Happy Birthday Papa!

Ellie must get her love of cheese from Papa. He loves all kinds of cheese. He even loves sticky cheese. So, for Papa’s birthday, we picked out a mound of cheese at Costco. Papa was so excited about his birthday present that he opened it up immediately and the girls were excited to share Papa’s cheese.

The girls looked so angelic after their baths that we had to take a picture.

Christmas at Longwood Gardens

Once we arrived in Wilmington, our weekend adventure was not over. We ate pizza at Grotto’s and then drove to Longwood Gardens to see the Christmas display. Longwood Garden has acres of trees wrapped in LED lights. They also have a beautiful water show with lights and music. But, the highlight of the trip was the huge Conservatory filled with thousands of flowers and beautifully decorated trees. I have never seen such a beautiful Christmas scene. We were so taken with the beauty that we bought a season pass so we could enjoy the garden throughout the year. We would like to plan another trip back to Longwood Gardens later this month to see the lights… that’s how spectacular the display was.

Thanksgiving in New York 2009

WARNING: TMI... If you become bored or fall asleep reading this post or watching the slideshow, I completely understand. Sorry!

“We love ‘New’ork!’” We went to New York City with the entire O’Dell clan for the Thanksgiving weekend. The O’Dells took a trip to New York City for Thanksgiving in 2005. Chris and I had tickets and planned to go but since I was on pregnancy bed rest (a huge beached whale on the sofa), we had to miss the trip. This year, we were excited to experience the city on Thanksgiving… and even more thrilled to share the experience with Gracie, Ellie and Sarah.

We decided to take the train from Wilmington, DE, to NYC because we thought it would be a fun experience for the girls. In reality, the train ride was a lot of extra stress for Chris and I. Thank goodness Chris’ parents were on the same train because I am not sure how we would have handled the girls and our luggage on the very crowded train to NYC. Although we had booked reserved seats, there were not two seats together, so Chris, myself and Nana had to sit with a girl on our lap in different cars until we got to Philly. When the train arrived in Philly, enough people got off the train so we could sit near each other. I sat with Gracie during the train ride. She had a ball riding the train and looking out the window. The only problem she had was seeing the junkyards and trash along the train tracks. She told me about a dozen times, “Someone needs to clean up that mess.”

Once we arrived in NYC, we took a taxi to our hotel. We stayed at the Renaissance in Times Square. What a great hotel at a great location. The girls were so excited to be staying in a hotel. Since it was a beautiful, warm day, instead of staying in the hotel room, we decided to get out and about. We went to Macy’s to check out the Christmas window display. It was incredible. This year’s theme was Miracle on 34^th Street, very appropriate. We then ate lunch at one of the Macy’s restaurants. After lunch, we decided to check out Santaland. Santaland is the waiting area and displays before visiting Santa. It was incredible. Santa officially arrives at Macy’s on November 27^th, after the parade. However, we were fortunate that they were open for a practice round. The girls were able to see Santa without any line. We saw several of Macy’s managers checking out the area too. Santa spent a lot of time talking to the girls. The girls each told Santa what they wanted for Christmas. Thankfully for Chris and I, their requests have not changed. Sarah wants a Snow White broom that plays “Whistle While you Work.” Ellie wants another Ariel baby. And, Gracie wants a big bear. Santa asked the girls if they would do a big favor for him. He asked them to put chocolate chip cookies and warm milk out for him. The girls nodded with big eyes fixated on him and promised they would. We then did a little shopping in the Christmas area. The girls walking by beautiful trees filled with glass ornaments made me a little nervous. Of course, the girls were drawn to the beautiful, fragile ornaments… but thankfully, nothing was broken.

After a big afternoon checking out Macy’s, we went to the Times Square Toys R Us. The first thing we did was ride the huge ferris wheel. Ellie and Gracie rode with Chris and I in the Monopoly car while Sarah rode with Nana and Grandaddy in the Scooby Doo car. After riding the ferris wheel, we checked out the life-size Barbie house, a huge moving dinosaur, the New York skyline made out of Legos, the Candyland candy area and we even met Spiderman. Since it was late, we walked through Time Square back to our hotel. Sarah was so excited to see the bright lights that she yelled over and over, “I love New’ork!” We got a lot of stares, but Sarah was having a great time.

