Monday we were a bit lazy after a busy weekend as usual. We took care of some errands, got the car washed (what a big scary deal for little ones!) and played with our buddies at Joe’s house. What a HUGE treat. Lucy was so excited and so was I to just plain hang out with friends.
She is also most definitely moving into a new realm. How long are they considered toddlers? Sometimes the things she says to me astound me. Where does she come up with this stuff? She is so sweet and calm with her sisters when they are upset: “Stella, you’ll be ok- just close your eyes, take a deep breath and take a nappy in the car.” She is so imaginative and particular when she plays, even stressing “difficult” ideas so that even Mommy understands: “No, Mommy. The brachiosaurus didn’t hurt his foot. He sprained his ankle right here from climbing up the house.” Then she comes out with: “Mommy! I want to BE an eye patch!”, while prancing around trying to fit Mr. Potato Head’s mini eye patch over her head. She is so so smart and so busy and so funny and so silly and so thoughtful and sooooo patient with all of us. I think 3 yrs is my favorite yet. Today she asked me why airplanes “do that” (fly in the sky). Even this stretched my ability to teach. It was tricky. I love the challenge and sometimes the randomness. However, sometimes the “why” questions are unending and I feel sorry for her when she gets cut off by a louder, screaming sister.
Trying to wear Mr. Potato Head’s pirate eye patch
Stella looking at her and zoey’s first ever picture together. She was very concerned that she had a nose tube in her nose. When Lucy looks at this picture, she says, “That is when Stella had a white mustache”. Yes, its true, we did call her Wilford Brimley.
Reading before bed with Daddy ritual
So, today we decided to make a big trip to Rochester to the Strong Museum of Play. We LOVE it there! We got up and out of the house early and had a little caravan with the Creeds (trust me, we tried getting all 5 car seats in my van to carpool and it was just an inch or two too tight.) and met the Benoits there also. What a huge field trip! It was hectic and mostly everyone was so good. Thank goodness for “family rest rooms”. We found that we could “trap” all the kids in there while we took runs to the potty and wrestled diapers off all the babies. Also, at this point I no longer bring a stroller in contained places because they rarely sit in it anymore. So, I ended up dragging (read: twin carry/drag/body hold- twin moms, you know what I mean) two tired, crying, rubber legged, not going to walk, “mommy carry all 50 lbs of us” and the diaper bag out of the entire museum to the parking lot. Fortunately, Lucy was so good and walked with the Creeds while I booked it (that should count for my run for the day). That was the finale to an otherwise great trip. We played and played and ate some fake rocks and licked some random walls and rode a train and served some restaurant lunch and played some more. The ride home was silent to say the least and whallah! I pull into the driveway and everyone is up, ready to go and as JD said, “on random mode”. Here are some good ones of the kiddos, but unfortunately, I didn’t get any of Ava and Jack. Jack might be a blur on film though…
Apparently all this action is boring Lis…
3 out of 4 kids agree, coloring is awesome. The 4th is Zoey.
Jonas running the kitchen, Stella doing dishes and everyone eating at the diner counter
Jonas giving his mommy some lunch
I jetted to the dentist and let JD take over. What a good Daddy. I heard Stella was pretend riding her mini giraffe around the family room, Lucy served 30 minute birthday parties during dinner to all of her animals and Zoey was dragging around our Magic Hat beer box! I came home to all of them playing quietly in the backyard and a worn out JD sitting nearby on the patio. HA! Short naps lead to early bedtimes. 
Yay.
In other news, I ran tonight and the first mile was a piece of cake. YES! I think I probably ran the fastest I had ever. However, the last mile (I only did 2) felt like death. Oh well. 4 weeks in after years of child having and raising is pretty good.
Also, made major head way on the consignment sale stuff. Entered inventory tonight and am already up to $200 if everything sells. That was only one bin of clothes and 9 pair of shoes! Those big winter items really bring the cash and I haven’t even done those yet. Can’t wait to rake in the dough again in late August. Just in time for the “flat broke month” of the year when you are a teacher! I am hoping to volunteer for the pre-sale Friday night and get in an hour or so before anyone else so I can xmas shop for the girls and look for a few gently used, more expensive winter items like boots, jackets, etc. for them. Some details: Its only $10 to consign and you keep 70% of what you sell if you work at least 4 hours. If you are an expecting mom, you get a free pass to the pre-sale that is only otherwise open to consignors and volunteers. If you don’t want to consign but have a few big ticket items like baby gear you want off your hands, let me know and I can sell them for you. If you decide to consign and are new at it, I can help you and also let me know… I get some extra bonuses if I can say I “referred” you. Happy reusing and making money off of it!
Like.
Seriously though, you didn’t mention how insane daddy was by trying to walk 3 kids that barely took any nap to the children’s concert many blocks away. Made it a block before one tantrum lead to another. Glad all of our neighbors decided to sit out on the porch tonight to witness the grand display. And passerbys, it is not a good idea to try to ask screaming kids or their frazzled dad questions. Yes, they are twins. No they aren’t triplets. No Stella doesn’t want to sit in the wagon. Yes, we need to get going. Fun times.
DROID.