Friday's Quote

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

John, the apostle
(John 3:16)

Spring Break 2013

We were in Tennessee last week for spring break because the girls wanted to return to the indoor water park. We are very thankful for the indoor part, because the high temps were approximately 30-40 degrees. In fact, there was a little snow while we were there, and heavier snow right after we left.

The village was decorated for Easter, but we were bundled up in our warmest winter clothing.  We felt a little odd going to the pool with winter coats and hats, but once we were changed and in the greenhouse-type structure we were fine.   

William George was much more active this trip.  Last year, he was content to sit in the warm, heated water and watch his sisters play. 

This time he was ready to explore on his own. 

While George staked out the baby area, his sisters were in full force. 

However, when George returned the second day, he briefly visited his old stomping ground and then left the baby pool behind. 

He preferred the bigger pool with the splash bucket, and there are no photos of those experiences because I was his escort. 

Even with heated pools (some were less heated than others), the 20 degree temps made the experience a little chilly.  The duo preferred to warm up by dipping in the hot tub every 45 minutes. 

Personally, I think that made the water feel all the more cold upon return, but they had their system and would not deviate.  After a warm up, they returned to the splash zone. 

Whenever George napped, they preferred the relaxation of the lazy river. 

On the last afternoon, they must have made a few dozens passes.  After each loop, they would ask for "one more time". 

After countless "last times," we said goodbye to the water park. 

On our last night, we went out for a little sightseeing and the requisite candy purchase. 

The girls were so excited about this trip and had been counting down the weeks until departure.  William George is at the stage where he has difficulty riding in a car for long periods of time, but he managed the trip amazingly well.  Once we were there, he loved spending his morning at the pool, and then Grammie, who made the trip with us, took him back to the room for an afternoon nap.

For our quick reference, last year's trip is here.  (A similar trip two years ago is posted here, here and here.)  We cannot believe how little George was last year at this time!

Spring Break 2013

When we asked Gracie and Lauren what they wanted to do during spring break, they requested the water park.  William George was completely on board as well.  Therefore, we spent much of last week swimming, sliding and floating on the lazy river.  We currently have tons to do, but will update soon.  

If last week was your spring break as well, we hope you had a relaxing time.  

Friday's Quote

Broadway, by Anna Strumillo, via Fotopedia

 

Be a first rate version of yourself, not a second rate version of someone else.

-Judy Garland

Clean Up, Clean Up

After dinner clean-up is an all-hands-on-deck activity. That means the duo:

 

And William George:

 

 

provide assistance in the kitchen.  After clearing the table, we have two hand vacuums that are deployed. 

Although we are working on our table manners and neatness, the reality is that three children make many, many crumbles and spills. 

 

William George has been pitching in for a while now.  Usually he finds a broom and helps sweep, but lately he's been really keen about the vacuums -- after conquering his initial nervousness over the dual noise factor. 

 

Since there are only two vacuums, he found one of his very own. 

Frankly, he handles it really well. 

After all, neatness counts. 

Valentine's, Belated

Now that spring break is here, Valentine photos keep appearing in the corners of my computer. My only explanation is that I was still in shock over our Valentine's Day expenditure (our downstairs HVAC unit)(we now joke and say it's the most expensive Valentine's gift we have ever received), and forgot about all of our photos.

William George was obviously napping during this time, as that's the only explanation for why he is not wildly running in/out of each photo.

 

 

Enumerated Update

This week is spring break for us, and therefore, this list will be short and sweet.

1) GOOGLE READER:  Let's have a moment of silence for the Reader.  Google announced last week that Reader will close in July.  I use the reader regularly, but I imagine life will go on without it.  However, what concerns me more is the future of Blogger, and the announcement was definitely a harbinger of doom for the blogging platform.  The idea of converting five years of archives to WordPress makes me shudder.  Admittedly, I sided with Apple in the great Apple v. Google war, but please, Google, in the name of all that is decent, please leave Blogger intact.

