Beach Beauties

The three kids got to go to the ocean for the first time today. Arya and Eiley weren't sure what to think about the sand at first, but warmed up to it. The water was a little cool, and they weren't too thrilled with the waves when they went back out to sea. All in all though, they enjoyed it. We weren't there too long because it was really windy and we all were just done. We went back later in the day, after dinner, and sat by a fire. Again, we didn't last very long. I think we were there for about an hour before everyone was so tired and we knew we needed to get out of there before all three kids had a melt down.

Highlights

The girl's cousin gave them highlights again today. They weren't nearly as nice as the highlights she gave them yesterday.

 We were driving in the car today. I heard Arya say "Eiley, you thinking what I'm thinking again?" Eiley replied "Yes, I am."  These two seem to have a single mind. I say they have a hive mind.

Miss Zia is looking more and more like her daddy all of a sudden.

Slip and Slide Fail

We took the kids to a farm today. I believe it's sort of like a state run park thing. There were animals and tractor rides. I got the girls out of the car and saw Eiley's hair in the sun. Her cousin had colored orange and yellow highlights with washable markers. I didn't have my camera and she got them washed out before I got a picture. Her 5 year old cousin had done a really good job. The highlights were in small streaks and right down to the roots.

After the farm, the girls took a turn on the slip and slide. Arya and Eiley spent more time falling than sliding, but they had fun.

A Big Jump

Arya got her first bee sting today. She was running around outside without shoes on. The bee was in the grass and stung her. She was very upset at first, but she's a little trooper and quickly recovered. Thankfully, she doesn't seem to be allergic.

At dinner tonight, while eating a corn chip, Arya said, "Uncle Chip likes chips, because he name chip."

She was talking to Cork tonight about who is who. According to her, Eiley is her sister, Zia is her Zia and mom is her mommy.

Zia decided to have a non sleeping day today. She had long awake periods with very short sleeping sessions in between. She was in a good mood, but was obviously tired. I put her in the Ergo for the first time today. She's still too young for it, so I frogged her legs instead of hanging them out. She seemed to really enjoy it nd slept for more than 10 minutes.

Arya started jumping down 3 stairs into her aunt and uncles basement today. Eiley didn't want to be outdone, so she had to do it too.

Swimming

The girls had a great day today, playing with their cousins. They went to a park and swimming. We took Zia in the pool for the first time. She did not love it as much as a bath, but the pool water was cold. I did not put her all the way in. I figured she would freeze if I put her in all the way because the pool was not super warm.

A Long Drive

We got up super early this morning and were out of the house by 4:00 am. The oldest 2 were so excited that they did not sleep for a long time. They were so cute and kept saying things like "we goin' to Boston now?" they are beyond excited for our trip. We drove hard, stopping when we needed a bathroom break or when Zia needed to eat. By 6:30 pm (eastern time) we were in Syracuse and met up with a couple friends at a park. We had a picnic and the kids got some much needed play time. When it started to get dark, we left the playground and everyone went to our hotel to take the kids swimming. You'd think that the twins would have been super worn out, which they were, but we still couldn't get them to sleep until 11:15. They were super charged. They also slept like logs and Arya wet the bed for the first time in probably 5 or 6 months. She's only done that a couple times since she was potty trained. Poor kid was so tired that she didn't even wake up when I washed up up and put new pajama bottoms on her. Thankfully I had just finished feeding Zia when this happened and was able to get a towel down before it soaked through.

Miss Zia did awesome on our drive. She cried more than she usually does in a week, but that still wasn't much. She was just frustrated that we weren't feeding her right when she wanted.

Trouble

Her shirt say it all. I'm trying to get ready for our trip and like a normal infant, she wants a lot of attention. It's not easy to get stuff ready with her in my arms all day.

Tie Dye

It's a real problem when your pants fall down and your stroller rolls down the driveway at the same time.

All 3 kids were dressed in tie-dye today. They chose this, not me. I think it's funny that the infant is smiling but I can't get both toddlers to. Eiley had a pretzel in her hand and popped it into her mouth right before I snapped the picture.

The girls now have a few chores they have to do. They think the chores are fun now, but I anticipate that won't last.

Smoothies

I made banana, strawberry & spinach smoothies today. Arya asked me why I make them every time they drink them. She then took a sip and told me she likes it because ever time she likes it.

The girls were super charged tonight. They refused to eat dinner, then went outside and played hard for almost 2 hours before I put them to bed way past bedtime. They still refused to eat dinner after all that playing. They wanted snacks instead. They each had a huge smoothie and some cheese around 3:00 today. I think I must have fed them too much, but at least it was a healthy snack.

Always Climbing

I fed Zia and then found the older two doing this. The soda on their table was not out when I sat down.

New Coat

The girls were full of energy today. We played soccer outside for a long time. Our soccer consisted of them rolling balls down the driveway, me kicking them back up and the girls running all around chasing them.

Zia had a few long awake periods today followed by really long naps, so we got lots of things done while she slept. I got her clothes, in the next size up, out of the basement and washed. Eiley found a 6 month size coat and put it on. It was too short, but she's so skinny that she was able to zip it.

