Budding Geologists

I've had a rock collection for as long as I can remember, and I recently rediscovered it in our giant box-o-stuff from childhood. The girls were fascinated when I opened it up for them, and spent upwards of 1/2 hour examining each rock and telling me the colors. Definitely going to have to start rock collections for them in the near future :)

... we're such a family of nerds! :D

Channeling Jerry Maguire

They really wanted me to take pictures of them here - I was just watching them, and they kept pulling my phone out and telling me to "cam'ra!" Well you don't have to tell me twice!

New room

We're getting closer to D-Day! There's a lot we have to do before then, but one thing is at least done - we've moved the girls into their long-term bedroom! They were very excited and have been loving it in there - I'll admit they look a bit small in there compared to the other room, but we'll be upgrading them to twin mattresses soon. Meanwhile the lack of furniture makes the room echo delightfully, and I regularly hear them calling out random words for the effect :)

Helping Daddy

Daddy took the girls outside to give Momma some uninterrupted sit-down time, and spent the time doing lawn maintenance. Know what makes for happy toddlers? Two wheelbarrows (one their size! Thanks Jill!) full of dirt and free license to spread it around. Look at those concentrating faces.

Brushing teeth

This was the result of some troubleshooting on my part. The girls love to brush their teeth, but would climb up on the counter to see better... and end up splashing in the sink getting themselves (and the bathroom) soaked.

Enter the mirror. Thrift shops are amazing - cheapo mirror for a couple of bucks means the girls can go nose to nose with themselves and no longer want to climb the counter. Mostly.

Also - we stumbled on an excellent way to demo teeth brushing! Simply give your kid an oreo, then let them brush their teeth. It was super easy with the new mirror to have them open their mouths, point out the black spots in their teeth and go, "See? Brush right there! And now it's gone!" Best teeth brushing they've done themselves, hands down.

Rainy day fun

It rains a lot here in Washington, so I've been especially searching for indoor activities for the girls. We started with a very European lunch - tea, toast, cheese and pears!

Avy loves tea. Ellie can take/leave it, but Avy now wants it with every meal.

Mmmm, pears.

Next, build a fort!

Hi cuties :)

This is what happens when you step out for the mail for a moment. The girls follow, decide they love being out in the rain, and start watching all the bugs that come out.

I got them some jackets, mostly to keep them drier (it's not very cold here yet). They pushed their pant legs up themselves because they were inhibiting their splashing ;)