refreshment in the form of a picnic

What's a Mama to do when the day's been hot, the children have been cranky, and supper sounds like so-much-work?

A picnic!

With a no-cook picnic packed in a shopping bag, we headed to meet Daddy for dinner al fresco. (Picnics on Stanford's campus are one of our new favorite things. Dinner or lunch --- both are entirely enjoyable. A highlight of our week, even. Perhaps sometime we'll try breakfast.)

It was a perfectly refreshing spot. Watching the water and the clouds made us feel calmer. And just as we arrived, the evening breeze picked up -- natural air-conditioning for our meal.

We parked ourselves -- all five of us -- on the edge of the fountain. There were people swimming in the fountain (ah, students), but we settled for dangling our feet while we munched on sugar snap peas, carrots, strawberries, raspberries, and rotisserie chicken. Indy didn't eat much of that stuff, but he did dip his feet, too.

We ate. The girls ran about. We splashed a bit more. And as the light began to fade, we left, satisfied with our supper, refreshed by the water, and pleased with the pleasant end to the day.

Our Two is now two!

We celebrated our sweet Madeline's second birthday this weekend! She'd been looking forward to her "bert-day part-ee" for some time. . . And there are few things that excite our girls like the news of a party, even if it's only a family party!

Madeline's birthday banner was meant to hang outside, but the wind wouldn't cooperate.

We marked the second anniversary of Madeline's arrival with a bubble party. Nan lent us her bubble machine (because a Nan has marvelous contraptions like bubble machines) and that, along with a variety of bubble wands, made our little backyard a bubble extravaganza for our three and their younger cousin!

Madeline raced right in!

Kathleen loved the biggest bubble wand.

And Indy seemed happy to watch the festivities.

Eventually, we moved indoors for supper and gifts. Madeline couldn't wait to begin reading her new Richard Scarry book.

All of the gifts made Madeline delighted. She wore her new, homemade "2" shirt (a bit of a family tradition) with pride . . . along with a new backpack. And although she could nearly fit inside that backpack, she wore it all evening.

Testing, testing. . . Is this thing on, people?

When we'd asked Madeline what kind of cake she'd like for her birthday, she replied without hestitation: BIG! We did our best to accommodate her request with a nice, double layer chocolate cake. (It was Mama's first foray into royal icing for the dots and lettering.)

Somehow, somewhere along the line, we'd promised Kathleen that we could have both cake and cupcakes at Madeline's birthday. So we made cupcakes, too. Blue ones, at Madeline's request.

And since we had two birthday cakes, we had two chances to blow out birthday candles. That turned out to be a good thing, because candle-blowing wasn't exactly Madeline's strength.

Could you tell? Kathleen finally blew them out for her! Try number two:

Success! Madeline was pretty darn proud.

We can hardly believe that our sweet second-born, our Maddie Beth, is two. We are so grateful to God for this little girl -- for her snuggles and spunk and vibrant personality.

Happy 2nd Birthday, Madeline! Hooray!

(If, by some chance, there weren't enough photographs in this post already, all the photos from Madeline's birthday can be found here!)

cheer, cheer...

Nan and Grandpa joined us this weekend to watch the first Notre Dame football game of the season. (They also celebrated another notable event with us, but we'll save that for later.)

We can hardly believe that it's time for football already. It feels like just a few weeks ago that summer stretched out in front of us, promising long lazy days and high adventure in equal proportions. Though we're loathe to bid farewell to summer, we've been looking forward to this aspect of fall. The girls have been practicing yelling "Go Irish!" for weeks. (You can hear them testing it out at the park as they slide down the big, twisty slide. Or when they're racing on the lawn. They're a little unclear on what it means, I suppose, but they yell it with gusto.) They couldn't wait to see Grandpa and show him that they were all ready...

And the season got off to the best sort of start -- a winning one! The girls had plenty of opportunities to yell "Go Irish!" and, even better, "Touchdown!"

Let's hope there's lots more of that this fall... But even if there's not, we know that Grandpa's girls will continue the tradition of cheering for the Irish. And perhaps one day, when they're practiced enough, they'll even be able to cheer the Irish in South Bend. For now, we do better with some cheering, some lunch, and then some naps. But maybe one day.

GO IRISH!

Of course, if that doesn't work, either . . . you might take a break for a snack.

Our three

Some Sunday night snuggling just before bedtime...

They're a little goofy, to be sure. But they come by it honestly. And they are so, so loved.

Observe the child in her natural habitat

Kathleen often talks about Hawaii. We think the child misses it as much as we do, which is quite a bit. She loves to pretend that she's taking a plane (or the blimp we regularly see on the airfield) to visit. She talks about her friends, Luke and Grace. She talks about the house we lived in and the playgrounds we'd visit and how we'd see geckos in the house and turtles on the beach. She sometimes talks, to our great sadness, about what she remembers from when "Daddy was away."

But it is clear that the thing Kathleen misses most about Hawaii is the beach. If we'd doubted that, any uncertainty was washed away the moment Kathleen's feet touched the sand at Baker Beach.

The day was cold. (Just look at the fog in that video!) The water was colder. And she couldn't have cared less. It was pure joy.

The little bit that got cut off the end of video is Kathleen exclaiming, "Look, Daddy, snow angels!" Maybe her enthusiasm for snow angels will help her love West Point's winters the way she loves the beach.

Maybe not.

One thing we know: we need to take this child to the beach!

