Imaginative Play

Last night I was reading a bit about twins at the preschool stage and thought, "Oh that is so us!" when I read about how the preschool age with twins brings fascinating imaginative play into the house. The kids are playing more independently, but still want nothing more than for you to sit on the floor with them to play out cars racing, crashing, and needing new tires (from Luigi of course), or to line up chairs (a.k.a. the train) to go on a trip to grandma's house, or to simply enjoy an afternoon (pretend) snack of tea (two sweetener scoops for Mommy) and salad with sausage. The book commented on how this is heightened with twins because they feed off ideas from each other -so true. I love watching them get busy creating and interacting with new imaginary worlds and find myself waiting eagerly for the invitation, "Mommy, you come play with me."

As if right on cue, this morning the whole family went on an incredible boat ride! Malynn was busy taking care of two babies, and Jack took charge of the trip:

• We all put on our life jackets as the first order of business.
• He was the boat chef and kept us all fed.
• He also got a trash can and vacuum for clean-up. (Good thing Daddy knew where the storage closest was on the boat!)
• He had a flashlight for pointing out whales. We saw a red baby whale swimming with a blue mommy whale!
• The boat took us to a dance party (music supplied by our computers).
• Jack had some work to do on his computer on the boat ride home, and Malynn had a stinky poop to clean up from one of her babies. She had us all in stitches when she kept saying, "Gross" as she diligently cleaned her baby's bottom!

 Here's Jack pointing out the whales!

P.S. The next morning, Jack and I were playing "bank-store" (that's what we call the side of the playhouse in the basement that has the bank ATM and market window on it). He asked me how much money I needed, $1, $3, or $5. I said I needed to check the balance in my checking account first, and when I found there was only $100, I asked for $5. Jack responded, "No Mommy, if you have $5 that will make all the people sad, you can have $1." (Read into it what you will...!)

Puzzles with Preschoolers

If you need a lesson on "Life's about the journey, not the destination" just do a puzzle with Jack or Malynn. They are both so excited and committed to putting up to 24 piece puzzles together now. It's so fun! Every time we finish one, I look forward to sitting back and admiring the finished product, but that only happens for about .7 seconds, because they immediately break it apart declaring "Let's do it again!"

The Water Table is Back

Bye-bye winter! Summer came with a vengeance the last couple days! When we hit highs near and in the 90s I had to frantically find the piles of short sleeves, dig out the sunscreen, and set up fans. The kids were being total troopers about toughing out a few hot days without turning on the AC yet, so I decided to surprise them with the water table after naps.

I was captivated watching them engage with familiar toys using new abilities and curiosities.

I'm ready for water shoes and the regular smell of sun screen. Yay!

Sand, Buses, & Books

Daddy had a couple big work days near Grand and Ottar's house, so we made a little trip out of it.

Now Jack and Malynn are big enough to handle the walk a little ways down the road to the neighborhood co-op preschool which has an amazing playground that surrounds it! Our favorite spot by far was the HUGE sandbox!

 

We were busy there both afternoons and late for dinner both days because it was just too hard to leave!

Saturday brought an exciting new experience...our first bus ride!

Here's Jack with his first bus schedule and Malynn listening intently to a little tutorial from Ottar.

The bus took us to the local library where we found some of our favorites, like Maisy books, and some fantastic new fire truck stories thanks to the librarian who overheard our desires as we walked in. :)

Malynn and Jack got the "full" city bus experience when the bus that was scheduled to take us home didn't show! Bummer.

We all took it in stride, especially the kids. Malynn and Jack kept themselves occupied while we waited with hunting down dandylions and a little ring-around-the-rosy around the bus stop pole. Then we settled on a little walk along a trail while Amita drove home to do a car switch and come pick us all up.

Daddy was finally done and able to meet us at the playground before dinner. After a full day of play, outside time, and a big dose of walking, the kids had earned a little daddy ride on the way home. We love our strong daddy!!!

What a Winter!

Seriously! Late March and we get another significant snow! Crazy!

The kids are getting good at putting on boots, snow gloves, and hats. When they wake up and see snow outside, we have to immediately bundle up and get out there!

We've had enough warm afternoons to get hooked on getting out the bikes and trikes every time we head out to play, and Jack decided to see how it would go in the snow.

I thought Punxsutawney Phil did NOT see his shadow this year...so much for that!

Snow in March with Rourke...again!

Last year when Uncle Nate and Aunt Missy and Teigen went on their ski trip, Samma and Rourke came to visit and we got a big snow storm. We thought it was so crazy and perfect for Rourke to be playing in the snow while the rest of his family was off skiing! Well it was even crazier when it happened again this year!

 It was a doozy. The count was 15 inches in town, and I'm sure we had at least a foot ourselves!

Jack overheard Rourke and Samma talking about the shovel he likes to play with in the snow at home. Once we were all bundled up, Jack forged the first path out across the deck to get a shovel...

...for Rourke. This guys never ceases to impress with his thoughtfulness!

 We played out in the driveway where Daddy was shoveling which provided:

1) piles of snow for climbing and sliding.

2) snow mountains for off-roading.

 3) easy access to big clumps for "snow snacks."

("Don't eat yellow snow," was a favorite line of the day!)

4) fresh snow to plunge into.

 5) open space for a little riding around.

but most importantly, 6) a safe spot from all the trees crashing down from the weight of the snow.

(Darn Virginia Pines!)

 Jack wasn't the only one making sure Rourke had the tools he needed.

 A quintessential father/son picture!

 " I'm helping too!"

 Then we headed inside for hot chocolate and rainbow french toast! Samma read the weather story featuring a rainbow to the kids while I got the bread and "paints" set up.

I didn't have to give much direction, because...

 

...Malynn and Jack were eager to show Rourke how to make one of our new favorite story/snacks themselves.

 They passed the time while the french toast was cooking with plenty of silliness!

 

 And, finally enjoyed a perfect warm treat after a good romp in the snow.

There was a little play time before naps, and Malynn and Rourke had a spin on the rocking horses. I try very hard to just pick the best one picture of any given event, but this time I was amazed when through this series Malynn and Rourke's expressions match in every picture!

 

 While the kids were napping, Daddy worked on the HUGE tree which had fallen right across our drive way!

Fortunately, by the afternoon we had our power back, the road plowed, and a clear path out of the house.

In the afternoon we had to get back outside to make...

...a snowman!

 

We did have a couple, "I'm stuck!" moments.

 Malynn was the most invested in helping with the snowman.

The boys helped too, but...

Jack was busy pushing trucks around and Rourke was getting cold.

 I brought three carrots outside so there was...

...one for Malynn...and one for Jack...

 

...and one for the snowman!

The next morning was busy, busy, busy! It started with building a mini-snowman out on the deck with Samma.
The kids loved the starfish hat!

 Next we headed out for library story hour. Somehow Mommy got us all out the door way early. We had over a half an hour before the library was even going to open! There was a grocery store near by so we bought mini-cupcakes and juice and had a special little cupcake party in the back of the car! (Sometimes you do what you've got to do!) We had a fantastic time getting books at the library and enjoying our own private story hour because no one else showed up that day!

We wrapped up the first half of the day with lunch and reading some of the new books we got.

It was a fun, action packed visit and all three kids have been talking about it ever since. Being so close in age, I see the potential for Jack and Malynn to have a special cousin friendship with Rourke as they grow up. :)