2005 Halloween Stats

The stats are in, and it's a record-breaking year!

2005 Stats

213: Total number of trick-or-treaters before we turned off the lights. A new record!

4:45 pm: First trick-or-treaters

8:15 pm: Last trick-or-treaters

6: Number of "kids" who were taller than my dad, who's 5' 10"

15+: Wearing a backpack on the chest, leaning forward for candy to be dropped in

2: Talking on a mobile phone the entire time

1: Grandma with her own bag for candy

Best quote #1: From a 3-year-old girl: "I need two!" before bursting into tears.

Best quote #2: From a teenage mom holding her son dressed in regular clothes, defensively: "He's a toddler."

Best quote #3: "She's a mime. She can't talk. She's saying thank you."

Best costumes: Snow queen, cowgirl with an attached horse, homemade chicken costume, little girl in a 1960s-style pink business suit with pillbox hat (Avon calling?), an adult Piglet (kind of scary), a 6-feet-tall angel complete with a fuzzy halo, and our absolute favorite: a sumusumo wrestler!

Happy Halloween!

This was a really fun Halloween! Margaret was dressed as one of her favorite things to do: A Painter! She wore a black turtleneck and pants topped by a t-shirt she painted herself. She wore a black beret and carried a palette and paintbrush. She loved wearing her costume! Audrey accompanied her as the Mona Lisa.

Tonight Maggie went trick-or-treating for the first time. She took it very seriously, and liked going up to people's doors and saying "Trick or treat" or "I want candy," and then saying "Thank you" or "I got candy." Her best friend Ryan (Superman!) came too, and they really liked trick-or-treating together (and enjoying the candy afterward).

You can see all the photos on Shutterfly. Here is a sample:

Margaret as the Painter:

Audrey as the Mona Lisa:
The Painter & the Mona Lisa:

Time to trick-or-treat!

Maggie & Ryan eat candy:

Trick or Treat

Every year we get a good number of trick-or-treaters at our house, and I have been keeping track of the stats for three years. Here are the 2002-04 stats:

2004 Stats

162: Total number of trick-or-treaters (a new record!)

12: Bags of candy gone (except for a few choice items I kept back for myself)

6: Teenagers in costume

23: Teenagers not in costume

12: Parents not in costume, asking for candy

7: Parents who dressed up for fun, not for candy (good for them!)

4: Fatties who took multiple treats despite being instructed to take only one

1: A very young, very tired, very pissed-off baby in a princess costume being held by her mother, who was also holding a candy bag

1: Teenager (adult?) bigger than me, in a mask, who spoke not a word while I nervously forked over the candy

1: Little girl who frantically grabbed a double-handful of candy and had to be physically forced to give back all but one

Best Quote: A teenage boy, when challenged about his apparent lack of costume, responded indignantly: "I'm the Fonz! Aaaayyy!"

Second Best Quote: A little girl, walking off our porch, said to her mother in a disgusted tone: "I only got ONE candy."

Third Best Quote: A 10-year-old boy who asked, "Bush or Kerry?"

Fourth Best Quote: A teenage boy, at least 16 or 17, no costume, looking into his bag and saying disgustedly, "What was THAT?"

Best costumes: Macbeth, jeweled ghost, UPS driver (hat, shirt, clipboard), two 10-year-old boys dressed as girls complete with blonde wigs--one was a cheerleader, one was a princess.

2003 Stats

73: Total number of trick-or-treaters (half the number of last year, presumably due to the rain)

3: Number of teenagers who came to our door after 9 p.m. when all the lights were out and decorations removed.

10+: No costume

10+: Over 15 years old

3: Under 2 years old

6: Teenage girls in pajamas

2: Teenage girls with no costumes who held our their purses for candy

1: "My costume is an afro wig"

1: "My costume is a top hat"

And my favorite this year...

