School In Our Jammies

Dear Mommy and Daddy,

Yesterday was my very first day at OpaOma’s preschool, and they said I was a good student.  While Moses was off applying for his passport — whatever that is — Nomi and I learned that “A” says a sound like “aaaaa Adam.”  Right away, before Opa could tell us about the first man, I quoted scripture to him, “apple fruit of the knowledge of good and evil.” Opa and Oma were impressed, to be sure.

Then, my cousin told Opa that God made Adam’s wife from his bone.  I knew that, too!

Here I am with my two “A” bracelets and a brand-new book.  I love new books, you know.  I even start reading them aloud to myself before Oma reads the words!  Isn’t that neat?  Nomi also colored bracelets, but she’s older and more careful than I am.

Besides “Adam”, we learned that “ant, alligator, apricot, and ambulance” also start with the “A” sound.  Oma had us say “aaaaaa alligator”, and I did it!

We also made an “aaaaaa apple pie”.  Well, Oma made it while Nomi and I ate apple slices, which were yummy.  After lunch, Opa took us outside to find some “aaaaaa ants!”  Ants are pretty neat, but hard to catch.  (I think it’s kinda funny that Nomi screams when she sees spiders, but she tries to get ants to walk on her hand.)

Because Nomi got to choose the movie last week, Oma said it was my turn yesterday.  While we watched “Dumbo”, we ate our apple pie.

Actually, I was so interested in clapping with the circus train music and paying attention to see if Dumbo’s mommy would end up in jail again (she did), I forgot all about eating my pie.  When I crawled in Oma’s lap for a snuggle while Dumbo was crying for his mommy, Auntie Amy stole my pie!  Can you believe it?  She was able to swallow one bite before I caught her and made sure she knew she was in the wrong.  Apparently, she and Opa had conspired to split my pie between the two of them!  They will be more considerate next time, I’m sure of that.

Oma always knows what to do right after a movie ends, so we don’t think we can watch another one.  (She is careful to limit our screen time, and to encourage us to get fresh air.)  Today, she fixed us up with bubbles on the deck.

Nomi and I are pretty good at filling our wands and twirling just so.  Moses isn’t quite so graceful, but he and Opa do their own thing.

When my Daddy came to pick me up, Oma surprised him with his very own piece of pie.  I think he was happy about that, and I was happy to have preschool with my cousins.

Next week, Oma says we’re going to learn “B” and go on a bear hunt!

Love,

Emiline

Woke up Wednesday morning in full-fledged teacher mode; this was good as Mrs. M and I had to setup our classrooms at the ranch.  Done.  Teacher Mode blew into Thursday morning, whereupon a 7 a.m., five-minute-long Pinterest search translated into a complete Bye Bye Summer bash for the punkins.  Bam — Pinterest wins again.

Texted the mommies, “your children will be making their own mini-pizzas for lunch today.  I’m guessing cheese will be the topping of choice…but if you have anything else to throw on, bring it.  Also, keep the top of the driveway clear.  Park below the ‘marker'”.  Flew through the house — swept a bit, vacuumed a bit, wiped bathrooms; located the sidewalk chalk, verified that I had cheddar, flour and yeast; found the Percy Pigs I’d lost three months ago, muffin tins for paint, and paint brushes; marked off the top of the driveway with chairs and drew an obstacle course.

Cheerios for breakfast, sprinkled liberally with “sprinkles”, began our morning.  Have you discovered sprinkles, beyond sugar cookies?  No?  They’re a staple around here. For cheerios, healthy banana pancakes, sausages, sandwiches and potty treats, they are truly inspirational.

Mom:  MoMo, eat your cheerios!

MoMo:  (exclaiming quite loudly that he’d rather not)

Oma:  How about some sprinkles?

MoMo:  Yeah, yeah, yeah!

After breakfast, we hit the obstacle course.

The rules are simple:  Start in a big circle.  Walk, run, or push the popper along the line; jump with two feet into two small circles, one foot into one small circle; stop inside the triangle and count to the number; twirl in the swirly thingy; step over the rectangles; and stop in the other big circle.  I demonstrated twice, Opa at least once.  Then, woo hoo!  They improved on my specific directions by doing their own thing, together and separately.  Once they had to “rescue” Barbies in the final circle.  Crawling is optional, but cool.

Time flies when 1) you’re having fun, and 2) when you’re entertaining punkins.  Off to the llamas, we reviewed the rules:  hold hands on the road!  Mo, of course, prefers to drive.

