Getting Into The Swing Of Things

1 year, 23 weeks.

It is currently one of the worst seasons of the year, and I'm not talking about weather.  I'm talking about when us Floridians suffer through a period of suffocating infestation of black insects.  They are everywhere, but where you see them mostly are on your windshield. 

Is anyone else offended by this?



Love bugs. 

Those tiny yet terrifically annoying insects that come out of hiding just to mate and reproduce, then dying immediately afterwards and littering patios and driveways.  You see them mostly in pairs, in the coital position, with the male trying to carry both his and her weight during flight.  It is in this disturbingly public display of reproduction that the male often makes a critical mistake:  flying in ecstasy with the girl bug of his dreams and fails to see the oncoming car barreling down the highway.  Suicidal love making.  C'est La Vie.



So what's going on with us.  Let's see.

Last Friday evening we were invited to attend dinner with the Clarke's to celebrate Marlissa's birthday.  The restaurant of choice was Maggiano's Little Italy, an establishment that pays homage to classic family style meals, without the obnoxious and sometimes overwhelming decor of Buca di Beppo.  Try the fried zucchini, always a hit!  As luck would have it, reservations were made for 6:30 pm, bordering the twins' bed time.  This was going to be interesting.  As expected, Maddy and Kohl started getting restless just as our order was being taken, and refused to sit in their high chairs, which resulted in Tangie and I having one each sit on our laps during the entire course of the meal.  It didn't help our conversations with the other adults, for sure.  But then again, it's probably because we rarely eat out at nice places such as this.  And for good reason.  Afterwards we changed them into bed gear before heading home, knowing they would surely fall asleep and it would save us the hassle then.  Good call.

Matching pair, Brae helps push the stroller out the parking garage at Pointe Orlando.

The calm before the storm.

Even Braelyn was a bit restless and fidgety.

Isabella behaved so well at dinnertime!

The 3 all zonked out.

Sabbath brought us to church for Sabbath school.  We were able to catch up with friends and swap stories from our week.  A quick lunch of leftovers at home was quickly followed by naps for Mommy and the children.  We wanted the twins to stay around the same time frame for naps as to not deviate from the rest of the week.  I, on the other hand, did some prep work in the kitchen, as we hosted (surprise!) the Grodacks over for dinner.  As we were in Avon Park the weekend prior we hadn't seen them in almost 2 weeks and were getting Grodack withdrawals!  Duncan and I had been talking in church that morning and the topic went from kids to food to sushi, so we decided to have them come over for "roll-your-own" sushi night.  Corey had never had sushi, as she had always thought sushi encompassed raw fish, which in its essence, yes.  But there's also vegetable and fruit rolls available, to her surprise and delight, which can be substituted for the raw stuff.  Looks like we have another sushi convert!  Duncan and I probably ate 4 or 5 rolls each.  And why not, when you can eat $100 worth for about $15.

Maddy and Kohl deciding if they should or shouldn't hop in the inflatable pool at Sabbath school.

Baby Brady.  So serious.

Mommy holds the twins during story time.

Everyone happy? 

He wanted to walk in Daddy's shoes.

Applesauce makes a great snack after naps!

Mommy becomes the indoor playground!

The Grodacks are here!  Let the fun begin!

I think my roll was bigger than his...hmmm....

The twins were infatuated by Brady, or was it the toys on his bouncer...

Braelyn is one of the few 4 year olds I know with such a sophisticated palate! 

Has anyone seen my toy?

Grodacks change kids into their pj's. 

Originally we had planned to go to Green Meadows Petting Farm in Kissimmee early Sunday morning with the Grodacks, Bergherms, and part of the Zbarschuks for a picnic and family play, but that idea was fumbled late Saturday night.  Instead I went over to help Karis paint the garage floor of his mother-in-law's new house and then came back home to mow our lawn.  Tangie had the morning to re-bond with the kids as they had been with me all week last week, and had taken them shopping to Target and Babies R Us.  I had barely finished mowing the lawn when a huge deluge of rain came on top of us, forcing me to finish trimming and edging utterly soaked.  But we needed it.  We always need rain.  It rained for the better part of the afternoon, subsiding around a little after 4, just in time for the kids to become restless indoors.  So we took a quick trip to Lowe's to look for a replacement vine for the pergola.