1: Grandmother and grandson combo, both dressed as witches, both with bags for candy

2002 Stats

150+: Total number of trick-or-treaters (there might have been more, but we closed shop when we blew through our six jumbo-size bags of candy!)

5: Number of trick-or-treaters who came to our door after our porch lights were out, all interior house lights were off and all pumpkins were removed. Take a hint!

50+: Number of trick-or-treaters with no costumes

30+: Number of trick-or-treaters age 15 or older

3: Number of teenage mom/toddler trick-or-treater combos

1: Number of toddlers out for their first Halloween with four doting grown-ups in attendance, one of whom used a professional looking camera to take at least 10 photos on our porch.

and my favorite...

2: Number of 40-year-old women, in elaborate costumes, boldly trick-or-treating along with their kids.

Pumpkin Patch

We took the girls to the Underwood Family Farm in Moorpark, only an hour's drive to a real working farm with a fall festival and pumpkin patch. Maggie got to ride in a wagon and Audrey rode in the bjorn. They both enjoyed seeing all the animals. Maggie liked the chickens best! Maggie picked out three little pumpkins (she liked the small ones because she could carry them by herself), which we'll carve later today at our friends' annual pumpkin carving party.

Maggie loves a parade

Our town has a small parade and family festival every year. We've lived here five years and this was our first time to walk all of two blocks down the street and watch the parade. Maggie loved it! She was especially excited when we bumped into her friend Matthew. After the parade we ate tri-tip sandwiches for lunch and walked around the festival.

Random celebrity sighting: We ate lunch next to John C. Reilly, who apparently lives in the area. He wasn't exactly acting incognito--he was chatting loudly with someone about how busy he is filming a new Will Ferrell NASCAR movie.

Maggie & Matthew watch the parade:

Maggie tries cotton candy for the first time:
Me & Rose (Matthew's mommy) ate some cotton candy too (apparently it's one of Rose's favorite things...now I know what to get her for Christmas):

The rolling queen!

Audrey did another huge roll yesterday. She started on the blanket, rolled east for a few feet, then took a turn north and kept going until she hit the ottoman. I wonder how far she could have gotten if the furniture hadn't stopped her?

Zoo

Audrey had her first trip to the zoo today! I hadn't taken Maggie for about 6 months so it was nice to go back. She loved seeing all the animals, especially the giraffes and chimpanzees. We also saw a bird show and stopped at the playground for a while.

Morning with my girls

Dairy products, how I love thee

After three days of no dairy and no difference in Audrey's spitting up, I quit the experiment and ran back into the comforting arms of my favorite dairy products. Ahh, milk in my tea! Cheddar cheese on my scrambled eggs! A big bowl of Haagen Dahz Vanilla Bean Ice Cream! Happiness.

At Audrey's 4-month check-up on Friday, I'll ask the pediatrician for advice on the spitting-up issue. If she thinks it's worth me messing with my diet, I'll try it again with a more concerted effort.

In the meantime...I'm going to have a big bowl of cereal with MILK! And then some candy corn--not because it's a dairy product, but just because it's soooo good and I have a brand new 2-pound bag!

Making Halloween decorations

Audrey is 4 months old

Happy 4-month birthday to Audrey!

Search oddities

Every blogger loves to see which search terms led users to their site. Here are my latest:

"my girls" on MSN
"ramada merced blog" on Google
"soda jerks pasadena" on MSN
"debbie graff" on Google
"girls in the buff" on MSN

I sincerely hope the latter searcher was disappointed upon reaching my site.

Soymilk and hot sauce

Audrey has been having stomach issues, so I am trying to figure out if something in my diet is bothering her. She has always been a big spitter-upper, but lately it seems worse, or maybe it's just grossing me out more! Anyway, from what I've read, dairy is the most common culprit. I'm going to give up all dairy for a few days and see what happens. This is only my second day and it blows! The lack of cheese and ice cream is bad enough, but have you ever tried soy milk? Have you tried it in your morning cup of tea? It is nasty stuff.

