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Friday, May 27, 2011

The destroyers at work

Ro and Ree have always been able to harness their twin powers for incredible acts of cunning and destruction. Yes they are cute – so cute – but don’t be fooled by these two beautiful smiles.DSC_2984LR

Oh Wednesday, they played outside for about half an hour while I cleaned up the kitchen, unloaded the loathsome dishwasher, reloaded it, and restarted it, and folded some laundry. Typical. I *thought* they were only battling to the death with their foam swords (as usual).

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Then the girls came inside and we fooled around with some homemade PlayDoh. Whatever, still nothing out of the ordinary. I gave them a snack and strolled into the office to check my email. I think they were out of my sight for about seven or eight minutes. And during that time they didn’t make any unusual noises. (Come to think of it, they didn’t make any noise at all, which should have tipped me off. Damn Spidey sense is off!)

When I came back to the kitchen I couldn’t even believe my eyes. The delinquents had gone into the pantry, found a brand-new 5-pound sack of flour, opened it pretending to make “flour soup,” and somehow spread the entire contents of the sack all over themselves, the counters, the floors, everything within a 20-foot radius. !!! Ree’s whole head was completely white, and every counter and floorboard in the kitchen (and actually even in the dining room and living room) was gritty and dusty.

I’m not even sure what I said right then. I think I was in complete shock at the utter vastness of the mess. I didn’t teach the girls any new swear words, which must be a victory of some sort. I gritted out my extreme displeasure and directed them to start cleaning immediately. One of them grabbed the broom, one of them grabbed the swivel sweeper, and I grabbed the big vacuum cleaner. It was unbelievable. I’m still hot thinking about it (and still finding flour in every nook and cranny). We worked on it for about 20 minutes, then I filled up a bucket with water and handed them two mops. They mopped the entire downstairs. Which would have been great, except that they thought it was Too Much Fun and exactly what princesses do. Rrrrrrrr. Then I sent them to time-out while I took the rugs outside to see if I could shake off the flour.

That’s when I saw the big pile of flagstones on their wooden picnic table and started yelling. They came running out of time-out and explained that the rocks had come out of the sidewalk. Yes, unbelievably, they had chipped the huge flagstones out of the walkway that runs around our yard. The same walkway that 85 people are going to walk on at the graduation in a little over a week. The same walkway that now has huge gaping holes!!!!! I was SO IRRITATED – we really don’t need to talk about what I said. Suffice it to say that after ranting and getting some disjointed story about wanting to make the rocks prettier, I sent them back to time out (mostly for their protection), and called TubaDad, who was on him way home. I stuttered, asked “why?!!!!” about a hundred times, ranted some more, poured some wine, then hung up and waited for him to arrive. He also was aghast at the destruction. After a lot of questioning, deliberation, talk about making good choices, and more wine, we handed down the sentencing, which was met with huge gasps and then quiet acceptance.

And that is the most destructive day the twinados have ever had or (knock wood) will ever have.

So... any "I cannot believe they did that!" stories of your own to share? Something that will make me laugh, or feel better, preferrably both?

PS: Sorry, no pictures of the destruction, didn’t even think of it. You know it’s really bad if this blogging mama doesn’t even grab a camera... I’ll start working on the party post next. I spent all afternoon driving around looking for a fleet of those cheap little plastic stackable kid chairs. Do they not exist anymore? Anyone seen them anywhere in stores or online?

Thursday, May 26, 2011

I’m torn, you decide

Soooooo, what would you like to hear about next:

1. The two astonishingly destructive things the girls did in an extremely short amount of time yesterday

2. Prep and plans for the kindergarten graduation we’re holding at our house that 85 people (eek) will be coming to (including the party project I completely failed at today)

I thought it would make her laugh

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And it did. I’m thinking Hallmark is really missing the boat on this one.

Inside the card I wrote how touched we were that Mrs. T walked our crying kiddo to the office, cleaned her up, then stayed to offer comfort until I arrived. Above and beyond. Way beyond. And this is just one of the manymanymany reasons we love our kindergarten teacher.

