We are getting ready to leave for our second trip of the summer, to Fairy Stone State Park in south central Virginia. I decided in honor of that to post our pics from our first trip, to VT, to visit GoGo. The weather wasn’t exactly hot while we were there, but we had a fabulous time all the same. Have I mentioned how much easier traveling is this summer rather than last with Molly now 2 and a half? It’s amazing. Going to Vermont actually felt like a vacation!
Last week our church put on our first Vacation Bible School since we’ve been there. It was lots of fun, and I already can’t wait till next year. We did the armor of God hence some of the medieval stuff. The kids looooved the cheesy songs, and have taken Tucker’s boombox from his room downstairs so they can sing and dance in the living room. It’s pretty cute.
Life is good, but very full these days. Acutally, when has it NOT been full since I’ve had kids? Especially since I’ve been working on getting some writing work going, I find lots more to do in my free time than I ever can get done.
Recent highlights: Tucker graduating from preschool, complete with cap and gown. During the ceremony, Molly discovered that the bathroom in the church had an Elmo potty seat and spent the whole time trying to go potty… again… and again… and again. It’s hard to play chicken with your two year-old about using the potty.
The kids’ cousins visited, and Henny gave Molly and Emery the same matching ballerina dress. They felt very pretty—and were very cute too.
Molly and Tucker love to play together these days, and often entertain each other for hours. It is awesome, and makes time around the house really fun. They play in the sand together, paint together, create forts, color, play "night-night time”….
At 2 and a half, Molly is really talking a lot these days, and it makes life with her a lot quieter (less screaming) because it is easier for her to tell us what she wants. She is at the stage that everything she says is cute. When she’s in a good mood, she has a beautiful laugh and also loves to squeal with delight. She is obsessed with coloring and colors so meticulously that I wouldn’t be able to tell who colored a picture, her or Tucker. She goes through her coloring books page by page until she has done every single one. She also loves to watch me and Austin color, and is very good at telling us where/what/when we need to be coloring on the page. It is hard to read her books before rest time because she just wants to color with us instead. She can also buckle herself into her carseat all by herself—a very useful trait, though sometimes very slow. She is as independent as I was at that age, and seems to be a leader. She is also our risk taker. Today we found her after rest time sitting on top of her dresser, with all the drawers pulled out, putting on tights. (There’s a reason we bolted that dresser to the wall.)
Me (to Austin, while we’re watching golf): Is that Justin Rose or is that Adam Scott?
Tucker: Did you just ask if that was Batman?
******
Tucker (to Molly): Are you going to give me a spanking?
Clarence just bounded down the stairs, soaking wet and totally hyper, racing around the room and climbing on furniture. I went to investigate and found the bathroom completely covered in water, and Tucker getting out of the bath. Upon further investigation we have confirmed that dog and boy just bathed together. A good time was had by all. (But not by the bathroom floor, which was under water.) I am seriously doubting the hygiene level of this house.
Both Austin and Tucker are Orioles this Spring since Austin is helping coach the team. Tucker insists that he is not playing baseball, and makes me say T-ball every single time. His first game he ran to third base instead of first, but this last one he went to first every time! I have yet to see any of the kids actually throw to each other AND catch it, which makes getting out in the game very unlikely unless one kid gets the ball and runs to the base. But I’m not sure how much Tucker is even aware of the possibility of getting out, or that that is the goal as a fielder. Nuances.
“What is that smell?! It smells soooo good, like apple pie or something.” –Tucker, walking into the room after I had been using bleach.
These days you can rarely catch Tucker without a super hero costume on. Even if it appears that he does not have a super hero costume on, he often has it on underneath his clothes and as soon as he walks in the door at home, he sheds his ordinary exterior right on the kitchen floor to become Batman or Superman. He never wants to wear a jacket over these costumes because it impedes the flapping of the cape. In fact, the other day it was a 33 degree rain outside and I caught him running out the door in a short sleeve/shorts Batman costume. I managed to convince him to put on a long sleeve shirt and pants underneath his costume, and he happily played outside for a relatively long time in the 33 degree rain.
Molly is talking a lot these days, relatively understandably, but sometimes you need some context. Like yesterday, I was pushing her in the jogging stroller and stopped so I could hear what she was urgently telling me. It sounded a lot like “my go rocket” – and it turns out I had heard completely right. Apparently, she had tilted the shade back so she was staring up at the sky and could see a crescent moon even in the daylight, and was thinking about going there. She later clarified, “My go rocket moon!” She wanted to take me, Austin and Tucker but she did NOT want Clarence to come.
Molly also calls everything hers. When we pick Tucker up at the preschool that she will go to next year, she spends most of the trip to and from clarifying that this is “my school” NOT “Tucker’s school.”
