Post-Camping Spring Break 2017

May 5, 2017 by

After our camping excursion, we spent the rest of the girls’ Spring Break hanging out and enjoying a leisurely and mostly unplanned week together. Instead of rushing off to preschool three days a week, we ate breakfast for as long as we wanted and the twins did puzzles and crafts during Meredith’s morning nap. After Meredith woke up, we went to the park, the pool or a class and napped/played the rest of the afternoon. I thought the week would drag by having the twins home in the morning an extra three days a week, but it was nice not rushing anywhere and not feeling like a chauffeur for a change. I don’t know if it’s their age or skills learned at preschool, but the twins are mostly cooperative playing together and occupying themselves without much intervention from me. Meredith absolutely adored having them around as her constant entertainment, too!

An outing to the playground and sensory garden in San Clemente:

The girls requested to do soccer again (I’m thinking the fact that Daddy takes them and gets them a gatorade afterward may have something to do with it, since it didn’t seem like they were way into soccer last go around!) One of our friends is from the UK and is a director for Playtime Adventure, which brings UK soccer coaches out here to lead a cute intro program for preschoolers. It’s a lot of games, running, hula hoops and a little bit of kicking soccer balls thrown into the mix. The timing is tough since I have to wake the girls up from their naps to make it on time. so they were groggy and cranky at their first practice, but claimed they liked it.

According to Jake, this is how most of the practice went down:

Pool time with the Wrights. Meredith was totally not interested, and I chased her around the perimeter of the pool the entire time.

At Pretend City, Meredith was finally old enough to really interact with the exhibits and her sisters were proud to show her around.

Meredith’s favorite place as of late has been the car… unless I try and buckle her in. The minute I open the garage, she starts hitting the car and squawking, toddler speak for open up! She likes to crawl all around the car and get in the driver’s seat. I’ve learned to let her play for at least ten minutes before we have to go anywhere or else have to summon up superhuman strength manhandling a screaming, strong toddler into her seat. Her favorite word recently is, “NO, NO, NO!”

A happy morning at the park. I must have had at least 450 birthday celebrations so far this year as the girls like to bake me birthday cakes and cupcakes three to four times a day in the sand. I’m always obligated to stick around for the birthday song and blowing out of candles to make it complete.

The girls’ Grace and Zen class is our all time favorite! It’s all very low-key and fun, with the kids learning cool animal yoga poses, a few simple ballet moves, and then they get to read a book, color an inspirational coloring page (last week’s was a mandala with the words “Peace begins with me”), and relax at the end with soothing music and an eye pillow scented with lavender. I really wish they had this exact same class for adults, coloring page included, because I would definitely be there.

Gymnastics with Meredith is wild and crazy. She will sit in her stroller with snacks for about fifteen minutes, before shrieking to get out and from then on, it’s just me chasing her everywhere. Unless I can find a class for them on the weekend or get a sitter for Meredith, the girls’ gymnastics days may be ending soon!

Due to Samantha’s eye appointments, Meredith and Amelia have been going on some Daddy-daughter lunch dates at the Spectrum by his work and have enjoyed having some special time together.

For my birthday, the girls each wrote and chose the illustrations for books they created at Storymakery. Sammy made me into a mommy fairy, while Amelia chose to make me into a mermaid. They loved authoring their first books and have made more at home with construction paper, marker and staples (which have turned out just as cute and creative, if not more so).

Meredith found no need to write a story when the keyboard was so entertaining.

Sammy shows off her favorite hair accessory and road rash from a biking accident.

The girls were looking at old pictures and came across the ones Aunt Sarah took of them in their dressers. They decided to recreate the look!

 

  

Somehow, the girls woke up and snuggled in my bed while I was showering, and pretended to be fast asleep when I found them.