As for the hot sauce--last night at dinner, Maggie insisted on trying some of "Daddy's dip," which is a bottle of very hot sauce he bought on our trip, the fumes of which make my eyes water. He poured a few drops on her plate and let her dip some ham into it. She tasted it and froze still. We both feared the worst, but then she said quietly, "Mmm!" She continued to dip her food in the hot sauce, but she asked me to hold her milk cup right next to her head so she could take a refreshing swallow now and then. We were cracking up!

Double stroller means double the calories burned, right?

I borrowed Gina's double stroller and tried it out today with the girls. We went for a walk in the neighborhood, including uphill a few blocks to a local store. Pushing that thing uphill was a workout! And then going downhill on the way back, I had to hang on with a deathgrip as it pulled me along behind. Maggie loved it. She kept saying "whee!" and lifting her arms into the breeze.

Costume

Over the weekend Robert thought up the best Halloween costume for Margaret! She refuses to wear anything costume-y, so we had to think of something that basically just uses regular clothes. Robert came up with the idea and we shopped for some of the accessories. I'll get the rest today at the mall. What is it, you ask? I'll give you a hint. It's based on one of her favorite things to do...but no, it's not related to TV.

All dressed up in Sunday best

Cooking

We're having a nice, cool autumn day here. It's been sort of misty and chilly all day--great autumn weather. I'm celebrating by making my excellent (and easy!) beef stew and an apple crisp for dessert.

New Maggie tricks: She can tell her right from her left with almost 100% accuracy, and she can count to 16! She still tends to leave out four, five and six.

TGIF

I am sincerely grateful that today is Friday and that my mom returns home tomorrow after a three-week vacation. I have missed her babysitting help terribly. Taking care of the girls by myself day after day has been an intense and tiring experience. I know, I know, cry me a river. But unless you also have a toddler and a baby and are subsisting on no more than 5 hours of sleep a night, I don't want to hear about it. If you do have a toddler and a baby and are handling things more gracefully than I, feel free to gloat. :-D

The question of the day is: Why didn't I keep some of the candy-encrusted cookies for myself?! Silly Deborah.

Can I talk about the potty again?

Maggie peed on the potty again! Right before her bath, I stripped her down and encouraged her to sit on the potty. After a moment, she peed! Before I had kids, and heck--even up until recently--I didn't understand how parents could get excited about potty training. I mean seriously...yuck. But tonight when my little girl was peeing on the potty I admit it--I was glowing with pride.

Cookie report

My teeth-aching, coma-inducing, candy-encrusted cookies did great at the competition charity event last night. I believe that more of mine were taken by the boys than any other cookies, except maybe for a batch of peanut butter cookies with chocolate frosting, candy corn and Hershey's Kisses on top. Hershey's kisses! I'll have to remember that for next year.

It was a great event. The boys are in this group home because they have emotional/behavioral problems that prevent them from being in foster care; many (probably most) of them are victims of abuse. There were 12 of us ladies and about 40 boys, aging from 8-18, mostly on the younger end. The staffers were really strict with the boys and wouldn't let them get out of line in the slightest way. We helped the kids do a Halloween craft project (seeing the burly, gangsta 18-year-old guys sticking pipecleaners into pumpkins was quite a sight). I planted myself at a table of younger boys and helped them do the craft. One little guy was really cute and kept asking me for advice and fishing for compliments. Another kid next to me seemed to have a nervous tic and kept jerking his head around. The boys had a lot of fun, and it really was rewarding to help.

Like some cookie with your candy?

Here they are, my batch of kid-pleasing (I hope!) candy encrusted Halloween cookies.

Baking cookies

I'm staying home all day to wait for the dishwasher repairman and bake cookies. Does that sound like the quintessential housewife day, or what? If only the repairman turns out to be a 20-something hottie with dark eyes and a brooding expression, a misunderstood guy in need of some tender care and homemade cookies....(just kidding, dear).

