Fun in the sun

Today was neither too hot, nor too smokey, so the girls and I spent some time outdoors. In fact, here is a photograph of Amelia and Diana modeling their new bathing suits.

Early in the morning, around eight a.m., I had the girls dressed and in the red wagon for a trip to Starbucks. Amelia kept insisting that she had no interest in Starbucks and that she just wanted to stop by the playground that lies between us and our coffee. Nonetheless, I managed to get the girls to the coffee shop where, despite the fact that they had sworn that they didn't want a thing, they asked for chocolate milk and a donut (that we split three ways).

The girls enjoyed the park very much, but Amelia insisted on playing at the nearby elementary school playground. I had told her, in the past, that playground was part of the school and not open for us to play in. Amelia said that since she was four yesterday, she was five today, and would soon be going to school anyway. I explained to her that she was still four and wouldn't be in school for another year to which she replied, "Yeah, but I can pretend to be five." I thought that was pretty clever thinking on her part. She loved the elementary school playground.

Lisa

By the way, welcome to July. Diana knows her birthday is just around the corner, and was singing "Happy Birthday to me!" while sitting on my lap this afternoon. Not much could be cuter than a two-year-old singing, "Happy Birthday."

Root, root, root for...

Mike and I took Amelia and Diana out to the ballgame this afternoon, and we all had a lot of fun. Mommy has been an A's fan since the 80s and dressed both girls in green and gold. Mike went in full Giants regalia.

The game was a blowout, and the A's lost badly, but even mommy had a good time in spite of the score.

Diana and Amelia enjoyed popcorn, ice cream, and a sno-cone. They were great sports throughout the game and applauded whenever anyone did well. It still isn't clear if Amelia is an A's fan or a Giants fan. (Mike jokingly promised treats to the girls every time the Giants scored a run.) Regardless of which way Amelia goes, I bet I can sway her sister the other direction if need be.

Lisa

A strange form of sibling rivalry

Some nights Amelia and Diana like to empty mom's lingerie drawer. The girls usually try to put all of mommy's clean underwear in the washer. Tonight, I was having none of this and stopped them in their tracks. After all, I was in the middle of actually doing some real laundry and didn't feel like cleaning up another mess.

Once their first plan was foiled Amelia and Diana came up with another fun way to use mom's clothes. Instead of stowing away mom's unmentionables in the washer, Amelia thought she would try to see how many pair of mom's "really big underwear" she could put on at a time.

Diana followed suit, since anything Amelia does must be a good idea.

I'm not sure either of the girls actually put on a single pair of underpants correctly. In fact, both girls had bras around their waists at one time or another. Still, the results were really funny, and Amelia was really proud of the fact that she managed to put on five pair of mommy's underwear at the same time.

Lisa

Quotable quips

Now that there's smoke in the air, and the air is usually uncomfortably warm, mommy is pressed to find inexpensive ways for the girls to have fun and get some exercise indoors. Luckily, both of the malls located near our home have playgrounds for the girls to enjoy.

While we were at the mall, I got a kick out of watching the girls and listening to their conversations. One of the funniest things I heard came from a boy who had to be around four or five years old. He may have been speaking to Amelia, maybe not, but he said in a loud clear voice, "I know everything: One plus one equals two."

And that is really all you need to know, isn't it?

Amelia also enjoys trying to practice Spanish on children she meets at the play ground or in the park. I heard her explain to a Spanish-speaking girl today that she was supposed to say, "Gracias" and then Amelia would say, "De nada."

I brought Amelia and Diana to within 20 feet of the mall exit three times today without successfully getting them out the door. The girls just couldn't bear to leave the mall - they were having a great time. While I was driving them home Amelia told me, "I don't want to go home," and Diana quickly agreed saying, "I don't want to, too." (Very cute coming out of the mouth of a two-year old.)

But, I finally got the girls home. Michael had told Amelia that I would tell her a story before she went to bed. I began by saying, "Once upon a time there were two princesses: Princess Amelia and Princess Diana..." Amelia corrected me quickly saying, "No, we're not princesses, we're just children!" and throwing her hands out for emphasis. This was too funny for me. After a bit of laughter I recommenced with, "Once upon a time there were two children named Amelia and Diana..."

After story time was over, Amelia insisted that I stay with her "for a couple of minutes." I asked her, for the sake of conversation, what her favorite part of the day had been. Was it the playground? The rides? The Cinnabon cinnamon roll? Amelia thought for a minute and said, "What DVD did I watch today?" I reminded her that we had watched The Wiggles in the morning, and she said, "My favorite thing was watching a DVD."

So I pursued this line of conversation and asked her, "If you spent the whole day at Disneyland, riding your favorite rides, and watched a DVD that morning, what would be your favorite part of the day?" She smiled and told me, "The Flying Dumbos!"

Well, it's nice to know Amelia likes SOMETHING better than sitting around and watching DVDs.

Lisa

Clean and dirty

A lot of work has been going on here at home, but you wouldn't know it by simply looking around. Most of the work I've been doing is in the master bath and Mike has been concentrating on the garage. But when we aren't working, Mike and I are trying to help the girls enjoy their time at home (despite the heat).

Diana and Amelia both like painting, and it's a good way for them to pass a hot afternoon. Recently, the two of them completed some very excellent finger paintings. The only problem was cleaning up the mess when they were through. Looking at Diana I was baffled as to how she got paint on her face and legs, so I asked her, "Diana, how did you get paint on your face?"

Of course, all Diana heard was "paint on your face," so she reached a hand up to brush away whatever paint happened to be there - and added even more green to her messy face.

Another way that the girls have been enjoying the hot weather is by playing in the water. They love to jump in and out of the swimming pool over and over again. You see, the water in the pool is cold, so they get out to warm up and then back in to cool down.

Amelia kept trying to put pine needles and the like in the swimming pool, and I kept admonishing her, saying, "No rubbish in the swimming pool." Sure enough, the last time she and Diana shared the pool I heard my words coming out of her mouth, "Diana, no rubbish in the pool!" (This is why we don't swear around the girls.)

At night, mommy seals, sprays, paints and sands. Soon (I hope) you will see the fruits of my labor. And I hope you will agree that the bathroom looks better with a coat of paint (even if the paint is an unusual color) than it does covered in a wild green and white floral pattern that matches absolutely nothing.

Lisa

Another disturbing trend in the housing market

It seems, now that many cannot afford homes of their own, they have taken to stealing houses piece by piece.

Imagine how upset I was when I awoke last week to find that my bathroom had been stolen! On a positive note, they left the kitchen - and they took that horrid wallpaper with them.
Now all I have left in my water closet is a hole in the floor that looks a lot like, well, an Italian toilet. Either that or a prop from .2001: A Space Odessey

"I know you and Frank were planning to disconnect me..."

Lisa