usual, this guy was not impressed with my paparazzi antics.

Sitting under the arch we built

Both of the girls loved this light table.

All in all, it was a great morning. Now I think all four of us are headed to nap time. Family nap time might be my favorite part of the day :-)

Playing With Guys

We have "guys." Our guys come with us everywhere. They don't complain much, they never require potty breaks, and they are always well behaved.

Most of our guys (which are small plastic figures which range from Toy Story figures, to Gumby and Pokey, to random McDonalds toys) are from Yoinkie. The girls love their guys, and they are endlessly entertained for long periods of time by Woody, Buzz, and the crew - particularly at restaurants and any situation that requires a lot of waiting.

Here we are waiting for Dad to be done with football:

Bedtime

Tonight at bedtime Lucy was particularly energetic. I had to snap a few pictures. I may have totally annoyed Steve, but seriously, how can you not smile when you see this face:

Steve waiting for Lucy to choose a book to read
before bed. I can't tell if he's annoyed with Lucy's
inability to make a decision or his ridiculous wife
snapping pictures of the chaos.

She loves it when we read to her at night. Her father does not
love it when he has the paparazzi over his shoulder.

A New Soden Anthem

After our somewhat tragic trip to see Madagascar 3, I bought the first Madagascar in hopes that it might entertain the girls during our trip to Minnesota. Luckily we didn't need it on the plane, but we have watched it since returning from our trip. Both girls enjoy the movie, and the other day when Steve took them to the beach they both started frolicking in the water and singing a certain song from the movie. Those of you who grew up in the '90s might remember this awesome track:

It has now become our official family song and anyone in the room is obliged to yell "MOVE IT!" at the appropriate times. The girls think it is hilarious, and Steve and I can't help but giggle.