PS: The candy on the right was for the custodian who was called to, um, rectify the classroom after the incident, and was his first we-appreciate-you card and gift ever in the many years he has worked at the school. Seriously? That just isn’t right.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Disney Twinvasion 2011!

Oh yeah, six twins from China running amuck through Disneyland. You just can’t help but smile seeing that, can you? I know I can’t. And apparently I also can’t help but take pictures, so this will be a long one.

First there were four, just in time for some kind of Disney parade:
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Then there were six, oooo the squealing (oh, sorry, that might have been me):IMG_0299LR

That hand holding just melts me – oh my gosh!!:IMG_0302LR
(Julia, Katy, H2, S2, Ree, Ro)

I love this peek at H2 and Katy, doesn’t H2 look like such a big girl with that pose? Sweet, sweet. The girls are all about a year apart, by the way, the Jokers are four, the Twinados are five, and the Cupcakes are six years old:
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They took off running (running/dancing/hopping, eh semantics):IMG_0307LR

And descended en masse on Ariel (look out princess!):IMG_0311LR

Woohooo, “the money shot!!” Heh. I think the mermaid might have been a touch bowled over by our enthusiastic mob:Ariel-2LR
(H2, S2, Julia, Ree, Ro, Katy)

Man, they’ve sure grown since last year. The kiddos last saw each other in Disneyland almost a year and a half ago (January 2010), and here’s what they looked like then (awwwwww!):DSC_0586LRLR
(Katy (in front), S2, Ree, Ro, Julia, H2)

The boys snuck in a quick pic while we were getting the pint-sized princesses in their seats. Ha!!!:ArielBoys-2LR

Then we had a pricey princess lunch. (Is this seriously the sole pic I snapped of the grownups this time? Jeez. Must improve on this next year.):
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And we saw princesses galore:IMG_0329LRIMG_0335LR

This shot cracks me up because H2 & S2 are looking at the real photographer (their dad), Ree is keeping an eye on her dessert, Ro is spellbound that she’s ThisClose to Snow White, Julia is smiling at her mom, and Katy has grabbed a big fistful of Snow’s dress. Hee!:IMG_0338LR

I also loved when the big kids taught the little kids some fancy dance moves and some Tae Kwan Do:
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After lunch we headed off in search of more rides:IMG_0373LRIMG_0377LR

And caught one more group photo (can you blame me?):
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(Julia, Ro, Katy, S2, H2, Ree)

Then the kids all ran around like crazy, hopped on the zip line, played some more, rode a few more rides, and we grabbed a big group dinner. Yeah we were brave and put all the kids on one side (kind of like a police lineup):IMG_0398LR

And that was the end of another great day at Disneyland and the end of our trip. See ya next year Mickey!

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Doing Disney with the Aussies

Does anyone remember way back in 2006 when TubaDad and I went to Australia on our babymoon? Well this crazy Aussie blogger actually hopped on a plane and met us in Sydney when we landed. Wild fun! That sweetheart was OziMum, and this week we were lucky enough to see our fave Family H AND get to hang out with a vacationing OziMum and her family at Disney. IMG_0178LR

Here’s the breakfast crew (thank goodness for self timer!):IMG_0179LR
(OziMum, Ro yellow, Ree blue, me, Miss M holding Tiny, TubaDad, Mr T, H-Man)

What a blast. We rode the craziest rides we could find (I’m not sure we found a ride fast enough for Ro and Ree, maybe the Matterhorn came closest), freaked the Aussies out with spicy Mexican food and weird-looking refried beans, and just enjoyed the heck out of ourselves.

