Sleepless Sleepover

The girls had a "sleepover" today. They normally do this with their stuffed animals, but today Guinness was the lucky guest. He let them cover him up with a blanket, but try as they may, they could not get him to put his head on the pillow they laid out for him. Abigail thinks stuffed animals are much more cooperative.

Dirty Dog Wash

We were at the new doggy boutique (just what we needed, right?) getting Guinness cookies the other day and the girls found some mango scented dog bath that we had to get. They have been asking to wash him everyday since then and today was the perfect day for it. The sun was out and the girls were already wet from being in the turtle pool. They did an excellent job washing him and Guinness was very patient with them. He smells just like a tropical fruit. Well, not really, but still better then he did before.

Cause For Celebration!

Sadly, our blender has been broken for a few weeks now. Amelia calls it "the cruncher". Will ordered the new piece for it and it finally came yesterday. Amelia was very excited. She LOVES smoothies. She knows how to make them all by herself. I put the yogurt in and pour them into glasses when they are done, but she does the rest. She brings over her own chair to the counter so she can reach. She goes to the fridge to get the yogurt, and the freezer for the fruit. She gets the straws out for everyone's glass. She loves dropping the fruit in but I think her favorite part is pushing the buttons on the blender. She makes a great smoothie.

This Could Be A Bad Thing

The girls have known for the last few days that Will was going away on a trip for work. Abigail started asking a little bit more questions about it today. She wanted to know how long was he going to be gone, where he going to stay and what was he going to drive. It wasn't until dinner tonight that I figured out why she was asking so many questions. She wanted to make sure he didn't forget anything and she wanted to help him pack. Abigail is very much like me when it comes to organizing and I think she is also a little bit mothering, wanting to take care of Daddy. (We all know he needs a little help). Abigail picked out his ties, got him t-shirts, socks and boxers. She got a bag out for his toothbrush. She reminded him that he needed his dress shoes and asked if he would need his running shoes, in case he had to run from one airport to another. Lastly, she colored him a picture to put in his hotel room to remind him of us.
I'm afraid she might be turning into me, as these are all the things that I normally would have done.

Happy Father's Day

I can spin with my Dad
and swim with my Dad
on weekend afternoons

I can run with my Dad
and have fun with my Dad
then relax and watch cartoons

I can watch the game with my Dad
and learn their names with my Dad
like Apple Crisp* and Papelbon

I can play Hide and Seek with my Dad
and leap to my Dad
He's there to depend upon

I can sing songs with my Dad
all day long with my Dad
Shipping up to Boston and Sweet Caroline

I can give hugs to my Dad

because I love my Dad
and I'm glad that he is mine

love Abigail and Amelia (words by Mom)

* Amelia calls Coco Crisp Apple Crisp

The Accident

We started the day groggy
Then headed to Destin
We took the girls to The Donut Hole
Our goal: To impress them

At first, the rain stopped us
Pushed us to house browsing
But the lightning did clear
Dad's fear gone: The spouse loss thing

We got to Big Kahuna's
"Just cooling off", Abigail slipped in
Mom froze, the girls slid
Amelia's fall: Made my head spin

She slipped behind the slide
Smacked her face and split her lip
Good thing for Baskin Robbins
A little ice cream: It fixed it

Almost home and she slept soundly
A tough day was nearly done
But don't worry, she will heal
In the end: Still our crazy one

The story sans poetic license and a few liberal rhymes -

We went to Destin for lunch and Big Kahuna's, but got sidetracked by a thunderstorm. So we looked at a bunch of houses in Destin for the eight millionth time. The punchline in the second stanza is Dad being scared of Mom getting hit by lightning. By the way, Gina was not hit by lightning. I'm not sure what caused what's wrong with her.

Abigail dipped her toe in a couple of kiddie pools on the way to our normal spot, but she misjudged the depth of one of them and slipped into the pool, over her head. When we fished her out, she calmly replied that she was "just cooling off" and waved it off cooly. I have a sixteen year old four year old. (I imagine that one day I might write that I have a four year old sixteen year old.)

They played and played from there until the accident. Amelia slipped and busted her lip pretty bad. You can see in the fist picture her puffy lip. She obviously wasn't in the mood for pictures. A little bit of ice cream did the trick and she was soon back to normal, after a quick nap that is.

