A public service announcement about pumpkins (and some other stuff)

The girls fell asleep about two minutes after bedtime tonight (which was about seven minutes after we had a minor earthquake, yikes!). We haven't scheduled much this week, but have had quite a bit of fun and they (and I) are tired. Yesterday was my mom's birthday and we had a little surprise dinner for her. The driving rain and insane number of freeway accidents made getting there a weensy bit too exciting for me. I think I drove at about 35 mph all the way. Anyhow, once there, we had a ball -- fun dinner, creampuffs for dessert, and plenty of playing in the rain for the girls. There wasn't a puddle they didn't jump in or a downspout they didn't stand under. They were blissfully SOAKED by the time we got to the car, I had to strip them down and crank the heat for the drive home). This morning, we eased into our day with breakfast in bed. Sippies of milk for the girls, and a sippy of coffee for me. Heh. Oh, and a little bag of Kix, pepperoni, and blueberries for them. (No cereal for me, I snuck a leftover birthday cupcake while I was downstairs heating up their milk.) By the way, Ro and Ree will actually sit still for a minute and watch part of a cartoon in the morning (I think it's the allure of bringing every blanket they own into our bedroom and then burrowing under them). They'll do this unless "That Sheep Show" happens to come on. I don't know the real name, sorry, because when it comes on Ro runs out of the room screaming "Noooooooo, it's Dat Sheep Show, Dat Sheep Show!!!" and I have to fumble around for the remote and change the channel as fast as humanly possible. She HATES that show and has never given a straight answer as to why. Once the channel is changed, Ree calls out that it's all clear and Ro runs back in. My dad and I took the girls to get their flu shots today (normal flu vaccine by needle and swine flu vaccine by mist). They were kind of apprehensive until we brought out the candy bribes that we said they could eat during the shots, and then they were so excited they actually made us play what they call "the hide fingers" game to see who got to go first. (Ree won.) Afterwards, Ro fell asleep in the car, so I stayed with her while my dad and Ree romped around a local pumpkin patch. She tried to get the biggest one she could see, but we broke out that mean old 1970s rule from when I was a kid that "you can only pick a pumpkin you can carry." Harsh, huh?! Hee! She finally found a nice-looking one for herself, and one for her sister, which was sweet, although she was quick to smirk and point out that hers was bigger. (Those cupholders came in mighty handy on the way home.) And now, for the public service announcement part of this post, please take a good, close look at what we thought were pumpkins in the previous picture, and do NOT get that kind if you're hankering for some jack-o'-lanterns. After naps today, the girls were deliriously excited to carve their "punkims" and we got everything ready only to find that the pumpkins (which I guess must have been some kind of gourds) were completely solid! Oops. That's right, no insides, no seeds, nothing to scoop, no way to carve them. Crud. Want a closer look? Ro was a little vexed... Guess we're making another trip to the patch tomorrow.