Pizza dough needs an hour to proof.  We made two batches because my initial dough lacked bouncy-ness, but in the end ’twas all good.  Extra dough just made for playing dough.

He was truly pointing (and yelling) at the dough in my mixer as the dough hook “kneaded” it.  Was he trying to tell me that Grammy doesn’t do kneading thataway?  Probably.  Grammy, you’ve set the bar pretty high.

Lowandbehold, the “proof” setting on my oven does wonders with dough, and in just 40 minutes we were in the pizza-making business.  The mommies cut carrots and grapes while their punkins and I cheesed the minis, and Aunty Jenny supervised the whole shebang.  Done and done.

I think I’ll be sad when lunch-on-the-deck is a memory.

But! We’ll always have art.  Instead of a directed activity, I opted for free-form creativeness.  Punkins, along with the Aunty and the Mommy, relished this approach — even Mo, until *ahem* he discovered splatter painting and tried it on Oma, whereupon I quashed his creativity.  Aunty and Mommy, however, flourished.

They made me promise to hang their masterpieces on the fridge.  Did.

When they tired of art, Opa stepped in with horsie/camel/elephant rides.  We calculated that the combined weight of all three was around 90 pounds, which sounds like he needed to be an elephant, but a bystander suggested camels could carry that much poundage, so camel he was.  Aunty’s video is so much more entertaining, but you get the idea.

Finally, nap time rolled around, and while none of us would admit that it is the favorite part of a Thursday, we know you know how it goes.

So, goodbye, summer.  You were good, of course, but we’ve got fewer daylight hours, nippy afternoon air, and high expectations of autumn colors and the letter “A”.  See you next year.

Me, Sunday afternoon:

Without carrying my analogy too far, please, notice the closed eyes…the contented smile…the nose pressed solidly into the bedding.  Yes?  Me and the couch, people.  Me and the couch.

But, I shall start at the beginning, which was Thursday morning.

All three punks arrived as planned for Thursday at OmaOpa’s house; the E’s with overnight stuff in tow: play clothes, Sunday clothes, extra clothes, hoodies, jammies, toothbrushes, toothpaste, butt paste, spare binkies (so many spare binkies!), a stuffed moose, three blankets, swim diapers, swim suits, boots, sandals, Sunday shoes, two car seats, two bikes, and a stroller.  The Ems traveled with only the essential binky — perfect for a day tripper.

First on the agenda was craft time.

Yes, we did paint.  Yes, they had a blast.  Yes, it was water-based.  Yes, cleaning up is just as fun as painting your face.

Next, hot dogs from Harbor Haute Dogs in the harbor for dinner, minus the Em.  Parking at the Stoner’s, we strolled down to the park, bought our dogs, and enjoyed them with live music. Nomi, because she notices everything, knew that we were in the vicinity of ice cream; of course we got some of that, too.  She also knew that where there is water, there should be sea shells…but alas.  Not this time.

Friday morning followed a semi-rocky Friday night, as boy kept losing his pillow and his binky.  He doesn’t yet say a recognizable “Oma” or “Opa”, but appropriately calls “Daddy!  Daddy!” in the middle of the night, which must be his term for “the daddy person whom I prefer over the mommy person when I need someone to find my binky.”  He’s a good boy, that one.

That morning, we fed ’em and strapped ’em into the car for a trip to the Kitsap Fair.  Woo hoo!

Nomi knew there was a ride for her, and we found it.  First thing on a Friday morning meant she and Opa had the caterpillar roller coaster all to themselves.  Mo thought he needed a ride too, and so did we —

Hamburgers, curly fries and ice cream cones rounded out our morning and sent us home for naps. Oma learned a very good lesson this day: wiping sticky, melty ice cream from a sleeping boy’s face will wake him up, and then he will refuse to take more nap.  She will never do that again.  But, short naps DO mean early bedtimes.

On Saturday, we stayed home and played.  Bike rides in the cul-de-sac, water hoses to overfill a pool, plenty of swingin’ and slidin’, cookie baking and sprinkling, plus some sidewalk chalk on the driveway were just a few of our Saturday activities.

I’ll sign off with a picture of our craft projects, completed very artfully by Nomi, who chose eyes for hers, Mo’s, and Em’s butterflies.  Aren’t they pretty?  Aren’t my windows dirty?

Sunday morning Opa and I successfully completed the hand-off of two little E’s to Grammy and Gramps.  Driving home, we decided that even though we pigs were looking forward to our Sunday naps — we really missed our little people.