The cookies are for a Junior Circle event tomorrow night. We're putting on a Halloween craft night for the boys at the group home/school we support. Last year there was an abundance of festive homemade treats, and I thought my cupcakes would do well. But they were hardly touched! I noticed that some candy-encrusted cookies were very popular with the boys, so I'm going that route this year.

Here are last year's cupcakes. I'll post the cookies once they're done.

Stormwatch 2005

We've been having a thunderstorm here for the past 24 hours. Last night there was so much thunder, lightning and rain that it kept us awake. Today we even had hail! Very dramatic weather by Southern California standards.

This was the view from my front porch at 2 in the afternoon. Can you see the hailstones on the street and lawn?

Audrey as an only child

Maggie spent the night with Robert's parents, so we got to try out Audrey as an only child for 24 hours. Ah, the relative freedom! We ran errands, went out to dinner and stayed out late (8 p.m., oh so late), dragging Audrey along in her carseat and stroller, as good as could be.

This morning we slept in till 7 a.m., and I have been enjoying a quiet morning of drinking tea, watching West Wing and playing with Audrey. Audrey has been lavished with attention and has rewarded my observation by grabbing toys and putting them in her mouth--another first.

I love this face

These are a few of my favorite things

In response to Dave's comment on my previous post, I will forgo complaining for today and list some of my favorite things about the girls right now:

1. Sometimes when Audrey is nursing, she has a hard time deciding which is better: drinking milk or smiling up at Mommy. So she has a drink, smiles, has a drink, smiles, etc.

2. Most mornings before my shower, the girls and I lie on the bed for a few minutes to cuddle and talk. Maggie likes to "play sleepy." She gets under the covers and pretends to sleep for a few seconds, then pops out and shrieks, "Wake UP! Wake UP! Good morning! What's for breakfast?"

3. The other day, Maggie and I were sitting together watching Audrey roll around on a blanket. Audrey managed to roll from back to front, then front to back--almost a smooth 360! Audrey had a very surprised look on her face, and Maggie burst into laughter.

4. I love how Maggie accepts things at face value. A few weeks ago she was inspecting our toothbrushes: "Mommy toothbrush. Daddy toothbrush. What dis, Mommy?" and held up a flossing contraption of Robert's. I said, "That's Daddy's. He uses it to floss." Maggie nodded knowingly. Now, whenever she sees it, she says "Daddy it to floss!" even though she has no idea what that means.

5. At Casa de Sweets last weekend, Maggie was enchanted by a display of lollipops. I watched with some trepidation while she picked up and put down several lollipops. Finally she turned to me and said, "No mouth." Then she said, "Pretend," and held the lollipop against her cheek while smacking her lips.

Spectacle

I took the girls to the mall this morning. It was a barrel of laughs. To go into the mall, I carried Audrey in the bjorn (forward facing!), the backpack on my back, and held hands with Maggie. People literally stared at us. Were they impressed? Horrified? Did they notice my bleach-stained t-shirt, saggy pants and scruffy hair, or were they distracted by the cuteness of the girls?

We walked all the way to the center of the mall where they have free stroller rentals. I loaded the girls into this enormous double stroller:



They both liked it okay. It was surprisingly easy to push, but I wasn't brave enough to take it into any stores except Gymboree. Wewent to the playground for a while, and then we turned in the stroller and started walking out. By this point, Maggie was tired and silly, so she kept dropping to the floor to lie down and roll around. People were almost literally stepping over her while I was trying to bribe her with stickers to stand up and walk with me. Finally in the car, Maggie fell asleep and Audrey started crying. I had to stop halfway home to nurse her. After that she spent the rest of the drive screaming.

Ah...it just keeps getting better.

McDonalds, candy corn & weight loss

I tried McDonald's "chicken selects" today for the first time. The chicken is decent--it's normal white meat--but the breading is thick and disgusting. I tried peeling it off but it was difficult. I won't be ordering that again. The box was supposed to have a game piece, but this one didn't. I was mad. I did get game pieces on my fries and soda, though. All dupes, and $1 more at Best Buy. I've entered 20 codes so far on the online game, with no results yet.

