The Little Red House 2010

The little red house is something our girls talk about all year. Last year was our first family - I mean just us - vacation and we had a great time. We rented a little red house in the Poconos and the girls have been asking to go back ever since left. We finally made it back.

The girls are drawn to the house for four reasons.

First, is the bunk beds. They spend hours playing on them and swinging from them. It is a twin over full which accomadates all three girls. Lila and Savannah trade off on the top bunk and, boy, do they just love it up there. Adeline would prefer Lila up top and Savannah down low with her. We kind of found that funny this year as the two them went back and forth during their sleep.

First Adeline had Savannah squished up against the wall. And, well, what else is one to do when you are pinned up against a wall. Why yes. . . use your sister as a pillow!

The second reason to come to the little red house is because the Crayola Factory comes along with it. We spent an entire day there this year. The girls loved it even though I think Crayola could do a much better job considering they are the largest producer of art supplies for children. What is neat about the Factory is that there is a Canal museum affiliated with it (don't ask me how or why) and the girls get to spend lots of time working their boats down a large canal by operating various locks. They couldn't get enough. They also enjoyed the building center of the museum. Lila made an impressive tall house and Savannah made a puppet theater. Pretty creative. The other pictures are of the girls working their way through the Crayola stations, namely the Model Magic.

The third reason to come to the red house is because a huge indoor water park is less than five miles away. I didn't take the camera this year as I knew I had to take the lead while there because Daddy was suffering from a 103 fever. Not ideal but the girls didn't seem to notice that Mommy doesn't really like indoor pools.

Finally, the last reason we all go the red house is because we get to hang. This year, when not playing on the bunk beds, the girls played with a new Play Doh kit I brought along. The girls spent hours making breakfast food.

The best part of the trip is that we all spend hours in our PJ's, watch way too much TV and, best of all. . . hang out together.

Thanksgiving Treats

It is Adeline's turn to bring a snack in to school this week.  I figured since it only happens twice a year, I could go all out.  My friend, Melissa, recently made this turkey snack for her daughter's school which helped me decide to do the same.

After an evening trip to the store with all three girls, I wasn't really excited about making the turkey.  I powered up though and dug in.  All three girls helped skewer the grapes, cheese and carrots.  It was fine for the first five minutes but then they had scissors in their hands (don't ask me why), were pulling all of the skewers out of the bag and dropping or eating more food than they were putting on the turkey.  I grinned and bared it the best I could.  Savannah and I sped through the remaining skewers which allowed me to end the activity early.  None of this took away from Adeline's excitement when bringing it into school this morning.  She was pretty cute because the first words out of her mouth were, "Gobble, gobble."

 Beware, if you choose to make this snack, make sure you have all of the ingredients in order to avoid a late night trip to the store with all your children.  Also, make sure you have room in your refrigerator.  I had to cram the milk into the produce drawer.

I backed the fruit and cheese snack with something sweet. I stole this idea out of Family Fun. It is a cookie that is decorated like a pumpkin pie. It looks much more authentic in person than in the picture below.

The Pretend Beach

All was quiet today until two little girls came running into the office naked and with swimsuits in hand. "Help us get these on before people see us without our clothes!" Of course I did and then sat back to watch them spend the day at their pretend beach. They swam, splashed and had a great time. Have I mentioned how these two play together non-stop? It never ceases to amaze me!

NYC Baby!!

Savannah and I had the absolute pleasure of spending the entire day in NYC!!  We took a chartered bus through her school which made the trip as easy as pie.  My friend Barrie and her girls and mom were able to join us which made the day that much more special.  It was was pure bliss; a day that will never be forgotten.

Upon entering the city, the kids got very excited by the views of the skyline.  It was fun for them to see the buildings from a distance and then stand below them and look up an hour later.  Pretty cool for a seven year old.

We had tickets to see the Rockettes Christmas Spectacular and boy was it that. Savannah picked up on every last detail of show: the patterns of colors, the groupings of Rockettes, the tricks of the trade, and much more. Her favorite part was the classic Toy Soldier dance which has been performed since the 1930's. The show had live animals for the nativity and during our backstage tour, we were informed that the animals live in Radio City Music Hall and are taken for daily walks during early morning rush hour (just in case you almost hit a camel the next time you visit NYC). Radio City Music Hall was beautiful and grand. It is the largest venue of its kind and we were lucky to have great seats. To top it off, during our backstage tour, Savannah got to meet a Rockette. It was pretty exciting.

Here we are with Radio City in the background.




