my apologies

to everyone who received an invitation to Allison's 3rd birthday party.

she has just informed me yesterday that she does not want people at her party. if there was a phobia of someone else blowing out your birthday candles, she would qualify. no people at her party! then who may attend, you ask? dogs. only doggies. derby. pinto. duchess. finnegan.

what about oscar?- i asked.

yes! oscar can come. he's a good cat. - her response.

so if allison is aloof, uninterested and antisocial at her party, it's not you. well it kind of is...............................if you're not a dog.

we are siamese if you please

ba dum dum dum - we are siamese if you don't please - da dum dum dum

these kids were born 15 months apart but do everything the same at the exact same time a lot of the time. it's uncanny.

we're back from a ggggggrrrGREAT! vacation at the beach. so many wonderful memories going back. so many new wonderful memories made.

speaks for itself

cream and sugar please

there's something about watching a child enjoy an ice cream cone. pure delight. pure contentment. pure simplicity.

davis bites into his ice cream from the top to the cone. it takes only a few bites for him to give the cone a flat top. then he inserts the entire circular rim in his mouth and sucks. like he is sucking the marrow out of life.

allison is more deliberate. savoring every little bite being especially careful not to drop one little morsel. she also adds commentary between bites. "mmmm.", "ice cream is cold." or "ice cream is good." of course i forgot her usual statement for anything she takes a liking to..."i love ice cream, mommy. do you love ice cream?" (it's not unlike her to insert spiders, tigers, doggies or puppies in the blank either.)

back to the cold stuff. davis finishes his ice cream with sticky hands and a chocolate goatee. allison might have a little freckle of ice cream or chocolate above her lip upon completion. otherwise, no sign of ice cream in sight.

here's a little video from a few weeks ago:

there's a surprise around every corner

or mountain. a few weeks ago we decided to go hike south mountain. little did we know how steep the terrain would be. little did we know ALLISON was going to be the hiking leader all the way to the top. now, let me paint a picture for you. THIS is my child who always wants to be carried. whether it be two feet to the bathroom, ten feet to the sofa or two miles on a walk. was THIS my same child telling us how to climb to over 2000 ft elevation?

davis was more careful on the way up. telling us which rocks and stairs were "tricky" and that "we need to be careful." but, on the way down it was trail-running all the way. well, once we got past those tricky parts and stairs again.

quite the hikers they are. and yes, zach and i learned our lesson. when the kids insist on wearing their insulated hiking boots on a 90 degree summer day for what we originally thought would be a leisurely 2 mile loop in the mountain canopy....go with it and put our boots on too. they were more well-prepared in their boots than our slick, rubbery soled tennis shoes.

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