On Wednesday morning, we got up early, ate breakfast and took the subway to Battery Park to catch the ferry to see the Statute of Liberty. We told the girls we were going to visit the Statute of Liberty and Sarah said, “We already saw the Statute of Liberty outside of our hotel.” She was right. We did see a person dressed up like the Statute of Liberty posing for pictures. So, we explained that was not the real Statute of Liberty because the real one was bigger than our house. Her eyes got big and she was speechless… a rare occurrence for Sarah. It was a cold windy day, so the ferry ride was a little rough, but the girls loved it. Once we arrived to Liberty Island, we walked around the perimeter of the island and stopped for a couple of photo opportunities. At one of the souvenir stands by the subway, we bought foam crowns for the girls for the perfect picture. Once we had the girls set up, we started taking pictures. Before long, we had an audience behind us also taking pictures. Seeing the Statute of Liberty obviously made an impression on the girls. Every time they saw the Statute of Liberty, and she is everywhere in New York City (on buses, magazines, shirts, figurines, etc.), they pointed and shouted at the top of their voice, “Look! I see the Statute of Liberty. We saw that!”

After another subway ride back to the hotel, we ate lunch and rested in the room. The girls then dressed their babies, put them in their backpacks and we were off to our next special activity, tea at American Girl. We arrived early and shopped. The girls each picked out a special pet for their babies. Gracie and Sarah picked out a light yellow puppy named Honey and Ellie picked out a calico kitty named Ginger. Nana and Grandaddy also picked up a couple of outfits for three special girls for Christmas and birthday. It was then teatime! The waiter hooked small chairs to the table and set up special plates and cups for the girls and their dolls, Chris and I, and Nana and Grandaddy. The atmosphere was festive and the food was great. We enjoyed tasty cinnamon rolls, finger sandwiches, cute cookies, breads and scones, chocolate mousse in a mini flowerpot with a daisy in it, pink lemonade and ice tea. The girls had a great time feeding their babies at teatime. Chris was a little uncomfortable in the pink flowered tearoom when he glanced around the room and counted only a handful of other men in the room, but he was a trooper.

Chris and I started Thursday off with an attempt to get breakfast for the family across the street at McDonald’s. However, once we exited the hotel and tried to walk 100 feet, we realized it was impossible due to the tremendous crowds and the police’s crowd control barriers. So, we went back to the hotel and waited for the famous, Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. It was awesome seeing the huge balloons float down the street in person. Since the streets were packed and visibility was tough, after awhile we decided to go to our rooms and watch the parade from above. We saw lots of balloons and even got a good view of Santa on his sleigh closing the parade. We then changed our clothes and ate a late Thanksgiving lunch at the Marriott Marquis. We got a great table by the window overlooking Times Square. It was a fantastic buffet. It had all of the traditional Thanksgiving Day favorites and everything was absolutely delicious. While at the dessert table, we ran into a woman who was also a triplet. She said she had an identical sister and one fraternal sister. She was born in Brooklyn on Pearl Harbor Day. It was such a special treat meeting her. After we filled our bellies, we walked in the middle of 48^th Street, since it was still blocked off from the parade, to Radio City Music Hall to watch the Christmas Spectacular. It was an amazing show featuring not only the Rockettes, but also Santa, 50+ toy soldiers all moving in unison, and a huge nativity with live animals. Zachary danced throughout the entire show. I enjoyed watching Zachary enjoying the show as much as I enjoyed the show itself. Since it was a warm evening, after the show, we walked to Rockefeller Center to see the tree (although the lights were not lit yet), the Christmas lights and Saks 5^th Avenue’s window display. It was a very special Thanksgiving.

