Finally headed home

The car broke down, extending our stay in the Sunny State... But its fixed now and even under warranty (huge sigh of relief). We had a great time and are happy to be headed home.

It was great to see Daddy's family tree and friends. Next time we'll make it down to Sea World and Mama's family in the southern tip of the state....probably in August during Daddy's reunion...

Cousin injured

Cousin Lois got on the wrong end of Ace's momentum. Ace was very sorry and brought her water and toys to make her feel better.

Fun at the park with Nanna

Happily ever after

Sleeping Beauty

Moolah wanted to get the autograph book just right.

Preparing to meet the princesses

Ears

Jungle boat cruise

Almost to small world

Thinking of our BSU family

Carousel

Disneyland Here We Come!

"Moolah, you're more beautiful than the real Snow White."

"I know."

IMG00084-20090324-0914.jpg

Roadtrip entertainment

Mama was reading Daddy trivia questions with multiple choice answers. Moolah wanted our attention.

"Can I ask a question? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh?"

"OK, Moolah... What's your question?"

"Which princess wears a blues dress? Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella?"

It was a good question. She followed it up with

"What do we use to hear? Eyes, mouth, ears?"

Then she just got silly...

Roadtrip Q and A

Moolah: "Look at what we're doing!"

Mama: "Are you making a mess?"

.....pause.......

Moolah: "Not on the floor."

Ace said 'no' for the first time this week, and not I'm a typical 2-year-old way. He climbed into my bed under the covers with a book, propped himself up on my pillow, and looked at me.

I asked "Do you want me to read that book?"

"No."

He 'read' the book himself.

Pigs are flying in the Rainy City

The impossible has happened.

Daddy is officially a fan of a major league sports team.

More than that, Daddy is a member of a scarf-weilding, chant-shouting, face-painting, hair-dying army who showed up this morning in battle gear for the official announcement.

Yes, Daddy was a fan of a major league sports team before it was a major league sports team, making him a true original fan. He showed up in his green shirt (yes, Nanna, Daddy now needs a lot of green shirts for the games), with his scarf and his song sheet -- not that he needs the song sheet anymore. Even Moolah knows that "When I root, I root for the Timbers."


The boys from the North End are making lots of noise (it's an Army thing...)

So, in honor of Daddy, and of Bampa who taught me that the Daddy is the boss of what teams the house is allowed to root for (at least until other household members are willing to take serious heat for defection), Striders House has been updated to show our Timbers loyalty (fortunately, we already had the color scheme... and boy is Mama glad that they aren't Orange & Black...)

Moolah says: "My happy thought is...

... everything in my room because it's all so beautiful and pretty, well, except the box with wagons on it. It's not pretty, it's cool. So my happy thought is everything in my room that is beautiful and pretty and cool."

Strider is disappointed

He has been clear that I have not been a responsible blogger and would like to see my performance improve.

Moolah is doing really well at her new school. Daddy and I had our first parent teacher conference last week and Teacher Jessie said she was fitting in quite well. She likes metal insets (Mama's favorite, designed for developing fine motor skills) and is learning Golden Beads (Auntie BSU's favorite, designed to teach math concepts). Her favorite is the "mystery bucket" where objects are buried in sand and she has to find and identify them by feel. Her best friend is Addie, a very tall just-turned-3-year-old, and Jessie says that they have found a match in their silliness and exuberance, which can be "mildly disruptive." Instead of being concerned about that report, I found myself pleased both that my girl is disruptively joyful, and confident that Jessie and her team have it under control.

Moolah has brought home two songs and sings them regularly. This concert is from the bath, so it has some background splashing and some participation by Ace. I recorded it on my phone, but I can't get it to attach to the blog, so the lyrics are below and I'll attach some pictures of the kids in the sweaters that Nanna sent and skirt that Oosje made (Moolah picked the fabric).

Tell me the Continents

Tell me the continents,

Tell me the continents,

Tell me if you can.

There's North America,

South America,
Europe, Africa & Asia.

Don't forget Australia,

Don't forget Antarctica (Its-arctica).

Tell me the continents,
Tell me the continents,
Tell me if you can.

Bats are Sleeping

(Tune of Freres Jaques)

Bats are sleeping,

Bats are sleeping,

Upside down,

Upside down.

Waiting for the night to come,

Waiting for the night to come,

Then they fly around,

Then they fly around (mandatory hand flapping).

Moolah says ...

"Oh, you startled me, I thought you were my stomach rumbling."

She said it several times a day during the weekend. I don't know where it came from, although I suspect Word World.

2.14 Miles

Moolah and I went to the zoo today. At the top of our viewing list were the beavers (she had just learned that they bite through wood) and bats (she learned a new song). My pedometer says that we walked 2.14 miles, which explains why she's still "napping" at 7:35 pm.


At the bald eagle exhibit, where the highlight was "watching TV" (touch screen videos about bald eagles).