roo

formal portrait with safari donald

2012-02-07T22:44:00.000-05:00

oh nemo tree

2012-02-07T22:35:00.004-05:00

one of the best parts about being there right after christmas, was that the holiday decorations were all still up. Q went bonkers for the nemo tree.

disney 2012 - day three - morning

2012-02-07T21:10:00.020-05:00

day three a.m. objective: run a half-marathon (one of us); breakfast with safari donald and friends (the rest of us); animal kingdom

it was another early morning, as our breakfast reservations were once again before the park (animal kingdom) even opened. we expected the bus situation to be complicated by the marathon, but it was even worse than we anticipated. caroline rocks the day-after princess look while waiting for the bus.

by the time a bus finally came and we got to animal kingdom we were already late for our reservation. we booked it to the back of our park and were reminded at check-in, "hakuna matata." nice. Q was VERY excited. this was day 3 and the first time we actually saw mickey.

caroline was excited to see daisy. she liked daisy's eyelashes.

a couple of goofballs

most of these meals had "parades" through the restaurant (like the princess parade at epcot on the first day.) Q loved these things and would happily ditch us to strut around the restaurant.

following breakfast we took advantage of the fact that the masses had not yet made their way to the back of the park, and hopped on my personal favorite - the safari. lilly was less than impressed by the safari (lack of princesses i presume.) caroline enjoyed it but Q was in heaven here (perhaps the same reason as lilly - the distinct lack of princesses?) the safari trucks have a picture of all the animals in the refuge posted on the roof. he was checking the board each time he saw a new critter and kept asking about some he saw on the sign but had not seen in real like yet.

hippos

a view of the savanna

some sort of antelopey things

our truck had to stop and wait for a bit so this guy would get out of the road

they say the animals are most active first thing in the morning, and that proved to be true. giraffes were everywhere.

elephants

"dabingos"

the big lazy male lion is up there somewhere

okapi. Q asked why that horse had zebra legs.

following the safari, i asked the kids which was their favorite animal on the safari. lilly said the lion. caroline chose the "efflents" and the "hoppopotomus". Q said, "the eggs." (eggs, you wonder? there were some probably-fake ostrich eggs by the ostrich.)

we wisely grabbed fast passes so we could come back again later. then we did the nature walk. Q was jazzed about the big frogs.

they all enjoyed the underside view of a hippo tank, with all the fishes

here comes the hippo. mr. hippo helped himself to a fishy snack right in front of Q who excitedly screamed, "the hippo eat the fish!!!!!"

then we happened upon the best random character spotting of the trip... dug! he even did "squirrel!" for us.

after dug, we took in the broadway-esque "finding nemo" show. because of the timing and location of our dinner reservations, we couldn't stay at AK too much longer, but we did manage to do the safari again.

crocopile

most of the giraffes had gone into hiding but this guy was still rocking out

white rhinos

cheetah on the rock

a much better shot of mr. lazy lion

hey! it's Q's eggs!

i have no clue. cool animal of some sort.

we bolted across the park and got to the cool lion king show just in time. it featured some awesome trapeze and trampoline artists. caroline loved the "dancing."

then back to the hotel for a quick rest before dinner

disney 2012 - day two - afternoon and evening

2012-02-06T21:19:00.015-05:00

day two afternoon objective: pretty princesses hit the magic kingdom; lunch with winnie the pooh and friends; dinner with cinderella and family

checking out the princess dolls in the castle couture" store after princessification. amazingly we made it out without buying anything (yet)

dancing outside the castle, showing daddy her pretty dress

checking out the cinderella fountain

watching the princess show from afar

at this point we realized what a crock dining reservations are... we waited over 30 minutes past our reservation time despite arriving early. caroline passed the time (and amused fellow waiters) by singing and dancing

lunch with winnie the pooh and friends at the crystal palace. Q was very excited that they had chicken nuggets on the buffet.

meeting eeyore

and tigger too!

and piglet

and finally the big man himself. (is he choking Q???)

floral sculptures of the pooh bear friends

we decided to go back to the hotel to recharge for a bit. on the bus Q recognized an ad for "treasure buddies" and frightened some people by doing so. yeah, my kid is heavily influenced by advertising.

our stuffed friends were waiting

after a bit of rest, we headed out to the grand floridian for another princess meal, this time cinderella (again) and the rest of her crew. prince charming was the first to greet us. caroline said, "look mommy! it's cinderella's boy!" and then she whispered, "he's so handsome!"

cinderella, meet cinderella.

a trio of cinderellas

prince charming and c-rella were great, but the true all-stars from this meal were the wicked stepmother and step-sisters. they were hilarious. lady tremaine was hysterically dry and sarcastic and mocked the children.

meanwhile, cinderella danced with her prince

i don't think that pickle understood that she (as cinderella) is not supposed to like her step-mother

Q didn't care about greeting lady tremaine, but she harassed him into it

the step-sisters were also a riot. anastasia tries to look evil with caroline (as cinderella fittingly loses a glass slipper)...

but then ginny falls out of her chair. anastasia is concerned. but no one else is. ginny is known as "the wrecking ball" for a reason.

ok, now that we know ginbug is fine, back to posing

drizella sat down for quite a while talking with caroline, making the best faces, feigning interest in what pickle was saying

an attempt to get a beautiful photo of the two cinderellas...

but the cheese face came out...

then pickle got sassy and made her "angry face"...

so cinderella joined in

after dinner, jeff and ginny went back to the hotel since jeff had to be up like 3 hours later to run the 1/2 marathon. the rest of us went back to the magic kingdom to catch the fireworks.