2) ZOE'S MAXI SKIRTS: My friend, I'm going to come clean with you and admit that I have watched the first and second episodes of the fifth season of the Rachel Zoe Project.  Also, I could not agree more with Zoe's (very pro) position regarding maxi dresses and skirts. While I don't have a closet-full of maxi length clothing, I have had several versions of maxi skirts for the last... let's just say throughout my adult life, and that covers several iterations of the maxi trend.  A black maxi skirt is a wardrobe staple, and I can see huge potential for a similar skirt in white as well.

Gwyneth Paltrow's character wore a maxi length black skirt with a charcoal sweater in A Perfect Murder (1998).  While there are websites that covered the character's wardrobe (the clothes were that good), I cannot quickly put my hands on a pic of the exact outfit. (I did, however, find this site that shows a few scenes from the movie.)  Anyrate, every woman I know replicated that look and wore it to work at least weekly for years.  In short, it was an instant classic.  Therefore, I am siding with Zoe in her debate with buyers over whether or not maxi lengths are for the masses.

3) HINDER: Back in 2007, I was attending a conference at a local hotel. Apparently, the group Hinder was in town performing and was also staying at said hotel.  Some conference-goers observed the lead singer mistakenly enter the conference area, take in all of the vendor booths and exhibitions, and hurriedly backtrack his steps and safely leave corporate America behind.  When a friend of mine relayed this story, I quizzically asked about Hinder, having not heard of them. When our buddy, JT, gave me the ol' I-can't-believe-you-don't-know-who-they-are look, I reminded him that we had twin seven-month-old babies at home, and hadn't slept more than three hours per night since they arrived. I was hardly on top of the music scene.  At that point, we were barely on top of the "showering daily" scene.

At some later point, they appeared on my radar, and I downloaded an album.  The album has been collecting dust on our iPods, and I'm quite sure I have never listened to a single song -- until this weekend.  During shuffle, a Hinder song came blasting out of our wireless Bose speaker, and William George turned on his heel, positioned himself in front of the speaker and began dancing.  Hinder has finally found an audience at our house. 

4) BEAUTY: Ever wonder why we love beautiful things?  No one is exactly sure, but we are beginning to study the mathematics of attraction more and more.  See the NYTimes piece here. 

My children are giddy about not being in school this week, and we will probably be logging lots of play time.  There will be a post or two this week, but mostly we'll be riding bikes and whatever else the duo want to do during their break. 

How about you? How are you spending your week?

Daily Photo

Daily Photo

'Noop 'Noop

(complete with one of William George's "clouffs")

Jump Rope for Heart

Last Friday the duo participated in Jump Rope for Heart at school.  Since we are just learning how to jump rope, they spent weeks preparing and were ready to do their best. 
 

They had a glorious, early spring day, and I drove to the school with windows partially lowered.  The class filed outside and paired off into teams of two. They started jumping rope under the bluest sky imaginable. 

 

When they "tagged out," they created chalk masterpieces on the parking lot. 

 

They refueled with refreshments under the warm sun, and then fell in line to return to class. 

 

 

Friday's Quote

The Hemingway House, by Michael Blaser, via Fotopedia

There's nothing noble in being superior to your fellow men. True nobility is being superior to your former self.

-Ernest Hemingway

Food: Seaside Mature English Cheddar

Do you like Whole Foods? We realize no company is altogether perfect, and we still like them.  In fact, Whole Foods is woven into many of our traditions. For special occasions, such as birthday parties, we trek to Whole Foods, en familia, to pick up quality, fresh ingredients.

When Skip and the duo went shopping for my birthday dinner, they returned home with Seaside Mature English Cheddar (along with steak kabobs and other delicious fare!).  We have gone back to restock on that cheese several times, and I have been meaning to mention this yummy cheese previously but had forgotten.  Recently, we grilled pork chops and had baked potatoes.  When I found myself scouring the refrigerator for the remaining sliver of cheese, I remembered you, and thought it would be nice to share.

So basically our friendly grocer had told Skip, as an afterthought, to grab some of the Seaside white cheddar to grate on our baked potatoes.  This is going to seem like such an unbelievably simple thing to share, but a baked potato with the aforementioned grated cheese is a life-changing experience.

Now I fear I have set the bar too high.

Just trust me on this one.