Lollipop

For those of you who have never traveled with kids, or have forgotten what it is like, here is the inside scoop. And this is just stopping at the bank for two minutes. We have 20 hours slated for Sunday to Monday...

Big girl camp, swimming, soccer...

Eleanor spent three full days this week at a camp held at her preschool and loved it. Of course Gemma wanted to stay at the camp too. In fact, Gemma insists she is a BIG GIRL. While Eleanor was at camp today, Gemma and I went to parks and rec to sign Eleanor up for swimming and soccer. Gemma insisted SHE wanted to do swimming and soccer too. Gemma insists on reading books by herself, then gets frustrated saying "me not know how to read it!"

Last night, Eleanor was complaining about the long ride to Michigan and having to sleep in the car. Jud told her that she could stay up with him and they could discuss poetry. She was excited by the notion, and of course Gemma chimed in that she wanted to stay up and talk about poetry too.

Hangin' around Acadia

We had a great time just hanging around the camp site as well. Boo and Eleanor built an awesome fairy house. The cousins pushed Gemma around in her trike up and down the hill to the bathrooms she insisted she needed to use. The kids learned how to play Bocce. We roasted just about everything you could imagine over the fire...














After we packed up, we took one more hike, this time up Flying Mountain. The kids did some actual "rock climbing". We stopped at a cove, where Eleanor posed as a mermaid, Gemma collected shells, and the boys were goofy.





Throughout the vacation, Eleanor kept trying to convince folks to play Little Mermaid with her. She cast herself as "Ariel" and assigned Tris the role of "Prince Eric". Not understanding the game, Tristan kept referring to Eleanor as "Prince Erica" and when corrected answered "whatever". He was willing to pose with the mermaid, but assured me that he was neither a prince nor the merman Eleanor was currently trying to insist he was.

Acadia Fun

Last weekend, we spent an amazing weekend trotting the kids around the rocks and ocean at Acadia National Park. They were all such troupers and got along extremely well, with Bronwyn and Tris helping out with the little ones. Bronwyn acted as Gemma's "nanny for the weekend", which was a godsend as Gemma was majorly sleep deprived and not the easiest to manage. The weather was absolutely gorgeous and the campground had both hot showers and a swimming pool. What else could one want? Oh - yes - Jud provided poetry interludes and Nana provided coffee first thing each morning. We could do this anytime.

Fun in the Sun

Besides swimming in our pool in the yard, the girls have enjoyed the local swim hole. Both of them are born fish. Gemma likes to put her head full underwater for nearly ten seconds, and just when you are sure she is taking in water and about to drown, she comes up smiling. They both love being tossed in the pond. It is best to have Gemma's life jacket on before she has sighted water as she walks straight in until it is up to her head. When she falls, she just waits under water for someone to pick her up. Enough to give a mother a heart attack!

My sea creatures are more than reluctant to leave the water, but are required to do so at lifeguard breaks. They can be bribed (ice cream works). They also can be talked into a break on the playground. Of course, Gemma wants to do everything her sister does, even the trolley drop.

Family and Fun for the Fourth

We were so busy having fun at our Fourth gathering, that we didn't take many pictures. We had a special visit from Supernana and Pappy as well as a group of other friends and the Caswell clan. It was a wet party with the pool, Slip -n-slide, water balloons, squirt guns, and even the garden hose involved by the end of the night. What a night! Perhaps it will have to be an annual tradition. We drove to fireworks, got earplugs in Eleanor's ears, watched about 5 seconds, and then headed home. Too loud!

Froggy comes for a swim

We caught a frog who was wanting a dip in the girl's new pool. He may have gotten more than he bargained for. (No animals or children were harmed in the making of this film ).

Being Sat Upon

The last couple of days, Eleanor and Gemma have had lots of fun with babysitters. On Monday, it was a trip to Nana's while I went to the dentist. Monday night, Glenn and Marianne's twin daughters Hilary and Morgana came over for their first babysitting gig, with their play seals in tow. I still remember when those to were younger than Eleanor! Yesterday, Jud got to come to one of my gigs and out for supper. The girls stayed behind with their Nana, who ended up staying the day and most of the night. Gemma woke up this morning wanting to know "When da babasitter comes?" and was disappointed it was not immediately.



