Bonus post - too cute to not talk about

When the girls came home from the hospital at 16 days, they slept together in the crib in their own room.

At 7 months we separated them, and they have slept alone ever since.

This week there's been some anxiety. I'm not sure why. Both Lily and Madeleine have mentioned it. Including a 11 pm freakfest by Madeleine wanting to know why Daddy and I get to sleep together. The unfairness of it it all!

So we told them on Friday night they could sleep together if they wanted. But at the first sign of trouble, we would separate them.

The picture is at 11 pm. Lily on the left, Madeleine on the right.

1 am screaming. Madeleine was on Lily's hair. Moved to separate bed. Haven't mentioned it since.

Welcome Summer!

We had a busy Memorial Day weekend. On Saturday we hit the pool in the afternoon. They usually don't allow floats or inflatable things, but since they were having an official pool party, they supplied inner tubes and such for the girls to play with. They had a great time (once we were able to find some that had been abandoned). Then we hit up Goodberry's for some frozen custard.

Sunday was ambitious as well. We went to Brixx Wood Fired Pizza for lunch on our way to Southern Season. They had just launched their annual sale, and I hadn't been in forever. In fact, the girls had never been. They have gourmet food items around the outer rim of the store, and the middle is filled with kitchen gadgets and dishware. Pretty much the LAST place you'd want to bring two four year-olds.

But they have a HUGE candy counter with all kinds of chocolates. The girls set their sights on the brownie pops dipped in chocolate, and we used those as leverage to get them through the rest of the store. ("Mommy how many more things do we need to buy before we can go?")

Then we went to Pittsboro to visit with friends and their 15 month old twins. The girls had a blast with the baby toys and playing outside. We went out to dinner as well, but two meals out in one day was pushing our luck. They barely ate anything and just wanted to go to sleep (which they did on the way home).

Sunday we went for a picnic in the Rose Garden at the Raleigh Little Theatre. I got to use my fancy camera for once when I could catch them. Then we spent the afternoon back at the pool (minus floaties plus two Barbies however).

Wait a berry-picking minute!

Since the girls are so into picking flowers (mostly clover and dandelions), I thought maybe they'd enjoy strawberry picking this year. I think I've only ever been once, but I knew there were tons of fields around. So I picked the one that was closest rather than hear them yell about how we needed to move closer. We went to DJ's Berry Patch.

I timed it so we were the first ones out there picking in the morning. That way there were pleny of berries and it wasn't too hot. Plus no serious pickers would mind the two four year-olds. It's not like we weren't up anyway.

The girls did great and within half an hour they'd filled 3 of the buckets you can get there. Way more than I wanted, but they were having a good time. If it were legal, I think the farms could get some good work out of a bunch of preschoolers.

At home we spent the afternoon making ice cream and the strawberry pound cake seen below. I wanted to just do shortcake, but they had a pink cake set in their minds.

Peakfest

The girls and I went to Peakfest in Apex for the first time on Saturday with Aunt Laura. We'd done Lazy Daze and Spring Daze in Cary before, but this was our first time to Apex.

We got started off early with the pancake breakfast at the fire house. Good move, and we got there just in time before the line was out the door.

The first thing we saw on the street was a face painter, and Lily and Madeleine could not wait to get their faces done.

Yes, that's a skeleton on Lily's face.

From there it was hard work collecting the free balloons (and losing a few along the way). We did the jump houses, and then I convinced them to go to the Michael Creech magic show in the community arts center.

Then we were back outside for lemonade and ice cream. There they discovered the kids corner and Happy Dan the Magic Man. They loved his show and followed the poor guy around the festival for the next 20 minutes. We had to go back to watch Hubba Bubba the clown immediately after. The only way I convinced them to not watch the show again was to get them back to the arts center to watch belly dancing.

Madeline tries her hand at plate spinning

Lily performs a feat of spinning three plates in the Hubba Bubba clown show.

On the Fast Track

I signed up for the March of Dimes annual walk a while ago, but had actually been on the fence about going. It was the same day as the town Spring Daze festival this year, and the girls didn't seem too excited about the whole thing.

But with the weather in question, we decided to brave the "stroller walk." This year it was out at Imperial Center in RTP as opposed to the former Nortel campus. We got the girls their favorite March of Dimes t-shirts right away, but they only had kids' large. It will be a few years before they can wear them.

The girls got Tarheel tattoos from the NICU staff and made their own sun visors for the trip.

It was sort of unclear where the race started, so we waited a while by the balloon arch. Lots of people were already walking, so we started to follow. Of course after a while it became clear we'd started about 10 minutes early.

It ended up being a blessing in disguise. With some more space, the girls could get out of the stroller some and Madeleine enjoyed running some of the course. On the way back, we passed the pack, and it was so crowded they spanned the whole width of both lanes designated for the race.

On the way back, the girls got out of the stroller and we ran to the finish line together. Then they enjoyed popcorn, snow cones, and Rita's Italian Ice before we headed home.

Go "Team Double Hot" - what they wanted to name our team.

What Happens at Grandmas Stays at Grandmas

Unless of course there's pictures. Grandma and Poppy watched the girls while Eric and I headed to Vermont for some R&R (and hockey of course).

Here comes the bride

Well, we did it. Lily and Madeleine are now two seasoned flower girls. They came through the weekend with flying colors and hopefully love going to weddings as much as I do.

Friday night was the rehearsal at Bass Lake and rehearsal dinner at Bistro 64. They didn’t have a whole lot to do at the rehearsal, and since there were no chairs set up, they had only a vague notion of what an aisle was. We spent most of the time in the rocking chairs set out on the deck.

Dinner was great. They spent most of the time working on drawings and eating snacks out of the cooler I’d brought. Madeleine did order steak but didn’t eat anything but the fries. Lily got chicken fingers and had a few before turning her fries over to the gentleman across the table. Eric and I had the lobster ravioli.


Saturday afternoon Ms. Valerie came over to do our hair. It turned out great and stayed in place all day. The baby’s breath also was a good touch I think.

We got to Bass Lake just after 4 and did a few pre-wedding photos. The ceremony started promptly at 5. The girls kind of froze when it was their turn to go, so I stood up from my seat and waved them on down. Madeleine was very confident, but Lily bent her head down. She recovered and continued to drop petals. When Lily got to the end, she just dumped the rest out in a big clump.

They sat in seats in front of us and walked out behind the bride when the ceremony was over.

Then we did post-ceremony pictures. Luckily we took care of ones with us first so we could head to the reception. The girls snacked on apple sauce, cheese, and crackers while we sampled the hors d’ourves.

When the bride and groom arrived for their first dance, Lily and I went over to watch. She wanted a better view of the dance floor than the one our table provided. As soon as the bride and groom were done, I gave them clearance to hit the dance floor, and they were there much of the night. They danced with me, each other, and their stuffed bears we had brought from home.

We left a little after 9pm, and they fell asleep in the car on the way home. We just put pajamas on them and put them to bed. Lily cried for a little bit, and then she was out. I’m guessing they’ll ask me soon when the next wedding is.