E is for Easter

D is for Downtown

Because K. has been asking to ride on a train for, like, two years and because it is one of my favorite ways to head into the city, we took the “light commuter rail train” as part of our trip.  So fun!We trekked to Watertower Place and saw the Lego store.  N. obviously had somewhere to go once the picture was taken, but the other girls had fun posing.And we had a lunch at the American Girl store.  The girls each brought a doll and were quite polite.And on the way home from our trip, the girls posed with all of their dolls.  Notice that there’s one more than we started the trip with—M. had been saving up and bought a really really cute doll that looks like her.  They also got some darling accessories; I might invite myself over to their house to play dolls sometime.  My girls saw things they liked, but we didn’t purchase anything.

C is for Chicago

B is for Ball

I got an idea from Pinterest to use cardboard tubes and make a ball drop/ball run.  I used painters tape to hold them to a large box I found in my basement (thankfully, B. had just purchased something that came in a just-the-right-size box).  The painters tape wasn’t as secure as other tape, but it was what I had a lot of on hand.

The girls had a lot of fun!  If I were a nicer mom, I would have explained the science behind it and had them help me put it together; I just made it myself and let them play with it.

A is for Aquarium

We took a trip over Spring Break with some friends of ours.  Both moms (me and my friend) work at our church, so being gone for an entire week or part of the week involving a Sunday was a no-go, so we packed up our girls and took a three-day jaunt.

We traveled to my parents’ house, and on the way there went to the aquarium.  N. found a duck that swam right by the window.  She followed it and played with it for a while.

The girls cooked a breakfast of bacon, eggs, and pancakes.  Sorry for the dismal lighting—we were in a darkish area and flash photography would trouble the fish, who do not have eyelids to protect them.Three of the four girls.  N. was too engrossed in the fish swimming by to pose politely.

Outside.  My girls love their friends so very much, and it was amazing taking a trip with them!  Both of the older girls were huge helps with my girls—at the aquarium, K. and A. hung out together and I didn’t have to worry about them.

More about the trip in future posts!

Morning with Friends

My dear friend from college brought her two children over for a playdate—she drove two hours each way, which was so appreciated!  N. was quite interested in her daughter—N. loves babies—and all of the kids had a great time!  This picture is a little blurry, but you can see how excited N. is to hang out with the little L.She even took a turn pushing her on the swing!

The older kiddos moved too quickly to get many pictures of them, but we did convince everyone to sit for a group photo.

And N. discovered that lawn mowing is hard work!

Museum Time

N. and I went to the Children’s Museum with two of our good friends (one photogenic and one not as much interested):N. and I went on a safari (she drove):

She built and raced cars down a ramp:

Participated in a fashion show:

Drove in the Indy500:

Took care of a baby and made several meals:

Climbed and hid:

And hung out with her buddy:It was a busy busy morning but a very fun time!

Dinner-Making Darlings

One hopefully future benefit of having children is being able to pass along some chores to them.  Since the girls like to pretend to cook, I figured I’d up the ante and actually let them cook for real.  Another benefit I’ve read is that, when children are involved in making a meal, they tend to be more inclined to eat it.  These girls are super eaters, and we were having pizza which seems to be a fairly ubiquitous child-friendly food (though they sometimes can take it or leave it), but I’ll be darned—they both asked for seconds!

Each girl got a bowl of sauce to spread on the French Bread, then we added pepperoni and olives and topped the pizzas with shredded cheese.  As you can see from the telltale sauce near her mouth, N. sampled all of the ingredients.

The girls were really excited to get to do this, and I’ll have to remember to do it more often.  Even though it takes me more time and effort than doing it myself, the fun they had was worth it!

Future Artists?

I finally decided to deal with the potential mess and let the girls paint with the tempera paints that K. had gotten for Christmas.  K, of course, could sit and paint for hours—she loves it so much.  N. even got into the fun.

K. and her masterpiece.  I was surprised she paused long enough to smile for me.

I assume it was a neat coincidence, but there’s a chance that she mixed her paint until she came up with the shade of maroon that exactly matched her old t-shirt-turned-smock.  That’s my girl!