Eleanor is in her second week of Mini-camp at the school she will attend next year. It is a great way to be introduced to the building, playground, and some kids for next year. The first day, Eleanor was shy, but Gemma joined right in with the kids and didn't want to leave. Eleanor is much more comfortable now, and Gemma still wants to stay each day.

Wayne, Wayne go away

The girls have gotten into some knock-knock jokes following a recently purchased book from the library book sale. One of their favorite sayings the last week has been "Rain, rain, go away! Come again another day!" So they loved the Wayne version of the joke. Today, they asked to go outside in a rain pour. They were too cute stomping in puddles and, of course, standing under the rain coming from the roof. They loved it, and I had to coax them in when the thunder was too close for my comfort. Playdoh was the order of the day for the rest of the morning as their pants were in the dryer.


Later that day, the girls and I met friends and went to the theater for a play. The girls were great, needing only minor bribing toward the end with some animal crackers. Gemma insisted on her own seat and didn't want me to touch her when seated. Here she is fending me off. (Notice the gum in her mouth. It wasn't there at the end of the show. Can you guess where I later found it? If you guessed loose in my purse, you were right. At least she didn't leave it on the floor.)

Afterwards, we went out for gelato and ran around on the town mall. The girls love to chase from tree to tree. We tried to fit a shopping trip in on the way home. Big mistake. Eleanor met one of her friends from preschool in the store. It was like Hollywood. They both ran at each other from across the aisles, alternately picking each other up. They jumped and giggled and wrestled each other to the floor for hours (okay - 5 minutes) and then we pulled them apart. Needless to say, Eleanor was in no fit mood to shop after that and did not settle down to sleep until 10:30 tonight.

A girl needs her privacy

Daybreak Do and Strawberries

Eleanor has a Barbie Hair Guide book from the early nineties. She's been dying to do the style where you braid your hair into tiny braids at night and let it out as beautiful curls in the morning. Here she is the night before... And here she is with the "Daybreak Do" revealed the morning after. Can you say "crimper" anyone who lived through the eighties? She loved it, though.
We went strawberry picking out in Bowdoinham today, a yearly tradition at our house. This year, Gemma was a focused picker, working steadily to partially fill two quart berry baskets. She insisted in carrying the berries herself to the farmstand (a good distance away) and than again to the car (another good journey) and didn't drop a one. Eleanor had fun tasting berries and assigning roles to the Caswell Family players. Gemma was the momma, Eleanor was Kelly, age 11 (her favorite age - she often confides that once she turns eleven she will stop having birthdays) and Jud was the neighbor - Ichabod who called himself "Icky" for short. Here's Gemma hanging on for dear life to her berries.


When we came home, everyone had a rest. The girls relaxed with daddy under Eleanor's new huggy blanket. You can't leave these three alone for long until they get pretty silly...

Pirates and Princesses

Eleanor and Gemma were invited to a pirate party by one of Eleanor's classmates, Michael. Eleanor is wary of pirates, but dressed up as a gallant pirate princess.
Of course, once at the party, she got into the spirit, fighting her friend Joyelle with a balloon sword.
Gemma also did not want anything to do with being a pirate, insisting on dressing as a full fledged princess, sans crown.
Michael's folks had planned a wonderful treasure hunt that took kids all throughout their beautiful yard, with mown paths through the fields. Here's Gemma trying to keep up with the big kids.
Both girls were in the thick of it when it came to the pinata. Eleanor had some good hard hits, and Gemma also connected with the pinata. She really thinks she is a five year-old! The party was lots of fun. Thanks Michael!

Veggies

"You gonna have some potato salad, Gemma?"
"No."
"No! What'cha gonna have for a vegetable?"
"Ketchup."

