Monday Edition

I managed to get the girls to school and home on time and as planned. I even went to Target with them and returned home to make them dinner.

Yes, this is almost the dinner I sometimes complain that my mom made for me: artichokes, brussel sprouts, and cheese tortellini. Again, everyone ate very well. As a reward...

 Target cupcakes!

But don't tell Heather. It's our little secret.

Daddy Steps Up

Heather left for DC early Sunday, and I was delighted to discover how pleasant my girls are when they know I am completely desperate to keep them occupied for an entire day. We had a great breakfast at Hobee's, where we all ate what we ordered, which is rare. Then we went to a nearby park I had been wanting to visit. There was no parking anywhere close by, but it was a lovely green space, which was good since the playground equipment is for the very young, so we did some creative play.

 

We then went home, where the girls continued to trash our house with a massive arts & crafts project that has been ongoing and growing since the grandparents visited over two weeks ago. I took advantage of the distraction and quickly mowed the lawn. We wrapped a birthday present and got ready for Amalia's classmate Jessica's birthday party at Pump It Up, a massive warehouse full of inflatable jumping things way too intricate to call bounce houses or jumping pillows. It was impressive.

Impatiently waiting in line after watching a safety video.

 

Bizarro Lily.

 

 

They even had a tiny clown car with giant children in it.

 

Then things got serious.

 

Even more serious was the half-dozen or so times Lily scaled the wall from both sides.

 

 

Note the green button at the top. It got its bell rung quite a few times.

  

 A final group pose with funny faces.

 

 Jessica got to sit in the giant inflatable chair where she blew out her birthday candles. This photo makes me want to call her Jessica Rabbit.

  

The chair was very popular. Here is Queen Amalia thanking her sister's Greek gods for her moment of triumph.

Because I was having such a great day, decided to push my luck (No whammies!) and go straight to Home Depot with the girls to buy some shelving for the garage. Amalia wanted candy at the register and I denied the request, so she refused to budge. I asked an orange-vested checker to ask if she shoplifted any candy, which got her out the door, where I frisked her (no joke). What looked like an impasse melted away fairly quickly. Hmm. I was puzzled.

Of course, when we got home, Lily hit the computer and Amalia helped me assemble the shelving. We finished up, spoke briefly on the phone with Heather, took a bath, and wrapped up our day with a chapter of Harry Potter.

~Fin~

Sneak peek

 A Despicable Me Minion, naturally.

The "hooded huntress," in keeping with her new archery lessons.

Butterfly migration

 

To celebrate the release of their caterpillars-turned-butterflies this week, the kindergarten classes had a schoolwide butterfly parade today.

Amalia learned more--and constantly talked--about monarch butterflies over the past two weeks than I think I've ever learned previously about them.

Did you know the caterpillars only eat milkweed? That boy butterflies have spots on them? That chrysalises have golden necklaces on the outside? That butterfly wings are wet when they hatch? That local monarchs migrate to Santa Cruz in the winter?

 Lily watching the parade with a friend lying inexplicably across her lap.

 Amalia's class.

 That cluster of monarchs is really a feeding frenzy around a box of popsicles.

 Andy was tickled by the height disparity between me and my co-room parent.

 Yes, I'm really a room parent.

 Chatting with the girl monarch.

How adorable is she?

Pirates, animals, and archers

Amalia got decked out for Talk Like a Pirate Day last Thursday. Well, full disclosure, she was really after the free donuts at Krispy Kreme, for which you had to dress up like a pirate.

Our younger daughter took the "social" part of Ice Cream Social seriously, immediately taking her dessert to eat with one of her classmates.

Amalia has pretty much adopted one of our neighbor's cats. Fortunately, the cat doesn't seem to mind her affections.

This is the poster Lily bought at the school book fair. I love that she enjoys the cleverness of it. Though I can't believe I have a huge picture of a raccoon in my house, given that one once chewed my earlobe off.

 Look how happy the sisters are as we get ready to walk to the doughnut shop Saturday morning.

 Our serious girl at her first archery class.

 Coach Eric

At Saturday night's Stanford game against Arizona State. The girls seemed to be much more interested in the cotton candy than the game.

Picture day

Lily sped off too quickly for me to capture her, but here's Amalia on Picture Day, sporting her favorite dress and her new pair of Converse sneakers. See how lovely her natural locks are? Not like some people whose mothers decided to give them home perms before their kindergarten pictures. Ahem. :-)