TRIP HOME

As mentioned, on our way home, we made a stop in Bellaire, Ohio. The girls' maternal grandmother first introduced us to the Toy and Plastic Brick Museum in an article in a magazine. Who would have thought of Bellaire for that? Well, the building may not be much to look at from the outside (it is a former school) but it is very impressive inside. Daddy and the girls loved seeing the Lego displays including some rare displays from Legoland and specially designed displays. While we were there, some volunteers were painting rooms to provide backdrops for some displays and another display was being built. I think the girls saw that you can do many things with Legos whether you are a child or an adult.

BUILDING

Well, it has been awhile since I added anything to the blog, but I think that the past few months could be summed up in one word -- “Building”.

In February, “Bob the Builder” returned to the Children’s Museum and the girls had to go see him, again for AJT04 and for the first time for AJT07. We were able to go see him one weekend and then at the end of March, Mommy and both girls went down to see him and the crew again.









Also in February, the girls built hearts from Duplo Legos for Valentine’s Day. Mommy helped get them started and was the official photographer of the hearts. Then in March, for Daddy’s birthday, the girls built a Lego birthday cake. Fortunately we warned him so there were no surprise dentist bills or anything like that. Another thrill for the girls in March was going to the BrickWorld exhibit/convention; as you can guess, many Legos were involved and the girls were able to have an eyeful of displays ranging from all of the Star Wars Lego sets to a huge diorama with trains, mountains, and houses as well as a cityscape. Needless to say, after all of that, the girls are becoming Lego fans, like Daddy.




While we did not build any Easter eggs or build massive rabbits from Legos, the weather was beautiful for Easter and the girls enjoyed an outdoor Easter egg hunt for a change. AJT07 quickly figured out what to do -- she enjoyed filling her basket so much that she will take her basket and fill it with whatever is available and pretend that it is Easter again. I guess you could say that the "building" theme continued on Easter as the girls are “building” vocabularies and logic skills since they received books, games, and puzzles for Easter.




That is all for now; I will try to update more frequently as the girls continue to “build” vocabularies, skills, and personalities.

Post Christmas “Slowdown”?

Well, after the excitement of Christmas and AJT04’s birthday, one would think that everything would slow down – almost, but not quite.

Since Daddy has shutdown the week after Christmas, the girls became a bit spoiled having Daddy home everyday and as a result, we were kept rather busy. The busiest time was going back to the Children’s Museum and playing in the few inches of snow that we received. The girls loved going back to the Jolly Days area and sliding down the huge slide, “fishing”, “skating”, taking care of the reindeer, and “baking” with such Christmas or winter time favorites as sushi, empanadas, and burritos. We also ventured into the Barbie exhibit and the girls were exposed to the world of Barbie for the first time. Both girls had to try their hands at fashion design…we are still working on that area.





One milestone that we would have rather avoided occurred in January – AJT07 had her first ear infection after some sort of eye infection (which cleared up on its own). So, now every cold will need to be monitored to determine if both girls will be like Daddy and susceptible to ear infections. Unfortunately, the month of January proved to be the month of sickness for all of us – I think though Mommy and Daddy ended up with the worst sinus issues, sore throats, etc., either that or kids are that much more resilient than we “old folks” are.

The girls have enjoyed helping in the kitchen, as evidenced by their creations. The girls helped mix the brownie/cakes, bake them, decorate them, and of course, eat them. AJT07 wants to be in the kitchen so much so that if she hears Mommy doing anything related to cooking or baking, she insists that she needs a chair and that she needs to help me. As you can imagine, sometimes AJT07’s help is not exactly what is needed, but she tries.


Both girls have also shown interest in music – whether it be listening to it as they go to sleep, dancing, or playing instruments (or pretending to play instruments). I guess that is no surprise when you consider the number of years that Daddy spent playing the baritone and the number of years that Mommy spent taking piano lessons.


Well, that is all for now, as you can see we have not experienced much of a slowdown with the girls; somehow, I don’t think that there will be much slowing down for many years to come, but that’s fine with us.

Christmas Adventure

I think that every parent would say that Christmas is an adventure, but this year seemed to be more so. Both girls enjoyed the LEGO Advent Calendar as well as turning on the Christmas tree lights before Christmas as well as visiting the State Museum (and riding a train), the Lights at the Zoo, and the Children’s Museum.