The cousins go to India

The next day, we met in Portland for the tastiest Indian I have had in awhile (thanks Josers). Even Jude got into the spirit, doing a pretty good job on the Naan.

This picture is just for gramps. Gemma is the only one who is observing proper etiquette (eating while the picture is being taken).
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Here's the Retsema clan. It has been hard to take pictures with Jude and either Eleanor or Gemma close by as he is pulling on their hair before the flash goes off.

Joey and Eleanor kept each other busy with some darn silly faces. Like this...I had to sneak this picture of me and my nephew. He's such a lovey and growing too fast. Can't you slow that process down Ray?

Seacoast New Hampshire

Auntie "Jo-Jo" came up for a visit

The Caswell girls headed to 3 J and Ray's and a trip to the Seacoast Science Center. They loved it! Eleanor got to dress up like a whale...
Gemma wanted to spend the whole time dancing in the dory.
But she took a break to let Uncle Joel show her the creatures in the cool touch pool.
Then we headed to the playground to get our willies out. Auntie Ray cooked us my favorite - Enchiladas - Eleanor even decided she likes guacamole. But the girls were still flyin' high after 10:00 pm, so we headed home rather than do a sleep over.

Aaarrrrrggggghhhhh!

Not sure if Eleanor knows the extent to which her new fantasies raise her father's blood pressure... "I'm getting married tonight! Then we're going to Mexico. We'll go to a fancy restaurant. Gemma is invited! First, her aunt will give her a bath." Then, "I'm marrying bear (in the big blue house.) I'm 20. Gemma's 19. Want to see my bellybutton ring?"(lifting up her shirt to show her bellybutton) "See? It's purple."

History of Science

I asked Eleanor today if she knew what a scientist was, or what science was. "It's something you do when you're doing what you like to do," she said, and smiled a winky smile that let me know she knew she wasn't answering my question... I told her that there didn't use to be refrigerators, cars... "What did people do before cars?" I told her they rode horses, or horses pulled carts, or people walked, "or people rode in sailboats," she offered. "Absolutely." I also told her that when I was her age, nobody had computers in their home. "How did they get online?" How did we used to get online?

Teasing at the Table

If any of you have had a meal with us lately, you know that the girls are learning how to get each other's goat. And it is not always Eleanor who picks the fight. Lately, when Eleanor teases her sister, "You can't have any Gemma..." we ask that she then says five nice things about her sister. Here was the latest response:

"Gemma, you are cute as a button.
Gemma, you are....happy.
Gemma, you are...pretty as a princess.
Gemma, you are silly as a duck and
Gemma, you are wonderful as a party."

Do you sense a budding lyricist here?

Jumpin Gemma

Gemma always wants to do whatever physical activity her sister is doing. Sliding on the snow is fun. But her favorite thing is jumping. Here she is on the trampoline. Go Jumpin Gemma!

Family Day

We had a great family day yesterday, a real treat with all of our busy schedules. Gemma had her 2-year check-up - average height, average weight, gigantic head, all is well, free book. And that was pretty much the whole visit. Painless, effortless, and no worries.

We packed lunch and ate on the way to the Y, where we all went swimming. These girls are such little fish! Gemma jumps in and bobs up and swims back to the side, all on her own (with the support of the floaty). Eleanor feels even more confident now that she can touch in the shallow end.
After long naps - hallelujah - we did a couple of errands and then went to a family concert. It was great to see the girls up with all the other kids singing and dancing - though El was reluctant at first because the music was loud. Eleanor found her friend from school, Jackie, to hang out with.

Jud started driving to PA today, but the snow storm prevented him from getting far, so we have two more days together. What a treat!

Eleanor has been reading more and more. It is amazing how quickly she figures out the nonphonetic words - like knight, caution, ph words. With her love of language, it shouldn't be a surprise.

Gemma's language is just taking off. Today, for the first time, she said our cat's name plain as day - M-i-L-o. This is a relief as previously, she was calling the cat a name completely indistinguishable from MAMA.