California tobogganing, and a few other firsts for the Canadian

The girls are napping (the three-year-old girls and the Canadian), the dishwasher's running, and the laundry is going—quick, grab the computer and type furiously... You'd think with two snap-happy people around that we've have tons o' pics of of Catherine and I to commemorate her trip, but nope, this is it. Whew, at least we got one. This week we've worked on introducing Catherine to a few firsts. We made gourmet Batter Blaster pancakes for breakfast (can you believe that she's never had pancakes out of a squirt can before? Sheesh, first she's never worn flip flops before, and now this?!) We got sucked in by marketing and bought some of that new 3D chalk for the girls. Ok, seriously, it was cool. We showed Catherine how three-year-olds can use sharp knives (we use the one-hand-on-the-hip rule). And yeah, yeah, the girls thought bathing suits were the most appropriate attire for the day. Whatever. We demonstrated how to dress up a bathing suit to complete that proper daytime look (simply add a tutu and mismatched shoes and that look will take you anywhere). We showed Catherine how to keep a really vigilant eye on the children (quite vigilant, really, we weren't distracted at all by our cool new shoes). We introduced her to California tobogganing. Not sure our Canadian friend had ever seen anything like it. We showed her the awesome hill where they're using a herd of goats instead of those huge tractor-lawnmowers near our house. Those busy animals are kicking that grass's behind, and every time we drive by we stop and smile and all yell "Hi goats!!" Ro and Ree used big-girl toothpaste for the first time and wowed Catherine with their refined spitting techniques. All that vigorous spitting was quite exciting. Boy oh boy. Ree said she'd like to follow it up with some "Washmouth" (mouthwash) like daddy. We'll just have to save that thrill for next time, don't want to have too much excitement in one evening. Catherine showed us a thing or two also. This morning she spiffed Ro up with the coolest fishbone braid ever, which I simply must learn to do. And, finally, I showed Catherine how to gracefully fix a broken kitty door so it only swings out, not in. TubaDad comes home from his business trip tonight, and I'll bet he won't even be able to tell I did anything.