A Reminder

Last night was a very rough night with Julia -- I am running on only a few hours sleep right now. So, the purpose of this post is to remind me of why I'll keep her.

This first photo is of her fully decked out and ready for a night on the town. She's donned her tinkerbell dress (a bit oversized, but that's stylish), a sun hat, a mismatched pair of shoes, and, of course, a mirror for touch ups. And just so you know, this get-up was chosen by her - we had no influence, eventhough it looks like something I might concoct in my ignorance. But on her it's just plain cute.

This last photo is of her wearing her beloved bucket as a hat. She loves to wear this thing and it makes her look like a capuchin monkey. Annie and I even have her clap her hands together like she's holding a pair of cymbals. Sure enough, she transforms into the spitting image of monkey on a leash tied to an organ-grinder.

OK, I think I'll keep her. For now. But a few more nights like last night, and ...

Quiet Time

Though the twins just turned four, they still enjoy the occassional nap (don't we all). We've found, though, that if we change the name 'nap time' into 'quiet time' they are much more likely to comply and lay down.

Here is Genna after several hours of 'quiet time' - which evidently involved reading every Curious George book ever written and snuggling with a pair of beanie baby cats. I think we need to further train her on the proper usage of pillows. She seems to prefer to lie on them with her whole body rather than just with her head. We have so much to teach them that pillow-use has been relegated to second-tier priority status. That's our fault.

Jelly Monster and Mystery Kid

Our fun at the Jelly Belly Factory continued, though Julia persisted in not participating (she passed on all future photo-ops).

Here is Annie with the twins. I'm not sure if she is aware of the Jelly Monster looming behind her, but they're all smiling, and that's what's important.

Genna is certainly enjoying her shop-lifted official Jelly Belly ball. She must get that behavior from her uncle Ian.

This final picture is a real mystery to me. For the life of me, I can't figure out who this blond kid is. She just shows up and inserts herself into our family photos everywhere we turn. I'm going to have to do something about this.

There was no third picture, because that is when the Jelly Monster attacked. It wasn't pretty. He had the benefit of surprise, but my daughters and the blond girl ended up devouring him. I want to keep this blog child-friendly, so I turned the camera off.

Jaunty Jelly Beans

If Disneyland is the happiest place on earth, then the Jelly Belly factory is almost the happiest place on earth. Here's the whole clan kneeling and posing for a picture while waiting for the tour to start. I say almost happiest because all of us are smiling, save for the scowling Julia. I don't think she appreciated the close proximity of so many tons of delicious jelly beans, but much is lost on sub-two-year-olds. She further defied us by refusing to wear her hat.

To compensate for Julia's lack of enthusiasm, I elected to wear my hat at a jaunty angle. That got a few looks from some of my fellow tour-goers, but I think in the end I was everyone's favorite.

Superheroines

...no real story here...just a photo of girls running with their lollypop rings...

Or rather, their Rings of Power. Wait, I see superhero status emerging here. Are they off to fight crime? Do they have some fellow toddlers in distress to rescue? Are they out to vanquish the Unwanted Veggies cartel?

What dazzling display of might and wonder would light up the sky if they were to slam their Rings of Power together? Would they fuse into Uber Twin? Would a shower of rainbow-colored treats rain down upon the starving masses?

I've spent way too much time inside my kids' heads. I need adult time. Help me.

Suckin' on lollypop rings

Here are the twins in the backyard enjoying their lolly-pop rings. Just a few notes here:

1) What's with Kate's expression? Is it the sour apple flavor? Is a snake crawling up her Belle jacket?
2) Genna seems to be enjoying hers just fine, but I don't think that cloth gloves and sucker go very well together.
3) Again, who is that blond girl sitting next to the twins? Why is she wearing one of my girl's jacket? And where did she get the sucker from? Did she steal it from Julia?

Get Used to the Look

This is what Kate's hair looked like the day after Annie frizzi-fied it. Still kind of curly, so there was some lingering effect from all the work of binding her hair for an hour.

I made the mistake of bringing the camera with me to the park - I transformed from 'playful dad' into 'annoying dad with camera'.

This first shot of Kate is candid. I just thought she was cute as she ambled across the wood chips. The second picture is of her terse reaction to seeing me photograph her. That is a look I'm going to have to get used to.

Hairstyles

A few months ago Jen gave Annie the idea of funktifying the twins' hair. And the girls, for their part, were up to the challenge. They sat through the lengthy process of having their hair wrapped and bound in twisties, preparatory to the 12-hours of sleep need to make their hair as funky as possible. You can see in the photos below that Kate was excited, while Genna was already feeling sassy.


















And here is the final product.
















I have a couple of observations: 1) it is amazing how much a change in hairstyle changes ones appearance, 2) it is amazing at how much little girls enjoy such changes in hairstyle, 3) it is amazing how much time went into a new hairstyle that lasted only a few hours.