We started off the day on Friday by taking a trip to Macy’s to meet Martina. Martina is in the US visiting her aunt and uncle for several weeks. The girls were excited to see Martina. We were not certain how they would react to her since they have not seen her for over two years, but they adored her like they did when they were babies. They even insisted on holding her hands. We took Martina back to our hotel and exchanged gifts. She still knows what the girls like. Since Martina was only in the city a short time, we visited M&M World across the street from our hotel before taking her back to Macy’s to catch her train. The girls loved M&M World, of course, since M&Ms are one of their favorite candies. We got them a pressed penny for their collection. We took Martina back to Macy’s and decided to check out the chaos of Macy’s on Black Friday. I love shopping on Black Friday so it was fun being in the middle of Macy’s hustle bustle although we left shortly after arriving. After a couple of big days in the city, the girls were done, done, done and needed lunch and a short rest back at the hotel. After recharging our batteries with a couple of slices of New York’s finest pizza and a little decompression time with TV, we took the subway to Central Park. We hired a carriage to take us on a trip through the park. The girls had big smiles on their faces throughout the ride. After our ride, we walked over to Bergdorf and Goodman to see their store windows. They had a fantastic display. It was very artsy and unique. We then thought we would check out FAO Schwarz, but since the line to get in the store was around the corner, we had to settle posing for a picture with the FAO Schwarz workers out front. We then took the subway back to our hotel. Since it was a windy day, trash had collected in the stairwell down to the subway. When Ellie saw the trash she said, ““Look at the mess. That’s not very good. Someone needs to clean that up.” Messes are always disturbing to the girls, so all of the trash in NYC was of great concern to the girls. So, it is probably best that the girls visit NYC instead of live there. Since it was our last night in the city, Nana and Grandaddy planned a special dinner at our hotel’s restaurant. The restaurant is located underneath one of the huge Trinitron screens in the middle of Times Square between 48^th and 49^th streets. It had a fantastic view of Times Square and the New Year’s crystal ball. The girls could have stared out the window all evening. With all of the bright lights and continuously changing TV screens, it was a great place for the girls to play I Spy. After dinner, we walked around Times Square. I love that Times Square has a new pedestrian area. It was cool being able to walk in the street in Times Square.

Saturday was our last day in the city. It was a cold, windy day with a bright blue sky. We thought it was a perfect day to visit the Empire State Building. We took the subway and when we walked up the steps to street level Gracie said, “This is where we were with Martina.” I corrected her and said that this was a different subway stop, but they do look very similar. When we got to street, I saw that we were across the street from Macy’s and I realized that she was absolutely right. We were at the same stop. Smart girl! Seeing the view of the city from the top of the Empire State Building was amazing. The girls enjoyed it although they were cold. The girls got a couple of pressed pennies as a souvenir. We also bought them small Statue of Liberty figurines that they loved.

After lunch, it was time to finish packing and take a taxi to Penn Station to catch our train. It was difficult trying to get our massive bags to the train, but once we got on the train, it was an enjoyable ride back to Wilmington. We all sat together in business class in a 4-seater section with a table. The conductor even punched special souvenir tickets with a snowman punched out… just like the conductor does on the “Polar Express,” one of the girls’ new favorite holiday movies.

A couple of observations from our trip….

It is challenging going anywhere with three 3 year olds, but taking them to New York City for Thanksgiving could have been miserable. Although we had our occasional stressful moments, it was a fantastic trip and the girls were very well behaved.

Although a few New Yorkers were frustrated with our slow speed, New Yorkers were so nice to us even though we were quite slow going up and down all of the narrow stairways in the subway. I cannot tell you how many people asked if the girls were triplets and when we said they were, they immediately commented how beautiful the girls were and how blessed we were.

New York City is a wonderful place to find change. New Yorkers drop a lot of change and my girls are always on the look out for a lost coin, “lucky penny.”

When we were on our way home in the car, Gracie said she did not want to go home. She wanted to stay in “New’ork.” She then said, “Can we go there again sometime? Do we have to go home because we do not have any more clean clothes and we used all of the money?” She was absolutely right! And yes, we will take her and her sisters back to NYC someday.

We asked the girls what their favorite things were from the trip. Sarah said eating with her baby at American Girl and getting Honey, her doll’s new pet dog. Ellie said staying in a hotel and seeing the Statute of Liberty. And, Gracie said getting Honey at American Girl. I think my favorite part of the trip was seeing the girls’ eyes light up in amazement everywhere we went. In particular, I loved watching them stare at Time Square’s lights from our hotel room.

