Nom Nom Nom (Translation: I want to eat that baby!)

Anna is such an enthusiastic eater, it's a pleasure, and a riot, to just watch her nosh. And there's no greater joy than to watch her inhale a spaghetti dinner!




And while nearly not as fun to watch -- she takes her pasta PLAIN (no sauce, no butter, no cheese...to which I say GROSS!) and eats it one piece at a time -- I certainly prefer the post-spaghetti Lily clean up!

Where's the Beef?

Wednesday night Noah had a late meeting, so I had the girls by myself. And since cooking is not exactly a hobby of mine, we headed to Elevation Burger for an organic grass-fed patty or two.

I sort of goofed though. Should have checked the lunch menu from Lily's school. For when I put the hamburger down in front of her, the look of utter disdain...and disappointment...was instantaneous. Hamburgers are not exactly a favorite of hers. And she'd had one for lunch that day. Oops!

I made up for it with the smoothie though. If ice cream is an ingredient, Lily could eat it morning, noon and night.

Anna was too busy licking the ketchup off her meal to notice much else. Turns out that my baby loves anything and everything tomato. Especially the Heinz version!

Tutu Cute

Having spent many hours of my childhood in one ballet class or another, I couldn't wait to enroll Lily in a ballet class of her own. Which I did at the ripe old age of two. Remember? And perhaps you'll remember when it ended up as a big fat flop. Lily didn't like it. Not one little bit.

So imagine my surprise when she ASKED to enroll in a dance class this summer. I pushed her a little -- don't you want art? or swimming? or soccer?? No, she wanted dance. I quickly shut my mouth and obliged.

Lily, who is definitely our artistic and intellectual child (Anna's the athletic brute), isn't the most coordinated of kids. And flexibility is FAR from her middle name. But she's actually really good at ballet. And I'm not just saying that because I'm her mother! Hey, Noah will support me on this one!! (as if...)

The good news is that we made it through the entire session without many complaints. There were definitely some but far fewer that last time around. Perhaps it's because she's older. Perhaps it's because we switched dance schools. Perhaps it's because there was no recital on the line this time around. Who knows. But we made it to the end and enjoyed a mini performance by the "Little Fairies" during their last class.

Of course yours truly -- the blogging mama -- forgot to bring a camera. Again, blackberry phone to the rescue. Only it didn't love the low lights of the dance studio quite as much as the sunshine of my driveway. So you sort of have to squint and tilt your head to the side to really see them. Take my word though, it was pretty darn cute!

Lily and her partner.

Getting a little extra help from Ms. Svetlana.

(third from the right)

(third from the left -- check out that wonderfully straight leg extension!)

(third from the left and, as always, by her teacher's side)

(dressed up as Ariel from Little Mermaid for the finale!)

The Little Engine That Could

To both minimize my environmental impact, and maximize my exercise opportunities, I've started taking the girls to school on my bike. It's only fitting, I suppose, given the fact that my father took me the 3 or 4 blocks to my elementary school ON his bike. Or motorcycle. Whichever he was "driving" that day. History does have a tendency to repeat itself.

Lily's school is only about 1.5 miles or so from the house. And Anna's "school" is dap-smack in between. Amazingly the route is uphill both ways. I'm not quite sure how that's possible, but just ask my quads and glutes and they'll tell you that it is. Loud and clear. It's a hard ride. Made even harder when you're pulling a trailer filled with some 65 pounds of offspring.

The girls do appear to love it. Well, Anna HATES the helmet and protests loudly when I strap her in. But as soon as they feel the wind in their hair, the singing starts. From both of them. Which certainly helps this "little engine" power up those hills!

(Pardon the blackberry-powered photos. Not the best although my faithful bbery does work in a pinch!)

Woof Woof

Lily had a few days off between "school" and "camp" (although for the life of me I can't figure out what the difference between the two is!), so she and I planned a girl's day. Just the two of us. No babies allowed.

And while I tried to entice her with offers of floating down a lazy river at a local water park, or a trip to the movies, she wasn't interested. Lily was emphatic. She wanted to paint pottery. So paint pottery is what we did!

Randomly she selected a dog bowl from the racks of unpainted pieces that were all seemingly calling her name. And with the exception of Truman's name and one of the hearts, she did it all by herself.



There was a bit of discussion about what would grace the bowl -- food or water. In the end she chose water so that the hearts would still be seen, even when the bowl was full. Smart thinking!

Wonderland

I heard about Dutch Wonderland a few years ago, and I remember thinking that it sounded like the most bizarre place on earth. Little kiddie amusement park. Built in the 60s by a potato farmer. On the side of the highway. In Amish country. Humm...

But it was awesome. Scaled perfectly for the 10 and under set. Clean. Pretty well organized. Plenty to do but not too overwhelming. Of course, the mid-70s weather we had while there was the icing on our cake.

World's largest crane game. For those of you who don't know, Noah has a very special talent when it comes to the crane. And while these animals proved to be too wedged in to retrieve, Noah did win two stuffed animals in another one!

There wasn't one ride that Lily couldn't got on, and most of the rides she could go on without an adult!

There were even some rides that Anna could go on by herself!

My favorite rides were the ones that the girls could go on by themselves. Just the two of them.

Noah's favorites may have been the ones that he got to enjoy too!




Not even the cooler-than-normal weather stopped us from enjoying some Summer ice cream.

Anna's perch for a large portion of the day. Her "chariot!" Sweet baby...

...silly baby...

..."scary" baby!

And "scary" daddy. He'll go to any lengths -- including imitating a statue -- to get Lily to smile.

And yes. I was on the trip. Just normally the one hidden behind the camera.

Seeing as though our social butterfly-in-training had a birthday party on the 4th, and then we all had a holiday cookout at our neighbors, we just went to Lancaster, PA for 1 day/night. And in spite of my preconceived notions about Best Western properties, we stayed at a wonderful BW, The Eden Resort. Also on the highway. Surprisingly wonderful with its nicely appointed and clean rooms, THREE pools, and two brides. Yes, there were 2 weddings over the course of the 18 hours we were there!

My one regret was springing for the poolside room (or, in our case, balcony overlooking the indoor pool). We were all VERY tired after our early morning start on the 3rd and a full day of kiddie wonderland, and yet the fun at the pool didn't stop until 10 pm when it closed for the night. Long past our bedtimes. And, of course, this was the one trip when I forgot to bring our white noise CD...

All in, considering we were only gone for 31 hours, it was a great little escape. The perfect minication to jump start our Fourth of July celebrations!

Independence

Our Fourth of July started out in Pennsylvania and ended with two parties near home -- a 4 year old birthday party and neighbor's holiday cookout.



Not sure if it was the over scheduling or the double dose of Costco cake, but only one of my kids had a smile on her face by the end of the day. And it wasn't the taller of the two.


In a country where we enjoy our freedoms, Lily fully executed her right to be cranky. Happy Fourth!

O Say Can You See (A Little Early)

There was a Fourth of July "Parade" at Lily's school/camp today. The kids have been making decorations all week and couldn't wait to show them off.

And while the temperature cooperated -- it's a glorious day in the mid-70s here today -- the sun wasn't too friendly. Or rather it was TOO friendly. Either way, it shone directly in their eyes the entire time they marched around the school property.

Damn sun...

...DAMN the sun...

...damn, damn the SUN!

Clearly folks took the "please dress your child in patriotic attire" email seriously. I think I only spotted one person not in red, white and blue or some combination thereof. Then again, we live in the Washington, DC area. We take EVERYTHING seriously!