Kohl and Braelyn test out some new driving mowers for Daddy.  Please?

As I was mowing the lawn around the pergola I noticed one of the wisteria vines I had purchased when the twins were born had died.  I was bummed.  My plan was to have the plants grow up and over the pergola and shade it with their leaves and hanging flowers.  And I had purchased 2, to commemorate the twins arrival, fittingly naming them Madelyn and Kohlden.  So it was such a loss to lose one of the "twin" wisteria's this week, as I had been tending to them for over a year and a half now.  So on our visit to Lowe's they told me about the Confederate Jasmine, which is a really fast growing vine with tiny white and wonderfully fragrant flowers.  They didn't have any in stock at the time but referred me to a plant nursery down the road, which I visited with the twins on Tuesday and ended up buying a beautiful one with vines already reaching about 8 feet tall.  It was planted later that evening and manipulated to climb up the pergola post, so we'll have to see.  I also added a Muscadine grape vine to another post where a small Bougainvillea had died.  It'll be cool if that goes up as well and produces some fruit! 

Brotherly love.  I looked down and had to take this picture at the Home Depot.

Same thing the following day at Lowe's.  I hope they continue to be close siblings!

"Please Daddy, make up your mind and just pick a plant!  It's getting way too hot out here!"



Remember this billboard?...



Apparently someone got offended and called to have the verbage changed!



After our trip to Lowe's we swung by our local playground near the West Orange Trail for the kids to release some energy.  It was so muggy after the rain and the humidity just saturated our clothing, but that didn't deter the smiles and shrieks of laughter coming from the three.  Nor did they want to leave in the end, especially the twins.  They were still in the mood to run around and explore!  Later that evening, and into this week, Tangie and I worked on putting together the kids' old and outgrown clothes for a consignment shopping event coming up this weekend.  Seriously, it was like working for BabyGAP or Gymboree with all the little clothes and tags and bar codes!  It was a nice walk down memory lane remembering the outfits and how old when or where the children wore them. 

They loved the double slide.

All 3 were constantly on the move.

Enjoying the swings.

Kohlden flying high.

Mommy keeps a close eye on a very adventurous Madelyn.

"What do you mean, this isn't the way up?"

Braelyn enjoyed doting on her siblings.

Evening Skype session with the grandparents in Denver.

Hi Papa!  We can see you!

Girls bonding and putting on nail polish.



Braelyn getting pampered.

Tangie at work reorganizing baby stuff we've accummulated over the years.

We can open our own store!

Products ready to be sold.

On Wednesday I picked Jared and his daughter Isabella for our weekly trip to story time at the Winter Garden Library.  I had enlisted him as support for the lack of fatherly presence there, as noted last week.  We were surprised to see another dad there, and I'm sure he was relieved to see us as well.  It also helps that you be early and claim your space on the floor before the program begins, rather than in the middle and have all the moms stare at you.  But that never bothered me.  So we'll try and make this a weekly tradition as well, if not to just hang out with a friend and fellow parent.  Later that evening I took Braelyn to her first Adventurer's meeting which was part meet & greet, part orientation.  She got a little tired in the end, after a long day at school, and just wanted to sit in my lap.  Hopefully she'll get into the projects and honors we'll be having as the year progresses.  And yes, we're very excited planning an upcoming weekend camping trip next month where we will share lodgings with friends and their families. 

Jared and Isabella.

Getting ready for story time.

A chance to walk around and stretch those legs!

Braelyn stands in line with the Little Lambs in the Adventurer's Club.