During the frantic rush of routines that is bedtime, Meredith was reading by herself at the bottom of the stairs! While the twins love storytime now, they could never sit still long enough to so much as look at a picture book at that age. Meredith is so methodical with her page-turning, it really looks as if she’s reading! She will pull books off the shelf and bring them to me every nap and bedtime, flip through most of the pages with me, and then jump off my lap to select a new book. When things get chaotic, she just reads by herself!

Another Daddy Daughter date to cap off Spring Break!

Lots of love,

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Sammy’s Glasses

May 5, 2017 by

Many friends we haven’t seen in a while have run into us recently and are surprised to see Samantha with glasses! The scoop is that earlier this year, at her preschool’s annual eye checkup, the ophthalmologist who came to test all the kids sent a note home saying Samantha was testing far-sighted in her left eye. We brought her in for a follow-up appointment with Dr. Rakov to get re-tested and sure enough, she was obviously having a hard time seeing far away in her left eye.

Interestingly, her left eye is the same one that is a tiny bit smaller than her right, and has always been that way since she was a baby, due to the torticollis she had (she can blame Amelia in the womb for squishing her!) Even after neck stretching exercises and physical therapy as a baby, her head still tilts slightly and the thinking is that this may have something to do with her vision issues in that eye. Interesting how everything is so connected!

We had a few mommy daughter dates getting fitted for her new glasses– the right lens is normal since she sees 20/20 out of that eye, and her left lens has the corrected prescription. The hope is that by strengthening her left eye early on, she may not need glasses or contacts in the future.

Samantha enjoyed choosing her new glasses and took her time with all the options. After much deliberation, she chose pink and purple Lilly Pulitzer ones with butterflies on the sides. We think she looks very intellectual with them on!

The first few days Samantha started wearing glasses was mostly rough on Amelia. “I WANT GLASSES TOO!!!” was the constant refrain/sob around our house for the first week. It was impossible to explain to her that her eyes were working just fine and that glasses aren’t usually something you WANT to have… in her view, glasses were a special privilege! I thought about getting her fake glasses for about two seconds before deciding that sooner or later, they were going to have to get used to the fact that even though they are twins, they are separate people and won’t always have the same things! The earlier they get used to this, the better!

A bonus for people who aren’t able to tell the twins apart is that now they have an easy way out!

It was Spring Break during the first full week Samantha started wearing her glasses, and she did a great job keeping them on and placing them carefully in their case at bedtime. She’s been fine wearing them at the park, yoga/ballet and gymnastics so far, although I feel like I’m now in charge of an extra kid because I’m so paranoid about something happening to such an expensive accessory. Samantha has felt really proud of herself learning to put them on correctly and echoing the words of her optometrist, she always tells us,”When I wake up, my glasses wake up; when I go to sleep, my glasses go to sleep.”

The hardest day for Samantha so far was when we returned to preschool after Spring Break. Even before we got out of the car, she was obviously self conscious about the glasses and started crying that she didn’t want to wear them. Amelia and I coaxed her into coming out to the playground where we fortuitously found a girl in another class who wore glasses too! We asked Cassidy if she liked her glasses and she gave us the whole run-down on how she takes care of them and how much she likes them. Bless her sweet little soul!

Samantha was visibly relieved and excited to show them off to her friends after that. She received many compliments from the other kids and Miss Holly said she was eager to share about them during circle time. After the first day, I haven’t heard any more complaints from her, with the exception of one morning when Amelia apparently went around telling all their friends that Samantha’s eyes were “broken” and that’s why she needed glasses. That didn’t go over well with Samantha!

We had another follow-up this week and after some testing, Samantha’s eyes are already working together better and she can see perfectly in her left eye with the glasses on. Even Samantha has remarked about how well she can see far away now. We are grateful for the routine eye check a few months ago, as we never would have known there was an issue otherwise! To be continued…

Lots of love,

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Beach Camping in San Clemente

May 1, 2017 by

I thought our first time camping with the twins (camping debacle of 2015) would also be our last, but either due to my memory fading, or sheer insanity, we decided to give it another shot during the girls’ Spring Break.