The girls received many wonderful toys and books and are enjoying all of them. AJT04 is proving to have a very steady hand with an Air Juggler set and Jenga game; unfortunately, AJT07 is not that steady yet. However, AJT07 proved that she has not forgotten any of the animal sounds, particularly the monkey sound with a Tumblin’ Monkeys game. The girls are doing their best Bob the Builder imitations by building with the many different LEGO sets they received. Needless to say, they had a wonderful Christmas with family, food, and lots and lots of fun. (Now if only Santa could bring Mommy extra storage for all of the toys…)

5 Years – How Time Flies

Well, AJT04 is now officially five years old and proud of it! Mommy and Daddy (as well as others) are still having a hard time believing that five years have passed, but every minute has been an adventure and would not be traded.

AJT04 is reading and reading some more and is starting to think like an engineer – just the other day she asked why the bridge in “Bob the Builder Built to be Wild” was not made of steel so that it would not fall down. She is also sounding more like a paleontologist reciting different dinosaur names and explaining their respective characteristics. Right now, she is displaying an interest in so many different areas from language to math to science to dancing to history that sometimes we have a hard time keeping up. However, we are enjoying every minute and are looking forward to the next surprise with her.

November 2009

Well the month of November has flown by; thankfully, the Christmas shopping is done, so I do not need to fight the ever-increasing crowds. We had a whirlwind Thanksgiving with Thanksgiving Day spent at Daddy’s parents and then the weekend after Thanksgiving at Mommy’s parents (again AJT07 became involved in very competitive games of Connect 4).

Prior to that, we did go to the Indiana State Museum, where we saw some Native American performances and found all 92 county symbols/art pieces. The girls loved hunting for the art pieces since it was almost like a gigantic seek and find as some symbols were on the building, in the sidewalk, under a bridge, or in a garden.



Even though we celebrated a little early, AJT04 celebrated her 5th Birthday with Mommy’s family over the Thanksgiving week-end. Needless to say, she was thrilled with her cake, which she helped decorate and the doughnuts, which she helped her Grandma make.



While we were staying at Mommy’s parents, we visited some extended family in Woodsfield, Ohio. Probably the biggest thrill for AJT07 (besides seeing many family members and playing with the younger set) was seeing the animals – particularly the pigs and piglets. Upon seeing the piglets, AJT07 promptly started saying “Hi Piggies” to the piglets; needless to say she was enthralled with the piglets and had to return to see them again and again. She also said “hi” to the boar, the donkey, several cattle, and the horses. AJT04 was a bit more reserved; she likes animals to a certain extent but not quite as much as AJT07. Fortunately, AJT07 did not make it into the pen with the piglets, but if we allowed her to climb up in the pen, I’m sure she would have done so.





Once again, time is flying by and the girls are growing up before our very eyes….it is going quickly but we are enjoying it.

October 2009

October flew by quickly again this year – it must be due to having two girls who are keeping us very busy…

Anyway, we started October with a trip to the local orchard to pick apples, and lots of them at that. Both girls decided that they needed to help pull the wagon with the apples (and occasionally a sister) in it.



We also made a trip over to my parents, during the Fairfield County Fair, so we needed the heavier weight jackets, per usual. The girls had a great time playing with some of Mommy’s old toys and visiting relatives (or in the case of AJT07, playing highly competitive games of Connect Four).


The last two Saturdays of October were busy with trick or treating. We first went to the Indianapolis Zoo for Zoo Boo, although the main reason for going was the treats in the Plains area, the girls still enjoyed seeing the animals again. Unlike some other towns, Indianapolis had Trick or Treat night on the October 31st. However prior to the actual Trick or Treating, there was the annual Neighborhood Halloween Parade and Costume Contest. AJT04 did not win anything this year, but AJT07 did – Most Creative in the 0-2 year old category.

AJT04 was a Vaudeville Actress this year – unfortunately, the hat did not stay on all of the time, but she still received treats just the same.
AJT07 was the ever-popular Ohio State cheerleader even though Daddy’s father is a Purdue fan (maybe AJT07 should have been wearing the outfit the weekend of the OSU-Purdue game). I guess that her outfit was more than a little influenced by Mommy.


Since the Halloween events, the biggest challenge has been keeping AJT07 from eating all of her treats. Unfortunately, she has figured out how to open Ziploc bags and how to unwrap candy. Needless to say, her stockpile is now smaller than her sister’s. Oh well, I hope that you had a wonderful Halloween and received many more treats than tricks.