bedtime habitats

One of the more challenging parts of my day is building acceptable bedtime habitats for whatever animals my three year-olds are pretending to be at bedtime. This generally has been limited to making a nest for a bird or winged dinosaur, which involves laying the twin sized quilt in a semicircle below the pillow and then covering the bird or dino with "leaves"--blankets and stuffies (see below).

Tonight, however, I was informed that Charlie was a frog, and needed a log, not a nest.

Look at that tired buddy. Funny kiddos.

first hair cut!

Just a trim and shape up. She was so excited, and sat very still. Mommy's phone helped.

Tickfaw State Park

Funny name, great park. The splash pad was the only time I got my camera out, thanks to the mosquitos, and I guess Hazel got most of the attention. The boys were there, as proven by the snoball picture below.

Louisiana Children's Museum, Jonathan Edition

Boys in the Sprinkler, Part 2

Boys in the Sprinkler

Nap at the park

Nap at park from our Sugar Land says. A bit behind...ok, way behind on blogging, so trying a little catch-up.

Boys outside

Hazel in a hat

a snapshot

Tonight represents a fairly typical evening:

Hazel and Charlie were in bed after baths shortly after 7pm. At 8, we could still hear giggles and chatter. I went in to tell them to knock it off and go to sleep and find the room strewn with toys that had been put away as of bedtime. Charlie had also changed clothes, out of his pajamas and into a pair of his sister's leggings, in a leopard print. He joyfully declared that was a "baby cheetah". I told the baby cheetah and his twin sister to get to bed, tucked them both back in and left.

A half hour goes by. David goes in to check on the still-chattering babies. He finds a similar scene, speaks to them more firmly than I did, tucks them back in, and then waits outside the door. The door has barely closed when the banter continues. He walks in and removes Charlie's blanket and Hazel's stuffed pig, without a word, and then walks back out and waits. He overhears the following:

Hazel: Charlie, I don't have my Darnold!
(David swoops in and removes her blanket, still without a word.)
Hazel: Now I don't have my blanket!
(David silently removes her pillow.)
Hazel: Now my pillow is gone!
(David removes remainder of loveys--a smattering of stuffed dogs and the new build-a-bear cat.)
Hazel: Now I don't have ANYTHING!!

David then goes in and removes the mattress from her crib. I am not kidding. He left the kid nothing to sleep on but the choice between the carpet and the hard platform of her bed. But guess what? The stinker finally got quiet. Talk about tenacity.

Note that Charlie fell silent after his blanket was taken. Guess he wasn't willing to risk his cheetah pants.

Dreaming

Charlie appears to be our vivid dreamer. This morning, he woke at 5:20 with loud wailing.

Me: What's wrong, buddy?
C (wailing): Jono broke my eggs!
Me: Jono broke your eggs?
C (somewhat more subdued): Yeah.
Me: Did you tell him you didn't like that?
C: No, I just crying.
Me: OK, buddy, night night.

With a little paci help, he rolled over and went right back to sleep.

camping!

We took the kids on their first camping trip last weekend. We decided to do just one night, at a state park close to home (Stephen F. Austin State Park) in case disaster struck. It didn't--we had a blast! We got a screen shelter instead of taking a tent. It's like a big screened-in porch. It gave us some more space to move around, some containment, and yet was still "outside". HIGHLY recommend this option when camping with preschoolers.
Hazel settled in right away, playing in the dirt. She didn't stop the entire time we were there.
The highlight (nature-wise) was when we hiked to the Brazos River. The kids loved fishing in the river with sticks and throwing rocks.

driftwood!

It wasn't all smiles, of course. These particular tears were due to a sibling squabble. We also had some pretty serious tears due to fire ants (Jonathan).
This girl takes mud seriously.

Bedtime story reading, and an inside view of the screen shelter. Charlie had taken refuge underneath his mat, so that's why he's not visible.
We were tempted to cancel the trip to work on moving to-do lists and because my (Erin's) allergies had been so bad. I'm so glad we decided to go. It was a wonderful family get-away before the chaos of the big move.

Coming to the rescue!

Diego has had a strong influence on these boys. I pity the animals that encounter these rescuers, though.

(posted by David from Erin's account)

checked on the babies after they they threw an impressive party at bedtime. hazel had climbed into her bed, but charlie just crashed on the floor, with his head on an i-spy bag.

popsicle picnic!

Mealtimes

A couple pics from meals today. Note the careful cutting at breakfast and Charlie's neat grape line at dinner.