Rock climbing at the lighthouse

The girls and I went down to the Beavertail Lighthouse a week (or 2?) ago & we had an awesome time. I'm pretty sure their favorite thing in life is climbing rocks so this was the perfect place to go for them to climb and for my heart to get a work out with mini heart attacks for a few hours. It's scary to see your babies so independent & climbing on slightly dangerous rocks.

The lighthouse was being renovated so you've got to look through the scaffolding to see the beauty.

The foghorn was working very well & we hurried past that fast!

The rocks are all around the lighthouse & the formations are just so beautiful. They are layered rocks & I wish I knew more about rocks to describe them. I did take a geology course in college but ummmm...that was a while ago. My brain can only retain so much. So just trust me - they're very cool & very beautiful.

A lot of people were just hanging out on the rocks & there was even one family who brought a table, gas grill & lots of chairs onto the rocks (behind the girls). I don't know how they kept the table stable!

Sofia was hilarious on this trip because every time I went to take her picture she'd put her hands on her hips. I guess that's her new cheese pose. Here she is teaching the "hands on hips cheese pose" to Ava.

I told you! Every single time!!

Here's the shot showing that now they have both mastered the pose.

All in all it was a great day & a lot of fun. We took a picnic lunch down and after seeing the lighthouse & the mini aquarium they had we went to get ice cream & go to a nearby (awesome) playground -- complete with a boat, a car, a tower, bridges, slides, obstacle course things . . . So I told the girls to choose their favorite part & I would take their pictures.

Guess what their favorite part of this incredible playground was. Think you know? The car? The boat? The quick slides?

Nope.

The tree outside the playground. I love my girls so much...

(See picture in post below -picture posting problems.)

Favorite part of the playground

Veggies? No. Dog with opinion? Yes.

I know you've probably all been wondering how our vegetable garden is coming along. I mean, it's almost been one whole month since we planted the seeds. Surely SOMETHING must be growing by now, right??

Yes, some things are growing.



These:

I must be doing something wrong. This is just pathetic.

I'm going to try some Miracle Gro this week because Lord knows these veggies need a miracle.

On another subject, Bella has been extraordinarily vocal lately & despite having known her for almost 11 years, I still haven't figured out her language. When I let her out after this vocal episode she just walked out the door, turned around & stared at me for a little while & then came back to the door. So what did she say to me before she went out?

My best guess?

"Your vegetable garden sucks. Lemme go see it again so I can laugh at you."

Unless it had something to do with the way the light looks like a spaceship beaming down. Maybe she thinks martians are beaming down to take me away & she's trying to protect the family.

Nah, I think the first guess was right.

Out of the mouths . . .

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Yesterday, Sofia called me a young lady.

Ava: Mommy can't be a young lady.

Sofia: Why?

Ava: Because mommy isn't young.

Mommy: What do you mean, Ava?

Ava: Well, you're not young. Your halfway old.

Mommy: Halfway old?

Ava: Yes, Nonni [Grandma] is old & you're halfway old.

Mommy: Oh, I see. Thank you, Ava.

~~ giggles & laughter ~~
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Last night I was sitting next to Sofia & Ava reading stories before bedtime.

Sofia: Mommy, you smell like one of Daddy's toots.

Mommy: Well, I know his toots don't smell like roses, so does that mean I smell bad?

Sofia: Yes.

Mommy: Thank you for being so honest, Sofia.

~~ giggles & laughter ~~
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These are the moments it's really fun to be a mommy of 5 year olds. The giggles and laughter make listening to all the whining well, well, worth it.

Global warming or seasonal confusion?

We had summer in April:

And now we have Christmas in May:

Is this global warming or just seasonal confusion?

Sowing the seeds of love...

We did it. We planted seeds for the first time ever. Truly, I have never planted a garden before. No, really. I never have. Yes, I'm in my 30s. No, I've never planted seeds. Call the garden police.

These are the vegetables the girls & I decided to plant (& one flower chosen by Sofia):

These are the vegetables the girls will eat:

---0---

Ergo, I will probably be eating all the veggies by myself (due to Chef Garry's maddening schedule since they are taking his sous chef away (I know, WTF budget cuts suck and this better not last too long because he certainly won't if this does) . . . On the up side, I should be pretty healthy in body by summer's end . . . in mind, I'm not so sure!

I think we were a little nutty with the choices we made . . . The girls chose the veggies based on the look of them. They usually don't eat any of those & to be honest, I'm not a big fan of green beans myself. I'm hoping they will decide to eat them when they pick the veggies out of the dirt themselves.

So it was fun to plant them in those cute little pods . . . But this brings me to the problem I didn't think of before we planted in these sprout houses . . . I'm going to have to transplant them & we don't have a garden! We have a little flower spot from the previous owners (they had planted bulbs so every year we have some lovely flowers come up), but there's no room for cucumbers & such (and we had a slight fungus problem last year).

Has anyone ever seen anything like that before?

Anyway, so we added the water, planted the seeds . . .

And we already have sprouts . . .

So . . . I better come up with a transplanting plan soon . . .

Big Trucks & Soccer

Sometimes I'm not sure if I'm raising twin girls or twin boys...

Most girls like princesses, fairies, dresses & tea parties.

My girls like big trucks, Batman, Transformers & roughhousing.

Not that I'm complaining. I think it's pretty cool to buck the stereotypes & be your own person.

So one of the things we did last month was go to a Touch a Truck event.

Here's one they liked b/c of the "pokey" rims. I personally find them scary!

Again, they always love the tractors, too.

(And yes, that is a garbage truck behind Sofia. The driver was disappointed that the event was on a dirt lot because he had really wanted to turn the truck on & show how the truck worked -- My girls were disappointed about that, too! They always want to know how things work which is very cool).

There was also a Mickey Mouse Mobile which they thought was awesome, too.

Here are the pictures of one of their soccer games, too. They really love it...I just wish the games were a little later than 8am...