My climbers.

Bad Habit

Arya has a really bad habit of stuffing her mouth as full as it will go and then she crams a little more in there. Her food, especially bread, will be falling out because she's so packed full that she can't close her mouth. When she does this, she has an audience of one (Eiley) who always laughs and eggs her on. Today they both did it at dinner. Eiley had so much in her mouth that she had to spit some out before she could finish chewing and swallowing the bread.

Around 11:00 this morning, I decided to start organizing the twins' toys. I haven't done this for way too long, since before Zia was born. I didn't get far. I had to keep stopping to feed all 3 kids, do other things, run errands. I'm sitting here at almost 8:00 pm and the toys are still all over the family room. I have plastic containers full of stuff that needs to go to their rooms, empty containers that need toys and a whole mess on the floor. I have a baby in hand and Cork is working on the car breaks...again. What was supposed to be a quick job this weekend of course turned into a typical long job with multiple trips to stores to get the right equipment, tools etc. The brakes need to be done, so I am glad he's doing them. The house will get done at some point and it won't look like a bomb went off in a toy store. Or at least it won't look like that until the Twinado wakes ups and comes back downstairs tomorrow. In all fairness, they are getting much better at cleaning up after themselves when I tell them to. They are definitely not neat children and don't clean up without reminders. They leave stuff every where and it can still be a fight, but they do some of it. I went too long without having them help me clean up and it's been a long process to make it habit here while they do an amazing job at the gym and school. I will have Zia cleaning up her stuff way before I ever started with the twins.

3rd Birthday Party

The girls had an awesome time at their birthday party today. They ran all around with neighbor kids and their cousins. It was cute to watch the cousins together. When their cousins moved back in December, the girls were just starting to really play with them.

We had a Sesame Street/Elmo theme party. Eiley wanted a vanilla Elmo cake and Arya asked for strawberry Elmo cupcakes. She's never had strawberry cake, but she seemed to like it.

What Things Look Like

This is what my kitchen looks like when I've just been to the grocer store, the kids and I are eating lunch, Zia is being fussy, and I'm making a cake and home made baked beans at the same time. Pretty much a disaster.

This is what Arya looks like after she's locked Eiley in the basement.

This is what Eiley looks like once she's been calmed down after being let out of the basement.

In Her Face

Zia loves her older sisters. The more they are in her face, the happier she is.

No Special Occasion

I took Arya and Eiley out today, dressed how they wanted to be dressed. They each had on their new purple my little pony princess dresses and mismatch shoes. They each added their own touch to the outfit. A pharmacist asked if it was a special occasion. I wonder if that was her polite way of telling me my kids looked like a wreck? I thought it was pretty funny. I told her that there was no special occasion, but that they are three and like to dress themselves. I don't think she has kids.

Miss Zia has been doing a lot of what babies do. Sleeping! Arya and Eiley didn't do much of that, so it's strange to me to have a child who actually wants to sleep.

New Glarus

We went on a brewery tour as a family today. Before, during and after, Cork and I partook in beer sampling. Of course neither of us was okay to drive after, so my mom drove us to the restaurant we were eating lunch at and we sobered up there.

The girls' cousin made them the cutest corn husk dolls for their birthday. Of course they destroyed them in the car on the way home. I was really hoping the dolls would last longer than that.

Happy 3rd Birthday

My gorgeous oldests are 3 years old today. It's amazing how fast the last 3 years have gone. I'm sure anyone else with kids understands. I let them do pretty much everything they wanted today, which included eating a lot of sugar and watching some Dora and the end of Mary Poppins. It was not a nice day to be outside, so their wanting to watch some tv wasn't a bad idea. They went to the doctor for their 3 year check up. They are the exact same height 35.5" and the same weight 28.0 lbs. I think it's crazy that they are exactly the same for both now. They also moved up from about the 5% on the weight chart to the 50%. I knew they'd put on a lot of weight this past year, but didn't expect that kind of jump. They are still around the 25% for height. I'm not sure if they'll catch up height wise or not.

Zia Faces

We took the girls swimming at the hotel pool this morning. They have no fear of the water, despite not being able to swim without a flotation device.

Miss Zia slept while we swam. She was very happy once she woke up.

A Wedding

We went to a wedding today. Both Arya and Eiley were pretty good during the service. Arya did announce that "EileyArya want get married" during the service, but thankfully it wasn't too loud. When we left the church, Eiley was concerned that we hadn't sung Happy Birthday or eaten cake. We told them that there would be cake.


The two of them had a blast at the reception but were spent by 9:00. Cork and I had a great time as well. This was one of the better weddings we've been to. The girls particularly liked the candy table that was set up to graze on. They also loved the confetti cupcakes that they ate after eating very little dinner.

Before the wedding, we took the kids to a local hot dog diner for lunch. They ate a ton, of course.

I did not get any pictures on my camera, so will post pics of the girls in the dresses they picked out as soon as I get some.