The moms wait while the older kids attend the program.

She was ready to go, can you tell?

The twins and I are getting used to the daily routine.  I am starting to become seemingly comfortable managing both, and then all 3 when we pick Braelyn up, both at home and in public.  I'm still limiting myself to just an hour, maybe 2, at a time out of the house, but then again, most trips are local and convenient anyways.  I am constantly laughing at how these two interact with me and with each other, and am eating up every moment.  I'm also trying to let them figure out their issues and quarrels with each other, only interceding when they can't seem to resolve who had what first, or when one starts hitting the other.  There was this one incident in the kitchen when Maddy and Kohl started fighting for the same book, which Kohlden had first.  So I took the book from both and handed it back to Kohl, explaining to Maddy that he had had it first.  Of course that drew a fit from the princess, so I extended her some puff snacks as a peace offering.  Well she took the snack, found Kohl, who had wandered into the living room, and waved the snack in his face like she was saying "Look what I got!"  Kohl immediately got up and went to the kitchen so he too could get a puff snack, leaving the book to a very smug and triumphant Madelyn.  Smart girl.

Getting his morning exercise on the ladder.

These two are fearless.

Maddy ready to slide.

Breakfast on the patio.

What is it about Daddy's shoes....

The twins get too loud for Braelyn on the ride home from school.

A classic "Maddy gets frustrated by Kohlden's foot on her chair" moment.

And of course the innocent, "What?  What did I do?" pose.

Maddy has some popcorn for her afternoon snack.  The twins loved the popcorn.

Gotta have her accessories!

Nice peaceful dock to enjoy the lake breeze.

Lil' Miss Fashionista.

"So...what is this I'm supposed to be looking at?"

Who knew a box could be so much fun?

The only time the house is quiet is when all 3 have food in their mouths.

A couple of the dishes prepared for dinners this week:

Teriyaki chicken meatballs on basmati rice with mango cucumber salsa.

Pan fried butter salmon on fish infused risotto.

Mac 'n cheese.

This week's conversations:

• Braelyn was doing her business in the potty, and I was checking up on her to make sure she wiped and completely cleaned herself, when she asked me something that caught me completely off guard:

          Brae:  "Daddy, why do mommies and daddies have hair on their bottoms?"

          Quick!  Think fast!  Come up with a good enough answer!

          Me:  "Um...why don't you ask Mommy when she gets home."  [Whew!]  Crisis averted!

          And she did ask later on that evening...at the restaurant.  I could tell this by the look on
          Tangie's face when she nearly choked on her food.

• Again, on our ride home from school, we take turns listening to our favorite songs so as to not hog all the music choices.  When it was my turn, I switched it to the Spa channel on the satellite radio to kind of calm things down a little and listen to some soft, quiet music.  I was hoping for a moment of reflection, if but for a few minutes.

          Brae:  "Daddy, I don't like this song!"
          Me:  "I like it!  And isn't it my turn to choose the music?"
          Brae:  "But I don't like this music.  It's too sad."
          Me:  (laughing)  "Too sad?  How is it too sad?"
          Brae:  (whiny)  "It's too slow.  [pause]  And it doesn't have any words."

          Figures.

• We were getting ready to go outside to see the new plants I had just put in pots by the front door.  It was almost time for bed and it was dark outside, so we got out some flashlights for good measure.  Almost immediately she turned hers on and shined the light on my face.  I flinched.

          Me:  "Braelyn, please don't do that!  It's not nice to shine the flashlight on people's
                   faces."
          Brae:  "Why?"  (You were expecting this, right?)
          Me:  "Because it hurts my eyes when you shine it on my face." 

          To prove my point I quickly pass my flashlight over her face.

          Brae:  "It doesn't hurt my eyes.  I have beautiful eyes, and beautiful eyes don't hurt."

          Such a diva.

Some day we'll find it:  The rainbow connection.  The lovers, the dreamers, and me...

Have a great weekend!