We should have waited until the last minute to tell the girls about our plans to go beach camping in San Clemente, because it’s all they would talk about for a week (an eternity, in their minds). Apparently, the only things they associate with camping are s’mores and campfires because those were the main topics we heard them discussing with each other before our excursion.

We decided to take it slow and reserved just one night at these cute vintage trailers in San Clemente. We had all the fun of being outdoors, by the beach, with a campfire, and watching the stars, while being able to have a convenient place to play, cook and sleep inside the trailer.

All in all, we had a fabulous time (I can say that because Meredith and I left after dinner to sleep at home and, consequently, thought camping was amazing!)

Greetings from the 1950s!

Amelia lounging.

I just loved these adorable trailers!

Someone had to be on Meredith duty 24/7– she loved to wander near the road, next to the fire, inside other people’s campsites and had the time of her life in the dirt! Chasing her around and keeping her from getting burned was definitely the most exhausting part of our camping trip.

The trailer was stocked with board games (not that the girls knew how to play Monopoly or Scrabble, but they pretended like they did!) and had basic kitchen staples and bedding. It was nice not to have to worry about packing some of those essentials. We basically packed clothes, food and showed up, no assembly required, which made the whole experience that much easier.

The girls alternated between climbing trees, playing games, and complaining they were bored. When it was time to go the next day, they started whining and screaming that they wanted to stay because they were having so much fun… go figure.

The trailers also had horseshoes, bean bag tossing, soccer and footballs, and bocce ball to play with the other campers. Our neighbors were all nice and commended us for attempting to camp with young kids. We didn’t really consider this real camping, especially since both of us grew up camping in actual mountains in Utah/Idaho, but this was a good entry point into enjoying the outdoors with the young kids without having to sleep on the ground or pack as much gear.

Meredith’s favorite was the bean bag toss.

Snack break.

There was a nice ocean breeze blowing the entire time we were there, which made perfect conditions for kite flying.

Amelia was proud to keep her kite flying for a few minutes.

Meredith annoyed the twins by running around and tangling herself in the kite string.

The natives were getting restless and threatening to mutiny, so we quickly switched gears and prepared an early dinner. Whether at home or camping, getting HANGRY at the 4-5 p.m. hour is a thing!

Wrong side, Meredith!

The girls wolfed down dinner and rushed straight to their beloved s’mores making.

The best part of camping was the beach, of course!   

This was only Samantha’s third day wearing her new glasses (more on that later), and she did a great job keeping them on and safe.

Besties.

Love you, sis.

At dusk, Meredith and I packed up and made the twenty minute drive home as planned, while Jake stayed overnight with the twins. They were texting me random selfies, unicorn and smiley face emoticons, and pictures of the stars well past their normal bedtime! Jake reported that after gazing at the constellations, texting me, general silliness and non-stop chatting, they finally conked out at 9 p.m. I said a prayer for Jake’s sanity and then slumbered peacefully in my own cozy bed!

Unfortunately, the trailer did not have blackout shades or their white noise machine to help them sleep in, so the girls were the first campers up at the crack of dawn (and probably woke up the entire place). By the time Meredith and I arrived back at the campground at 7:30 a.m., they had already made and eaten scrambled eggs and pancakes and were down at the beach playing! Having had a wonderful night’s sleep, Meredith and I were in good spirits, while Jake was sore and grumpy, and the twins alternated from wild crazies to sleep-deprived meltdown maniacs the rest of the morning.

Meredith was happy to be reunited with everyone.

Too much love.

One of the neighbors had a slack line set up and we all took turns balancing on it. It was a great workout!

 

We spent the rest of the morning at the uncrowded beach.

We must have spent at least an hour burying each other in the sand. The girls requested that I make them into dolphins, whales, and mermaids.

Seaweed hair for Amelia.

Beach frisbee.

For some reason, Meredith was having some sensory issues with the sand. Get me outta here!

