Mimi's visit to crazyland.

Well she left 2 weeks ago, so this blog is a little late, but we did have such a great visit with Mimi this month!  We think she had a few extra gray hairs by the time she got on the plane, and she left grateful to be alive (on Mimi's last day we went on a field trip to the pumpkin patch with Maddie's little daycare group.  Mimi looked a little "deer in the headlights" by the end of that trip, let me tell you!), but we're also pretty sure she had fun. 

Maddie kept Mimi pretty busy, she had 3 months worth of important things to explain in 3 1/2 short days!  Most of these "conversations" resulted in Mimi looking confused and wondering why Maddie would say "COME ON, are you serious?" everytime she saw an even minor traffic violation take place (Why no, Luke and I do NOT have road rage problems.  Certainly not in front of the children.) or why she was so insistent that "Flies don't hurt you." (Have we mentioned Maddie is afraid of flies?  You know, I'd much rather she was afraid of the tarantulas [see photos of recent trip to Butterfly Pavilion.  This is Uncle Scott's favorite post.], because how often do you see a tarantula?  Have you ever tried to feed lunch to a tired 2 year old and an even more tired 7 month old, only to hear a plaintive "Fwies don't hoooot you" over and over and OVER as your two year old cowers in fear on the couch at the sight of a fly hovering around the window[seriously]?  It.  Is.  Awesome.).

Anyways, the week after Mimi left both girls had a stomach bug, and Luke and I got to experience, for the first time, the magic of that treasured experience all parents have...a kid who vomits (everywhere) about once an hour all night long.  We made it all the way to 2 1/2 years without knowing exactly how many times we were capable of changing a crib sheet in one night (the answer is 3--by the end she was just turning over and vomiting right on the pillow, saving the sheets.  Our Maddie is very neat, even when puking.)  The next day she walked around telling everyone who would listen..."I puke aw ovah da pwace!" while making this expansive hand gesture.  Lucy also did some vomiting, but, well, Lucy is always puking, so we actually didn't realize she was really sick until Maddie got sick and we put two and two together. 

I don't think we have any other major new developments.  Lucy is becoming more of a little person and less of a little baby every day.  This makes things easier when juggling both girls, but it still makes me sad that it is flying by so fast!  She is so good-natured and just goes along with whatever we are doing.  OH!  Luke has been getting her to laugh really, really hard.  Last week at the playground he was pushing both girls on the swing and was the happiest guy around--he had both girls just belly laughing at him for a good 15 minutes.  Once he got going he just couldn't stop, and it was so funny to hear both of their little laughs together. 

So, here are some photos of mom's visit...we have about 2 million photos of the Aquarium, and about 3 photos of other stuff:)

Mimi performing the Heimlich maneuver on Maddie.  What a way to start our trip to the Aquarium!

Maddie graciously explains to Lucy that there are many fish at the Aquarium.

Maddie showing Mimi where the ducks are. 

Pure joy.  God this kid loves the Aquarium.

Having children has aged me.

The Moose was looking pretty sharp in her high tops!

Yeah, I guess they were having a pretty good time.

Moosie and I checked out some fish with Mimi while Maddie and Luke looked at the gross snakes.

She kept looking at me like, "Don't you GET it?  I'm too small to care about this stuff!  But I kept trying.

Mesmerized.

Oh look!  It's the ever so rare Maddiefish! 

Poor Mimi.  I wish I had some photos of her crawling under this bubble thing.  You should have seen the look on her face when she realized that Maddie would not be taking "no" for an answer.

Planet of the Apes.

Moosie is clearly too cool for the Aquarium. 

Maddie touching the rays!

Mimi!  It's 4:30am!  Time to wake up!

No, I do not know why Maddie is playing with a yoga mat.

It's pretty hard to keep Mimi away from Lucy's exersaucer.  Watch your back, Moose.  She's wiley.

Feeding the rays is Luke's department.  I do not find it enjoyable.

Mimi and Lucy on the field trip to the pumpkin patch.

Maddie loves a farm.

Mimi being attacked by 2 year olds.  This is when the whole "deer in the headlights" thing went down.

Whenever I myself am confronted with a petting zoo, I am also struck with the immediate need to dance.  Maddie is clearly my child.

She loved the piggies.  So much so that she let them kiss her hand.  Which I forgot to wash before lunch.  2 guesses who woke up puking at 1am?

A jumping session before lunch.  No problem, Lucy...Maddie is happy to help.

Sweet baby Lucy.

Maybe my favorite pic ever. 

Maddie and Mimi had a puddle jumping session in the alley behind our house.  Maddie, Mimi never did stuff like this with me.  Guess that means she loves you more.  Thanks, mom.