quentin promptly passed out, sitting backwards in the stroller

lilly didn't fare any better, passing out on jeremy's shoulders during the fireworks

only pickle managed to see the whole fireworks display, but zonked out immediately following

day two = success

disney 2012 - day two - bibbidi bobbidi boutique

2012-02-03T22:04:00.017-05:00

objective: princess transformation

the bibbidi bobbidi boutique is brilliant. it's located right in cinderella's castle. it is pricey, though they do allow you to bring a dress and accessories from home which can shave big bucks off the price. we didn't really have anything at home to bring, so we went the way-expensive route. the minimum age is 3. we avoided that question when booking the appointment and no one said anything when we checked in. several other parents asked me how old pickle was so i just replied, "almost 3." (a few days beyond 2.5 rounds up to 3, right?) there was no way the princess was going to miss this.

in the lobby they have a sample of each dress and accessory that the princesses can choose from. a fairy godmother asks each princess which dress and accessories (shoes, wand, crown, etc.) she wants. the fairy godmother then slyly asks mom what size and goes to tell the mice which dress to make. all morning long caroline had declared she would be tiana. upon seeing the dresses she decided to be belle. then she saw the cinderella "glass" slippers and changed to cinderella at the last moment.

the fairy godmother then pulls all the right sizes and accessories from the back and lays it all fancy in the dressing room. they take the girls back, wave the magic wand, and pull back the dressing room curtain to reveal the whole ensemble. the princesses then get dressed.

then you go back to the lobby to wait for hair and make-up. here caroline meets an "after" cinderella.

your fairy godmother takes you back into the boutique for hair and make-up. there are three set hairstyles to choose from: a classic bun, one with long hair extensions, and a punk rock girl. pickle choose the bun (thank goodness, not sure her head could handle the extensions!)

a whole lotta hair goop later and pickle has a bun. impressive, since she barely even has hair. then it's time for make-up. the girls pick their eye-shadow and nail polish colors (and then get to take home the rest for later.) caroline was SOOO excited about getting sparklies on her nails, having once seen me with nail polish on like a year ago. they also get their face bedazzled and a princess sash. she did so well, sitting still. she's never even had a haircut before, and she patiently sat in the chair for 30-45 minutes for the whole process without ever squirming or protesting. ahh the beauty of princess magic.

the whole time the girls are facing away from the mirror so they can't see what's happening. once hair and make-up are complete, the fairy godmother sprinkles them with pixie dust (i.e. glitter that lingers for days), waves her magic wand, and says, "bibbidi bobbidi boo!"

then they spin the girls around so they can see what they look like. i almost lost it at this point because pickle was so adorable and so astounded at what she looked like.

then, since we got the extravagent package, we also got a photo shoot in another part of the castle. by this point pickle was exhausted and not really cooperative but we still got some good ones

worth. every. penny.

two princesses

2012-02-02T22:43:00.001-05:00

the official/"free" portait of two princesses

disney 2012 - day two - morning

2012-02-02T21:43:00.013-05:00

day two morning objective: go to "real disney world", dine with princesses at cinderella's royal table in the castle, explore magic kingdom

now terrified of how long the disney buses take to get from place to place, we decided to be at the bus stop waiting no less than one hour from when we wanted to be somewhere. the view from our hotel rooms - it almost does look like new orleans.

waiting for the bus, with the nemo and minnie toys that mickey (ok, me) left for them while they were sleeping

watching the sidewalk sweeper guy draw a minnie mouse with water

impressive

the beauty of having dining reservations in a park first thing in the morning... the park is closed but we still get in and have the place to ourselves

talking with minnie

having fun with nemo (and a trash can.) he is a boy, after all.

as pickle keeps calling it... "cinderella's sand castle"

greeted by her majesty herself

gus gus!

waving her new cinderella wand ("free" with the meal.) ginny also got such a wand, which immediately following breakfast, she shattered by hitting it on the pavement, rockstar-style

a much more personable snow white

same sleeping beauty from epcot. she remembered us. it's so lilly's hair.

a new princess - ariel!

same belle from epcot, but in her regular belle dress. she also remembered us.

after breakfast, we met fairy godmother outside the castle

we rode winnie the pooh since there was a minimal wait, and then hit tomorrowland for buzz lightyear. after buzz, we found chip and dale. i think Q thought they were the other chipmunks (alvin and crew) but oh well

then we drove the race cars. fyi - there's a reason two-year-olds don't get driver's licenses. caroline tried to drive but it was a bumpy and decidedly unfast race.

then we hit the tea cups. the kids have been OBSESSED with alice lately so this was all very exciting.

alice and white rabbit were about to do a meet & greet so we patiently waited...

while they rode the tea cups

Q was sick of waiting, but caroline stuck it out and spent some quality time with white rabbit and miss alice

on to dumbo. it was a good thing we rode it when we did, because it closed for refurbishment the next day.

at this point, it was time for us to divide and conquer. the boys and ginny continued on through the magic kingdom, while krissy and i took the girly girls to the bibbidi bobbidi boutique (aka the drain-you-of-all-your-money-because-how-could-you-say-no-to-your-precious-princess-at-disney-world boutique.)

airport!

2012-02-02T21:28:00.002-05:00

the beauty of travelling with four adults and a plethora of electronic gadgets... someone will get a picture of just about everything!

belles of the ball

2012-02-01T23:11:00.002-05:00

the princess lunch at epcot was one of several character dining experiences that included a "free" photo package. ( god i love the dining plan.) these were our "professional" pics from akershus.

disney 2012 - day one

2012-02-01T22:03:00.013-05:00

day one objective: get from philly to orlando without losing any children; meet princesses, explore epcot

we were up before the sun to catch our 8 a.m. flight. we successfully made it out the door before 5:30, as planned. amazing.

somehow, i didn't take any pictures at the airport or on the plane. but we made it. caroline's first airplane ride went smoothly. she sat with krissy and had a grand old time. we took the magical express straight from the airport and were able to get into our rooms even though we arrived well before the official check-in time.

towel mickey was waiting for us in our room.

we dropped off extra stuff and headed out to epcot for the first of our character dining experiences... lunch with princesses. it took an hour and a half to get from our hotel to epcot, despite their seeming proximity on the map.