After the show and tour, we were able to take in the sights. We got to see the tree at Rockafeller Center; albeit with scaffolding surrounding it. The ice skating was in full swing too. The girls enjoyed a visit to the Lego store right across the street from the tree. I think it might have impressed them more than the tree itself.


We enjoyed a one of a kind dinner at Ellen's diner. The waitstaff have to audition for the job as they are singing, I mean singing like stars, the entire time. It was nice to hear them throw down some tunes from my youth because I could appreciate how close they sounded to the true artist. The girls found it amusing that they often stood on the tables to belt out their tunes.

If you look closely, in the background you will see the waiter standing on the table while singing.

We ended our day in the heart of Time Square. It was packed and lit up more than ever!! Savannah was in awe of all of the billboards and people. I thought the crowds might make her nervous considering she couldn't see above the people. She hung like a super star though. Toys R Us has store right at the tip of the Square and we made our way there. We walked in to see a Ferris Wheel in full operation, right in the middle of store. Savannah couldn't believe that the store had actual rides. It had much more and we made our way through most of it. I think it is the largest toy store in the world.  As we were walking out Geoffrey, the Giraffe, was posing for pictures and Savannah and I both knew that we needed one for Miss Adeline.

Here we are in the middle of Time Square. . .

There is nothing like NYC and even better, there is nothing like NYC at night. Oh, did I mention it was 60 degrees? Yes, perfect weather led to a perfect day. The lights were spectacular as we headed back to our bus. The best part of all, was sharing this experience with my sweet girl and good friends. I wouldn't have changed anything about the entire day. Okay, that isn't true. I bought a Nikon Coolpix instead of taking my SLR. Well, kind of like there isn't anything that compares to New York, there isn't anything that compares to a SLR. My pictures weren't great but, other than that, our day was perfect!

Her Big Girl Room

For Savannah's 7th birthday, we decided to redo her room.  Her room had been the same since she was about to turn three.  While it was cute, we were both tired of it and wanted something new and exciting.  Savannah mentioned she wanted blue in her big girl room and it just so happened that Pottery Barn Kids came out with a blue quilt.  It was like the stars aligned.

While some big girl rooms include pictures of Justin Bieber or some other face in pop media, my Savannah's does not.  She remains right where I want her. . . innocent.  The television hasn't made it into our daily lives (movies in the van play pretty often but are often Thomas, Thumbelina, or Elmo) which leaves Savannah somewhat untouched by popular influences.  When I step back and look at her room, I am thrilled that she is excited about the colors, the new ceiling fan, and about moving back into her room so that she can set up her classroom and baby doll center again. 

The before

After

Savannah's Piano

I feel the need to document Savannah's progression with the piano.  She has been taking lessons for a bit over a year now.  It is still a positive experience and she enjoys going to her lessons.  What is difficult is finding the time to practice.  Her songs are getting harder which requires more time on the keys and less time running around with her sisters before dinner.  Practicing usually requires a parent as well.

For what it is worth, I feel that Savannah has made huge strides since we have picked up her lessons after summer's break.  She now changes positions in the middle of a song, crosses her fingers over and under, and can play very different melodies.  We had an extra week on the following song which prompted me to record her playing it.  I sprung the camera on her which obviously made her nervous.  It certainly isn't a perfect run through of her song but I was very pleased that she powered through the tough spots.  I remember wanting to start the song over when I was stuck. 

I really hope she continues to love piano. 

Adeline's Preschool Halloween

Adeline's mainstream preschool throws a great Halloween bash. The kids are treated to a carnival and then they treat the parents to a parade. The best part is that each classroom decides on a costume and then makes it at school. I never know what Adeline is going to be until she rounds the corner. This year, her class was Thing 1, Thing 2, etc, from Dr. Seuss. They were pretty cute.

Once all the classes have paraded, they sing songs and finger plays for the parents to enjoy. It was windy which made Adeline's awareness of her crown very acute. I could see her struggle between singing and being completely distracted by her hat. Of course, it would take a trained eye to recognize that it was more than just a floppy crown on the verge of blowing off.

It is moments like these that help me see how Adeline's brain works. She has so much knowledge but when she is in an uncontrolled environment, she often isn't able to access it. For example, Adeline had a duet in one of the songs. She was shut down with both hands on her hat and eyes on the ground when her time came. Her teacher approached me afterward and said that she was surprised that Adeline didn't sing because, not only did she know her part, she knew all of the other parts too. Just an example of how multitasking isn't in Adeline's near future. It wasn't a big deal though. She made up for it in many of the other songs.

Here are some pictures from the carnival and parade and a quick clip of "Five Little Pumpkins."

She really melts my heart. She is so cute - yes, I know I am biased but. . .