To the Zoo with Auntie Tina!

To the Zoo we went with Dan's Aunt Tina - whom L & S have begun to call either 'Grandma Tina' or 'Auntie Tina' or 'my new friend' depending on the moment or mood swing of the toddlers in our lives.

We had a blast meeting Aunt Tina (the girls and I had not yet met her)! The girls took to her quickly and enjoyed her!

L & S had a so much fun directing us with their maps. Our fearless leaders - sort of! Today we just went for the reptiles, water animals, monkeys and had a picnic lunch at the zoo! Linnea seemed to hang out on Daddy's shoulders quite a bit - and I, Mommy the fearless camera girl, took many a picture!

(Signe really had fun playing and being silly with Auntie Tina,

S loved to call her 'my new friend')

After a quick snooze for L, and a quiet time for S - it was out for dinner and swimming at Tina's hotel. The girls LOVE to swim and swam to their hearts content!

Bedtime?

TITLED: How our bedtime routine went through a rough period and yet we still laugh & grin!

Though it has been an incredibly ROUGH week for our bedtime routine... we still have our fun moments!

On a parenting note, 3.5 yr olds that do not want to sleep are seriously draining! No longer is it a cute litany of requests (("mommy I need a huggie, mommy I need a tissue for my eyes, i'm hot, i need new pjs, no blankies, where's my giraffe/zebra?, i got a cough 'cough,cough', potty potty!!?!?!, cover cover tuck me mommy, i need a kissie - no 2 kissies, mommy sing to me...)) Nope, for a week straight it was Linnea screaming "POTTY" or rather chanting it at a seriously loud screaming level. And did if we took away the special animal she was sleeping with instead of going potty or stopping screaming, then we heard "GIVE IT BACK - BE NICE MOMMY, GOTTA GO POTTY!" Yes, parenting has its highs and lows.

So I am incredibly thankful for this cute moment before the bedtime routine was blown out of the water for the 4th night in a row...

Reading a magazine with Halloween advertisements... having some laughs, giggles and smiles before bed! Love this girlies!

Simple Science

What to do with leftover dry ice? Well make it do cool things for your toddlers. That is if Daddy is home to inspire said 'cool things.'

L & S were fascinated by the 'smoke' and Daddy was happy to provide the entertainment for a short while.

Fall recipes...

Fall is my favorite time of year! The leaves changing colors, weather cooling off, and the RECIPES! The last week has been full of corn pepper chowder, pasta bakes, chicken tortilla soup and... PUMPKIN CHIFFON CAKE! Thanks to Rachel Ray for the last one. Truly amazing, in her magazine in... maybe the september edition.

So what delicious fall recipes have you been up too? Anything good cooking at your house? Please pass along the recipes! And enjoy the fall things. SOON I'll post apple recipes... how about apple crumb cake, apple crisp and sourcream apple muffins? YUM!

Happy Fall cooking/baking friends!

Apple Picking Time

Off we went to Royal Oaks Farm & Fruit Orchard, this magical orchard is out in the middle of what feels like - NOWHERE! Well it isn't, it's in Hebron, IL... a beautiful place where there is farm after farm, seemingly unending rows of corn and lots of cows! Some horses were occasionally spotted too!

Royal Oaks couldn't have been a better place to take the twins. L & S were enthralled just because we were meeting up with Grandma to go apple picking. Little did they know there was a carousel, choo-choo, play area, restaurant, snack shack, gift shop (we did NOT let the twins experience that, as they are in a 'need' phase of life)... it was awesome!

Started with a ride on the train, took on the petting zoo, play area with full size tractors and what not to climb on, then we took off for apple picking!

The line was a bit long to pay for our 2 peck bags, so we entertained our precious 3.5 yr olds with nothing other than ... CIDER DOUGHNUTS! Truly delicious and exceptionally nutritious if there is nothing else to grab while in line! Not to worry, L & S ate probably 3 apples a piece in the orchard. We think! It was hard to keep up as the girls would pick one and begin eating, next thing we knew they had a new apple and were ploughing their way through another.

Grandma was amazing with the girls and the girls really enjoyed having a date with Grandma at the Apple farm. At bed time that night, the girls prayed for the apples, mommy & daddy, and then said 'I really miss Grandma'... Amen! It's awesome to have my girls love spending time with their family.

So here's a look at our day!

Picking with Grandma

Daddy & Signe, Daddy & Linnea

Linnea & her apple at left, Signe & her apple on the right!

Linnea & Grandma on the carousel~

Mommy & Signe being silly on the carousel!

Preschool Orientation

It seems like just yesterday L & S were this big...

And now today, they are getting ready for preschool! Just love you both so much and am so excited to see you grow up, loving all the new experiences.

At 3 1/2 yrs. here are the stats:

Linnea (GREEN) 36.5 lbs, 39 3/4 inches

Signe (PURPLE) 35 lbs, 39 inches

Cinnamon Toast

This is the way you eat your toast,

eat your toast, (signe in a tutu)

eat your toast, (linnea with a sugar grin)

this is the way you eat your toast... so early in the morning!

One thing the girls picked up from Mormor this summer was eating toast with cinnamon/sugar on it. And it now is called 'Mormor's toast' and is a favorite request in the morning!

Happy Labor Day!

Happy Labor Day from our family to yours! We hope you've enjoyed the summer. We were able to enjoy one last vacation as a family before preschool begins for the twinners and MOPS for me. It was a special weekend in Bethany Beach and we've got great memories to get us through the year 'til we meet again on the beach!

Daddy & Signe, Mommy & Linnea - watching a storm come across the lake!