Make Way For Ducklings

On our first full day in Boshum, Tom's mom and dad took us to Boston Common.

Fynnie thinks Gramma Judy is pretty smart.

Our girls are young and relatively inexperienced in the pleasures of the park.  They've been to playgrounds, something that our desert community has in abundance.  But a place like Boston Common?  Not going to be found in the HD.

Boston Common has a merry-go-round.  Madelyn and Dadelyn went around and around.  Daddy gets dizzy and queasy on spinny rides, but making this memory with his daughter was worth it.

Gramma and Grampy have been to Boston Common before, and knew all the best places to go.  Grampy isn't able to walk much, so he parked himself under various trees throughout the day.    Apparently the frog pond we walked next to is often open for splashing.  We're guessing the recent (non-flooding!) storms made it too dirty; no kids or dogs were allowed to splash around that day. 

Fynnie and I did not get the memo about the day's color scheme.

Remember how much Mad loves frogs and ducks?  Despite our attempts to encourage Fynnie's love for elephants, she is all about the fwogs, too.

That play area in the background?  Tadpole Playground, of course.

See a frog, be a frog!  

See a fish, be a fish!

See a turtle... ah, c'mon Mama!

I love this photo for the look in her eyes.  And for the fact that her hair isn't a crazy mess.

If Madelyn could sum up her greatest disappointment about our trip, it's that we only went to Boston Common once.

Did you ever read Make Way for Ducklings?  This is that place.  That is the island.  

Gramma made sure to give the girls their own copy of the book when we returned to the hotel that night.  I attempted to read it over the exhausted screaming, but we only got so far.

"Yes, Mama made me quack like a duck while she took my picture."

"She made Fynnie do it, too, bahaha!"

"I yike to quack like a duck!  Cack cack cack!"

"Somebody, put me out of my misery!"

"I put you out mizzy!  Cack cack cack!"

Madelyn Rocket Frog Turns Four

Madelyn turned four a couple weeks ago. Can you believe it? Four is so much older than three, don't you think?

There were a few similarities between this year's party and last year's. In case you don't remember, we had frog cupcakes then.

We also had them now. (Yeah, I know "had them now"... it is what it is.)

You see frogs, right? (All smiling Muppets... er... frogs were done by Grandma Margaret. As usual, the nonplussed frogs were created by yours truly.

This year's party had a camping theme.  Although my dad's generous offer to bring over their fire pit was tempting, I opted for these insanely delicious s'mores cookie bites. (My version of the recipe calls for dark chocolate instead of sickeningly sweet Hershey's bars. Plus, dark chocolate has antioxidants, so these bites are healthy.)

I got the recipe here, although you can see mine bear little resemblance. The main difference, aside from the chocolate is that my pan was apparently 9 X 9. The extra inch in each direction meant less cookie on top. As far as I'm concerned, this is a serious win.

Our parties are developing quite the reputation for crafts and activities. Nobody pretends like I'm some amazing child party guru. They ask if they can rent out Grandma Margaret to come up with great fun that costs nothing.


Like the pine cone bird feeder. Okay, so you made dozens of these when you were a kid. In my sheltered (ha!) life, I only learned of them when Grandma Margaret recently said, "Hey, I was thinking... "  

Pine cone, peanut butter (just go ahead and accept now that the kids are all going to stick that spreader back into the peanut butter after licking it off... yes, even your beloved Princess Smooshy Face) and birdseed. Use a pipe cleaner to make a hanger and put it on the tree in your yard.  

Ours are buried in the full foliage of one of our plum trees, but they are already needing to be reseeded. The birds are happy.

Hand- and fingerprint trees are a lot of fun. (Bailey's is a weeping willow.) Be sure to tell the kidlets that it's not chocolate, even if it looks like it could be. I've said it before, whoever invented washable inks and paints is my favorite person. In the world.

No campsite is complete without a tree and a roaring fire. (I cannot stress how much better that fire looked in real life. Same for the tree. No matter how schmancy the camera, sometimes it just comes down to operator skill... or lack thereof.)

Madelyn, giving me her latest "Oh, you're taking my photo?" look. Bonus:  A little Fynnie in the lush landscape that is our perpetually awesome backyard.