We cannot thank Nana and Grandaddy enough for hosting the entire family in New York City for Thanksgiving. It was an AMAZING trip. We had a weekend filled with memories that will last a lifetime.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

The Girls' First Ballet Performance

The girls had their last ballet class on the Monday before Thanksgiving. They performed “Cinderella” demonstrating everything they learned over the last several weeks. The girls did a great job. I am glad that all of the grandparents and Chris and I were able to see this final class. Chris even got into the act. He was one of the princes during the performance. Since the last class was a performance, I gave each of the girls in the class and the teacher a rose. The girls were thrilled to get their own flower. Ellie said that she got a rose just like a princess. I am sorry that ballet is already over. I will definitely need to sign up the girls for another dance class. The girls loved it, especially Ellie.

Just a couple of cute pictures from the performance….

Gracie
Ellie
Sarah
Ellie, Sarah and Gracie following the teacher
Prince Daddy dancing with his princesses
Gracie
Ellie
Sarah, Gracie and Ellie

Happy Thanksgiving from the Big Apple!

I'll put together a post soon, but in the meantime, I thought I would share a picture. As the girls say, "We love New 'ork!"

Ice!

We went to see the Christmas decorations at Gaylord’s National Resort on Sunday. The resort was decorated beautifully. The centerpiece was a 60-foot glass Christmas tree suspended from the ceiling. For some added fun, throughout the atrium, there were hidden Peeps. The girls had a great time spotting the huge peeps. While walking through the resort, we ran into not only Mrs. Claus, but also Santa. Although Santa was on his way somewhere, when he saw us, he pulled up a chair and took time to talk to the girls and even pose for a picture. After enjoying the resort, we walked to Gaylord’s spectacular exhibit called “Ice!” Ice was created from 2 million pounds of ice by artisans from China. Ten scenes were created including four ice slides that were two stories high. Before entering the exhibit, we were given huge parkas since it was a chilly 9 degrees inside. Unfortunately, they did not have jackets small enough to fit the girls. But, I brought the girls’ winter jackets, hats and gloves, so I thought they would be warm. Gracie and Sarah loved the exhibit. They could have slid down the slides all afternoon. But, Ellie was too cold and could not fully enjoy the Ice experience. Ice was incredible! It was truly a winter wonderland.

Turkey time again!

It has become a tradition at our house to make handprint turkeys at Thanksgiving. This year, Ellie even tried to do it on her own by tracing her hand. She did a great job.

Meeting Santa and looking for reindeer at the tree farm

We had a big day. We started off with a big breakfast at McDonald’s with our friend, Scott. The girls devoured Mickey D’s pancakes. After breakfast, we headed to the mall to meet the big man, Santa. Santa’s greeting area at Fair Oaks Mall has a “Polar Express” theme. The girls have fallen in love with the “Polar Express” movie so this was a big treat. The girls enjoyed meeting the train conductor, pulling the train whistle and standing in the huge life size snow globe. In the past, the girls were too shy to talk to Santa by themselves or sit on his lap alone. But, this year, they each told Santa what they wanted for Christmas and even sat on his lap without Momma and Daddy being in the picture. Gracie asked for a big bear. Ellie asked for a baby Ariel doll. Sarah asked for a Snow White broom that plays music.

Meeting the conductor
Inside the snow globe
Sarah, Gracie & Ellie
Fair Oaks Mall has a Christmas display with lots of huge stuff animals. The girls loved it.
After meeting Santa, we went home for lunch. We then headed west. We stopped by the farm to pick up a couple of jars of cherry preserves. We bought a jar on our last trip to the farm, but it was so yummy that it did not last long. So, we had to pick up a supply before the farm closes for the season. With our car filled with preserves, we then went across the road to the Christmas tree farm. We decided not to get a live tree this year, but we thought we would pick up a live wreath. Unfortunately, the wreaths were not prepared yet. But, we had a lot of fun walking through the Christmas trees. The girls loved the small newly planted trees that were about a foot tall. The small twig trees looked like Charlie Brown Christmas trees. We also saw a deer print in the mud and lots of deer droppings, which were fascinating to the girls. We decided that it had to be reindeer since it was a Christmas tree farm. Although we did not cut down a tree, nevertheless, it was a fun afternoon at the Christmas tree farm.

