Rhinestones and Wranglers

This past weekend, our church had their annual Daddy Daughter Banquet (not a dance as we are at a Baptist church...sigh).  This year the theme was Rhinestones and Wranglers Barbie-Q.  Super cute!  I saw some of the banquet as I was helping to serve the food and clean up.  And FYI, hay is not fun to clean up.

Here are some of the super adorable pictures that I took at the banquet...

 Eating dinner with their table of friends

 Posing with D - super cute of both girls but you can't see the boots!!

 D and Josh posing cowboy tough....though clearly D needs to practice his tough face!

 The girls with Ella Grace (Josh's daughter)

Love Love Love....one for each of my loves!

Boston

This year D decided that he was going to redo his once in a lifetime experience of running the Boston Marathon.  This was probably never on the blog cause D ran it in April 2007 (and it was actually right after we got back from it that I found out I was preggo with the twins....and that was the official start of the blog.)  But when he ran it, the weather was just awful as they were having a Nor-eastern (which is basically a cold hurricane).  So there were not many fans and overall it was just not the experience that he had hoped that it would be.

So D trained and was ready to go this year.  But this year his plan was to just run it for "fun" and to totally enjoy the experience.  Our original plan was to go up just before the marathon and then have a little mini-vacation the week after the marathon. In a fortuitous turn, D ended up with a work trip that started the day after the marathon.  So we went up the Thursday before, but this required us to find activities that required little to no walking so that D could save his legs.

We spent the first two nights out on the Cape (which is Cape Cod for those of us who are geographically challenged).  It was a very low-key part of the trip as basically the whole area shuts down for the off season.  We did travel the entire cape from Provincetown all the way to Woods Hole.

 The view from our patio at our hotel Anchor In.

 Me and D on our drive up the cape.

 We stopped to see one of the "major" sights.  D was disturbed at how small and unimpressive it was.

We stopped for a wine tasting at Truro Vineyards.  It was beautiful and the wine was super tasty.  We just couldn't find a way to get home with anything else in our suitcases!

Me in Woods Hole.  That's a ferry in the background that takes you over to Martha's Vineyard.

Just thought that this was a neat picture.

These signs just cracked me up....what a bizarrely worded sign!

Then we went to Boston late afternoon Saturday.  Sunday D went to the expo and then we took one of the Duck Boat tours around Boston.  And that is basically a recap of all the touristy stuff that we did in Boston.  

 The entrance of our hotel....pretty swanky!

 On the Duck Boat tour

 Me driving the duck boat on the Charles River

 Boston Skyline

  The marathon was on Monday and D had declared it his favorite marathon ever.  He said the crowds were awesome and that it was "fun"  (I am adding the quotes to fun because he and I totally have different definitions of what constitutes fun!)  He beat his goal and finished it in 3 hours 28 minutes which translates to just under an 8 minute per mile pace.  Sadly our experience was marred by the tragic bombing that occurred after D finished.  We were safe and sound, tucked back into our hotel when we heard the explosions.  But other than not being able to leave our hotel, we were totally unaffected.

 Here he comes (you can barely see the 26 mile marker in the background)

 There he goes!

This was not taken by me, but you can see the Crate&Barrel sign in both pictures to get an idea about where I was watching the race from.

 And back in the hotel.

Just Pictures

So I have noticed that there seem to be several pictures that have just not made it onto the blog. Therefore, I will attempt to remedy that situation right now! Though I am almost certain that I will put at least one picture on here that is in fact already on the blog.

 They LOVE to play Monopoly Jr.  One of their favorite Christmas presents for sure.

 They went to a little mani/pedi birthday party.  Which ended with a runway fashion show!  So cute!

 Just love this picture of the girls with my mom!

 Our SS class had a crawfish boil.  While many of the kids thought it was super cool to play with the crawfish while they were still alive, the girls did not get on board until they had been cooked.  And then they played with them constantly and called them their pets.

 The girls ROCKING their flamingo dresses! One of our neighbors had been "flocked" so it seemed like a perfect place to take a picture.

And here is our house that was Flocked!

 The girls with all their strawberries from the strawberry picking field trip.  And those were YUM-O!

No it is not warm enough for an outdoor, unheated pool.  But I got tired of telling them no, so we headed to the pool.  They are crazy!

Yes it is too hot for a fire.  But here are the girls roasting peeps with their friend Parker.

 It was Urple Purple day at school.  Audrey "won" a certificate for being the most purple girl in her class.

And we just can't resist a face painting!

Oh the things they say and do....

Just a few things that the girls have been doing and saying that I think that I want to remember (and of course some random pictures thrown in for my nonreaders)...

The girls were playing in the tub and had lined up all of their princess bathtoys.  They were discussing that they were going to put them on Facebook.  So I asked them what Facebook was (I mean I thought surely they were talking about something other than THE Facebook) And after giving me what basically was the equivalent of a giant sigh and eye roll, they said "you know mom...on the computer.  We are doing a video for Facebook."  Then at the end of the bath as I was drying off Audrey and Brooke was slipping and sliding in the tub.  Audrey said that she was drying off to be in the shiniest kid contest.  And Brooke replied that she was in the slippiest kid contest (that girl is uber-competitive).  So at this point I am thinking oh that is cute.  Until she followed it up with "and then I am going to take naked pictures of myself and put them on FB for everyone to see." WHAT?!?  I think that I need to have some sort of discussion about computer usage in the very near future!