autograph books out and ready for our first princess encounter. i don't fully understand it, but the kids go crazy for the autographs.

belle greeted us as we came in. i heart her dress.

as soon as we sat down at our table a princess parade began. aurora was our princess. caroline and lilly were way too eager to leave us at the table and follow a complete stranger through the restaurant.

ginny, however, was not a fan of the princess parade

lilly followed sleeping beauty right back to us at the conclusion of the princess parade. caroline did not. pickle was soon located trying to get adopted by jasmine and safely returned to us.

then the princesses made the rounds to each table. sleeping beauty kicked it off.

then cinderella. caroline was amazed.

and jasmine. she recognized caroline from the previous runaway attempt.

and the blandest of them all... snow white. pickle did show snow white that she was on her shirt.

after princess lunch (and the 1.5 hour bus trip to epcot), we realized that going back to the hotel before our dinner reservations (also at epcot) was pointless as we would get there and have to come right back, spending 3 hours on a bus instead of at the park. so we explored more of epcot instead.

as we strolled through china, we happened upon mulan. another princess off the list.

mulan was very concerned that quentin was not interested in meeting her. (to be fair, he's never seen the movie so he has no clue who she even is.)

mulan tries to convince quentin to take a picture with her

success! it's funny - the princesses were all great with the girls, but they all zoned in on Q

then we ditched world showcase for nemo since our handy wait-time app told us there wasn't any line

if you stuck around long enough, the seagulls said, "mine! mine! mine!" love it.

waiting for the "turtle talk with crush" show. this puffer fish had a thing for caroline. it stayed right by her the entire time we were waiting.

kids are friends. not food.

Q was enamored with the giant ball so we went there

riding "spaceship earth" inside the golf ball - not the most exciting ride in the world, but it was awesome to be off our feet for a bit

marie from the aristocats. again the kids didn't know who this was, but a kitty cat with a pink bow is good enough for pickle.

and jasmine again, this time with aladdin. jasmine remembered us. between caroline's earlier escape attempt and lilly's hair, we are hard to forget.

then we ate a yummy dinner at the hibachi place in japan. Q didn't even make it through the meal. caroline was out before we got on the bus to head back to the hotel.

day one = success

fyi

2012-02-01T21:35:00.002-05:00

i am going to start the lengthy process of blogging the disney trip. be forewarned:

i took over 3,000 photos
many of them suck
i am going to post them anyway

and it's probably going to get sappy - the trip was awesome. the kids loved it so much. and that made me love it even more. i remember being at disney world on our honeymoon, thinking that all these people there with small children were crazy spending all that money on a trip the kids won't even remember. i remember thinking that 5 was probably the youngest kid worth bringing there. scratch all that. now i realize - it isn't about the kids at all. it's about us. of course the kids had fun but they probably won't remember much of it. but we will remember all their excitement and every smile. and that's worth every penny.

and tomorrow...

2012-01-31T22:36:00.000-05:00

we shall begin the disney world posts.

ice capades

2012-01-30T21:40:00.004-05:00

with the trip to disney looming we didn't really plan to go to see princesses on ice. but the kids and i drove past a billboard for it every day on our way to school/work. and they are totally obsessed with tangled. so we gave in and planned a last minute venture.

caroline dresses the part. her rapunzel doll also joined us.

quentin brought his mickey in hopes of a mouse sighting (and also wrote all over his face with a ballpoint pen. sigh.)

yay. mickey, minnie, goofy, and donald started off the show and turned it over to the princess and the frog.

caroline was very focused

cinderella was next. pickle = in heaven.

she told me that "cinderella's boy" was very handsome. oh boy.

tangled time

with every passing hour, i'm so glad i left my tower

and then mickey and minnie came back out and introduced rapunzel as the official 10th disney princess.

and then all 10 princesses and their "boys" came out for the finale. pickle was floored.

membership has its privileges

2012-01-30T21:24:00.002-05:00

the day after christmas we used the reciprocal benefit of our philly children's museum membership to go to the tiny museum in my hometown. (seriously, it's so small that no one has ever apparently tried to use a reciprocal membership because the women working the front desk looked at us like we were speaking dutch or something.)

caroline quickly discovered a stage, dress-up clothes, and video camera and started performing

and the shimmery skirt did not come off for the duration of our visit

driving the space shuttle back to the stage

see, quentin was there too

and now he's on the stage too

two tired kids = mission accomplished.

christmas day

2012-01-30T21:12:00.005-05:00

christmas day. hard to get photos when 8 adults, 3 children, a big red dog, and the biggest mountain of presents imaginable are squeezed into one tiny room.

a megasaurus primer

2012-01-29T23:23:00.002-05:00

in case you need the megasaurus back story...

we saw megasaurus at three different monster truck events last year. and Q is smitten. he often recreates megasaurus with a red dragon happy meal toy and the trailer portion of a matchbox tractor trailer truck. maybe someday they will make an actual toy.

christmas morning

2012-01-29T22:58:00.005-05:00

caroline told santa she wanted princesses. quentin told santa he wanted a megasaurus. santa is quite familiar with the princesses so that was easy. santa and his elves do not, however, make a megasaurus toy. so he did the best he could: a cardboard megasaurus hat, a megasaurus t-shirt, and an autographed picture of megasaurus. and he threw in some monster trucks too. and angry birds, since he knew how badly Q wanted to win one at hershey park.

a prelude

2012-01-29T22:49:00.002-05:00

a few days before christmas we let the kids open up a bunch of gifts that had accumulated here, rather than haul them up to massachusetts and then have to haul them right back. it was chaos as they tore through the paper. but they loved all their gifts! after this, we told them about disney world, but i don't think they really got it. i expected a bigger reaction. maybe next time.

holiday hounds

2012-01-29T22:42:00.000-05:00

and this...

