Call Day #11, 8/30/13

 Oliver and I drove to Charlotte this afternoon, where Claire and Eleanor have spent the week at Nanny and Papa's house.  It was good to see them again and they wanted to show me all kinds of things.  Claire was proud to show me how she put away her clean laundry.

"Swing and sing" with Nanny now includes three kids.  And a bugle.

Playing piano.

Eleanor shows off her new soccer cleats.  They start soccer next week so have been breaking in their new shoes.

Playing with Papa.

Call Day #10, 8/18/13

The girls were super late coming out of their room this morning.  I could hear them in there playing so went in to see what was going on.  They had made themselves a nice hideout under Eleanor's bed.  (And had obediently waited for their wake-up clock to tell them it was time to come out which it never did since it had the time wrong.)

Inside the bottom part, with books lined up down the side.

After church and rest time, Eleanor spent some time playing Rush Hour.  All of the cars have to be moved around just right to get the ice cream truck out of the traffic jam.

Then we played War.

Until Oliver woke up.  Thankfully, he has learned to sleep on his tummy in the past few days since he rolls himself onto it but can't get back over.  This is how we find him every time he wakes up.

On the way home from church I asked them what places they missed in Boston and they named only parks. I figured we could find a few new favorites here so this afternoon we went to a new park. 

It was tricky stepping from one circle to another when the wobbled so much.

A break from climbing.

Picnic dinner.

I love how she looks at him sometimes.  Sibling love.

A glimpse into what pictures don't capture--the end of the day:  Leaving the park with Claire saying her tummy hurt and looking like she did right before the last time she threw up.  (Thankfully, never got sick in the van or elsewhere).  Girls not able to settle down in the same room at bedtime.  Separated.  Oliver crying a distressed cry after being put to bed--foot stuck in between slats.  First stuck limb, less than 24 hours after some form of swaddling officially ended.  Installed breathable bumper.  Put him back to bed.  Crying continues from his room.  The bedtime dance continues, more than 2 hours after we started brushing teeth, reading stories, etc.

Call Day #9, 8/16/13

Eleanor still loves to see Oliver first thing in the morning.

Spending LOTS of time on his tummy these days.

A harmonica duet "to celebrate Oliver's tooth" since his first one is just barely breaking through this week.  (If you can't tell, Oliver seems to be celebrating by wearing two of his sisters' headbands.)

Eleanor makes PBJ sandwiches for our picnic lunch.

Our first trip to Duke Gardens.  Waiting for friends to arrive.

We ate our picnic and then the serious playing began.

 Laughing while rolling down the hill.

All hand-in-hand, a sweet picture.  What you don't see is the big debate about who got to hold whose hand.

Fish pond.

The big kids.  Didn't get a picture of the two little guys.

Silly faces.

Despite being up for a long time for our outing, this one wouldn't nap.  In addition to probable teething pain, he is pretty consistently rolling from his back to his tummy in the crib and then seems to be stuck there, crying for help.  Learn to roll back, buddy!

Tummy skills aren't great for napping, but he loves to play with his toys this way.

This afternoon I asked Eleanor to try a math site I've heard great things about.  She enjoyed doing some addition and telling time.  I think this should be a regular part of our studies!

Call Day #8, 8/10/13

We went to a family day at a local historic site.  First thing the girls found were free balloons.  They both picked pink.

Eleanor collects eggs from the chickens.

Claire plays with John Deere tractors in a table full of dried corn.

On a wagon ride, pulled by mules.

On the way home, they both declared the mule ride one of the highlights of the morning.

Sprinklers.

On the porch at Duke Homestead, the original house at the Duke family farm.

Milking a cow.

Water squirted out when you milked this cow.  Pretty realistic and a lot of fun.

Looking at and smelling tobacco, the Duke family's big crop.  Knowing we'd hear lots about tobacco (they even have a Tobacco Museum there), we had a discussion about tobacco and smoking on the way there.

It was really hot.  We ended our time there with a lemonade slushie.

While we were out in the heat, our AC unit was being replaced at home.  Eleanor and Oliver enjoy the cold air coming out of the vent when the new unit was first turned on.

Sweaty curls and a self-inflicted scratch.  Occasionally we find him with a new one when we get him out of bed.  Time to trim his little nails again.

We made our first trip to "visit" Daddy at work.  He could only come down to the van to give quick hugs, but it was still fun to see him.

Eleanor spotted this white flower when we pulled into our driveway tonight.  She and Claire had to go check it out.  I suppose magnolia trees weren't a common sight in Boston.

Call Day #7, 8/5/13

We went to the Museum of Life and Science this morning.  The kids were enjoying themselves so much we stayed well past lunchtime.  There is a lot to see!  Above, Eleanor measured a really big chair.

The girls in a space capsule.

Enjoying watching balls roll around a track.

They played house in one area and Claire pretended to take a nap.  My favorite part is that they used the kitchen scale in their pretend bedroom as a clock for Claire who diligently waited to get up til it turned green.

Sleepy Oliver rode in the Ergo for quite a while but was too curious and eager to watch everything to actually sleep.

Eleanor liked building a dam out of rocks and sand.  She wanted it to withstand the water that would flow from above it.  She was very persistent in trying to make it work and spent a lot of time on it.

Driving sailboats around a pond.

Running through mist.

Working on map skills.

Inspired by the rocket outside the museum and the capsule they went into, we spent some time this afternoon watching videos of rocket and space shuttle launches.  We ended up watching a tour of the International Space Station too.  The girls were fascinated by the ways the astronauts sleep, eat, and go potty in space.