Warm Weather = Fun times!

We had a really nice weekend. The weather was great and we got to spend some time with family and friends. First up though was getting ready for the big day. The girls like to play "mommy and baby". They switch off the mommy and baby roles pretty frequently which I find interesting.

Guess who's the baby...

I always love a great hugging picture!

Then it was onto the park before a visit to Grandma and Grandpa's. We went to C.O. Franklin park in Germantown for the first time and it was nice. Still a bit older than what the girls can really handle with the gaping holes and all but overall a really nice park.

Love this one!

2024 Olympics here we come!

After the park we went to Grandma and Grandpa's house for lunch and a nice long nap! Then it was time to play outside. We brought the "outdoor toy" Popa and Nana got them for their birthday which is a super cute sprinkler. It was a little windy but warm enough for the girls to run through and get their feet wet.

At Grandma's doorstep

Daddy helping the girls get their feet wet!

Peyton fixing her lawnmower - don't worry, she's compensated by the hour.

Toddler life = playing & chillin'

I told Peyton to give me the "somebody just took my toy and now they're gonna pay" look.

I'd say she nailed it.

On Sunday we had a blast with the Sells Family at the Zoo! Of course the only time we got a great picture of the kids was when they were mesmerized by the Buddha statue near the Pandas. Thus you have my "zoo" picture sans an animal.

We also tried for the ever elusive "twins holding hands" picture...


We are still working on this one!

Cartoon Forces Unite!

A drop of dew falls from a leaf in the rainforest, a baby duckling learns to fly, a child is born... these things are all beautiful and magical moments. But nothing is MORE magical and MORE beautiful that when the forces of two Spanish cartoon cousins UNITE!

That's right, pure toddler bedlam ensues when Dora the Explorer and Diego combine their smash hit shows into one 22 minute captivating cartoon! The following clip makes paying the monthly cable bill worth it.

And before you ask, no, I have no idea which one is which. They're wearing the same thing!

So I'm kidding, Peyton is on the left and Grace is on the right.
Right Stephen???

Hitchin' a Ride

I just love the fact that the girls are wearing their sunglasses in the car because it's sunny. So cute and a reminder of how they are growing and maturing. Here are some pictures I took (safely) while we were on the way to "school" yesterday morning!

Here is Peyton making her morning calls on her cell phone, hailing a taxi, and being a mother to a girl plastic doll named "Nathan" (who is her real life baby cousin). Her multitasking skills clearly outweigh her two year old counterparts.

Never mind that her sunglasses are upside down (or upy-side down as she calls it). She's two, come on, give her a break!

And here's Grace, not playing along with Mom's attempt at trying to get the same type of picture for both girls so we can put it in the yearly calendar - side by side. Thanks for nothing Grace.



Cute smile though, don't you think? Although, she was probably smiling at Diego on the DVD player...

Change Anyone?

A couple times a week we check to see if the girls are carrying any loose change...

We have yet to find any...

I sure hope they don't think they'll be getting a free ride straight through college.

'Sup?

Yesterday, the girls rolled up in their ride and proceeded to walk the black "carpet" into the local mexican restaurant, Rancho Grande. Just an average day for these two classy toddlers. Sometimes I don't know how they deal with the paparazzi - but below is a great example of keeping your composure while the camera is shooting.

It's hard to be cool but they pull it off so effortlessly.

As you can tell, they were prepared for the onslaught of cameras. Grace's pose could be in Harper's Baazar or the runways of Milan. Peyton looks a little "catalouge" in this shot but she also woke up from her afternoon nap early so I think she was a little tired. However, you can still tell she is smiling with her eyes behind those glasses.

Parents magazine front cover here we come!

Stop the Presses!!!

Subject A: two-year-old whose world revolves around the word "Mine!"

Subject B: two-year-old whose world revolves around the phrase "No! MINE!"

The following video will forever change the way you look at small children.
(who belong to me)

Look at what others are saying about it!

National Geographic said: "a moment in time to be treasured! We're adding it to our archives as we speak!"

Gene Siskel says: "most heartwarming moment to EVER pass before my eyes, two pointer fingers...way up!"

Travelocity says: "Southaven, MS - a miracle happened here!" ~ 5 star property from 1 review

And now for the clip...

That's right... you just saw sharing between toddlers!!! Amazing!

Easter '09

The girls had a great Easter this year. Being the first one where they could actually grasp the concept was really fun!

Here are the Easter baskets:

Modest you might say but this is probably the last year we can get away with that "theme" so we took the opportunity! Sadly, I don't think we'll be able to use this approach come Christmas time...

Here is a little pre-egg finding glee:

The girls had a hard time opening the jellybean filled Easter eggs. We were silly enough to underestimate the mental prowess of our two-year-olds. We thought we had a second to go change and by the time we came back about 2 1/2 minutes later; jellybeans were the only thing on the breakfast menu.

Jumping

Of all the pastimes our daughters enjoy, jumping seems to be their favorite. "Simon Says" is gaining substantial ground as I type this however. Regardless, the video below demonstrates three things:

1. Our parenting is questionable.

• Why would you let you them jump off things when they could get hurt you ask? We have carpet - calm down, it's like a feather pillow. And besides, we have two of them...
  

2. Balance is still something they are working on.

• They are only two - give them a break!

3. They are awesome.

• Why? Because about 67.3% of the time - they STICK their landings. I bet your kid can't do that.

And now for the video:

Judges?

We can count!

They can actually count to 10 (like their Dad) but I thought this short clip was cute. They all the sudden just started counting in unison and luckily we got some video of it.

Since you'll ask anyway...Grace is in blue and Peyton is in pink.

We sinned...on Sunday

That's right of all days we are sinning on Sunday. This past Sunday morning we went to the Zoo. It's great - hardly anyone is there...you've got the whole Zoo to yourself. Of course at every exhibit the animals are mocking you - reminding you that you should be at church...

The girls enjoyed the morning zoo trip though and we got some cute pictures.

For our afternoon sin (and to make the whole day complete) driving home from the grocery store I found the perfect playground - and by perfect I mean no gaping openings to fall from and by no gaping openings to fall from I mean age appropriate. That's right - playground's have ages! 2-5 years and 5-12 years. And you thought parenting was easy - try finding a playground that a 2 year old can't get hurt on. Now you see why I'm sinning. Said playground was actually on the grounds of St. Timothy Episcopal Church. Did I mention it was Sunday?

(For the record, Stephen was about 60% against using the church playground.)

How cute, Grace get's an attitude!

We decided to play a little game of hide and seek tonight after dinner. First Daddy went to hide - in the corner, under a blanket. I mean really? That's the best place you could think of? I found him in like 2 seconds. It took the girls 5 minutes to find him - he's in the CORNER...under the BLANKET...so easy! Then it was the girl's turn to go hide which they did under the dining room table. Again, obvious! You can see straight through the chairs so it was super easy to find them. Two for Mommy! Zero for the two-year-olds! Yay!


So really the girls had a great time playing hide and seek. Until they found something better to do. How did I know they had moved on? When I told Grace to "Go find Daddy!" in my super-excited-you-better-go-do-that-now-cause-mommy-said-so-voice and she flat out told me, "No! Mommy go find Daddy!"

Boom. ROASTED.