bowling

Grammy unexpectedly came to stay with us for a few days, which was a nice surprise and immensely helpful as we were able to have her babysit while we house hunted and packed. For Valentine’s Day, Jake put together a cute scavenger hunt including different cards and envelopes that said cryptic things like, “Pack two changes of clothes and a swim suit… a car will await you at 7:15 on Thursday…” Since his envelopes were supposed to be spaced out among a few days and I am every bit as neurotic as he is spontaneous, I got to the bottom of his elaborate puzzle without opening all the envelopes.

Exasperated at my lack of patience, he spilled the beans on his plans, which included him arranging for my mom to come out for the long weekend to watch the girls while we flew to Vegas for a concert. Extra points for creativity and planning on Jake’s part, but between Meredith coming down with a high fever (it ended up being her first ear infection) and us accepting an offer on our house that same week, I asked for a raincheck on the romantic weekend he had taken so much time planning. I felt so bad cancelling such a fun and spontaneous surprise, but at least he was able to sell the tickets and get a credit for our plane. Long story short, we ended up having my mom come out anyways and used the extra help to take care of business. Not very romantic, but we did get a lot done!

In between house projects, I took advantage of Grammy’s visit to take the girls to the zoo. Meredith was squirming and screaming while we waited an eternity for the ride operator to check that everyone was strapped in, but as soon as the carousel started spinning, Meredith was mesmerized. She stared at the pole moving up and down, completely transfixed and delighted that she had the good fortune of riding a magical horse!

Samantha’s favorite ride at the zoo is the train, and she asked Grammy to accompany her while Meredith, Amelia and I were on the carousel.

Picnic lunch.

I think we maybe saw a total of three animals on this trip. All the girls wanted to do was climb on statues, eat, ride the carousel and train, and play on the playground.

A day at the zoo is not complete without stopping to say hi to Bryan, the good friend of Marisa, one of my former students and the girls’ awesome friend/mentor!

How cute is this bowling party idea? The twins and I had a girls’ afternoon bowling for Olivia’s birthday party and I thought it was such a low-key and FUN idea for a kid’s birthday party!

Our bowling buddies, Chelsea, Addison, Olivia, Amelia, Camdyn, Samantha and London.

Samantha refused to let me help her at all with the entire bowling procedure, and I had to bite my lips in anxiety watching her carry the eight-pound ball by herself to the ramp. I also had to bite my tongue and refrain from freaking out every time the girls touched their hands to their mouths after sticking their fingers in the holes of the bowling ball. Am I the only one grossed out by those balls and those shoes?

Even when it was Samantha’s turn, Amelia insisted on joining her so she didn’t have to sit alone. I think the girls have inherited my bowling abilities, which are nonexistent. Good thing they didn’t care about the score and thought that when the machine knocked down all the pins at the end of their turn, that they had gotten a strike. “MOMMY! I KNOCKED DOWN ALL THE PINS!” they’d yell excitedly every time. I didn’t have the heart to break it to them.