"The Nice Blogging About Vegetables" by Abigail

The Amelia tomatoes are turning yellow. They are really funny tomatoes and they are getting big. We have a thousand of them. The eggplant is growing big and the cucumber, the zucchini are almost ready to eat. Daddy and Amelia and me are really exciting, mommy too. Our bell peppers are getting too much sun and they are turning red and have lots of seeds. A thousand of seeds too. We like our vegetables a lot and I like our vegetable garden. I like doing gardens.

What Goes Around, Comes Around

We've been at the beach in Destin for the last two days with Jane and three of the boys. The girls look forward to seeing them as much as I do now. I got to sit back on the beach and chat with Jane while the boys swam in the ocean (and pool), dug holes in the sand and searched for seashells with the girls. It's neat to see the kids I watched, watch my kids.

Butterfly House, Ditched

I got the girls dressed today to go to the Butterfly House. Once they figured out it was just going to be us girls, meaning no Daddy, they refused to go. We went to the grocery store instead, albeit grumpily, looking awfully cute in outfits from Tam.

He Looks Good in Beads

While going through the stash of necklaces from the parade, Amelia found one that had dog bones on it. She emphatically declared Guinness had to wear it. I think because he sat so still for the first one, she figured she'd load him up with as many necklaces as she could.

Pirate's Booty

The girls thoroughly enjoyed the Pirate Parade tonight. They loaded up on a LOT of treasure (read:junk). Abigail was pretty excited that she got golden coins because "they make you rich and give you good luck." They discussed on the car ride home that their best find was all the candy and that their favorite time of year was whenever there was a parade.

Even Movie Stars Gotta Eat

Is This Behavior Genetic?

And if so, how long do I have before the girls are doing backflips off Papa's boat?

We Just Laugh

Abigail: Knock, Knock.
Amelia: silence
Abigail: You have to say who's there.
Amelia: Who's there?
Abigail: Banana.
Amelia: silence
Abigail: You have to say banana who.
Amelia: Banana who?
Abigail: Banana walked down to the candy store to buy jalapenos.

I Think She Reads the Dictionary in Bed

Conversation about cornbread all over the floor.

Mom: This floor is a mess.
Abigail: Indeed!

Beading It

Conversation about Abigail wanting to put a very LARGE bunny on the bed in the middle of lots of very SMALL beads.

Mom: You don't need that bunny on the bed right now.
Abigail: I really need to measure Big Bunny's wrist.
Mom: Um, why?
Abigail: She's my new bunny I got at the option (auction) and she doesn't have any accessories.

Right. I completely understand now.

Wild Thing, I Think I Love You

Amelia is wild, carefree and full of life. She constantly makes me laugh. She is messy, dramatic, aloof, mischieveous and just plain CUTE. She doesn't care if there's food all over her face. Wet undies...no big thing. If I let her, she'd be naked all the time. She can throw her body to the floor like a rag doll, jump with reckless abondon across a bed or couch, sigh so heavily you can hear her across the room and can walk around with her shoulders so slumped in utter defeat it's pathetic. Her sense of humor is very DiMauro. Her heart is warm. She is loyal and kind. I wouldn't change a single thing about her. Amelia, you are loved!

The Centerpiece

For the main course this evening, Mom served an organic chicken chili, coupled with corn chips al dente, and green-chili cornbread a la carte. Amelia and I picked out this splendid centerpiece at Publix to mark the occasion. You know, Mom cooking dinner.

We appreciated her sophisticated take on using the local, organic onions along with a single Heirloom tomato added to the usual mix of stewed tomatoes. It was quite exquisite. How good is that! While dinner was amazing, mostly in the fact Mom actually cooked it, the ambiance added so much to the experience. Amelia and I understand, when she isn't stuffing her face, the power of the perfectly chosen centerpiece.

Just kidding Mom, we love you!! -Abigail and Amelia (Words by Will)

Sweet Tooth

One of the many things I love about Abigail is how thoughtful she can be. Every night when she gets done brushing her teeth she sneaks into my bathroom and puts the toothpaste on Will's and my toothbrush. Sometimes I don't even know she does it and I'll find it hours later. It makes me smile every time. It's simple things like this that make me so proud of her.

Fly Catcher

This is the girls "contraption" (that's what they called it) for catching a fly in the house. They set this up all on their own. I didn't even offer them nickels for the wings and legs.