Gracie and Sarah looking at the reindeer footprint
Gracie, Ellie & Sarah with Daddy

A couple of tumbling pictures...

Today was the last tumbling class until a new session in January. I got a couple of cute last pictures to share.

Gracie in flight
Sarah getting instruction from Ms. Jenn on the balance beam exercise
Sarah, Gracie and Ellie on the balance beam working on their bear walk

Happy Retirement Grandaddy!

After the big Thanksgiving celebration on Thursday, we rushed home, changed our clothes and hopped in the car on our way to our next party. Thursday night was Grandaddy’s big retirement dinner in Annapolis at the Governor Calvert House across the circle from the Capitol building. It was a nice business affair with lots of very important guests including the Speaker of the House, Senators and lobbyists. The girls were very well behaved. I was very proud of them. We were proud to be a part of such a significant event in Grandaddy’s life and seeing him being honored in such a public way.

Grandaddy and Daddy with their girls – Sarah, Ellie and Gracie

One of the rooms had a glass floor exposing the old foundation of the historic Inn. The girls were hesitant to walk on the glass, but after awhile, they were curious.

A Preschool Thanksgiving Celebration

Thursday was the big Thanksgiving celebration at preschool. The two 3-year-old classes performed two Thanksgiving songs (“Hello, Mr. Turkey” and “I’m a little Indian”) for the group of 5 classes and their parents. The girls have been practicing the songs for the last couple of weeks. The children looked adorable in their painted paper bag vests and headdresses. After all of the classes performed, we enjoyed a huge Thanksgiving potluck lunch. The fellowship hall was decorated with lots of Thanksgiving art projects. Each child made a placemat for the feast. The placemats that the girls’ class made included a poem that said: “We give thanks for family and friends, pie and turkey, too. Thanksgiving’s the time we say thank you! I am thankful for…” Gracie said, “Candy” (her beloved stuffed pink unicorn). Ellie said, “Snack.” And, Sarah said, “My dad bought a new TV our other one is broken.” We were a little shocked at Sarah’s response. As a parent, you hope your child is thankful for family or friends. But, the more I thought about it, if you spend a lot of money for a new TV, it is good that your child is thankful for it.

Unfortunately, this is the best picture I got of the 3 year-old classes singing.
Daddy was able to come hear the girls perform. Sarah was very excited.
Ellie, Sarah and Gracie pose for a quick picture after lunch
The girls modeling their outfits at home after school

Cuddling up with a bear to watch TV

My mom, Tutu, is a wonderful seamstress. She has sewn dresses, sewn several stuffed animals, made blankets and even hand-sewed quilts for the girls. When the girls were born, one of the things that I asked my mom to make the girls was a bear rug like my sister and I had when we were little. Carrie and I spent many evenings lying on our rugs in the basement watching TV. Tutu made the girls bear rugs for Christmas a couple of years ago. The girls love their bear rugs. Although our family room is not in the basement, the girls’ bear rugs are nice and snuggly to curl up on while watching TV.
Ellie
Sarah

Mini Makeovers

Karina brought Kate and Jane over to our house for a playdate yesterday. The girls had a great time playing together.

Kate and Sarah gave each other makeovers.

The girls adored Karina.

More Fall Fun...

The tree in our yard finally lost its leaves. Since it was a warm day, Chris raked the leaves into a pile that was perfect for three little girls to jump in. They had a great time throwing the leaves in the air, making “leaf angels” and burying each other. Since the girls were having a lot of fun, Chris got a workout raking the leaves over and over and over again.



The took turns burying each other in the leaves. I am not sure who had more fun, the girl being buried or the girls burying her.

Pink, pink and more pink

The girls got an early Christmas present from my friend Donna – pretty, pink, frilly bags. On Monday, the girls had ballet class. They carried their ballet shoes and tutus to class looking very cool.

On the way home after ballet class, the girls looked for the store with the pink pumpkins. But, the pretty pink pumpkins are gone and were replaced with pink Christmas decorations. So, of course, we had to stop to take another picture.

