Artist colony

Painting on the lawn. (L and E)


Elsa and her watercolors.


Elsa works in chalk, too. (or should I say pastels). You can see she takes it seriously.

We've been having fun with art projects. Paint, drawing and playdough can keep the girls very amused.

I can't believe how charmed I am by this age. The Nearly Three stage is so much fun. What I love best is all the chattering. Lily and Elsa are constantly talking from the moment they get up in the morning until they fall asleep. Even after they go to bed we hear them talking to each other. (In related cuteness, Lily has taken to calling Elsa "sis" and they've started walking around in public holding hands). There's still lots of tantrums and fighting. But it is much less mysterious then when they were babies because they narrate the entire time. "I'm sad/grumpy/hungry/frustrated. Sissy hurt my feelings." Today Elsa told me "Mommy, I'm feeling cranky today." They are getting really good at using their words. The one side effect of their good verbal skills is that they are very demanding. They are still learning that just because they can ask for a specific thing does not mean we will give it to them. So, we're working really hard on good manners.

Example from this morning:
Elsa~More pancakes!
Mom-What? I did not understand you. How do we ask nicely?
Elsa~ PLEASE!!! (more with a scream than a smile).
Mom~ Here you go. Now what do you say? (Hoping for a thank you).
Elsa~ Syrup!

Ready to go...

When we opened the gate on their bedroom door this morning, the girls were already packed and ready to go on vacation. We don't leave for another week!


Elsa and her pink bag.


Lily's bag.


Contents: several version of duckies, a lamb, santa, a little cow, a bunny wearing a tutu and a few blocks. All the essentials!

I should have also snapped a picture of the inside of Elsa's bag. But, she had her treasures inside, too.

Philly zoo

Have I mentioned that the girls are obsessed with trips? They talk about going somewhere every day. Then, they run upstairs and pack their backpacks full of toys. Packing suitcases is one of their favorite games. They are SO excited to go to Wisconsin next week. They keep asking me when they are leaving.

We've been teasing them with "little trips." Last weekend we went to the ocean and this weekend we took them to the Philly zoo. They enjoy getting out of the house, but break down in tears when we come home again. "But, Mommmmmmy. I want to stay in the HOTEL tonight. I want to see Grandma and Grandpa!" Every time we pull up to the house it is the same. I've heard of toddlers having tantrums about getting IN their car seats. But, our toddlers have tantrums about getting OUT of them.


Elsa pretends to be a flamingo.


Two sisters looking at two giraffes. (L,E)



Watch out little goat. Lily's going to brush your hair. I think the goat looks nervous. He should be.


L and E giving the chickens a snack. The girls have a thing for chickens.
At this point, they still haven't figured out where their chicken nuggets come from...I don't have the heart to tell them.

Happy Father's Day 2007

Happy Father's Day to Daddy, Grandpa A, Grandpa P and Great-Grandpa A. We are so lucky to have such wonderful men in our lives. Thanks for taking such good care of us !

We love you!
L&E


Pictures from our little roadtrip to Island Barrier State Park.
The girls were so excited to go to the ocean. The big waves were a little bit scary, but they loved playing in the sand and climbing dunes. Here's Lily with her red bucket.

We were excited to find some Jersey Shore that wasn't all built up. Boardwalks are fun, but we're more nature fans. This park was a 10 mile long barrier island. It was so pretty with lots of natural vegetation and birds. The beach was beautiful white sand.



Elsa digs. The Park was about an hour and twenty minutes from our house. So, we'll have to go back. Princeton's in a pretty good location. In a little over an hour, we can be in NYC, Philly or the Shore. Lots of interesting options.



Making a sand castle with Daddy. The girls are so thrilled to have their Daddy back home. They missed him very much.

Little monkeys

We're halfway through our girls' week with Daddy up at a conference in Massachusetts. So far, so good. I admit to having a few daycare fantasies. But, we've been keeping busy with library class, a playdate, baking and construction projects. We hit a rough patch last night when Lily got sick during dinner. But, I think that may be the fault of the giant strawberry cupcakes the girls and I made in the afternoon.

Lots of pictures today that I keep forgetting to post:


Big news: the girls finally conquered the monkey bars at the "little Park." Elsa did it first and she was as proud as a peacock. Usually, Lily hits the physical challenges first. So, it was pretty exciting for Elsa to explain to Lily how to do it.


It wasn't long before Lily figured it out, too. They had lots of fun chasing each other up the bars. And before long, I had to stop them from tickling each other's feet and grabbing each other's bums on they way up. Sisters!


Elsa's moving so fast, she's a blur on the swing. The girls still love swinging more than anything. They want to be pushed for hours. My next goal is to get them confident on the big girl swings. The rumor about preschool is that they only get one push before they're on their own. So, we have to get ready.


Another recent obsession is looking at baby pictures. Somehow the girls got hooked on looking at themselves in old pictures. It started with our old computer picts, but I finally got the brilliant idea to bring out the scrapbook Teresa made for us. The girls have been asking to look at it several times per day. They are especially interested in the hospital pictures. Wouldn't you know, the girls are into "fairness" even in old pictures. Their comments include things like "where's Elsa's pacifier?" "How come Elsa's wearing pink and I'm not?" "When is it MY turn in the bouncy seat?" Classic.