Whenever I tried to put my hands or feet in rain puddles all I got were speeches about ring worm.  In hindsight I really don't understand the connection.

Boy did she have fun with her Mimi.

Thanks for visiting mom!  It was such a  big help!  And, not to out you on your age or anything, but happy 45th birthday!  We love you!

Just one of those weeks!

This is not a "real" post, so don't get too excited, ok?  Just a note to let everyone know that Maddie and Lucy spent the last week or so really exploring all of the different places in the house they could throw up, as Maddie liked to tell us,"I puke all over da pwace."  With all the extra laundry and Luke and I taking our fatigue out on each other, as any healthy couple would, the blog about Mimi's visit just didn't happen last week.  But I will for sure put all of the photos up this weekend!

What a weekend!

Well, we have had quite a weekend!  Grammy and Pops (formerly known as Sue and Dave) got here on Wednesday afternoon, and after they finish their Italian dinner with Luke, I'll be taking them to the airport tonight to head home on the red eye.  I think at this point Maddie might actually qualify for a diagnosis of clinical exhaustion, though Lucy points out that this is Maddie's own fault because she has not been taking good naps this weekend.  Lucy would also like to suggest a nice, refreshing episode of vomiting all over the car to help Maddie get herself in order.  Lucy finds that a brief, yet intense, episode of projectile vomiting functions incredibly well--not only to keep all of her grownups on their toes, but also to cleanse the body of fatiguing toxins.  She's remarkably sophisticated for a 7 month old, but Maddie just isn't interested.

As usual, I digress.  We had a great weekend, and we have lots of pictures to prove it!  Grammy and Pops took care of Maddie and Lucy on Thursday and part of Friday, we cooked out on the grill a few times, we went to the Butterfly Pavilion, 2 trips to the hotel pool (*big* success), Luke and I got a date night, the girls went for ice cream, to the mall playground, the regular playground, and the Aquarium!  Not bad for 4 days, huh?

Lucy goose looking adorable as always!  She is getting so big and funnier by the day.  Grammy came equipped with enough baby girl clothes for a small army of...baby girls.  Most of the shirts came with really cute pants that really accentuate Moose's chubby little ankles, my most favorite of all of her chubby body parts.  Except maybe her cheeks.  Those are the best.

Maddie apparently broke the law a few times while I was at work, so Grammy and Pops had to take some mug shots.

I think this might be the funniest picture of Maddie I've ever seen.  I can't decide if she looks more like a Bad News Bear or a cast member of "Dazed and Confused".  It maaaay be time for a haircut, but I don't want to rush it:)

Moosie would like to speak to her lawyer.

Lucy and her Grammy.

I'm going to have to talk to Grammy about Maddie's hair in these pictures. 

Moosie just told Maddie she needs to take better naps.  Moosie, Moosie, Moosie.  Don't be silly.

My favorite photo of the weekend.  Friday afternoon I brought Maddie downstairs from her nap to find Sue and Dave literally passed out on the back porch.  I took 3 pictures of them and called their names before they finally woke up, and Sue goes, "Oh, Dave!  What, did we fall asleep for a minute or two?" And Dave was, "Yeah yeah, maybe for like 5 minutes."

Maddie had to teach Grammy how to cook the greenbeans.

Pops and his girls.

Moosie looking cute in her "Loose Lucy" onesie from Aunt Denise and Uncle Gary, one of her favorite shirts.  Look at those chubby legs!

Grammy and Moosie. Moosie knows Grammy is about to give her a whole bunch of sweet potatoes, which is why she's smiling so big.

We had a really hard time getting Grammy to get out of the tunnel, here.  Finally we had to say, "Grammy, do you want to go home and get in your cribby?"  She was pretty upset but she finally came out when we promised to buy her a bouncy bouncy ball in the gift shop.

Maddie enjoying the spiderweb.

Man we had fun at the hotel pool!  Maddie shocked us all by being a total daredevil.  Poor Pops had to catch her so many times that he finally had to ask for a break!

We were so shocked when Maddie decided she wanted to go under water!  She was SO proud of herself!

Dave and Lucy, who also seems to be a natural swimmer.  You should have seen her kicking those chubby little legs!

So much fun!

Cutest.  Baby.  Ever.  She looked so sweet in her little monkey bathing suit!

Maddie jumping in for Grammy.

This was like the 20th Maddie jumped for Grammy.

Lucy refused to be outdone by Maddie.  She climbed right out of the pool and demanded Luke catch her.  She's really got amazing skills when it comes to nonverbal communication.

Is this the coolest picture ever, or what?  Maddie truly was in heaven!

Thanks to Grammy and pops for a great weekend that involved much more free time than usual for me and Luke, and lots of extra attention for the girls!  Next weekend Mimi is coming for a visit, and we are so excited!