The 2nd Annual Gingerbread House Construction Project

We went to Tutu and Papa’s house to build gingerbread houses on Sunday. Tutu decorating gingerbread houses with her five granddaughters has turned into a special annual Rosicky Christmas tradition. Tutu baked gingerbread house pieces all week to have enough pieces for six houses – one for each granddaughter and a sample house. That’s a lot of cookies. She also had over a dozen different types of candy – M&Ms, chocolate candy corn, red and green candy corn, Dots, mini candy canes, rainbow licorice, candy covered mini Kisses, chocolate Santas, gummy elves, mini and large marshmallows, Starbursts, Smarties, and gumdrops. She also made mini gingerbread boys and girls so the houses could have residents. Surprisingly, at first the girls concentrated on decorating their houses and did not consume a lot of candy. But, once they felt that their houses had plenty of candy, they obviously thought the candy was fair game and started to “taste” some of the goodies. After the experience, the girls had bellies full of candy, were covered in icing, had beautiful gingerbread houses, smiles on their faces and were filled with great Christmas memories.

When we arrived at Tutu and Papa's house, the girls went outside to help Papa fill the bird feeders, leave peanuts for the squirrels and leave apples for the deer. Papa had a lot of "helpers."
The girls getting instructions on how to decorate their houses
Gracie
Ellie putting Santa on the roof
Sarah
Gracie and Sarah
Sarah, Ellie & Tutu
The finished product (Gracie, Ellie and Sarah)

We are crazy about Christmas (or maybe, just crazy)

The girls decorated their Christmas trees for their room on Saturday evening. Although we have had one pink tree in the girls’ room for the past couple of years, this year we put up three pink trees. It is a pink Christmas tree forest in their room. The girls loved decorating their OWN tree. Each ornament was precisely placed. They took great pride in their creations. The girls had a sparkle in their eye that I cannot describe except to say that it was the epitome of Christmas magic.

Sarah
Ellie put three ornaments on one branch. She explained that one was Ellie, one was Sarah and one was Gracie. They were triplets. Interestingly, each ornament was different.... just like my very different three little girls.
Ellie, Sarah & Gracie

Happy Birthday x3!

The girls attended a big birthday celebration for Tommy, Jack and Christian at Jumping Jacks on Saturday. There were four sets of triplets and one set of twins at the party. We were seeing triple and double all morning. The girls had a blast playing to the point of exhaustion. After the fun they had at Jumping Jacks, the girls took a NAP. Yeah! It is difficult to remember the last time that all three girls took a nap.

Daddy & his girls had a great time on the obstacle course

Gymnastics and Paper Dolls

Since I had some major dental work done and needed to take a happy pill, Tutu came over Friday to drive me to my appointment and take care of the girls while I was having “fun” at the dentist. Thank you, Tutu! She then stayed and helped take the girls to tumbling class in the afternoon. The girls wore their leotards and looked like adorable tiny little gymnasts (although I am not sure how stylish Sarah looked since her Snow White panties were peaking out about 2 inches below her leotard). The girls worked on their vaulting skills, beginning steps of a handstand and beginning cartwheels.

Gracie
Sarah
Ellie, Sarah and Gracie
Ellie getting help doing a donkey kick while Gracie watches
Sarah's donkey kick
Ellie

On Thursday night, I got the crazy idea to start cutting out the paper dolls that Tutu and Papa brought the girls from their trip to Nebraska last month. I thought it would be a good thing to do while I caught up on TV that I had DVR’ed. I thought it be a project that would last through a “Grey’s Anatomy” and the first part of a “Private Practice.” Instead, it took not only a “Grey’s Anatomy” and a “Private Practice,” but also a “Desperate Housewives” and a “Brothers and Sisters. On Friday, after tumbling class, lunch and a bath, the girls played with the paper dolls. They loved dressing and redressing Angelina Ballerina and her friend, Alice, over and over again. Although cutting out the dolls and all of the clothes took a long time, it was definitely time well spent when I saw the joy in the girls’ eyes.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

I love Christmas and I have been dying to put up our tree. So, we have had a Christmas type of day today. The girls wore their first Christmas shirts of the season. I brought out the Christmas DVDs. The girls watched “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” and “A Charlie Brown Christmas” while I started to decorate the Christmas tree. Before long, I had an audience and three very eager helpers. They loved picking out what ornament to put on the tree and finding the perfect place for it. The help I received made things take a little longer (a lot longer), but their excitement was worth it.