I just realized that it's officially candy corn season, and I have yet to buy myself a jumbo bag! I'll have to remedy that today.

Those of you who felt sorry for me when people kept thinking I was pregnant will be happy to hear that I've dropped a few more pounds. I'm down to 10 pounds above my pre-pregnancy weight. Yay!

large fries + candy corn = Best Diet Ever!

Big Audrey

Audrey is so much bigger than Margaret was at the same age. Here's an outfit that Maggie wore at 6 months, and Audrey at 3 months:



And it looks like Audrey will grow out of it soon. My big baby!!

Beating the System

I've been studying the Official Rules for the McDonald's Monopoly game. I can send away for a game piece with an SASE, which will cost me two postage stamps ($0.74). The game piece includes a Best Buy Buck for at least $1. So, I'll make a profit of 26 cents on each exchange, with the chance to win additional Bucks and prizes. Obviously, it would be foolish NOT to take advantage of this. I'll be mailing the first batch today.

Supersizing again

I just polished off another McDonald's lunch. Yesterday I tried one of their Premium Chicken Sandwiches for the first time--not bad, although I had to add a slice swiss cheese to improve it. Also, they gave me regular Coke at the drivethrough, so I was pretty mad about that. Today though, I went with the old reliable #2 combo, size large, and they got the Diet Coke right. My Monopoly gameboard is filling in nicely, and I'm up to $12 in Best Buy bucks.

Peeeee!

Disclaimer: My apologies to the non-parents out there, who with the possible exception of Jenny and her well-functioning dog, may not understand why parents insist on talking about their kids' bodily functions.

That said...Maggie peed in the potty for the first time! We've had the potties out since her 2nd birthday in August, and she likes to sit on them with her clothes on once in a while. We keep asking her "Do you want to pee in the potty? Do you want to take your diaper off and sit on the potty?" and generally the answer is no. But last night before her bath, while stark naked and throwing her toys into the tub, she started to pee on the bathroom floor. Robert suggested she sit on the potty instead. She did...and she peed! We were all quite excited. The event necessitated much shrieking (me), hopping (um, me) and clapping (me again). Maggie got two Strawberry Shortcake stickers as rewards.

I'm cool. This proves it.

I just took a test to find out my nerd score. I was even trying to answer nerdily, but I only got a 6% score.

94% scored higher (more nerdy), and
6% scored lower (less nerdy).

What does this mean? Your nerdiness is:

Definitely not nerdy, you are probably cool.

How nerdy are you?

Days Four & Five Photos

View all photos on Shutterfly

Day Five (we're home!)

On Saturday morning we visited Robert's grandmother Corinne in Merced. Maggie was very proud to give G.G. (as she's called by her nine great-grandchildren) some flowers, sing "Twinkle Twinkle" to her and count to ten (leaving out four-six, as usual). After seeing G.G. we went to Robert's cousin Amy's house to spend time with a bunch of cousins and second cousins. Maggie and Audrey got lots of attention from their older second cousins Laura and Rachel (both of whom Maggie called "Rachels" or "One-Two-Rachels") and their 1-year-old second cousin Josie ("Joey").

We headed back on the freeway at 2pm and made it home by 7, with a couple of stops for nursing and collecting more McDonald's Monopoly gamepieces (all those big sodas are paying off...I've won two free Big Macs and $6 Best Buy bucks so far! Million dollar prize, here I come!).

It was such a relief to finally get home. The trip was a lot of fun and I'm glad we did it, but boy was it hard. We've taken Margaret on several trips in the past and they were always fine, but taking two little ones means a lot more work, coordination, whining, crying, diapers and sleepless nights. I think maybe we'll focus on day trips for the forseeable future. Or at least until I forget the hard parts, start mooning over the photos and decide it's time for another adventure!

