Coming Home in the Jeep

The girls are very excited when Daddy drives to work. This is because, when he comes home, they get to climb in the Jeep while he opens the garage door, and then he backs all the way up the driveway, and then comes back down and "BUMP" into the garage.



I asked Lee what she calls this ritual (because she has a name for everything), and she responded "FUN!"

Up or Down

As I may have mentioned, Clara's still learning to talk. Sometimes, she has an idea in her head and you're not sure what it is (in the example below, whether she wants to walk or hitch a ride somewhere). I will often resort to changing something (i.e. putting her down) and then asking her "Happy?" But even then the conversation can have ambiguous results, usually progressing in one of two ways.

The Agreeable Clara

Me: Clara, do you want Up?
Clara: Up
Me (to clarify): Down?
Clara: Down
Me: Up or Down?
Clara: Up or Down
Me: Happy?
Clara: Happy

The Disagreeable Clara

Me: Clara, do you want Up?
Clara: No
Me: Down?
Clara: No
Me: Up or Down?
Clara: No
Me: Happy?
Clara: No

On the Floor

I'm trying to remember to get down on the floor at least once every day. It's amazing how it works. I lie down in the room where the girls are playing, and they come running to climb all over me. We do airplane rides, and lots of tickling, and just general horseplay. It's a great way to get some physical contact with them because sometimes they just aren't into cuddling (especially Clara at the moment,who is just too busy).

Old New Friends

A few weeks ago we drove up to Proctor, VT to visit old new friends. Or perhaps they are new old friends. They're new in the sense that we'd only met them twice before, but old in the sense that the first time was over six years ago and the second two years ago. And yet we've managed to keep in touch.

They've bought a second house in Proctor, which is just north of Rutland (i.e. near Killington, Pico, and some other ski areas), and had invited us up to visit. Since we love going to Vermont, we jumped at the chance (although it took us two years to find a good weekend).

Proctor is a cute little town, and houses the Vermont Marble Museum, which we will have to visit next time. Most of the municipal buildings are made of marble, as is a bridge going into town. There are even sidewalks made of marble! Proctor also has a beautiful, recently renovated covered bridge, which I unfortunately did not get a picture of although here is one taken before the renovation. This small town has its own high school (The Phantoms), and has won a surprising number of state championships in baseball and basketball, considering its graduating class is far less than 100 students.

We had a great time swimming at the Proctor Pool, which is technically a pond, but does have a slide, raft, and multiple diving boards. Lee jumped off a diving board for the first time (wearing a life vest).

Saturday night we walked over to Proctor's single restaurant/bar for dinner, and saw that the walls were dedicated to the achievements of The Phantoms. The bar had a great local atmosphere, tasty food, and especially tasty local beers.

On Sunday our plans to do a little hike were rained out, but there were some great puddles to play in on the deck.


But the highlight of the trip was definitely the dogs, Moosie and Nokki. There was a bit of trepidation on Lee's part at first (Lee does have a history of fearing dogs), but she did pretty well. Clara was just thrilled. The dogs were great with the kids. Both dogs just love people, Moosie full of bounces and kisses, and Nokkie more on the mellow side. On the way home, when I asked Lee why she hadn't played with dress-up clothes at all, she said "Mommy, I just wanted to play with the dogs."


On the way home we talked about how we might be able to work out living in Vermont (we've had this conversation many times before).

What Does Clara Say?

Clara's been doing great with the animal noises. This is usually a great way of distracting her when she's gotten herself worked up about something. Usually we end up with smiles and giggles. The other day, though, when her mind was set on doing something that she just wasn't going to get to do, it went something like this:

Me: Clara, what does a sheep say?
Clara: NO!
Me: Clara, what does a frog say?
Clara: NO!
Me: Clara what does a cow say?
Clara: NO!
Me: Clara, what does Clara say?
Clara: NO!

Clara Accessorizes

Clara is into shoes and accessories.

For a while she would crawl with shoes on her hands.


This summer she would put any pair of Crocs left lying around on her feet.

We finally broke down and bought her her own Crocs (the smallest ones they have!).


She's always been very fond of hats, and here is a funny clip from a while back:



This summer, even in the heat, she likes to wear a wool hat, or her favorite wool sweater, or her raincoat, which she'll keep zipped up with the hood up until she's drenched in sweat.

And now, it's the bike helmet. She wanders around the house with it over her eyes. Although she's only truly happy if the rest of us are wearing our helmets too. She brings each of us our helmets and says "on!"

It's All a Tangle

Thanks, Clara.