I think Ro and Ree found a new lifelong buddy in H-Man, who was up for anything, even the spinning teacups with our iron-stomach daredevils. They nearly sent him over the edge on that one, and afterwards he crawled into his sister’s stroller and moaned piteously. Don’t feel too bad, though, notice his thumb when I asked the girls if the ride got a thumbs up? Hee!:IMG_0221LR

The three of them sat up front for Pirates and loved every second of the ride. Miss M and I sat in the middle and got a little wet, next time I’m Googling which Pirate’s seats don’t get splashed. Heh.:
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And I don’t know how many times everyone rode Thunder Mountain, but it was quite popular with all the kiddos. The friendly lizard outside the ride almost became our new house pet. Good thing he was faster than Ro and Ree:IMG_0215LR

Also, my awesome friend Michelle had the day off from work and came to Disney to hang out with us and ride rides! IMG_0224LR

IMG_0244LRI was so excited to see her and she was game enough to wait through not one but TWO Rapunzel lines with us. Yeah that’s right, I said two. You see, Ro and Ree waited through one big ol’ huge line, saw their fave princess, and then noticed that as soon as they left the tower, Flynn Rider walked in. So the very next people in line got to see both Rapunzel AND Flynn. Oh my word, Ro and Ree nearly fainted.

Well they wouldn’t hear of anything but waiting in that line AGAIN so they could see both characters this time. And that is what they did (I say “they” because Michelle and I pulled up a chair in the shade and waited nearby, ahhhhh).25673010000-2LR

Whatever. Gave me more time to talk to Michelle, which is always a really good thing. And after all that waiting we hooked back up with the H Family (who had been tearing up CA Adventures), which was also a really good thing.

Let’s see, there were a whole bunch more rides, enough walking to qualify for a half marathon in my estimation:IMG_0256LR

and then we all went to eat together. Picture a really long table packed with 14 fun people, half of them kids.

After some chowing, talking, playing, IMG_0261LR

and a whole bunch of running,IMG_0263LRIMG_0264LR
we headed for our blessed beds.

Oh, and then we had to get out of bed when the sky started glowing and popping. Yeah that was cool.
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Then it was time to climb back into our beds. (I’m not gonna lie, I was soooooo tired.) Next post: Disney Twinvasion 2011! (Previous post was Yep, We Were Visiting the Mouse in case you didn’t catch it.)

Monday, May 23, 2011

Yep, we were visiting the mouse

I snuck the telltale mouse-ear logo onto our roadtrip menu, to see if any sharp-eyed folks would catch it. Heh.

The girls could hardly wait to enter Disneyland, bolting ahead of us and calling “Come on mama, come on daddy, HURRY!!”IMG_0103LRIMG_0108LR
(Ree fuschia top, Ro yellow top)

First stop, Rapunzel’s castle (as if there was any doubt). They tried to sneak a peek into the first castle they came to, but the darn windows were impassable. Thank goodness Disney is twinado-proof:IMG_0109LR

The line for Rapunzel-in-the-flesh was mind-bogglingly long (2 hours? seriously?), so we decided to grab some food at what turned out to be a character breakfast. I had to laugh, though, that the girls are SO disinterested in anyone not wearing a princess crown right now. Character after character came to our table and Ro and Ree barely spared them a glance between bites. They humored me with one measly snapshot, which I’m only posting because of Ro’s “this is not a princess so why am I standing here” face!IMG_0120LR

We rode a few rides, then got word that the H Family had arrived! A slew of text messages flew back and forth, and finally we were both in the same place at the same time. The four girls (H2, S2, Ro, and Ree) came together like they’d seen each other yesterday and there was immediate hugging, talking, hair stuff, and I don’t even know what.IMG_0124LR

These girls just get along like a house on fire:IMG_0128LRIMG_0130LRIMG_0140LR

IMG_0148LRThe hand holding KILLS me. Every time. I see it and melt. And then I grope around for my camera, which for some stupid reason I always put away thinking I’ve taken enough pictures. Someday I’ll learn. I did have the camera out for this one funny shot of the two dads squeezed into the Toon Town coaster behind all the kiddos. Hee!!! They’re both good sports:

“Mama, do the princesses come here to get gas?”:IMG_0158LR

Anyhow, funfunfun day of rides and hanging out with our friends. Next posts: “Doing Disney with the Aussies” and “Disney Twinvasion 2011”!

PS: Our ARM & HAMMER $100 Visa giftcard giveaway is open until 6/11.