I know that as parents we mold our kids and frequently push them toward things that we are interested in.  This is true for the girls - see previous competitive comment.  But sadly we have created reality-tv mini-junkies.  They love America's Funniest Videos (that one is D's fault), Dancing with the Stars, American Idol (Audrey LOVES Keith Urban), and our newest addition The Voice (Audrey LOVES Adam - clearly Audrey has fantastic taste!!  Brooke loves Blake.)  I will say that they don't watch all of the episodes.....or as they like to say "each and every one."

 And to show that we don't just sit around in front of the computer and tv, here are the girls getting ready to plant our garden.  Unfortunately we planted it and then the very next two nights the temps dropped down into freezing and it all died!  We have replanted and it seems to be going fine.  It is fun, but it is clear that we really have no idea what we are doing. at. all.  Here is what is planted in that tiny space: strawberries, tomato both regular and cherry, peppers - red, yellow, green and jalapeno, basil, cilantro, zucchini, okra, watermelon, cantaloupe,squash, and carrots.  The squash and carrots are left from the first planting as they were from seeds.  So I think that we are going to have to do some thinning as the plants grow.

The girls continue to play well with each other.  They are really into role playing.  At any moment they are being a mom, dad, baby, dog, big sister, etc to each other, me, or a variety of stuffed animals.  We have lots of variations of the family in our family.  It is always a little confusing to know who exactly they are talking to when you hear them scream Mom!! And frequently I am tasked with watching the babies while they are at "work."  Which is fine....but then I have to give a report to them about what they ate, how they behaved, and what bathroom doings they did during the day!

I dream of Jeannies! The girls in one of their dance costumes with another set of twins from their dance class.  (there are actually 3 sets of twins in the class!)

Butterfly Garden

Two Christmases ago, the girls got a butterfly garden.  Sadly it has sat on the shelf for two years - unused.  However we recently got it down and ordered our live caterpillars.  They actually send you these tiny caterpillars in a cup through the mail.  So we got a cup of 5 (and they guaranty that at least 3 of them will make it to a butterfly - though I totally cannot begin to understand how this guaranty would possibly work!) tiny caterpillars which you leave in the cup that they came in until all of them form their chrysalises (and just as an FYI - butterflies make a chrysalis while moths make cocoons, a fact that I did not know until recently)

 I did not take a picture of them as caterpillars, but here they are as chrysalises.

Here are my little chrysalises :)

 Audrey is showing the butterflies how to fly away....and note how classy we are out in our front yard in our pajamas.

 Here is one of the butterflies after being released.

 Thought it was neat how the real butterfly looked just like the one on the bottom of the habitat.  And the habitat has been reincarnated as a home for love bugs, lizards, and frogs - though the girls have only caught love bugs successfully.

 Brooke encouraging the last butterfly to fly, fly away.

Easter

Here is a rather long video of the girls Easter morning as they are discussing and comparing their Easter basket goodies.  It is probably of little interest to anyone other than me, but I like to have this little record of how they interact with each other. Please ignore the fact that their PJs are clearly too small and are for winter.  And I don't know why I can no longer add videos here (anyone know?) so I am attaching a link that may possibly work to you tube.

http://youtu.be/BEmUiMtWh-Q

Here are our pictures in our Easter outfits.  Sadly we did not get a complete family picture....and I am not a good enough photo editor to smash them together and make one with all of us.

 Love them!  And love the dresses that they picked out!

 It cracks me up that this is what they do when I tell them to pose!

D with his little ladies!

 I was trying to take a picture of D with just Audrey....but I love the look that Brooke is giving as she totally walks in front of the picture.

Pre-Easter Activities

 Brooke decorating our house for Easter....they love to hang things from the chandelier.

For the second time (we missed last year as we were house-hunting during Easter) we made what the girls like to call our Smash Eggs - you hollow out the egg, then dye them, then fill them with birdseed (so they are biodegradable and I don't have to pick up oodles of confetti), and then paint a little glue and tissue paper to cover the hole.  Somehow I have managed to capture every aspect of this activity except the actual smashing of the egg this year.  Hmm.  But here are the cute preparation pictures:

Hunt 1: On good Friday, one of our friends from church, Hollie, had an Easter Egg hunt at her house - technically at the park directly behind her house.  It was a perfect day for it, sunny but still a little cool, and the girls had a great time!

 Audrey working very hard in the egg race!

 Brooke hopping like a champ in the bunny race.

 Hollie trying to organize the kids by age to get ready for the hunt....note that my kids are listening to directions :)

 And they are off!  You can see that it was a very challenging hunt :)

 After the hunt with their friend Lauren

Hunt 2: Our Exxon friends John and Robin had an Easter Egg hunt at their house on Saturday before Easter.  The weather was PERFECT and it was super fun.  I felt like we were in a movie - you know the ones where everyone is hanging out and spontaneous games of kickball, football, and cornhole just happen. 

 My pinterest project for the hunt....turned out adorable, tasted bad.

The kids getting ready for the hunt

 I love this picture of Brooke!

 YESSSS!!!! The perfect egg!

 Audrey is so darn cute!

Jack and Brooke hit the jackpot in the mailbox....I think a parent got lazy distributing eggs!!

 Brooke asking for help reaching an egg that was way up high....if only there was an egg nearby that she could reach.

 Audrey and Jack both look so happy with their loot!

And for a refreshing treat, snowcones after the hunt!