Independence Day Eve

Picnic snack was, more than anything else, a ploy to stave off a meltdown wrought by very keenly felt anticipation of Marco and his handlers arrival for hamburger dinner. We decided to eat out back. Joe was so excited he spent some time at the table well in advance of Marco's arrival. Somehow, we managed to fill the minutes until he arrived. Then, more fun was had in the whale pool (naturally!), as well as the sandbox. Clara scooted right in with the boys. Marco has brought sparklers with him and so after dinner, and after Birdie had been bathed and put down, the boys were each given a lit sparkler. Joe, as you know, is a cautious creature and asked if he could blow it out after it was about half spent. He may also have briefly touched the tip that had been lit as he tried to avoid the rapidly approaching sparks. No tears though as we managed to get the right directive out in time! "Hold it up high!" The road to independence! Both sparkling and fraught. . .

Happy Fourth of July, Dear Readers!

Picnic Snack

Joe has, of late, sort of been into picnics. In fact, the night Julie was in Washington, DC for work a few weeks back, Ted poked his head into the bambini's room after they'd been put to bed, and discovered Joe on the floor, with a blanket spread before him and a number of stuffed animal friends lined up in along the dresser.* When Ted asked "Jospeh Trump" just what he was doing, Joseph Trump informed Ted that he was having a picnic. So in the post-nap-pre-dinner hours yesterday, we had our snack outside, picnic style. We had raisins (you sort of forget how tasty a raisin can be, Fans) and water (Ted had fancy pants water--La Croix). And it's true, Birdie was sporting a new bonnet in honor of the occasion.

*We've been meaning and meaning to report this hilariously charming incident to you, Fans.

THE WHALE POOL!

Fans, it's awesome. Awesome! As with the beach balls, Julie is perhaps as excited about the whale pool as Joe and Clara. We have had perfect pool weather this holiday weekend, so Saturday morning, while Julie and Joe did the Target run, Ted blew it up while Birdie napped. After Julie and Joe were back home, it wasn't long before Joe discovered it ("There's a whale in the grass!"). Naturally, he stripped right down to his underwear, and eventually, to nothing. Once Clara was up from her nap, she was taken out in her diaper. They were right back out there after they were up from their nap. We turned on the fountain (which can, if the water is turned on even half way, shoot up as high as the apple tree reaches), watering cans were hauled out, Wally the Walrus was chewed on, water was splashed.

Both Joe and Clara were briefly dipped in the water. Joe isn't much for being wet--once he realizes he's wet--especially when he's in clothes, even if they are clothes that are meant to be wet. He has, it must be said, a rather rapturous love affair going with his towel (which is really a glorified blanket to him). We think Clara would have happily stayed in the water, but when she was dipped, the water level in the whale was just a little too high for her to be really comfortable (it gets higher as the spout is going). The side of the whale is also just a little too high for her to throw her leg over, but oh yes, Birdie Brigade, Our Birdie did try (and try, and try). As we have reported, she gets right after things!

Beach Ball Fun

As we've mentioned, we've had two scorchers in a row. But after such a wet and chilly spring, it's sort of fabulous. It is July after all. The hot weather put Julie in the mood to buy a whale shaped pool she stumbled across online*, and some beach balls with sea creatures inside. They arrived, and were blown up during dinnertime yesterday. Really, is there a better time to engage in such a distracting activity? Julie was perhaps a little too excited about these beach balls. But they are also fabulous, and the bambini had a ball (if you will!) playing with them after they ate. Joe has been more adventurous in his physical exploits of late, so he was trying to stand on the ball and, failing that, sit on it. He has also, of late, begun more and more to anoint certain items as his, and to pay more attention to gender. So he has declared the blue shark ball his, and the pink seahorse ball Clara's. Luckily, Clara got the memo. At least, last night.

*Look for it in future posts. It is AWESOME! In pictures anyway, and hopefully in real life.

In the Driver's Seat

Joe's new thing is to sit "in the driver's seat." Metaphorically speaking, he's been there for a long time, so maybe he figures why not get a taste of the real thing? He usually issues his first announcement on the way to school: "I sit in the driver's seat later." It's not exactly posed as a question, Fans. His driver's seat reservation is confirmed on the way home. The past two nights it has been way too hot (in excess of 95 degrees!) to hang out in the car, even with the doors open, but earlier this week, Joe hung out in the driver's seat for a bit after we arrived home. By far his favorite thing to do is punch the hazard lights button. Our neighbor Heidi, who has identical twin girls who are a little older than Joe, was walking home from the bus and stopped by the car to say that from all the way down the block, she knew exactly what was going on (i.e. just who was in the driver's seat). Joe also discovered the delights of the visor, and Julie revealed the mirror. Yesterday morning, he asked Ted to put the visor down, but Ted isn't such a fan of driving with it down as it blocks his view and so he told Joe it was dangerous. Joe quite seriously replied, "It's Mommy only." He has quite firmly fixed in his mind that the gear shift is "Mommy-Daddy only." Julie's anxiety sometimes, admittedly, reaches ridiculous levels, and so it was that the night these pictures were taken found her trying to explain to Joe that he could not be in the car with the door closed without Mommy or Daddy because the car could get way, way too hot. When queried why he could not close the door without Mommy or Daddy with him, Joe replied, "The sun hurts my eyes." Right.