Day Four

Our fourth day was a slower one, with fewer activities. We took our time getting out in the morning, repacking our stuff (not very neatly) and checking out of the hotel at 10am. Maggie said heartfelt goodbyes to the hotel room, flowers, bear (a big bear carved into a tree on the hotel property), her favorite rocks and the beloved ice machine.

We hit the road (after stopping for big sodas) and drove up to the Gilroy shopping outlets. We had lunch at In n' Out and did a little shopping. I got jeans and a tanktop at Banana Republic and a t-shirt and jeans for Maggie at Gap. There were lots of those little coin-operated cars in front of the shops, and Maggie inspected each one. Robert made the cardinal error of actually putting coins in one of them. Great--now she knows how they work! I was hoping to keep that a secret for years to come. Maggie is starting to learn about money and its importance. In one shop, she pointed out some stickers to Robert. He asked if she wanted some, and she said "No! Maggie no money!"

After shopping, we visited one of my favorite places in the world...Casa de Fruta, home of the most wonderfully touristy kitsch you could hope to find. Maggie was enchanted by Casa de Choo-Choo, the giant tee-pee, the playground and the pumpkin patch. After dinner at Casa de Restaurant we put the girls in their pajamas and headed for our final night at the Ramada Inn in Merced.

Day Three Photos

Day Three

All this vacation-ing sure is tiring. Of course, as my smart friend Gina pointed out before we left, there's no such thing as vacation with two small children in tow. It's true--it's all the same work, only it's in a hotel.

This morning we started the day by driving along the coastline of Pacific Grove. We stopped at a rocky beach and spent a few minutes taking in the view and looking for tiny shells. Then we went to the Dennis the Menace playground, which was founded by the cartoonist. My parents lived in Monterey when I was born and my mom says she used to take my brothers to this same playground. It was great--it has a real steam engine the kids can climb on, a suspension bridge, big slides and other fun stuff.

After that we went to Fisherman's Wharf and ate at a seafood restaurant for lunch. I ordered the one non-fish item on the menu (cheese tortellini) and Robert had some kind of fish. Bleah. But the view was great! After lunch, the girls slept in the car while we took the 17-mile drive and enjoyed more beautiful scenery, although with the fog rolling in it wasn't quite as spectacular as the morning views.

We spent the afternoon at a children's discovery museum. Maggie drew pictures, sat in a fire engine and played with the simple science exhibits. Once we were done with that (and after I'd picked out some fudge and cookies from a treat shop) we decided to come back to the hotel and order Chinese food. We're exhausted! Maggie has been a big help getting ice for us whenever we need cold sodas...like right now!

Day Two Photos

Day Two

Our first night here was a night of very little sleep. Maggie woke up at midnight all upset and confused, and it took a long time to get her settled back down. Audrey woke up repeatedly to nurse, and then Maggie woke up at 6 a.m. even though it was still pitch black and insisted on milk, snack and a Little People video.

Things got better after that--our hotel has a breakfast room where we had bagels, fruit and cereal. We then headed out for Cannery Row and the aquarium. We'd heard all these warnings about the aquarium being extremely crowded with long lines for tickets, but we didn't have much trouble getting in. The aquarium was spectacular! The most impressive site is the 28-feet-high Kelp Forest, which is basically the biggest fish tank you can imagine. You can stand in front of it and watch all the sharks and fish swim around in the towering strands of kelp. There was a kids’ area called the "Splash Zone" where Maggie had a blast. She was able to run around, crawl through a tunnel, look at fish tanks down on her level, and splash her hands in tanks of water. She even sat stone-still for five minutes in front of the penguin enclosure watching them get fed. But her favorite part was a slide in the kids' area. It's always the simple things.