2012-01-29T22:40:00.003-05:00

was where dr. noodleberry was hiding the next morning. Q got a kick out of it. and then he wanted his truck back.

santa claus comes to town

2012-01-29T22:27:00.005-05:00

santa rides a fire truck around town every year here. we randomly caught it last year and i totally forgot about it. then one saturday this year, caroline was down for her nap and Q and i were just chilling in the living room. i heard a siren (not uncommon since we live pretty close to the fire station.) but then i realized i had been hearing it continuously for over an hour. a light bulb went off. it sounded like it was on the next street over so i made Q put on his coat and come outside. he was very confused. then he saw the fire truck and was excited. then he saw that santa was on the fire truck and he got really excited.

that's a sandwich

2012-01-29T22:17:00.004-05:00

jeremy and i were having sandwiches for dinner one night. Q wanted to get in on the action and this is what he concocted. yes, those are two giant grinder rolls.

sweet pickle

2012-01-29T22:14:00.002-05:00

chocolate world

2012-01-29T21:44:00.005-05:00

back in december we took a trip to hershey park (now known as "chocolate world" in our house.) despite the fact that it was 30 degrees outside, the place was packed. the kids had a great time.

caroline checks out a fountain while daddy and Q hit the restroom.

even the dinosaurs had the christmas spirit!

caroline especially loved driving the car. she had her hands on the steering wheel "driving" the whole time the ride was going.

choo-chooing around

the kids thought these lights were the lanterns from "tangled." disney on the brain already, and they didn't even know we were going to orlando yet.

quentin couldn't believe that santa's reindeer were there

attempting to win an angry bird. Q is still disappointed that he won a dolphin and not an angry bird.

another train ride to see all the lights

riding the mini carousel, moments before an unfortunate accident. lilly really had to pee, apparently. sorry kids who were waiting for the next ride... closed for clean-up.

after the park we blew $25 to drive through "sweet lights" - the outdoor light display. we waited in line for over an hour before we even got in. then we crawled around with a million other cars looking at the same few displays for another hour. and the kids both passed out before we even got in so they didn't see any of it. giant waste of $25 and almost 3 hours of our time.

fashion plate

2012-01-19T22:07:00.002-05:00

caroline is a girly girl. a true diva. she introduces herself as princess. she insists on picking out her own clothes (always a dress or skirt, described as "cute" when selecting from the closet.) she must pick her own shoes. she must accessorize as much as possible (bows, headbands, jewelry.) once she's dressed, she simply must check herself out in the full-length mirror, always remarking, "i look beautiful today." the other day she asked me if she could get sparklies in her ears like her friend briston at school (pierced ears.) she's 2 and a half. where did she get all this from??

let's eat

2012-01-19T21:59:00.006-05:00

playing restaurant in the playroom (note: pickle's outfit is entirely of her own choosing, and it is one of her favorites.)

christmas card photo shoot

2012-01-19T21:48:00.004-05:00

an attempt to get that single awesome christmas card shot. i actually like them better as a series. goofballs.

elf on the shelf

2012-01-19T21:32:00.003-05:00

this christmas we hopped on the bandwagon and did elf on the shelf. quentin named our elf "berry" because his lips are red like a strawberry. i don't think either of the kids really grasped the whole "elf is gonna rat you out to santa" concept (which is totally fine by me) but they did love coming down every morning to see if and where he had moved. we did not go crazy like some moms on the internets who make their elves get into all kinds of mischief (like emptying the entire contents of your kitchen cabinets onto the floor or short-sheeting the beds and blaming it on the elf. masochism. pure masochism. you know you are going to be the one that has to put it all back, right?) by the end, it was challenging to find somewhere to stash him, being limited to three rooms and places that a 2 and 4 year-old would be able to find him. but we did impress ourselves by never forgetting to move the elf at night. after Q visted lilly's house and learned that her elf was named "mr. noodle" our elf was suddenly re-named "dr. noodleberry".

oh christmas tree

2012-01-18T22:06:00.006-05:00

by nature of my DNA, i am required to love christmas trees and especially christmas ornaments. we also have 10' ceilings and a large living room with an ideal spot for a tree. add those factors with my 17 rubbermaid bins of christmas decorations (mostly ornaments) and you've got perfect christmas tree conditions.

quentin was obsessed with candy canes this year

his contribution to tree trimming

helping daddy with the beaded garlands which pickle decided looked better on her than on the tree

seriously. this girl is NEVER allowed to go to mardi gras.

caroline discovers the tree skirt...

and takes its name a little too literally

santa Q

the finished product (after we cut almost a foot off of it so it could actually stand)

the tree was so huge. it absorbed all of my ornaments save for a few trays of generic glass balls.

and somehow it managed to stay up, despite the child and feline forces determined to bring it down.

do you like my hat?

2012-01-18T21:39:00.002-05:00

my department ran a mock horse racing event at work last november to raise money for charity. you could buy horses and that gave you naming rights. i bought 3 and named them: sweet carenine (how pickle says her name), gravedigger, and rucky ducky (our household's word for rubber ducky.) there was also a hat contest. i decided to design my hat after my horses. i hot glued some glitter ornaments and sweet neil diamond stuff to it, and sewed a couple of Q's gravediggers on (couldn't glue them - he'd never forgive me!) despite the awesome hat, my horses didn't win.

modeled by sweet carenine herself

the title is a reference to "go dog go". i don't really care if you like my hat. also i won the contest, so clearly someone liked my hat. neeners.

thanksgiving at the beach

2012-01-18T21:23:00.004-05:00

we spent thanksgiving at the jersey shore. the weather was insanely good for the end of november. we went to the beach. the day after thanksgiving. crazy.

caroline exploring the boardwalk before naptime

then we went on the actual beach during baby naptime. yes, we were in pants and long-sleeved shirts. but we were still on the beach. the day after thanksgiving. in new jersey.

this picture gives me flashbacks to this surveying atlantic city

running like a crazy man. who wouldn't? it was the day after thanksgiving. and we were on the beach.

driving trucks = fun. driving trucks on the beach = more fun.

contemplating the waves? global warming? i mean, we were on the beach. the day after thanksgiving.

we even let the dogs join in the fun. (yeah, we still have dogs.)

the pre-school dinner paradox

2012-01-17T22:40:00.002-05:00

quentin will not eat macaroni and cheese. quentin will not eat tacos. quentin LOVES macaroni and cheese tacos. yes, regular old kraft mac & cheese in a taco shell. he invented them. he loves them. he inhales them. i hope school doesn't judge us too much because he totally having them again for lunch tomorrow.

out of order

2012-01-16T19:15:00.003-05:00

i promise i will catch you up on thanksgiving, christmas, disney vacation, and everything in between. i am currently out of commission. disney exhaustion turned into a nasty cold which has now turned into a nasty stomach bug. hopefully i will be back to normal soon.

merry christmas!

2011-12-25T00:01:00.001-05:00

Stationery card

View the entire collection of cards.

guess she needs more bows now

2011-12-18T13:46:00.000-05:00

pickle's bow collection has long since outgrown the original hanging contraption i made her. now she has a super duper bow holder.

leah - don't show wren. it will spoil the surprise of one of her christmas gifts.

toy story: a short play

2011-12-18T09:14:00.003-05:00

buzz lightyear and zurg are fighting buzz: you killed my father! zurg: grumbles unintelligibly buzz puts zurg in a doll stroller buzz: take that zurg. you don't belong here anyway... this is toy story 3.

reindeer: a short play

2011-12-17T16:40:00.002-05:00

a short play about three small faux-bronze decorative reindeer, by quentin in the living room reindeer #1: c'mon we have to go! reindeer #2: no! we have to get the other reindeer! reindeer #1: the other reindeer is dead! from the dining room reindeer #3: wait for me! i am not dead!

pickle's favorite book (right now)

2011-12-17T13:14:00.000-05:00

"the saggy baggy ellflent"

thanks, boy

2011-12-16T20:36:00.001-05:00

good luck finding it.

2011-12-16T20:33:00.001-05:00

it's an emergency!

2011-12-16T20:31:00.002-05:00

Q just came running in to the living room with the house phone. he shouted in to it: "hello? emergency? we have an emergency! the popcorn is popping! fix it!"

mall santa

2011-12-11T23:54:00.000-05:00

thankfully they got a half-decent shot in before cheese-face came out in full effect.

remember thanksgiving?

2011-12-10T11:13:00.003-05:00

we celebrated thanksgiving "down the shore" with good friends. i had hoped to get cute pics of the kids in their holiday best in the fancy hotel where we ate or on the beach, but caroline's digestive tract did not cooperate with that plan. (she rode home from dinner with nothing on, if that tells you anything.) so these shots from before we left will have to do. Q would not allow any photos.

all he wants for christmas...

2011-12-09T21:23:00.001-05:00

that's one way to construct a snowman

2011-12-09T21:21:00.002-05:00

more from the budding author

2011-12-09T21:19:00.003-05:00

interesting. at least i didn't steal the penguins!

when life gives you lemons...

2011-12-09T21:16:00.001-05:00

eat them?

way behind again

2011-12-09T21:13:00.001-05:00

downloaded blogger app for my phone, maybe that will help?

take that puffy

2011-11-25T15:50:00.001-05:00

to krissy's dog buffy who was defending her position on the couch:

"don't growl at me, puffy. i's a nice boy."

further proof

2011-11-23T22:46:00.001-05:00

that buying expensive stuff for these kids is dumb.

hanging out in cardboard boxes and admiring our pull-ups is apparently awesome enough.

turkey bow

2011-11-23T22:42:00.001-05:00

caroline is very excited that it is finally time to wear her turkey bow. what a ham.

speaking of being wretched...

2011-11-21T23:05:00.001-05:00

over the weekend there was much bickering about monster trucks: Q won't let pickle play with them, she gets mad and tries to mess with him by taking the ones he is actively playing with. at one point she whacked him in the face with one and stomped off, saying, "i am NOT delicate!"

you would totally get that if you've seen "gnomeo and juliet" anywhere close to the number of times we have. it was hysterical (except for the hitting part) i had to leave the room so i could laugh.

he hit her in the face (also with a monster truck) later so they are even I guess. sigh.

santa on fire

2011-11-21T22:55:00.001-05:00

the children have been wretched lately - fighting and bickering like teenagers. it is driving us insane. so i've totally been playing the santa card, telling them that santa can see them fighting and will put them on his naughty list.

it must be registering with Q. in the car on the way home tonight, caroline was trying to wriggle out of her car seat restraints. i told her to stay in her seat because she could get very hurt if we got in an accident. Q let out a very concerned gasp and told her, "and then the fire fighters would have to come! and they would call santa!"

in a galaxy far, far away

2011-11-21T22:46:00.001-05:00

conversation in the car this evening:

Q: calder lives far away?
me: yup, he lives very, very far away.
Q: mimi lives far away?
me: yup, but not as far away as calder.
Q: calder lives ten far aways?
me: umm yeah, ten far aways.

(10 must be the highest number he truly comprehends because whenever he asks for something, like more tv time or candy, he always asks for ten.)

thankskitty

2011-11-21T22:39:00.001-05:00

caroline's class made a turkey and told their teachers what they are thankful for. jackson is thankful for thanksgiving (heck yeah - holiday all about the food!) every other kid in the class is thankful for their mommy and/or daddy. except pickle. she is thankful for her kitty cat. which i wish i could say was her actual kitty cat, but most likely it's her hello kitty stuffed animal. or slippers. or shoes.

this

2011-11-21T22:35:00.001-05:00

is what Q looked like when i picked him up at school today. we left it in his cubby for tomorrow but this evening he asked me, "where's my face like will's daddy?" (will is a class friend. his dad obviously has a beard.)

spoopy buppies

2011-11-16T23:10:00.000-05:00

not only is Q heavily influenced by retail marketing, he also buys into advertising. any movie preview on a dvd becomes a must-watch flick. "spoopy buppies" (aka "skoopy puppies") is such a movie. it's in the previews on one of his favorite dvds and he begged for it. we got it and watched it. OMG it's bad. and somehow he's become aware that a whole "buppies" franchise exists and now he wants me to get "snow buppies." sigh.

the budding author

2011-11-15T20:47:00.001-05:00

here is another short story written and illustrated by Q. riveting stuff.

i mean, the part at the end, where i took all the farm animals. did not see that coming.

start them young

2011-11-14T23:04:00.003-05:00

these arrived from target.com today. caroline will be a very happy girl in the morning.

hams

2011-11-14T22:12:00.001-05:00

back in september jeremy took the kids to a party at the hospital. they had a photo booth there and my kids hammed it up. (finally got the printer/scanner hooked up!)

look! it's framma!

2011-11-13T23:34:00.003-05:00

we've been watching "tangled" a lot lately. caroline is in it for the princess action. Q likes the horse. at the end of the movie when rapunzel's hair is chopped and evil mother gothel turns back into an old lady with gray hair, Q always says, "look! it's framma!"

sorry framma. it's totally the hair.

went to red robin for dinner...

2011-11-12T22:27:00.001-05:00

Q ordered pizza and a side salad. (yeah, the waitress said he was odd. we agreed.)

following dinner, he exclaimed, "that was the best pizza ever!"

color theory

2011-11-11T21:45:00.001-05:00

according to Q:

"mommy, you and sister like pink because you're girls. me and daddy like blue and green."

when i told him that i prefer green he said:

"no you can't."

oh.

my pickle

2011-11-10T22:41:00.001-05:00

today caroline's teacher told me she wished she had a class full of carolines, because she always listens and cooperates. that's my sweet pickle.

too bad she's not that good at home :)

inked

2011-11-09T20:55:00.000-05:00

Q's toy monster trucks often come with temporary tattoos. here he models one he declared, "awesome!" it's monster mutt rottweiler. pretty cool.

pump it up

2011-11-08T22:52:00.001-05:00

Q went to a classmate's birthday party at an indoor bounce house extravaganza a few weeks ago. he was so excited about it and talked about it for weeks. and i think it also means that his birthday parties going forward will need to be of the "invite the whole class" variety. it was really funny - when i RSVPed to this party the kid's mom told me how Q got her son into monster trucks just by talking about them so much. i'm sorry lady, it's like a disease.

the store

2011-11-07T22:06:00.003-05:00

quentin is a marketer's dream. he recognizes and associates with logos more than any 4 year old should. (to be expected since he knew the dunkin donuts logo by the time he was two.) of course he knows the golden arches, as any self-respecting pre-schooler would. he also goes bonkers when he sees a geico commercial or a geico ad on the side of a bus. some of my other favorites:

"the pancake store"

"the letter store"

(because the logo is, well, letters)

"the ice cream store" "the cat-dog store"

"the tool store"

"the caterpillar store"

(i once bought him a cheap plastic caterpillar toy here)

"the train store"

(they have a model train running through the rafters of the dairy section)

"target"

(duh)

and this is what pickle chose to wear today

2011-11-06T16:24:00.000-05:00

trick or treat!

2011-11-05T23:11:00.004-04:00

and the main event... treat or treating around our neighborhood

the big event required bows on the pig tails in addition to the tiara

peacock princess fairy is ready to go!

posing with mimi who was in town for the big day futile attempts to get a photo of two smiling kids

posing with mrs. scarecrow

enjoying a pre-trick-or-treat treat

an interesting use of a candy bucket

our neighborhood is perfect for trick or treating - lots of house close together, and a seemingly infinite selection of blocks. we opted for a quick lap around our block. caroline was game for more, but after about 3 houses Q started declaring, "i want to go home. i think i have enough candy."

inspecting the loot. quite a haul considering we only did one of a gazillion blocks.

yup someone gave out generic-brand orange soda. we let the kids try it but they both declared it "too spicy!"

halloween parade

2011-11-05T22:57:00.006-04:00

again this year school had a halloween parade around the courtyard of our building and then parties in the classrooms afterward.

caroline and her "boyfriend" jackson

heron room on parade

eagle room on parade

enough with the photos, mom

very happy spidey

party time!

Q got a kick out of the photo slide show on the smart board in eagle class

drinking the "mcqueen" juice

chowing down

ahh, there's the cheese face

singing itsy bitsy spider with madeline

if the moon gets sick, you'll know why...

2011-11-04T19:06:00.001-04:00

playing in the front yard, waiting for me to get pickle out of her car seat this evening: Q: (sneezes) mommy! i just sneezed on the moon! (pointing to and waiving at the moon) hope you like my germs, mr. moon!

cars too

2011-11-04T19:01:00.003-04:00

on the way home today, while watching "cars" and having previously watched "cars 2" this week: Q: why isn't doc in cars 2? me: because he died. Q: no, cars don't die. they are not people. me: if that's your argument then you can't buy in to the premise of either movie. cars aren't people. they can't really talk, or cry, or love. they aren't really doctors, lawyers, or tire store proprietors. it's pretend. brief pause, as if he's internalizing what i just said Q: why don't cars have ears?

cars

2011-11-04T18:58:00.002-04:00

i don't know what instigated this, but lately Q has been asking a lot about "mommy's blue car." he keeps asking, "where's our blue car?" and when i tell him we gave it to someone else to use, he responds, "we need to get it back." we got rid of the blue car almost a year and a half ago. Q was not even 3 yet. i didn't even know he was cognizant of the color of my car, let alone concerned about its well-being.

sleepy peacock

2011-11-03T22:17:00.001-04:00

pickle was still napping when i picked her up on monday. i love the tutu butt!

my gym halloween party

2011-11-02T22:12:00.004-04:00

last friday after school we went to the kids' gym for their annual halloween party. Q was really tickled about wearing his costume to the gym. we certainly got our money's worth out of the costumes this year!

waiting to go in

spiderman, checking out the giant green spider.

enjoying the place before most other kids got there spiderman shows off his awesome climbing abilities

sliding into the ball pit

pretty princess peacock fairies also enjoy the ball pit

hiding under the tree house

contemplating

taking a break

a much needed break

spidey scales the climbing wall

hanging around

caroline enjoyed the "make your mommy a mummy" game even though her mummy didn't participate

superhero strength

the kids had fun, though Q later questioned why there wasn't any candy. because halloween is all about the candy.

fire drill

2011-11-01T22:37:00.002-04:00

the kids' daycare is in the same building as my office. last week we had an ill-timed fire drill - smack in the middle of nap time. poor kids all had to be forced up and out of the building and most never got back to sleep. Q was particularly traumatized by this fire drill. that day he was repeatedly taking off his shoes and actually had them off when the alarm rang. his teacher scolded him for not having his shoes on and reminded him that they need to stay on his feet in case of an emergency. he had a bit of a panic attack. i think he may have been afraid that miss megan was going to leave him behind in a burning building because he wasn't wearing shoes. he's talked about it non-stop. he even asks permission to remove his shoes at home now because he's scared of an emergency. i have to keep reminding him that mommy and daddy only have two kids to worry about at home and can help him get his shoes on whereas miss megan has 16 or so to herd out of the building. after i ran through this explanation for the billionth time this week, quentin looked pensive and then sighed in relief, saying, "we had an emergency and miss megan saved me."

ginny's party

2011-11-01T22:26:00.007-04:00

every since Q's birthday, all caroline and quentin could talk about was ginny's party. because her birthday was next. Q is already planning for mine (and inviting people) despite the fact that there are like 5 family members with birthdays before mine (though not in this house) and that it is 3 months away. and i don't really have a party. Q refused to have his picture taken, hence the pickle-palooza. also this batch of photos cemented the fact that i need a better camera because i took a ton and almost none came out even remotely well.

pumpkin farm - take two

2011-11-01T21:58:00.006-04:00

since the first pumpkin farm we went to this year was a little too commercial and not "farmy" enough, we took a trek to the same farm we went to last year. the same crew from the museum party the night before joined us. you know it's a real farm when you smell manure. ahhh that's what i'm talking about.

ready for adventure

futile attempt of getting a good group shot of 5 children.

this time we opted out of the harder corn maze and did the much easier straw bale maze instead it was so much easy that Q alone navigated us out of it in like 2 minutes

more wagon... the only way to roll

hugging a pumpkin

goose gourd

weird pumpkin!

overloaded hay ride to the pumpkin patch. we briefly got stuck in a muddy hole.

the barren pumpkin patch. seriously every pumpkin remaining was rotten or deformed.

back on the hay ride, pumpkinless.

funnel cake face

Q's halloween story

2011-10-30T22:46:00.001-04:00

Q's class colored a haunted house picture then dictated a story to go with it. clearly coloring does not interest him, nor should i bank on him becoming an award-winning author.

please touch the monster mash

2011-10-23T09:22:00.020-04:00

last night we went to the members-only halloween party at the please touch children's museum. it served as a good dry run on costumes and was wicked fun. the kids had a great time exploring the museum and trick or treating throughout for all kinds of goodies. i must warn you. i took a lot of pictures. almost 700. but fortunately for you most of them suck because our camera is lame. there are also a disproportionate number of pics of pickle, because i was assigned pickle duty (it was one adult per kid to ensure we didn't lose anyone in the madness.) also, Q objected to me repeatedly taking his photo.

getting ready before

surprisingly not bad group shots

oh boy. cheese face.

attempting to get a nice one of my kids. not so much.

the peacock fairy and ladybug girl

don't make me use this awesomely powerful peacock wand.

gin bug, the prettiest pirate in all the land

another attempt at group shots with our scarecrows. also not too successful.

even spiderman must ride safe. aside, i am so impressed he wanted to wear the mask. i figured he would refuse to wear it. instead, he didn't want to take it off.

let's get this party started!

from the back

dancing in the atrium

trick or treating for water bottles

musical, skipping spiderman

captain ginny steers the ship while spiderman and peacock fairy check out their loot

pickle was obsessed with the alice in wonderland section where even the little kids feel "huge"

stop. pretzel time.

peacock fairies - they're just like is. they grocery shop too.

baby fight! fortunately another shopping cart was freed up at just the right time.

hey look! spiderman is buying fish and bread!

it was all over once we found the kitchen

but driving the mail truck is cool too

throughout the museum they have vintage toys in glass cases. it's pretty cool because i remember having a lot of the stuff. here in the pretend mcdonalds caroline admires happy meal toys through the ages and the kick-ass barbie mcdonald's set that we totallt had.

lilly and caroline practices for when they turn 15

hope she's hungry

end of the night, waiting in line for a carousel ride. someone's tired... and caroline is on the floor.

caroline channels her inner billy joel. she impressed her audience (me) with the ABCs, mary had a little lamb, row row row your boat, and her signature tune, sweet caroline

fall fun

2011-10-16T23:29:00.010-04:00

today we checked out a local farm to do fun fall farm stuff. this place was crazy. it had all the regular farm stuff plus a ton more. it was like a fair meets farm experience. and there were a gazillion people there. i had read about it in philly magazine and was scared but it was the closest farm to us so we decided to give it a try.

could not get the kids to stick their heads through at the same time.

pigtails in the wind

begging for food. we got homemade chips with cheese and fried mushrooms. see not a normal farm.

but they had normal farm stuff too - apple cider and apple cider doughnuts for dessert.

double fisting

devilish girl wanting to pick flowers

and pouting when told not too.

telling me where to stick it

maize maze! this was caroline's first corn maze not in a baby bjorn.

Q leads the way

photo op

the ear of corn he claimed and carried around for the rest of the time there. it's now on our porch with our pumpkins.

cheaters!

getting sleepy / grumpy

but now she has an ear of corn too so it's all better

we made it out! but i would have been totally cool staying in the maze a while longer. it was the one place where there weren't a trillion people with strollers and ugg boots getting in your way.

next up: straw bale maze. Q is in charge.

cheating again! ok not really. pickle and daddy were slow. Q actually navigated us out of the maze.

amazingly this place had the same "how tall this fall?" sign as our old favorite farm in boston.

but neither kid would cooperate

Q was happy to point out the numbers to his sister

on the hay ride

then we selected a random assortment of pumpkins and got the heck outta dodge. the place was nice enough and everything, but there were too many people and it just didn't feel like a farm. we're going to try again next weekend with a different place.

goofing around

2011-10-16T23:15:00.005-04:00

cheesing it up for the camera before the pumpkin patch today...

smowl

2011-10-16T23:08:00.005-04:00

i was trying to get a cute pic of caroline's new 'do. her bangs are getting long, but she doesn't have enough hair that i am ready to sacrifice it to a haircut yet. but when she sees a camera, she gives you her "cheese" face instead of a real smile. i tried.

monster trucks on the beach

2011-10-16T22:47:00.007-04:00

two weekends ago we hit wildwood, new jersey for thunder on the beach... monster trucks racing on the jersey shore. like actually on the beach. we had no idea what to expect, but it turned out awesome. the kids had a blast. - we had VIP tickets which included a private pit pass to see all the trucks and meet the drivers before the event. all four kids loved getting their passes autographed. caroline was always the first to shove her pass in the driver's hands. -

the show also included megasaurus at intermission. we've seen this monstrosity at a couple of other monster truck shows and Q is obsessed. he watches videos of it on youtube all the time. our seats were perfect - we were right in front of it and could feel the heat from the fire.

i didn't take any pics during the actual show because i was busy trying not to get in a fight with the obnoxious lady in front of us. she was a rather large lady and was oozing into our row. as a result, she got kicked a lot by antsy children and would turn around and glare at us. she was also complaining about our kids the whole time. i don't know what she expected - they are bleacher seats. they are never comfortable and you can almost guarantee you'll be bumped as people move around, especially if your body is too big for just one row. fortunately, caroline fell asleep during the show so it was one less kid to worry about. still an awesome show, even with the mean lady.

holy cow!

2011-10-02T16:57:00.002-04:00

they sent it!

and because we haven't seen enough monster trucks this year

2011-09-28T22:25:00.005-04:00

we are going to see monster trucks on the beach this weekend.

date knight

2011-09-28T22:18:00.003-04:00

on monday all the chick-fil-a stores in our area held a mother-son "date knight" so i signed us up. it was really cute. they had table cloths and faux candles on all the tables. the employees were all dressed in renaissance-style outfits. they served us at our table and we got free dessert. it was still fun, even though Q was his typical impossible to eat out with self. he got his picture taken with the chick-fil-a cow. they are supposed to email it to me, but i am doubting that will actually happen. it sounded like they do a daddy-daughter version each spring so pickle can go with her daddy then.

the rest of vacation

2011-09-28T21:32:00.009-04:00

following our OBX vacation, did we just make the short 7 hour drive home? of course not. instead we made the 12 hour trek to massachusetts to meet new cousin logan and to see monster trucks at the fair. they had the moster trucks last year and Q loved it. this year he was ok with it, but clearly underwhelmed having been to so many legitimate monster jam events this year.

towasaurus wrex

the appropriate named storm damage

the MLB bigfoot

also fittingly named - hurricane force

awaiting the trucks (and already filthy)

the guy in the black shirt is jim cramer, notable as the creator of bigfoot, the original monster truck and more notably to us, the narrator of this unbearable (to us, but sadly not to quentin) bigfoot dvd someone gave Q for christmas one year.

bigfoot won. are you shocked? yeah. no.

also filthy.

Q was happy to discover a race car in one of the exhibition buildings

and even more excited when he found this one.

i don't think the owner/driver of this car had exactly planned on letting kids climb in, but after it was established that the dude used to race at riverside against my dad and grandfather, it was allowed.

i think Q may have enjoyed sitting in this car more than the actual monster truck show

and once big brother gets to do something, "me too" has to do it too

what the heck, why not both get in?

they had the pool of corn kernels again this year. notice how many kids surround the pool now.

and now. we stayed at the corn pool for a loooooooong time.

caroline closed out the day with ice cream.

and Q behind bars

outsmarted

2011-09-26T22:43:00.000-04:00

when Q and i walked into his classroom today, 3 of the boys in his class were chasing each other around with elaborate helicopters they had constructed out of k’nex toys. i was impressed that these kids could build such complex machinery (furthering my fear that Q is woefully behind his much bigger, much older classmates) but Q was enthralled. he didn’t even want to sit down to eat his traditional breakfast pickles… he wanted to make a helicopter too. knowing that i didn’t have a particularly busy day at work, i figured what the heck, i could sit down with him and help him build one, maybe it would help him settle in to the new room some more. so i looked at the other boys’ copters and attempted to copy them, which was hard since they were running and whizzing by. Q let me struggle for a few minutes, trying to recreate the other kids’ work and hunt out the right pieces, but when i attached a piece incorrectly he admonished me, “mom, that’s not what the directions say.” wait. there are @#$% directions?!?!? sure enough, in his hand is a laminated card that illustrates the helicopter building process in a manner that pre-schoolers can easily follow. he took the half-copter i had created and started adding the pieces to it just as the card instructed. man, i feel dumb.