Whether the water goes into the dirt, or the dirt goes into the water, the result is the same.

Yesterday we girls made blueberry tarts while Opa and Moses checked on the llamas.  While they cooked, we all did a bit of swinging, sliding, and smacking beach balls around the yard.

For lunch, we picnicked “freestyle” on the deck, with a platter of grilled cheese sandwiches, leftover sausages and pancakes from breakfast, and the blueberries which didn’t fit into our tarts.  Emiline had to be convinced that no, she did not need a plate because she could just grab a sandwich from the platter and eat.  Moses needed no convincing. Thinking that freestyle picnics were just dandy, he’d grab a sandwich, take a bite, and chuck the rest.  This was a win-win for both him and Opa, who ate whatever offerings Moses tossed his way, plus all the crusts left on the platter by the girls, and his very own blueberry tart.  (Later that evening he declared “that lunch was the best lunch I’ve ever had”.)  Good to know.

Little People Project #2 was a Very Hungry Caterpillar “caterpillar” made from foam circles and wiggly eyes.  Naomi, of course, got it.

Emiline, enthusiastic as ever, required a bit more supervision and direction, but the result was nice. (You can also see the leftover enthusiasm for blueberry tarts.  Yum.)

All in all, it was a good day.

Our first “little people project” was a hit yesterday, judging by the intensity of participation and the volume of supplies still littering the floor this morning:

If I were to do a “cost-benefit analysis”, clearly I spent more time prepping for it than it took to complete, but hey — they loved it.  And, as an after lunch/before nap activity, it provided a smooth(er) transition than a llama walk or raucous play in the living room.

So, a synopsis:

1. Pinterest FTW.  Of course, ours look less glossy but we operate in real time around here.  We also snap quick pics on a phone.
2. Contact paper.  Sticky-side needs to be out, taped securely to the wall.  This part took the most minutes.
3. Cheerios don’t stick, but pinto beans do.  Jim and I speculate that cheerios have a porous surface and pinto beans are smooth and dense?  Cheerios are edible, however.
4. Stray playing cards, polar bears cut out from old Christmas cards, and Clip Art vehicles printed on cardstock were a definite hit.
5. Pom-poms — the item I expected to be the most artsy/fun — fell right off.
6. Even the littlest of the little people knew right away what needed to be done and did it.  Bravo, Mo!

Dear Mom and Dad,

Thank you for letting me spend the night with OmaOpa. When I realized, Mom, that you were actually putting my car seat into Oma’s car so that I could go with her to see Opa, I was thrilled. (You know how I usually cry my eyes out when they leave me.)

When we arrived at their house, I was kinda shy. Possibly this was the first time I had been there without my big sis, and without my cuz, too. I did not know what to do with myself.

But, Oma fed me a decent lunch right away.  Would you believe that she was not fazed a bit when I just wanted to eat cheese? I know, I know – you would have preferred that I eat the turkey and the bread, along with the cheese on my sandwich. However,  when I asked pointedly if I could — pretty please! — have some more of that delicious, shredded Mexican cheddar mix, Oma let me. Maybe she was just happy that we could communicate so well?  I dunno.

After my two-hour nap, I woke up without any of that initial shyness. Woo hoo, I thought! I have OmaOpa all to myself! I have all the toys all to myself! I can almost do whatever I want, and OmaOpa will let me! It was glorious.

I got to play with the water table.

I got to climb the playset and swing. (I did forget, just for a second, that I should be hanging on to the swing chains, but Oma was right there to remind me. She says she’s going to buy one of those “toddler seats” soon.)

I got to play with that long squirt-gun tube thingy. Opa showed me how to fill it with water, but I thought it was pretty cool just to listen to the squeeeeek as I pulled and pushed the tubes apart and together.

While Opa started the BBQ, Oma and I made mud pies. After that, Opa took me to see the llamas while Oma cooked BBQ pork ribs.

During dinner, Oma and I had another discussion regarding my tastes in food.  She knew I was a meat-a-saurus, so tender pork was a good menu choice for dinner.  She also remembered how much I adore black beans and had some of those on hand, too.  (She thought I liked corn-on-the-cob as well as my cuz, Emmy, does, but I don’t really.  Opa ate mine, which was cool.)

While we were eating, I asked Oma very politely if I might have my own “rib” with meat on it, instead of the pieces of delicious meat she had put on my plate.  In fact, I asked if I could have her rib, and — she let me!  We first blew on them, then I gnawed away.

