Silliness

Warning: there is some tooting going on in the beginning of the video--all Lila, I swear.

Silly Games

Yes, at the end) is the tickle game played last night--I am fairly certain Bronwen is now wearing her jammies during it now.

Meanwhile, Lila invented her own silly game...

Chores

A little long--but she works so hard:

Also, a little blast from the past here:

Bubble Bath

Bubbles, bringing sisters together:

I am so glad the bubbles are strategically placed. While I am videoing, T.J. is snapping pictures.

Last Beach Post-Slideshow

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Last Beach Night

Bronwen with her cousin, Camille. She tells me that Bronwen is the best sand castle builder--and I love the shots of T.J. and Lila in the background. I cut it short because of the wind, and T.J.'s motioning me to come get pictures of him.

When not at the beach...

Sorry this is shaky--I was across the pool, and zoomed in on Bronwen, playing happily on the steps, like she did the entire time. I am so glad I paid for all those swim lessons. :-)

Another Bronwen Game

I can't say for sure how it all started...I do know that T.J. sent Bronwen in to Lila's room right after bath time to tell her goodnight. Bronwen did this stark naked. Then she suddenly started running up and down the hallway, still as naked as a jay bird. I couldn't help but crack up (no pun intended), watching her little tan-lined body streaking around the house, and then T.J. decided it would be fun to chase her. Of course at some point, Lila became involved, but mostly her role was just running back and forth, watching the action while sucking on her pacifier.

The game then morphed from chase into a sort of "hide-and-seek" with Bronwen and T.J. rapidly switching the hider and seeker roles. Whenever the hider was found, the seeker showed victory by tickling.

Lila went to bed, and the game continued, T.J. clothed, Bronwen naked, and pregnant Mama observing.

This was the day before yesterday. Then all day yesterday, Bronwen talked about how she wanted to play the tickle game again. So naturally, after bath-time, in the prime of her nakedness, Bronwen and T.J. once again gave chase. Bronwen became pretty savvy, using her flashlight when T.J. would hide in the dark closet.

At one point, Bronwen came over to me and said, "I want to keep playing this game because I really love my Daddy, but I am getting thirstier and thirstier."

We stopped for an ice water break, and then--off she ran!

Feel free to steal the game for yourselves. It seems pretty fun.

Bronwen at the Beach

Lila At the Beach

Lila Loves Stairs

Sand Castle

Scott and I were talking tonight about the kids at the beach, and he mentioned how Bronwen is a sand castle building machine. He relayed to me that he has never seen a kid so content building and watering sand.

As I kissed Bronwen goodnight, I told her that Unle Scott was so impressed with her sand castles, and how they were the best sand castles he had ever seen.

Her response?

"Uncle Scott, you're a genius!"

Takes one to know one, I guess.

Sisters and Games

T.J. went golfing with the guys today, and the girls took the kids to town for some shopping, so while we were invited to town, Bronwen wanted to go to the pool, so away we went. Lila was a little upset from the get go because she wanted to bring her Cheerios into the pool, and I wouldn't let her.



She was happy once we were in the pool, and Bronwen busied herself playing on the steps with a tiny sand scoop, scooping water out of the pool.



As the morning progressed, Bronwen started sitting on the side of the pool, kicking her feet. I handed her the dive sticks we brought, and Bronwen decided it would be fun to throw them into the pool and let me fetch them for her. I was holding Lila, and picking up the sticks with my foot, handing them to Lila, walking over to Bronwen, and Lila would hand the sticks over to her. Bronwen said every time, "Thank you Lila," and then she would throw them back in. We must have done this routine 50 times. It was awesome. The girls were having such a good time.

Beach Vacation

So far our vacation has been a success--Bronwen has been busying herself playing in the sand, building castles and entertaining babies in the baby pool. She doesn't seem to want to venture into the ocean unless she is collecting seawater for one of her building projects. Lila, meanwhile, doesn't seem overly thrilled with the sand, although she is warming up to it. Today was the first day she just sat with sand toys and dug and played.

Bronwen is also enjoying the company of her cousins, even learning how to play both Go Fish and Dominoes. I will try to update more soon!

Packing Pt 2

Packing for the Trip, Pt 1

More of the Chef

If you think the video has a dreamlike quality, it's not your eyes. Apparently someone's teeny tiny fingers smudged the lens without my knowing it. I am sure Lila feels terrible about this.

The lens has since been cleaned.

Great Day

Today has been a banner day for us. I decided to go to Old Navy to see if they had any skirts that would fit around my rapidly expanding belly. As usual, it took us awhile to get out of the house--especially since this was already our second errand of the morning. I was so surprised when Bronwen so sweetly pulled Lila to the door by her hand, telling her, "Come on, Max, we need to go." She was gentle and such a great big sister. Granted, she was pretending Lila was Max from the Max and Ruby series, but hey, I don't care what she calls her, so long as she is being nice to her!

We make it to Old Navy, and I allowed Lila to roam around, which can be a little dangerous. Of course Bronwen tried to hide in the racks of clothes, and naturally Lila was trying to follow suit. They were the racks against the wall, with a small step up, so I was concerned Lila was going to fall off of the step and on to the concrete floors. Luckily I moved them into the dressing room pretty easily...until I turned and Lila was gone. The little adventurer simply crawled right under the door and toddled down the dressing room hallway.

At this point I had chosen the one skirt I liked and went to the $5 tees to see if any coordinated. Lila was all over the place, but her patient sister kept going to her saying, "Come here Max!" and led her gently by the hand back to me. I was melting with happiness right there in the Old Navy store.

It was a great day indeed!

Typical Photo Session

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Baking a "Cake"

Happiness

I am sitting in the back room listening to T.J. give the girls their bath and I just overheard the following:

"Come on Lila, splash with us!"

and "Thank you Lila, I really appreciate you."

Both from Bronwen.

I am shocked and overjoyed :-)

Lila Too

Painting the House

Professional Grown-Up Chef

Bronwen has been quite lucky over the past few weeks, receiving packages from all over. First, my sweet friend Melanie sent the girls a They Might Be Giants CD, Aunt Jana sent some new Hello Kitty galoshes, Mimi sent some new books, and finally, "Aunt" Tiff--who has been my partner in crime since the 8th grade--sent this rockin' chef's hat, among other treasures.

You all are awesome! Thanks!