Santa's (and Mommy's) Little Helpers

3 Pretty Pink Ballerinas

Since the girls loved their ballet class (and every girl in their class had ballet clothes), I bought them each a leotard, tights and ballet shoes to wear with their tutus. Monday was their second ballet class and their first ballet class dressing in style. The girls looked adorable. I love my pink ballerinas.

Gracie
Ellie
Sarah
Sarah, Ellie and Gracie following their ballet teacher and learning the next dance
On the way to ballet class, we pass a very pink antique store. For Halloween, they decorated a cart by the road with pink pumpkins. The girls always watch for the pink pumpkins. If someone misses seeing the pink pumpkins, it is tragic. On the trip home from ballet, we decided to stop and take a quick picture of the girls in front of the pink pumpkins that they love.
Sarah, Ellie & Gracie

Dress-up Fun

Target’s Halloween merchandise was discounted 90%. When Gracie saw an infant pink unicorn costume, she instantly fell in love. She tried to put the hood on her head to wear it, but it was obviously too small. As an alternative, we explained to Gracie that Candy, her stuff pink unicorn that has been her constant companion for years, could possibly wear the costume instead. She thought this was a wonderful idea. And… because we could not do for only one and not all, Ellie and Sarah picked out an infant costume also. Ellie picked out a hotdog costume for her Mickey bear and Sarah picked out a dog costume for her doll. The girls are very proud of their animals and doll in their costumes. Since their animals and doll had a costume, they wanted to wear costumes as well. We now have a variety of dresses and costumes for dress-up and the girls have been wearing them constantly. It is always interesting in our house.

Sarah, Gracie & Ellie
Sarah, Ellie & Gracie
Ellie and Sarah striking a pose

I love the new Wegman's

After a big day at the farm, I was not in the mood to cook dinner. So, we headed over to the new Wegman’s for dinner and visit Lenka who works in the bakery department. We attempted to check out Wegman’s after church, but apparently, thousands of other people had the same idea at the same time. There was a traffic jam and police were diverting traffic to far parking garages. Grand openings of grocery stores do not typically cause flashing signs on major roads (“Expect delays – special event”) or a huge police presence directing traffic… but Wegman’s is not a typical grocery store. I am so excited to finally have a Wegman’s 5 minutes from my house.

It is a little nostalgic going to Wegman's with the girls since having lunch at Wegman's was one of the girls' first official social outings.
Ellie, Gracie & Sarah

Pumpkin Destruction

It was an unseasonably warm Sunday. So, after lunch, we drove to Great Country Farms. Although they are open on weekends for the remainder of November, I am not certain if we will have the time or the weather will stay warm enough for another day at the farm this year. This might have been our last visit to the farm until spring.

This weekend was a special event at the farm that we have never participated in. It was Pumpkin Chunkin’ time. Great Country Farm developed several creative ways to smash pumpkins and jack o’ lanterns – a pulley to drop pumpkins from the top of a silo; a zip line that smashed a pumpkin into a pole; and dropping pumpkins from a lift in the parking lot. When pumpkins were dropped from the lift in the parking lot they exploded. It was very entertaining. I wish we would have brought our jack o’ lanterns to the farm instead of putting them in the yard waste bin. After we watched the pumpkin destruction, we fed the animals and rode the cow train. We also rode the hayride out to the pumpkin patch and the girls each picked out another small pumpkin. The intent was to smash it, but since the girls fell in love with their pumpkins, we took them home instead.

Ellie
Gracie feeding a sheep (I love that Gracie's tongue is out since she is concentrating)
Sarah in the pumpkin patch
Gracie, Ellie & Sarah
Daddy pulling a wheelbarrow full of girls
Pumpkin Smashing
Explosion
Gracie and Ellie searching for seeds

I love my cousin!

On Saturday night, we met Aunt Karen, Uncle Randy and Zachary at Generous George’s. Sarah had a great time making Zachary smile and laugh. She adores her cousin. Aren't they cute together?

The End of Soccer?

