The Natural History Museum...Not So Boring After All

I'm guilty. I judged a book by its cover. More specifically, I judged the Natural History museum by its name. Maybe its just me, but upon hearing the words "Natural History Museum," all I could think was, "boring boring boring." (Evidently I'm not much of a history buff. Except when it comes to historical fiction, for which there are unfortunately no museums.) Turns out, though, it's actually a pretty fun place.

Lesson learned. Even museums with boring names can be fun. (But that does not mean I'll be hitting the Bead Museum anytime soon. I'm not that easily convinced.)

Of course, there were the obligatory dinosaur bones...

But there were also fun puzzles,

(really, really fun, by the looks of it)...

And you could even build your own dinosaur.

(My dream dinosaur does laundry and packs lunches,

but they didn't have all the parts for that one.)

They even provided this little girl to heighten the experience.

Lex busied herself with this puzzle

long enough to take a picture,

and ran around like a mad-woman in a

dinosaur museum for the rest of the time.

There were lovely sand toys

(note the goofy face that Savanna is making)

and plenty of things to entertain a curious 15-month-old.

Here was my favorite part of the experience.

A random chair in a random hallway

that was so comfortable I could have...

well, spent the Night at the Museum.

More puzzles...

a favorite Alexa moment...

And panning for gold!

We're still thinking of a way to spend all our findings.

The girls dug for dinosaur bones...

And got super-imposed onto a TV screen

featuring sea life. Good times.

Lex and I showed up in a strange Western movie...

(but wait, aren't all Westerns strange?)

And the girls got to lounge on this lovely sea turtle.

All in all, we had a really great time.

Looks like we really picked a winner!

Daddy's Store

While Mommy's specialty stores include the grocery store and Target, Daddy is the boss of Home Depot and takes the girls there one Saturday a month to complete a wood-working project. (No, I am not insulted that the kids do not associate a home improvement store with me. I don't like that place. It doesn't even smell like popcorn or sell nail polish.) The best part about these little adventures (besides the fact that they leave me at home to sleep in) is that on these days the girls get to pick their own clothes and don't have to get their hair brushed.

Everyone wins!

This is my favorite Savanna face in the whole world.

What a nut.

Even Though I'm not Quite Ready for Summer Just Yet...

Despite the fact that there is still snow on the ground in many other parts of the country, it appears that our warm weather season is officially upon us. Though I am not quite ready to embrace it just yet, (and may never be) the girls haven't had any complaints about the opportunity to don their bathing suits and get to swimming outside. Before we know it, it will be summer for real and they will be heartily complaining about having to go swimming...again.

The Usual Shenanigans

Try as I may, I have not been successful in tracing Alexa's exact trajectory from infancy to toddlerhood. (I think I must have blinked in the interim.) Yet while I continue to struggle to come to grips with the ever-imposing threat of the passing of time, I can thankfully still enjoy the many little moments in Alexa's life that make her so darn irresistible.

Here are just a few of her favorite pastimes:

Reliving the glory of her stroller-racing days

Helping me make dinner

Helping me empty the dishwasher

precisely when I don't want help

Perfecting her soda-drinking skills

Eating food off the floor

Hanging out with that handsome man called Daddy

Practicing driver safety

Screaming bloody murder

Becoming a fashionista

Climbing onto the things that she can't get down from

(hence the screaming bloody murder)

My little Lex. Growing up way too fast, but impossible not to love. (Except the screaming part.)

Sunday Best

We rarely get pictures of the girls in any cute dresses that  they wear on Sundays because they are usually stripping them off as soon as they walk in the door after church. This Sunday was no exception, but we convinced them to keep them on for two minutes while we took their pictures. These are their beautiful Easter dresses from Grandma Linda...

We know, Lex, this is about how we all feel

after 3 hours of church on Sunday...

The Long Night

When I was little, I distinctly remember being sick and waking my mom up in the middle of the night to clean up my pukey mess....again. I was only 6 or 7, but I remember actually thinking, "Man, I do not want to ever have to deal with this when I am a mom."

Unfortunately, there is not a parenting checklist that enables us to decide what we will deal with and what we will not.

Rotten milk in a long-lost sippy cup? No thanks.
Diarrhea? I'd really rather not.
Puke? Please, no!

About a week and a half ago, I lived this horrible nightmare from my childhood days. I will spare you the intimate details of my long, long night. Suffice it to say that I endured 12 hours of multiple pukers, one of them in my bed who would weakly say, "Mommy," every time she had to throw up, just in time for me to shoot up out of bed and direct the trashcan under her flushed little face. I slept one hour, cleaned countless messes, used almost all of our 400 grocery bags, did a ridiculous amount of middle-of-the-night laundry, and eventually ended up in the ER with a 4-year-old who, I was certain was becoming dehydrated.

Man, it was a long night.

Some of the tell-tale signs that sickness is abounding in your home:

Laundry piled on furniture

Rags and cleaning supplies at the ready 

Trashcans at bedsides, and...

My personal favorite: endless loads of disgusting blankets, bedding, and pajamas.

What a lesson in appreciating healthy children. (And husbands). Thank heavens it's over.

In Which the Barbies Share Their Bathtub with Savanna

Inside water play is a pretty big deal at our house...it's almost an everyday request. Sometimes while Lex naps, Savanna plops down on a couple of towels in the playroom with a bin full of water and has herself a grand time, playing with sharks, fake food, random utensils, or what-have-you.

The other day, Van was pretty engaged with the Barbies and the water bin while I stole a few minutes to update our budget. A few minutes later, she ran into the office shouting, "Mom, come look, the Barbies shared their bathtub with me!"

You can see the results here:

Wasn't that nice of the Barbies? They always were such good sharers.

Out of the Mouths of Silly Goosy-Heads

Some funny commentary from Savanna while she was playing with a bottle of cinnamon and trying to wait patiently for her toast to pop up:

"Mmm...cinnamon sure is good for your tummy!"

"I like cinnamon. It makes me hungry for cinnamon."

And, my personal favorite:

"It sure is cinnamon!"

Five minutes later, her delicious piece of cinnamon toast remains untouched next to her lovely bowl of mac and cheese which she also isn't eating.

I guess it's a good thing that I like cinnamon, too.

Proof Positive

Here it is, photographic evidence that at least one of my three sweet children will sit down and eat dinner, without negotiating the number of bites she needs to eat, or reminding me that she doesn't like what I've made, or making me feel poopy in general.

Thanks, my Lexy-Spaghetti Head!