Happy in Daddy’s arms.

Digging herself into a hole.

We watched surfers, build sand castles and saw pods of dolphins swimming, all while lounging on the sand.

SO many rocks to choose from.  

Watching the Surfliner.

The whole morning felt so unhurried and unscheduled and we all enjoyed just hanging out together with the beautiful beach to ourselves. It was the perfect “slow living” day!

We regret not having booked another night 1. because it felt like we had just barely gotten there and then had to pack up and 2. the girls were positively livid when we started packing up to leave. We had to drag both angry/sleep-deprived girls into the car and rushed them straight into baths and bed for a long nap when we got home. It was definitely the highlight of their Spring Break and they were so excited to tell all their classmates and their teachers about beach camping when they returned. So far, our camping trajectory is on its way up from the last time, so by next time, I may even be brave enough to stay overnight with Meredith!

Our second camping experience with the girls was much more of a success than the last time, but looking back, some things never change… hangry meltdowns, sleep-deprivation and gorging on s’mores, to name a few!

 

Taco Seasoning

Taco Seasoning

 

Lots of love,

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Spring Strawberry Picking at South Coast Farms

April 9, 2017 by

Our experience the past month and a half of Open Houses and constant showings has taught us a lot about simplifying meal prep so that we can eat something healthy (or just anything edible, really) without spending a huge amount of time cleaning up, keeping the house in show-condition and getting out of the house quickly with the kids and dog in tow, sometimes for just a quick walk around the block, and others for three-hour chunks of time. We are beginning to become experts!

We are back in escrow again, and hopefully this buyer will work out, but if nothing else, one of the silver linings has been that we’ve had the opportunity to spend a huge amount of family time together the past month. Whereas normally we might have filled our weekends by dividing and conquering, splitting up the kids and doing errands, or working on projects at home, we’ve been forced to plan on being out of the house together. ALL. THE. TIME.

Sunday Open Houses have been the easiest, since Jake can take the twins to church, while I stay home with Meredith during her nap and clean the house/get everything ready. As soon as he gets home, we do a quick change out of church clothes, go out for a picnic and then fill the rest of the time with other activities, or in some cases, drive around, hoping the kids fall asleep for their nap!

One of our Open House outings entailed going strawberry picking at South Coast Farms in San Juan Capistrano. If all else fails, the girls can definitely fall back on a career in farm work as they loved being day laborers for the morning. Having worked on his brother-in-law’s farms in Washington every summer growing up as a teen, Jake had a lot to tell the girls about the farm equipment and crops, which was all fascinating to these city girls.

Meredith didn’t understand why she was picking her own lunch, instead of it being handed to her on a golden platter.

The girls have perfected the “twist and snap” method of strawberry picking and were very careful about only picking the brightest, juiciest ones.

Samantha inspects a strawberry with a small amount of green to decide whether or not it will make the cut.

Two years ago, we went strawberry picking with a bunch of friends at Tanaka and had a blast there as well. I remember thinking back then how grown up the girls seemed at the time, but looking back, I can’t believe how much of little babies they and all their friends were!

Samantha’s strawberry face!

Last year, we tried out South Coast Farms with the Smith Family. The girls look so little here too, and Meredith was just a tiny babe who spent the afternoon snoozing in the Ergo.

Back to 2017, the girls were great about helping Meredith find strawberries for her basket. She gave up on the whole thing after about five minutes and tried to escape through the rows of strawberries.

  

Farmer Samantha.

Farmer Amelia.

How do you work this thing?

After all that hard work in the sun, the girls were famished and wolfed down lunch at Ellie’s Table. Meredith stole my gluten-free quiche and savored every bite.

Since there were still potential buyers at our house, we made one more stop at Casper’s Wilderness Park. Meredith hung out at the playground and chased squirrels with her buddy, Bandit, while the twins splashed and threw rocks into the stream.  Another successful family outing!

Lots of love,

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