Saturday was the girls’ last soccer game. Although the season officially ended last week, Saturday was a make-up game for a game they missed due to ran in mid-October. I am not certain if this was the girls first and last season of soccer. We’ll see. If they want to play soccer again, we will certainly sign them up. However, I am not sure if all three will want to be soccer players. Ellie and Sarah had a great time playing soccer and participated in most of the activities throughout the season. Gracie was content watching from the sidelines most games except for the last game on Saturday when she fully participated (thanks to a bribe of small bendable ballerina dolls that Tutu had in her pocket). Maybe dance, gymnastics, swimming, golfing or cheerleading will be more up Gracie’s alley?

The girls had a HUGE cheering section on Saturday. Tutu, Papa, Nana and Grandaddy were there to root on the girls. Grandaddy took a lot of great pictures of the girls playing soccer. After a great afternoon of soccer, Tutu treated the gang to ice cream sundaes and cones at McDonalds. Yum! I am sad to see the end of soccer, although it will be nice have our Saturdays free again.

Sarah

Sarah trying to tag Kate while playing "Stuck in the mud"
Gracie freeing Ellie who was stuck in the mud
Gracie & Ellie
Sarah, Gracie and Ellie
Sarah, Ellie and Gracie
A team photo

Ellie's new favorite outfit

Target discounted all of their Halloween costumes. Although it was huge (size Medium 7/8), I found an Ariel costume. Ellie loves Ariel. At 75% off, I could not resist purchasing the Ariel dress for Ellie. Since I bought it yesterday, she has worn it constantly. Tonight, after Ellie had her shower, she said, “Momma, I really, really, really, really, really, really, really love my Ariel dress. That was a special surprise. I love Ariel.” How sweet. Since the dress is huge and drags on the ground, I am not sure how long it will last, but in the meantime, it will be well loved.

Our Version of Cinderella

The girls love to act out Cinderella. In our version, Cinderella runs away losing one pink sparkly shoe (sometimes she even loses two shoes). Then, Prince Charming (who always wears a hooded towel) must capture Cinderella and jam the shoe on her foot. Although the actors change parts frequently, this scenario will occur over and over again, … sometimes for 30 to 45 minutes.

Discovering Discovery Park

Months ago, I read about a park on the internet, Discovery Park, at Sully Elementary School. It is only open to the public when school is not in session. Since today is a teacher workday in our county and the girls’ preschool runs on the county’s calendar, the girls did not have school today. So, I thought it was a perfect day to check out Discovery Park.

Although the parking lot was full since the elementary school is a polling place, the playground was deserted. We were the only ones on the playground the entire time we were there.

Discovery Park did not disappoint me and in fact, it exceeded my expectations. It had a fenced in area for children from 2 to 5 years old… which would have been wonderful except the girls wanted to play on the two big kid castle structures outside of the fence. Instead of traditional mulch, the playground was covered with soft rubber mulch (possibly recycled tires?), which made the playground seem cleaner and cushioned falls when the girls were playing. In addition to huge play structures, the playground had several historical cutouts (Mount Vernon and Monticello), a sound area (several xylophones), balance beams, several slides, swings and obstacle courses. Overall, it was a very cool playground. However, because the play structure was so large, it was difficult to see the girls every minute, but since we were the only people at the playground, I knew the girls were safe. If I go back on a busier day, I will definitely bring an extra set of hands along.

The girls at Mount Vernon (We really need to take them to the real place someday).
The girls at Monticello (another trip we will need to take)
Gracie and Ellie LOVED the tire swing
The girls playing on the small castle structure (the other structure was a lot larger)
The girls loved climbing across the turtle obstacle course

Sarah, a future American Idol?

Monday Fun with Nana & Grandaddy

For the last several years, Nana has come to our house to visit the girls every Thursday. However, now that the girls are in school on Tuesdays and Thursdays, Nana decided to visit on Mondays instead. And, as an added bonus, now that Grandaddy is retired, he will be coming too.

Nana and Grandaddy came over Monday to spend some quality time with the girls. They took the girls to Red Robin for lunch and since it was a gorgeous fall day, to a playground. From the pictures that I saw, it looks like the girls had a great time at the playground as evidenced by the huge smiles on their faces.

Gracie and Ellie
Sarah
Gracie and Ellie
Ellie and Gracie
Sarah
While at the park, the girls went on a nature walk and collected bags filled with leaves, acorns and sticks.