zoo

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.

“Let’s go, ball! Let’s go, ball!” they chanted in unison.

The bowling alley has a kids bowl free all summer program, so we may be going more often this summer since the girls were obsessed!

Lots of love,

Last week, all of us got a special treat in the form of Mary Poppins (a.k.a. Grammy) coming from Utah to stay for a week. Can you say peace and quiet time? Leaving to run an errand (or just sit in the car in silence for five minutes) in the middle of the day? Last minute weeknight dates? Not drowning in laundry? All this and more. Vacation time!

Meredith enjoyed being held 24/7 and is now having withdrawals ever since Grammy left.

Hanging out with Grammy and wishing she could eat that parfait at Great Auntie Lynn’s.

While Grammy was here, Jake was in Virginia for a few days for his little brother’s law school graduation from the University of Virginia. Four out of six of the brothers are now lawyers… eek!

I definitely want to tag along next time; we hope to do an American history tour with the girls soon.

Jake with a few of his siblings visiting Monticello during their stay… I was jealous!

Meanwhile, back at home, Grammy and I were holding down the fort. The twins enjoyed scootering at the park and a morning at the zoo, while I hung out with Meredith, who was wondering where her entertainment for the day had gone.

Grammy took the twins to the Ocean Institute in Dana Point one morning where they touched starfish (NOT the one whose leg was about to fall off, Sammy informed me), read stories and did some crafts by the sea.

It was a nice girls weekend while Jake was gone, but my mom and I were grateful to have the extra help, especially at bedtime, when he got back. The dinner-bedtime stretch is just one of those crazy/horrible times where everything seems to converge all at once, and we were tired! Good thing we could look forward to our nightly ice cream and vegging out to watch the entire Dr. Thorne miniseries (by Julian Fellowes of Downton Abbey fame). Ultimately, my mom and I determined it was lacking the kind of moral dilemmas and sophisticated plots of some of the other BBC productions, but it was still entertaining after being braindead from a day talking about “corn poop,” among other enlightening subjects, with the three amigas.

As soon as Jake arrived home, my mom and I escaped for a facial and massage while he took over. Surprisingly, the twins didn’t mention him at all while he was gone, but as soon as he got home, it was, “Daaaaaaadddddyyyyyy!” in ultra-whiny voices all day long.

During the week, we met up with Great Grandpa, Great Auntie Lynn, and Great Uncle Steve for a quick dinner and ferris wheel ride.

Great Uncle Steve is always a kid at heart!

Up, up and away.

More Grammy cuddles for Meredith.

Jake and I snuck away a few times for our favorite coconut ice cream and acai bowls at Bowl of Heaven, a walk around the lake, and dinner with friends on Friday night.

I switched off with my mom for a few days, taking the twins to a birthday party, a play date with their friend, Grace, at the park, and to their swim, gymnastics and music classes. It was refreshing just being with the firstborns for a change… I can’t even remember what it was like to just have the twins! Samantha and Amelia enjoyed their two-on-one time sans Meredith too.

Meredith on a nice walk with Grammy and Bandit while we were out playing.

Meredith’s favorite time of the day. She reminds me of one of those little frog or crocodile toys you wind up and watch their legs spin around in the water. She loves to kick and scoot around!

Meredith had her 4 month doctor’s appointment (I’ll save her stats for another post, but let’s just say she’s basically an eight month old!) and the twins had to come too to get some of their three year old shots. I was dreading having all three girls get shots at the same time, but the twins didn’t cry at all (they just looked scared for a minute), and Meredith let out a few piercing shrieks before calming down and conking out.

Loving the attention!

After staying up late watching Frozen the night before while Jake and I went out, the twins were in full-on tantrum mode Saturday morning, with Samantha rolling on the floor kicking and screaming at one point. As soon as she woke up more rested from a nap and realized Grammy had left back to Utah, the first thing out of Samantha’s mouth was, “Is Grammy missing me?”

It’s a good thing Grammy is a saint, because she probably was, even after all the craziness of that morning and the week!

Next time we see Grammy, it will be on our first road trip to Utah with Meredith. The girls are already counting down the days.