After dinner was over, the three of us went for a “car walk” to see llamas again.  Then, while Oma was running my bath water, Opa showed me a few videos he had taken of us.

We wrapped up the evening with a lovely bath.  It lasted quite a while, until Oma abruptly cut it short when I began to fling water at her.  (Probably she was hoping to take her own relaxing bath later after I was asleep?)

Finally, it was bedtime.  I really, really wanted my Daddy then, and exclaimed this loudly to OmaOpa, but instead of letting me cry for very long, Opa came up and consoled me right away.  After a few more consolations, Oma decided I was too warm, and opened the window.  Ahhh!  That was so much better.  I slept peacefully the rest of the night.

So, thanks again, Mom and Dad, for allowing me to sleep over with OmaOpa.  I think they had a great time, and are looking forward to having me again!

Love,

Moses

Sleepover #2 involved fetching Emiline on Wednesday morning and whisking her off to Point Defiance Zoo.  Per our usual routine, we shyly greeted Ivan the gorilla’s statue at the entrance.

This shyness did not last long, however.

Not knowing what to expect of the zoo these days (will we see animals? will we be thronged by school groups?) we were pleasantly surprised first to observe an elephant showering inside the elephant barn, and notice that we were three of the few zoo-goers this day:

Soon, Opa needed a Cliff bar for energy, and so did Emiline.  Good thing Oma comes prepared, yes?

Next, we strolled on to the tiger area, where we noticed two keepers inside the enclosure.  Opa rightly surmised that since the keepers were in, the tigers must not be.  But!  as we sat and listened to our punkin explain the “water for tigers”, a keeper walked by and suggested we hang out for five more minutes and she would let the tiger in.  Woo hoo!

Next, we followed tour guide Emmy as she led us inside the building where another tiger paced.

Does our sweet girl look like a tasty tiger morsel?  I think so.

Passing the camels (“hi camel!”) and the penguins (no comment), we skipped/ran/hopped and danced to the fishies.

“Hi fishies! Hi jelly fishies!”

Demonstrating her incredible ability to follow directions, Emiline eagerly used just one finger to touch sea anemones, seaweed, and other critters in the touch tank…and then obediently washed her hands.

Because this kid will eagerly walk/skip/run/dance everywhere, we saw more of the zoo this visit than we have for a while.  Unfortunately, the polar bears weren’t around (“where bears go?”), the arctic fox wasn’t very exciting (“hi doggie?”), the muskox was absent, and the new-mom wolf was napping (who can blame her — she has eight pups says the sign).  Thankfully, though, Kid Zone was the place to spin and slide with abandon, until Opa and Oma suggested a sandwich on the lawn.

Leaving the zoo, Emiline gleefully said “bye gorilla!” and “bye zoo!” and we headed home for naps, dinner, and a bath.

Thursday morning, Emiline was happy to have me help her make blueberry scones for Nomi!  Moses! and Aunty Amy, as you can see by the flour.  “I eat flour?” Ahem.  Cooked scones and fried eggs taste better, punkin.

Just ask your cousin, who’s in line for Sleepover #3.

It’s sleepover week here at OmaOpa’s house. First, Naomi, and an inaugural movie theater experience.

Toy Story 4 is worth the trip, people, even if you don’t have a 3-year-old granddaughter to impress. For our 9 a.m. pickup time, I packed treats for little bro, Mo. We certainly did not want tears as we exited with his sister and left him home with Mom.

Arriving at Galaxy Theater with normal “Baumgaertel Time” to spare, we all pottied and then purchased popcorn. Naturally, the 10:15 a.m. show was uncrowded, and for a bit of time we had the whole place to ourselves. Because Oma-me is way more fun than Mom-me ever was, I encouraged Naomi to explore to the very top row where she declared one of the corners a perfect “hiding place to snuggle”. But we didn’t.

Instead, we returned to our large, cushy seats to eat popcorn and play with the chair buttons.

When the movie did finally begin, Nomes climbed into my lap and stayed there the whole time, not even asking what was happening and why, even though we both jumped at a few places. Ventriloquist’s dolls are creepy, are they not?

Afterwards we took our granddaughter to lunch.

The Bambini meal at Fondi’s comes with gelato.  Opa and I did not eat gelato, but enjoyed watching Nomes methodically stir hers and “smooth” it across the top.  My own mother would scold us for stirring our ice cream into a slushy mess, and I wonder why?  Was she impatient for us to just eat it and be done?  Was she concerned about drips?  Dunno.

