Dinner out

Big trouble

Tonight was really routine. We had dinner (cashew chicken with rice), and then Skip went outside to mow the lawn while I cleaned the kitchen. The girls were watching an Abby Cadabby video in the other room. I could hear the Elmo and Abby dialogue over the sounds of my kitchen clean up. After a few minutes, I walked into the room and saw this:




The pics really do not do the scene justice. The computer pictured is not an old computer that we have given the girls but, rather, the computer that Skip received for Christmas this past year. I have no idea how they managed to get the computer, much less how they managed to remove virtually EVERY SINGLE KEY from the keyboard. I, myself, have occasionally flicked a key off its perch, and they snap right back in. That doesn't hold true for keys that have been forcibly removed by four banging toddler fists. The surface of the key is actually attached to the keyboard by two intricate pieces of plastic that have to be carefully snapped into place, locked into one another, and then the key itself snaps on top. Not very difficult, assuming you can find all of the pieces.

At any rate, I walked into the room, saw the bare keyboard, all of the keys and the many pieces of plastic, and I felt my blood pressure elevate. It actually took me a couple of seconds to recognize the computer and what transpired during the 15 minutes I was cleaning, but, once I fully grasped what I was seeing, my blood pressure doubled. My mouth dropped open, and I turned on my heel to go outside for Skip. Needless to say, the girls were in BIG TROUBLE.

We spent two hours locating all of the pieces, reattaching all of the plastic parts and snapping the keys in place. Remarkably, we are only missing two keys.

School

In a few weeks, the girls will begin a preschool program. Because the preschool follows the school year for our district, they will be entering 2 year old preschool, even though they will be 3 in October, so that they are in the proper class should we continue with K3 and K4 prior to K5. They will attend two half-days per week. (They recommend 2 days for K2, 3 days for K3 and 4 days for K4... We'll see how it goes.)

At any rate, we received our supply list, and today we made a field trip of gathering the required goods. Our list (doubled):

4 packs of Crayola Water Colors
2 packs of 8 count (large size) Crayola Crayons
4 pump bottles of foam soap
6 boxes Kleenex
4 packages of refill wipes
2 bags of Smarties (large bag)
2 bags of plain M&M's (large bag)
4 cans of tennis balls
2 cans of shaving cream
2 pack of 3 t-shirts



We left Wal-Mart with our many bags of supplies and did a cursory drive-by of the school to "talk up" the idea of beginning school. We used this technique a lot with Lauren when she was experiencing a lot of separation and stranger anxiety, and now we're beginning to make a point to do these types of things for Gracie since she is now struggling with the usual toddler anxieties. We refer to it as a constant narrative. I'm not sure Gracie was completely sold on the idea of beginning school, but Lauren was ready to begin on the spot. As we were driving away, she kept looking back and saying, "What happen? What happen to school?"

Sun Snow Stars Sky

The girls love books. L-O-V-E them. They always have their top five or ten favorites that they carry around for perusal. A new night time favorite is "Sun Snow Stars Sky". It has had such an influence on Gracie that she now draws two things on her construction paper when she colors. First, she draws a moon, and then she draws a sun. She doesn't know what the word homage means yet, but I'm sure she's paying homage to her favorite book.

If you like Pina Coladas

This has been a week that has been strange, unsettling, and disturbing. And, it can best be summed up by the below picture:



When I returned to the office after lunch today, I observed an abandoned pineapple.

Who left it there?

Why?

What does it mean?

Prayers

We have learned that our nephews' mother is critically ill, resulting from a seemingly innocuous injury and what must be a rare complication resulting from the treatment of that injury. (My apologies for being cryptic, but I do not want to disclose details that may not be completely accurate, nor do I want to disclose someone's personal medical history.)

Let me try again... my nephews' mother, who is in her early 40's, is in very serious condition. Please pray for her, my nephews, and her entire family, as they struggle through an unimaginably difficult time.

Comparison reading

This afternoon Gracie read her two copies of "The Very Hungry Caterpillar," by Eric Carle. She had the lap board book on the floor, while she kept the miniature, compact edition closer to her chest, carefully turning the pages and comparing to see if they were the same. She seemed pleased that both versions were accurate.

The zoo and park

After church this morning, we headed to the zoo. We didn't exactly plan to participate in the splash pad fun, but we still had our suits on hand from yesterday. That's how we roll. :-)

A pool?

Perseverate: To repeat something insistently or redundantly.

Whenever we tell Lauren we're going to the pool -- especially a "big" pool -- she begins to repeat "Want to go to the pool? Want to get in?" a few thousand times, over and over, until the phrases are simplified to:

"A pool? A get in?"

"A pool? A get in?"

"A pool? A get in?"

x3000. You get the idea.

Today we went to a pool in a neighboring town (thanks, Melanie, for the tip!) so we had a lengthy ride, and therefore, lots of opportunities to hear "a pool" recited over and over and over and over...

Rained in

We continue to experience the usual summer thunderstorms (storms Tuesday night/Wednesday morning were particularly apocalyptic). Last night at about 1:00am, we went through the basement and into the side yard to rescue the family pool that had been blown down the hill. Both the pool and the umbrella were secured in the garage, and we battened down the hatches for the night.

Today, we were marooned indoors. To occupy ourselves this afternoon, we got out the strollers that had previously been confiscated due to some altercations that had arisen. At any rate, they enjoyed taking their, uhm, babies for walks. (The babies were promptly ejected from the strollers and replaced by Barney.)

Weekly activities

After considerable work by our neighbor and Skip, the playground has been restored. Accordingly, we were able to return to some of our favorite activities earlier in the week:

Splash!

This afternoon seemed like a good time to reopen the family pool. We had a particularly stressful therapy session this morning, and then I had some not great news from the work front (mandatory furloughs). So... we decided to splash around in our pool for a while until we all felt better.

Glimpse of the future

Lauren received a few pairs of Disney princess play shoes for Christmas from her grandparents. Accordingly, she loves to put on a pair of plastic heels and walk around with her matching Princess purse. She prances about, saying "Bye!" When asked where she is going, she responds by saying, "Work."

Today, she enjoyed a venti juice before leaving for work. Watching her juggle the juice and her purse, while wearing heels, it was easy to imagine her racing about on her way to the office, wherever that may be.

A few from the road

A few final trip pics just uploaded from my iPhone.

Beautiful baggage:




Disturbing co-pilot:

Random pics from the 4th

Lauren enjoying some chips and a nice breeze from the bay.



No trip would be complete without a little jumping action from Gracie.



Everyone loves a good band.



Sampling some delicious Indian fare. YUM!!!



Exploring the Atlantic Ocean.



Playing with toys from Uncle Bill/Aunt Kathy. Sometimes the wrapping is the best part!



The hostile chefs in action.



VICTORY!!!



Gracie practicing being as good of a host as Sarah.



Lauren says Sumit is #1.



Georgie begging the girls to please-please-please stop pulling her tail.



Lauren recovering on the ride home.

For more and significantly better pics, click here for some great shots taken by the estimable Charlie Cowins.

Finally, thank you to Lindsey-Gupta for inviting us to the celebration. We had a blast!

Sunset