One Step Ahead of the Chaos

Organized Mass Chaos

>> Monday, November 12, 2012

In other news our church had a family fun night on Saturday. Our family went, including Aunt Clare. We had pizza and then played a hilarious game that got everyone doing silly things like waddling like a duck, throwing food into each others mouths and wrapping people in toilet paper. A lot of laughter ensued.

Preparing Thankful hearts

Today was a day off for us. So we talked to the girls about the importance of freedom and Veterans. (Thank you Poppa!). But we also did a thanksgiving craft. It was fun to hear what Caroline was thankful for (hand was the one that surprised me the most. "well mommy, they do lots of things" we had quality time with scissors, glue, construction paper and tape. What could be better?

Big girl

>> Sunday, November 4, 2012

Although she is really working on figuring out how to crawl (she is trying to get up on all fours), I'm trying to convince her sitting is fun. She will only sit for a few minutes before she starts squirming and trying to roll out. But she is doing pretty well with the whole holding herself upright thing.

Halloween part 2

>> Wednesday, October 31, 2012

When you want to be a lollipop ballerina princess for Halloween sometimes a costume change is required. So Caroline was a princess this morning. She was a ballerina (complete with bun) this evening. We acquired a lollipop while trick or treating. All is well. (Note that Anna's tastes are a little less nuanced and she was just a cheerleader.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from our favorite princess and cheerleader. Caroline has informed me that she didn't want to be a mermaid for Halloween because that is what she wants to be when she grows up so it wouldn't be a costume. Being a mermaid would be for real. Irrefutable logic.

The "real" hurricane damage

>> Tuesday, October 30, 2012

So this is what our front room looks like AFTER I picked it up a little bit. Apparently 60 mph gusts hit inside as well as outside.

Super Caroline

>> Monday, October 29, 2012

Didn't you know that every hurricane needs a Super Caroline?

Hurricane Day

Well we have prepared Koller style--did the laundry, made coffee to drink cold later, found the flashlights, put out the corkscrew, put the kids cold medicine out, moved the pack and play to the basement and broken out the crayons. We have also played hide and seek with a book (a good way to play when there are only two people), and are planning a leaf book later. We have looked at the kids weather web sites while we have power. Now we just color and wait for the wind!

>> Tuesday, October 9, 2012

We are home and happy after our good trip to Portugal. As you can see, the girls had a good time and slept well after we wore them out running all over the place.

We figured out how to get both girls in one stroller, which worked well when we were downtown Lisbon on the pedestrian only streets. You can't really see her, but Anna is laying back in the stroller, behind Caroline. Caroline would hold the pacifier in Anna's mouth when she got fussy. Everyone was happy with the arrangement.

There were lots of trollies in Lisbon. One of them went in a big circle over downtown. I think it may have been Caroline's favorite part about being in Lisbon when we took a ride on the trolley (stopping half way at a big park with a playground).

The weather was perfect the entire time. We had a great time climbing up hills and looking out over the city.

This is a picture of Caroline and Jack attempting to break down the walls in the castle that wasn't far from where we stayed. This castle was at the top of the hill in the neighborhood where we rented an apartment.

We also happened to be in Alfama (the neighborhood we stayed in) while there was a folk festival going on. I took this picture from our table in the outdoor seating at the restaurant in the square. We truly couldn't have picked a country where the people were kinder or nicer to children. We showed up at this restaurant and Caroline announced that she really wanted spaghetti and french fries for dinner. Low and behold, that is precisely what they brought her (note--this combo was not on the menu). Anna was essentially a rock star the whole time, with all sorts of people coming up to her to say hi.

After Lisbon we went on to Evora, which is a walled city in the central part of Portugal. This is a picture of the girls enjoying our outdoor terrace at the hotel.

We got sandwiches from a little shop just down the street for dinner. As you can see, Caroline clearly needed her sunglasses while eating dinner. (She wore those sunglasses most of the day as she went around town. It was hilarious).

Aren't we cute?

Here are Caroline and Jack up on a castle wall in a town called Obidos. She was pretty impressed that there were so many castles where princesses had lived.

All in all, while our first vacation with two kids was quite different from earlier ones it was a great family time. We were without the internet for nine great days. We got to just hang out together. And now to do the laundry...