Our evening progressed with plenty of “Mom-and-Dad-and-Kid” play, car ramps, hamburgers, a freezer pop, and wearing “cozy” jammies outside to the sand pile as the sun set.

All in all, Sleepover #1 was a huge success. Naomi declared she would like to spend “more and more and more” nights with us, and doled out hugs and kisses without being prompted.

Tomorrow night is Sleepover #2 with a trip to the zoo with Emiline.

Update:  Two more photos with Oma —

Hi there, self —

Just me here at home, with a brief note since you’re still on holiday. I’ll start with those breakfast pastries, followed by the credit card bill, and then wrap this up with a few miscellaneous items. Ready? Okay.

Turns out that a cappuccino and an almond croissant make a decent, low impact meal. Who knew, right? Those do not contribute to the ten pounds you expect to gain, nor will the meat pasties or the clotted cream. Go ahead, enjoy — you’re going to eat them anyway. In fact, make an effort to get your hands on more scones. Almond croissants are plentiful back home; clotted cream not so much.

Speaking of holiday indulgences, the credit card bill was not greater than the funds you squirreled away to cover it. Whew! It’s too late now, but you could purchase those pewter earrings from Edinburgh. And – shoot! Shopping for a summer wardrobe at White Stuff is okay, too! (You’ll need to jettison a few things to keep your carryon bag legal – the knit tees, your black “granny” shoes, all the socks. You’re sick of them anyway.)

As for the miscellany, I’ll just mention a few things, so you can try to go back to sleep:

1. You’ll never know who wins the Great British Bake-Off, Season 8. Sadly, Netflix doesn’t carry that one in the US. Maybe Jessica can fill us in; personally, I’m pulling for Ian. Loved his flower-pot bread sculpture.
2. Spending Thursday night at Hilton, Heathrow T-5, was a great plan. But, get ready for an hour wait for the shuttle (yours will drive by without stopping), a wait for your gate notice, a wait in queues on the tarmac, queues in US customs lines, queues for the Seatac concourse shuttles, queues for the airporter, traffic on I-5. You’ll arrive home 17 hours after you leave London.
3. Fred Meyer is remodeling, and nothing will be where it was a month ago. Make that ClickList now and stay away from the store. Lastly,
4. When you invite all the kids over for dinner Saturday night, remember to take the roasted potatoes out of the oven. They won’t be any good Sunday morning.
5. Oh, one more thing! Percy Pigs and Peppa Goes to London are a hit. The queen drives a double-decker bus through the city and across the open Tower Bridge. What a hoot.

We’ve been gone a while.  As a summary, I present a brief review, by-the-numbers:

• Days in the UK:  28, as of Friday.
• Nights spent sleeping in Jessica’s flat: 18
• Touristy places we visited: 3 castles, 2 cathedrals, 4 abbeys, 2 chapels, 4 palaces, 2 ships, 2 theaters, 1 Neolithic stone circle, 3 modern wonders, lots and lots of museums.
• Cute towns where we may have eaten scones with clotted cream: 7
• New Thrussells we met: 2
• Times we cooked dinner in Jessica’s flat: 3
• Times Jasper cooked dinner in his flat:  2
• Times ordered out for food, or ran out to grab it and bring it back: 4
• By subtraction, dinners eaten in restaurants:  3 French, 1 Italian, 2 Japanese, 1 Greek, 12 others.
• Twice I ate haloumi, twice fish ‘n chips, twice meat pies, once a pasty.
• Pubs frequented: 5
• Bagpipers heard in Scotland:  Only 2, which was disappointing.
• Heilan Coos, seen up close: 5
• Times we were “diverted” because of traffic, closed freeways, or some other mystery: at least 3.
• Hours spent rerouting and waiting for traffic to clear: 5
• Sheep on green hillsides and in green fields: I firmly believe there are more sheep than people in Scotland. Lots in England, too.
• Foxes spied from a speeding car: 1
• Great, shaggy deer spied in the Highlands: 3
• Great, big cities walked:  2
• Train rides from Reading to elsewhere and back: 12
• Tube rides taken in London:  lots.
• Tube rides taken by mistake and had to recover from: 0. Whew.
• Episodes of The Great British Bake-Off watched: 4.5
• Faces we’re eager to see this weekend: 9+
• Especially these: