Birthday Party (Part One)

Last week we went to my parents' house to celebrate Amelia's 3rd birthday with my side of the family. When we brought Amelia to the party store she picked Minnie Mouse as her party theme, which kind of surprised me since we don't watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse or any Mickey or Minnie Mouse videos that often. She does have a Disney puzzle and book that she likes, so maybe that is where she came up with the idea.

The weather was picture perfect, which was a little bit unexpected for early October. The temperature was in the upper 70's with a clear and sunny sky. After a pizza lunch, Mia got to open up all of her presents. Then we let the kids play outdoors for a while, and ended the party with some cake and doughnuts.

Amelia's birthday drawing thanks to Dad's talents.

 "Hey look at this cool drawing...Squirrel!" (You have to be a fan of the movie Up! to get this one)

Amelia's super hero cape from Nana.

 A doll laundry set from Aunt Keri and family. For some reason the girls were perplexed and confused on what purpose an ironing board serves - not exactly sure why that is.....

It's Good to Be Three

Dear Amelia,

You turned three this week. You were looking so forward to your birthday all week. You were very proud to tell anyone that asked that you were going to be three. You were a lucky girl and had three birthday celebrations including bringing cupcakes to school, which was so exciting for you.

You have turned into such a little lady. You are a sweetheart, goofball, and pistol all wrapped in one. You love to cuddle and read books with us. When you and your sister Allison are getting along, you two hug and hold hands. You love dogs and would be in heaven if you could sit in a corner and pet a dog all afternoon.

You also have a great sense of humor and often times are funny without even trying. Your little voice and facial expressions often will have your Dad and I laughing so hard.  One day I dropped you off at daycare and you were talking to your teacher and I heard her say "Amelia, you crack me up. You are such a goofball" and that pretty much sums it up.  Another time on your "report card" the teacher reported that you had a great day and were telling jokes all day long.  We still aren't quite certain what kind of jokes you were sharing that day, but we know you made an impression on your teacher.

There are times that your sweetness gives way to your temper and you are a pistol. Although, as I mentioned to your Dad a few weeks ago, I'm not sure if you have learned how to control your temper or if we have learned how to deal with your temper, but things have gotten much better. When you get really mad, you go limp and throw yourself on the floor and just lay there. We now just walk away a few feet and leave you on the ground, which either draws dirty looks or chuckles from other people because you look so funny.

You love to keep yourself busy by doing puzzles and playing board games.  People are often surprised at how good you are at putting together puzzles, even early on after you turned two. Your favorite games include Yahtzee Jr., Good Night Moon, and Candyland.  You also love to color and play with your baby dolls, and of course you like to pretend you are a puppy.

You are a great bike rider - once you grew a tad bit this summer and were better able to reach the pedals you took right off.  However, you get so frustrated when you can't keep up with Allison.

Amelia, we are so excited to see what the next year brings us and can't wait to partake in your new adventures. We love you so much.

Love,

Mom and Dad

Driving Me Crazy...

Allison and Amelia love to play in my car and pretend they are driving. Usually when I get in to start my car after they have played in it, I find that my bright lights are on, the turn signal has been engaged and the radio is on full volume.  However, a recent incident has almost literally driven me up the wall.

I went grocery shopping a few weeks ago and while I was unloading the car, the girls hopped in the front seat and starting to "drive." I figured since I could keep an eye on them and they had strapped themselves in with the seatbelts, they couldn't go anywhere or cause any trouble.  After I got the groceries put away, I went to get Allison and Amelia out of the car and both girls made a quick dash to the back seat. As I put my head in the car, I could hear the CD player making a funny noise, like it was trying to eject a CD, over and over again.

I asked "Did someone put something in the CD player?"  Allison quickly responded with a "NOT I - MIA DID IT."   I asked Mia what she put in and she proudly answered "MONEY!" - I realized that she put in some coins that had been laying out into the CD slot. What made it even worse was that the coins were the new dollar coins. Jeez kid, you couldn't have stuck with the pennies, huh?



The guilty party pleading for leniency.

Tasty Candies

Allison: "Mom, I ate a "W"

Mom: I believe that was a "M"

Allison: "Noooo Mom, it was a "W"

Mom: "Did you like your W&Ws?

Allsion: "Yep, they were good.

Mom: "I'm glad to hear that Allison. Maybe I need to find some W&Ws for myself."

Life

I've neglected the blog lately. No excuse, I just haven't been motivated lately. Nothing big has been going on. I still haven't figured out where September went. It seems like it was a deary and cool September or at least it has been that way on days we were supposed to do something outdoors. We haven't made it to ArtPrize yet with the kids. Apparently the key to getting rain is to say "Let's take the kids to ArtPrize on Wednesday."  I feel like fall is slipping away and its only the beginning of October. I have way too many plans I still want to do before it gets cold out.

We took the girls swimming last week and I realized how much I'm dreading the cold weather and going out to the car after swimming. It was nice during the summer. The girls would walk in to the community center in their bathing suits and when we were done, I would simply and quickly change them into a dress. Easy and quick. Not anymore. Both girls love swimming though. Allison is a little water bug and Amelia is getting braver each time we go. She no longer has a death grip on my neck if we go past the point where her feet can touch the bottom of the pool. Amelia will also now jump off the edge of the pool to me. That is a huge step. This winter I may sign up for a Parent/Tot water class since swimming classes don't start till age four.

