Saturday, March 31, 2012

Hunting of the Egg

Our church does a big egg hunt every year.  They have something like 600 kids that participate (it’s crazy), but they use the toddler playground, which is blocked off, for everyone under three.  It’s great because they just keep throwing more eggs in front of the kids; the hunt is pretty…  unsportsmanlike.  Piper, of course, loved it because she knew just what to do. 

Well, she knew just what to do in the sense of picking up the eggs.  Once she figured out that there was candy inside, though, we lost her…P1130668

She missed the lesson on picking up the next egg before you open the first one.  I think she would have been happy to find an egg, sit down, open it, eat the candy, and then move on.P1040421

Addy was happy to sit in the gravel.  P1130651

Once Piper got moving, she did really well! 

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Addy?  She was happy to sit in the gravel.

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Piper found a stash of eggs and was even double-fisting them into her back (with sound effects, of course).

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And while she was doing that?  Addy was…  sitting in the gravel.

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It was fun this year because Piper was showing some of the other kids what to do. 

And she made out like a candy bandit.  In part because she filled up Adalynn’s basket when hers got full.  She’s a good big sister like that…

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

World Down Syndrome Day

March 21 (3/21) is World Down Syndrome Day.  Ya know, three copies of the 21st chromosome- aka Down syndrome.

Every year, Children’s Hospital has a great big shindig to celebrate the day.  But the last few years, the hospital has been on “lockdown” for anyone under 16 during flu season.  This year, since the season wasn’t as bad, it was open to everyone!

I took the chance to take the girls (figuring it may be a few more years before we’re able again) to see what it was all about.

As luck would have it, both girls took extra long naps (HOW does that always happen?  I mean, really…) so we were a little late getting there.  We did get there, though, just in time to enjoy the cupcakes…P1130610

…goodies… P1130614(Piper found out who she could talk out of their things, and then decided that the free frisbee would work for her to carry them on. Smart girl. A mooch, but smart…)

music… dancing…  The good stuff.P1130615

How cute are the little munchkins up front?  Piper has a serious crush on the little dude in the blue sweatshirt.  It’s bordering on embarrassing…

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Because of all the fun, you can see how thrilled Piper was when I made her sit still in front of the big sign.  P1130623

I tried…  I tried really hard to get a picture of both girls in front of the sign.  My mom got the only good one:  http://quiltybitsnwhatnots.blogspot.com/2012/03/happy-world-down-syndrome-day.html 

I think we’re so very fortunate to receive medical care from a facility that celebrates our kids, their accomplishments, and their value and worth in such a big way!

Friday, March 16, 2012

Addy Helps Herself to Lunch

I met an old coworker and her little girl at the park so that our girls could get out and play.  We found a nice little spot under the big trees to lay our blankets; Addy was happy to sit and enjoy the scenery.P1130597

But it was a big playground, and Piper got frustrated because she couldn’t do the funny steps to get up to the slide.  They were those “lily pad” kinds of things- she’s just too short to reach from one to the next.  So I left Addy on the blanket and helped Piper get down the slide a couple of times. 

I, of course, had an eye on Addy the whole time.  But I couldn’t stop laughing when I saw this from a distance:P1130603

She was emptying our lunch bag one piece at a time.  And since she’s my child of “I won’t eat it if I don’t wanna,” her interest in our food was pretty astounding.P1130607

She was a little surprised when she saw that I had snuck up on her.P1130605

I think she thought she’d cure her naughtiness with a peace offering.  I assured her that she and she alone like rice rusks.P1130606

And then she found the goldmine.  Piper’s sandwich.  Apparently I’m such a good cook, it tasted good even through the sack.  I’m sure you’re jealous that you’re missing out on my culinary prowess.  P1130609

Piper, for the record, was none to thrilled having to eat a baby-spit infested, mushed up sandwich for lunch…

Time for the P-Rade!

When we were kids, my mom would always take us downtown for the St. Patrick’s Day parade.  It’s HUGE.  I remember once getting to ride in a wagon pulled by Burmese mountain dogs.  It used to be a big Denver thing, but now, now it’s super huge.  Biggest on this side of the Mississippi.  And because we had record high temps and gorgeous sunshine this year, I think they said there were 25,000 people walking in the parade, and somewhere in the 300,000 range for attendance.  It was insanely chaotic.  This was where we were- and we were at the end, in the less “populated” section.  DSCN3694

I, admittedly, hadn’t figured that it would be this crazy.  It has, afterall, only been about 20+ years since we went last.  I guess things change.  People were camped out for 5 or more hours for the prime seating areas.  We got there about 20 minutes before it started.  Yikes.

But, all was well, and after we got the double stroller (cripes) stuck behind the group of people, we actually got decent seats.  Piper hang out with Dad, and Addy and I took a spot on the ground down front.         DSCN3688

We knew the parade was finally starting (it takes a long time for it to get to the tail end of the route when it’s a few miles long…) when the Marine’s came by.  Daddy made sure that the girls saw them, ‘cause you sure can’t miss the Marines!DSCN3690

They had folks giving out green beads and green rubber ducks, along with candy (obviously.)  Problem is that they aren’t allowed to throw candy any more (good grief- really???), so it had to be handed to you.  And guess who got all the goods?DSCN3705

I ended up giving stuff to the girl next to us because her mom was getting irritated that they weren’t paying attention to her daughter.  Addy is fairly adept at catching the eyes of people and coercing them to giving her stuff.  This could be potentially problematic as she gets older, but in the meantime, I’ll enjoy the candy she, ahem, lets me have…

After all the fun (and Piper oohed and awed over the horses, tons and tons of dogs, big trucks…), we went inside to the train station to go potty.  The big seats were perfect grounds for Addy to stretch her legs after no being allowed any free roaming for the morning.

And I also, miraculously, got a few sweet pictures of the girls together.

They were fading fast at this point, so we were off to find something to eat for lunch.

We were going to grab something quick down there and then head back to the car (we parked a couple miles away), but since the crowds were overwhelmingly large (and growing by the minute, it seemed, with people who used the St. Patty’s holiday to act like idiots…), we just headed back to the car.

And then I had an epiphany.  It was a holiday, right?  And on holidays, you get to treat yourself.  So, we stopped at the little ice cream stand and had ourselves a yummy lunch.  Once Piper learned what we were doing, her drowsiness subsided.  It did take the promise of sugar, however, to get her to open her eyeballs more than this:

Addy needed no help pushing past the sleepiness.  As if that was a surprise.

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Piper enjoyed her very own cone.  And Addy?  Addy thought this was the best thing for lunch ever.

Monday, March 5, 2012

Why We Love Spring

The slide-March

Things to climb-March1(as a side note- I canNOT believe that my child climbed up this!  So proud!)

Swings-March2

Ducks!March3

Running, running, running, of course…March4

…and discovering with Nana.P1130539

My favorite part?

The pigtails.  Oh, the pigtails…

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