After the aquarium we walked around Cannery Row, which is touristy and kind of lame, but we enjoyed it anyway. Maggie fell asleep in the stroller while we wheeled around and shopped. The weather has been gorgeous—cool and sunny. At one point we camped out on a dock behind some shops so I could nurse Audrey. Robert left in search of a hot sauce store he’d read about, and I sat to nurse Audrey while looking out over the breaking waves, watching sailboats and feeling the cool breeze. Very peaceful.

When Maggie woke up and demanded a snack, we came back to the hotel. We relaxed and Maggie drew pictures on postcards to mail to her best friends and fans. We also discovered Maggie's favorite activity so far...getting ice! She carried the bucket and pressed the button on the machine, and every time the ice fell she giggled. I have a feeling we'll be getting a lot more ice before we're done.

For dinner we ended up going back to Cannery Row and eating at the El Torito. Uninspired food, but we had a window booth with an awesome view.

The second night continued the theme of no-sleep for me. Maggie slept straight through from 8pm – 6am so it wasn’t her fault. Audrey woke up a couple times to nurse. But the worst problem was ROBERT, who woke me out of a sound sleep to ask me about a noise he heard. He made me walk around the room listening to it, and I said I thought it was someone filling up a bathtub. We got back in bed and he of course fell asleep instantly, while it took me an hour to fall back asleep. I wanted to kill him. He then proceeded to snore. I had to kick him repeatedly with no small amount of pleasure.

Vacation: Day One

That was a long drive. Loooong. But we're here at our hotel in Pacific Grove (near Monterey), the girls are asleep, the high-speed internet is working, and we're happy.

Did I mention that the drive was long? We departed at 11 this morning and the girls napped for the first leg of the journey. We stopped for lunch at a fantastic place in Carpeteria called the Beach Grille. It has outdoor seating at picnic tables with an ocean view. Kind of like eating at a nice park, with excellent food and refillable sodas. After that we stopped in Paso Robles at the Walmart of all places, because both girls were crying and that's the first place we saw. Robert took Maggie inside to run up and down the aisles while I nursed Audrey in the car. Our last pitstop was for pizza at Round Table in Soledad. Maggie had garbanzo beans and olives for dinner, and exercised by playing hide and seek in the empty back room.

Toward the end of the drive Maggie got antsy, but overall she did great. I did my best to keep her happy with a steady supply of stickers, books and toys. Audrey mostly slept and only fussed a few times. She's an easy traveler.

We arrived here in the pitch dark so we don't have much of a sense of it yet, but the room is nice enough. It's a two-room suite with a kitchnette, so there's plenty of room for all of us. They had two porta-cribs ready and waiting. We deposited a sleeping Maggie into one and she didn't stir.

Tomorrow we'll do some exploring and take a million photos (I'll try to only share a few).

Packing (and packing and packing)

We're leaving tomorrow morning on a 5-day, 4-night road trip to Monterey and Merced. This is our first family trip since Maggie was a mere 9 months old. I am blown away by how complex and LARGE the packing seems to be. We are taking Robert's parents giant Ford Explorer--thank God, because we are also taking half the house with us.

Hair Apparent

Maggie wore barrettes in her hair for the first time today. Did she "need" them? No. Did she like them? Well, no. I actually had to trick her into leaving them in, but it worked, and I think they looked darned cute.

Audrey rolls!

I normally just post Audrey's developmental updates on her website, but this one had to go here as well. She rolled over for the first time today! Yay Audrey!

Slide, Dolly, slide!

The other day Maggie had a great time putting Dolly and Tula down the slide. She did it all herself while I sat back and watched (and took pictures). She loaded the dolls into the stroller and carseat, wheeled them outside, unloaded them, hefted them onto the fort, climbed up, announced whose turn it was, and gave each dolly a push down the slide.


At one point Dolly got stuck halfway down, so Maggie slid after her and pushed Dolly the rest of the way with her feet. At the bottom, Maggie gave Dolly a cuddle and said "Sorry Dolly" over and over. It was so sweet it almost hurt.