Last year at this point, Madelyn looked just as excited. And then we gave her ice cream and she passed out. Over the course of the past year we have taught her about breathing exercises to calm herself and that ice cream should be enjoyed slowly with small bites. Although she and I did buy ice cream for the party, it never made it out of the freezer. What?! She didn't even notice.

Not that Madelyn didn't make my heart jump into my throat anyway. Why she threw her head... and hair!... forward while blowing out the candle, I'll never know. But she didn't catch on fire and we did not find any other reasons to seek specialized medical treatment. That, my friends, is a successful party!

Fynnie may or may not have gotten hold of three or four cupcakes. All we know for sure is that we found three of them sitting outside with the frosting and candy faces eaten away.

This, my friends, is Fynnie's thinking face. Ask her a question and this is what she will do. Usually while saying, "Um..."

I'm pretty sure she's planning her next party.  Not to worry, Grandma Margaret is all over it!

Celebrate Good Times, C'mon!

Mad wanted ducks and frogs, chocolate cupcakes and white and a spoon for her birthday party.

I admit these frog cupcakes are rather pitiful.  I found the best frog cupcake toppers, but Tom decided "we" should make these instead.  In the picture we'd found online, the green candy stayed in a smile.  Ours would hardly stay bent at all.  When I tried putting a very bent piece on one cupcake, it dragged the frosting down until the frog looked even more grim than the others.

Corey said these look less like frogs and more like green French people. Vohoho!

Oh, and what they lack in style, these cupcakes made up for in ability to stick to the paper.  I don't say I completely forgot to put oil in the batter.  I say I made fat free chocolate cupcakes.

The same lady who made these perfect ducks was the maker of the frogs Tom said we shouldn't buy, because "we" could make our own.  (Our order was perfect and shipped a lot more quickly than I'd expected.  Not only that, but since we'd purchased the candy for the frogs at an overpriced mall candy shop, the cost savings for doing it ourselves was $3.)

Banana nut muffins cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.  Um, yes please!

I am just so relieved that Tom didn't insist we make duck cupcakes, too.  Oh, I found an adorable ducky cupcake.

But I also found a blog that showed exactly what my ducks would look like, should we attempt such a feat.  I think the fact that the writer calls her sister-in-law's (I believe) effort "mutant rubber ducks" speaks to the horror.  You can check that out here.

When the kids arrived, they hunted for butterflies.  The butterfly nets had one "catch" in it and the kids had to find the matching prey.  Good thing Grandma put the butterflies out and not me.  I envisioned them being spread high and low around a couple of rooms in our house.  She put them all in one tiny little section.  The kids are two, so easy finding and matching is different for them than for me.  Note to self.

This little lovely is still on the wall.

Critter tree.  For looks.  We are using it for Easter, too.  Just as you see here, only without the balloons.  It may also become our Cinco de Mayo tree.  Arribe!

Making caterpillars in our weed-ridden backyard.  Check out those short sleeves.  It was a balmy 53 degrees in the sun.  With wind.  Jackets were brought out shortly after this.

Lots of activities to do, but what's better than digging in cement-like clay?

Each of the kids had a pot and a selection of veggies to choose from.  Samantha and her mother opted for an ambitious looking watermelon plant.  I am not kidding.  That's what she called it (the mother, not the child).  I love Valeria.  She's from the mommy group I was in when Mad was born.  We were the rare group that had nothing in common aside from our babies.  Valeria is from Belarus and a model.  Now she's working on her own clothing line.  I can be counted on to not wear makeup, accessories or, often, shoes and a bra.  Somehow we make it work.

Mad got some great gifts. Apparently people felt like they could help us furnish our barren abode house at the same time as they celebrated Mad's third birthday. She received a puppet theater and a table and chairs.

Safety is important.  We were all happy to read this on the box.

Not as happy to see this on each and every chair.  At least they won't pinch!

And now for the dramatic conclusion...

Right after this was taken, Mad seemed to have a seizure.  Thank god my mother-in-law was there.  Her nursing skills, speed and calm exterior helped us all cope a little better.

Yes, she's seen a doctor.  He said it could've been a seizure or she could have been holding her breath from all the excitement.  Waiting on a neurology referral.  Yes, that's a ridiculous thing to have to wait this long for.