The girls are doing well at daycare. Amelia moved into the Blue Room which is big stuff; although it's not the Purple Room where she would love to be (that is where Allison is.) Both girls receive CDs of songs and books that they get to take home. They love doing their "homework" - there are often fights on who gets to listen to their CDs first. One thing that is certain is that they won't be listening to their CDs in my car anytime soon because...well, I'll save that for another blog post.

Vacation (Part Two)

Tuesday morning started off with dark clouds. We figured it was a good day to stay inside and head to the children's museum in Naperville. The girls had a blast. There was a section of the museum called "Airworks" that the girls loved and where they spent the most time. Amelia also loved the water table and bubble station. Allison thought it was pretty cool that she could use real tools with her Dad in the workshop area.

After the museum we headed to downtown Naperville for some Chicago-style pizza. It has been ages since we have had that. The rain lightened up enough to walk down to a book store nearby so the girls could pick out a book.

On Wednesday, we stayed at the resort and went to the free 18-hole miniature golf course. Watching the girls play mini-golf was so funny. Allison was on a mission to get through the course as fast as she could. It was a good thing nobody else was on the course with us. We spent the rest of the day swimming, playing games, and just hanging out.

For dinner that night we went to a restaurant called Hanks which is located in a rural farming area. It started off as an old restored barn and has expanded since then. Dinner was pretty much of a disaster between the meat sauce on the kids spaghetti (I forgot to order just plain tomato sauce) and the girls not wanting to sit still. We should have just went to Culvers or somewhere like that. It was one of those nights that we "swore off" family vacations for a very long time. However, after dinner we walked around the grounds of the restaurant and the girls had fun looking at the peacocks, turkey, and ducks (and making funny faces for pictures) and everyone was happy again.

On Thursday we went to Morton Arboretum in order to go to their Children's Garden. I was very impressed with it and the girls had so much fun playing in all the different areas, including a small pond and a creek that kids are allowed to wade in.  After the gardens, we went to an outlet mall and picked up a few things.

On Friday, we played miniature golf one last time before we headed back home. After a long drive and arriving in our neighborhood, we told the girls that we were almost home and both girls cheered, however, when we pulled in the driveway, Amelia cried "I want to go to the new house."  She has asked several times since then about the "new house" (e.g. the condo we stayed at).  Brian and I agreed that we should go back next year and find a few new day trips we can take. 

Although there were a few (OK more than a few) stressful moments on the trip and times we considered packing up and heading home early, Brian and I were both sad that our trip had come to an end.  This vacation allowed us to spend more quality time with the girls and just enjoy the little things with them like coloring or playing board games. When we asked the girls what they loved best, Allison replied "golf" and Amelia said "ummm..staying home and coloring."  I think that says it best...it is the little things that mean the most.

Vacation 2011 (Part One)

We did it...we survived another family vacation. This year we went to Silverleaf's Fox River Resort, about an hour southwest of Chicago. 

On the way there we stopped at the zoo in South Bend. The girls had a good time. Allison was excited because I had printed the map of the zoo about two months earlier, so we had been studying it since then. She was ready to lead the way.  At the end of our zoo trip, we were waiting for Brian to come out of one of the buildings and Allison was playing with the turnstile gate that led people out of the park. I told her not to do that, but sure enough she went past the point of no return and couldn't get back into the zoo. She was halfway in between the gate and the exit. I couldn't go with her since I was watching Amelia in the stroller and could only exit out the main gate. The look on Allison's face was priceless; I in the meantime had a hard time keeping a straight face. I told her simply not to move. However, another family came along and needed to leave, so I told Allison to go all the way through the gate and wait for me. Another mother had offered to sit by Amelia's stroller until Brian came out. We were both cracking up. Luckily Allison waited patiently by the gate where I could see her.

Once we got to the condo, we unloaded our stuff and tried to make dinner. We learned our lesson and next year we will eat dinner before we check in. Having both parents busy unpacking and/or cooking did not work well. The girls were excited about being in a new place and were running around like crazy kids. The stress level only went up when I discovered I didn't pack any shorts or shirts for Amelia. Luckily, between the outfit she was wearing and a few back up outfits I had in various bags, I didn't have to buy an entire new wardrobe for her, just a few pieces.

On Sunday, our day started off bright and early at 5:30 am. Amelia, our morning riser, was the first one to be up. Luckily I got her to lay in bed with me until 6:30.  By the time most vacationers were just waking up, half our morning was already over.  We were at Walmart in Ottawa, which was the closest town to the resort, by 8:30 am to buy some new clothes for Mia and to cruise their toy aisle. We spent the rest of the day hanging out at the resort and going back to Ottawa, where we found a great playground for the kids to play at, and an ice-cream shop to indulge in some dessert.

On Monday we went to the Brookfield Zoo which is an amazing place. We spent six hours and could have easily spent another two hours there. Amelia was so tired that she feel asleep on the tram ride.  We spent the rest of the day just hanging out at the condo playing games and coloring.  The girls thought it was pretty cool hanging out at the "new house."