Like I said, hospitals are another point of interest. Maybe they'll be in the medical field like Grandma and Grandpa A. We live next door to a rehabilitation facility and the girls love to watch the ambulances come and go. They want to hear all about what happens there. So, we got them a Mercer Mayer book about Little Critter goes to the hospital. They love it. And now, they want bandaids all the time to treat their owies.



And let's talk about peer pressure. Who knew 2.5 year olds wanted to be cool? Grandma A sent the girls each a new pair of sandals. The first thing out of Lily's mouth "they are pink just like Annika's(her little buddy). We're going to match!" The girls love these shoes so much they've been wearing them with pjs.


Playing in the sandtable that Mommy put together. Any combination of sand and water has been keeping the girls busy for hours. Elsa especially seems to have an interest in hydrology. She loves making rivers and floods. Sometimes, she'll even flood her dinner plate with milk just to see what happens. I'll ask her why and she'll say "but Mom, I was making a river and I want to see where it goes." Maybe she'll study geology like Daddy or be an engineer like Grandpa. Thank goodness for outside weather! It makes it so much easier to amuse the girls.



Almost as exciting as when I saw Nelson at the Stockton Asparagus Festival, was seeing the Gin Blossoms at the Princeton June Fete last weekend. As you can see, they didn't draw a huge crowd. It made me feel pretty old, because they we're a pretty big name back in High School. Here's Lily expressing her opinion.



We ended up finishing the concert on the other side of the stadium, where Daddy practiced his super hero moves.


Finally a picture from a couple weeks ago of riding the tractor at Terhune Farm. (e,l) Just wanted to prove that occasionally, the girls don't always have wild woman hair! And their "Jersey Fresh" stickers were so cute. Terhune puts on a little toddler program once a month. The girls really enjoyed getting to feed the animals.

Mice in the cupboard

A little longer between postings this time, but I have a good excuse. We were busy acting like the jet set. I spent a weekend in NYC with my best friend Olivia. Then, the day after my return, Mark went on a quick work trip to London. Consequently, we've had to spend the last few days playing catch-up with household duties. While we are each capable of single parenting 2-year-old twins, it is still on pure survival mode. The goal is keep everybody fed, out of danger, clothed (mostly, or at least not running outside naked) and sleeping at proper intervals. Things like mopping, toilet scrubbing and laundry fall to the wayside. I also made Mark install a window air conditioner this weekend. Every day Mark was gone, it was about 90+ and even hotter inside on the second floor. After 6 years of temperate Bay Area weather, none of us can take the heat! Total wusses. By the way, we are probably moving back to California (Los Angeles) in a year. Just can't take this whole weather business. Just kidding, but Mark did get an exciting faculty job offer out there
starting for the 2008-2009 school year. So if you want to visit us in the great state of New Jersey, come before it is too late! Our futon is ready.

Now we have a week with everyone in the same state/continent before Mark leaves for his conference in Massachusetts. Then, two weeks after he gets home, we go on a family vacation to Wisconsin. For those keeping track in the course of 3 months, we will have been to LA(Mark), Kentucky (everyone), NYC (me), London (Mark), Mass. (Mark), and Wisconsin (everyone). Last night Mark came home from work asking me what I thought about taking the girls along on a quick work trip to DC at the end of the month. I just laughed at him.


Elsa finds a cute little spot to hide.

The girls have taken the recent upheaval in stride. They cheerfully said "bye Mom" when I left and then reveled in two days with their Daddy. They told everyone that "Mommy's on a little trip." They greeted me at the train station with big hugs and kisses and were thrilled with the stuffed peacocks I brought home from the NBC tour.


Look at that grin!

There were more tears shed with Daddy left. Daddy's trip was longer and it was harder to talk to him on the phone due to time difference. The girls told me "Daddy's on a BIG trip." They were so happy to pick him up at the train station. They loved the toys he brought back for them (a miniature double decker bus and a London taxi cab)



Now Lily gets in on the act. They have so much fun together! That's Lily's fake sleep face.


Maybe we should get them bunkbeds! *knock on wood* they've been sleeping a little better lately. They stopped sleeping the night in February. So, Mark and I have felt like zombies the past few months. It is so refreshing to finally get some rest. We're going to enjoy it while it lasts. I don't know if this inspired it, but we told the girls they grow bigger when they sleep. So, every morning they wake up telling us they are SO much bigger. Now, they are worried about outgrowing their little toddler beds. Lily told Mark, "I'm going to be too big for my bed." Mark told her not to worry!


Cute little picture of Olivia and I at a Broadway Show "Legally Blonde." It was so much fun that we decided to make it an annual tradition. I wish I took more pictures! But, we did so much in two days, that there was barely time to pull out the camera. We've decided for our next girls' trip, we're going to meet somewhere more relaxing like a spa!