Kathleen's day with the "big kids"

We mentioned previously that we're sort of sticklers about sleep. We've been that way about sleep since Kathleen arrived. (Well, to be fair, Daddy has always jealously guarded his sleep. Just ask the sisters who were sent to wake him in the morning for school. That was a dangerous assignment!) But our status as "sleep sticklers" was cemented by our second-born. Kathleen was naturally a great (nighttime) sleeper. And for a while, we thought that Madeline would grow into it. Perhaps she will. You know, when she gets to college.

For now, when Madeline misses a nap, it seriously upsets her nighttime sleep. She'll go to bed normally, but will waken and cry, unable to settle without rocking and singing and -- if she's feeling particularly ornery -- milk. And she'll do that more than once.

So, when we were planning a sight-seeing tour of San Francisco for Margaret, Matt, and Lizzy, we agreed that the daylong trek, while fun, would be too much for Madeline. But since Kathleen has largely abandoned her nap (in favor of quiet time with books or other activities), we decided that could go with her cousins and her father. Kathleen was ecstatic to be one of the "big kids." Madeline, who hates being left out of anything, would have been devastated had we not distracted her with an exciting trip to the commissary with Mommy and John David just as everyone was leaving.

The "big kids" had a great time in the city. A few highlights:

1. The crew visited Pier 39 for some shopping and photos with the sea lions.
2. The weather, while less than ideal, was at least classic San Francisco. When they visited the Golden Gate, they could barely see it. . . Maybe that means they'll come back again.
3. With some clever driving and a fair bit of luck they managed to maneuver the minivan down the crooked portion of Lombard Street. . . without having to wait in the long, long line!
4. While at Pier 39, Daddy discovered that Kathleen is "at least this tall" and, consequently, able to ride the carousel alone. Kathleen showed not the slightest hesitation in climbing on the merry-go-round and onto her own horse. When Daddy called home to tell Mama, Mama nearly cried. When did our baby get so very big?

And what trip to the city would be complete without a visit to the beach? Daddy and Kathleen took our midwestern family to Baker Beach. Although the overcast weather meant they didn't get the amazing views of the Golden Gate Bridge, no one seemed to be complaining.

And we are happy to report that both Kathleen and Madeline slept soundly that night!

Indy and the exersaucer

We recently resurrected our old friend, the exersaucer. John David has been growing by leaps and bounds and he was ready for some new entertainment.

The girls were thrilled to watch us reassemble the exersaucer. Indy's initial reaction wasn't quite as favorable.

He warmed up quickly, though. With a little instruction from his sisters, John David was completely engrossed.

We'd have tried to take a photograph without the drool, but we'll be honest -- that's not possible. John David might be the juiciest baby we've ever met. With his sisters, we didn't have much use for bibs (aside from the occasional spit-up) until we started feeding them solid food. But if we don't put a bib on our little boy, his clothes are soaked in no time! So for now, we try to staunch the drool with pacifiers and burp clothes and bibs...

Barnyard Animals in a Box

A package from Grandma Golby arrived in our mailbox last week. And in it, a barnyard's worth of animals!

We love packages from Grandma Golby, and this one was no exception. She sent a marvelous little Martha Stewart kit our way, with balloons and crepe paper pieces (stickers attached!) to make a pig, chicken, goat, cow, and other little farm critters.

Kathleen and Madeline loved making the animals. Although they needed help to peel the backs off the stickers, they were more than happy to place the pieces. (We'll admit to helping so that the animals looked like animals.) The girls were so proud of their creations!

The animals have been getting a lot of play -- the girls pretend with them, carry them around, and bat them about. We've been making the animals just one or two at a time, so we have more still to make. And that's a good thing, because the girls just beg for more!

Thank you, Grandma Golby!

A San Francisco Treat Or, of Cousins and Cable Cars and Chocolate

Our girls love to read Good Night, San Francisco at bedtime.  One of a series of books called Good Night, Our World, the little book highlights a number of the city's most famous landmarks.  (The girls also love to read Good Night, Hawaii.)  Although the girls have the book practically memorized, they've yet to visit most of places in the book.  With their cousins as our first out-of-town visitors, we were excited to introduce the girls to some of the things they've been reading for some time.

We've especially wanted to take the girls on one of San Francisco's iconic cable cars.  We'd seen the cable cars on adventures into the city, but we'd not managed to actually ride one with them.  We planned to take Margaret, Matt, and Lizzy to the city to ride the cable cars on Sunday afternoon, and we hemmed and hawed about whether or not to take the girls.  We knew they'd love the adventure, but we also knew that (since we'd begin the trip after church and after naps) it would be a late night, and we're sort of sticklers when it comes to sleep.

Eventually, though, we threw caution to the wind, loaded the circus and our visitors into two cars, and hit the road.

We arrived in the city and joined a rather long line of tourists waiting to ride a cable car.  Fortunately for us, the view from the line was pleasant, the weather was sunny and warm (particularly by San Francisco standards), and we're accustomed to making our own fun.

Madeline played a bit of peek-a-boo.

Kathleen occupied herself by jumping off the bench. She gave her sister some pointers, too.

Eventually we moved up to the front. We watched the workers turn the cable car on the giant roundabout before they loaded the passengers.

Although we'd had grand plans to sit on the outside (well, at least Daddy and Matt were excited about that plan), we wound up sitting inside the car. Inside or no, everyone was still pretty excited.  The lighting inside the car wasn't perfect for photographs, but we couldn't pass up a chance at capturing the circus all together.

Lizzy and Margaret, who were sitting on the opposite side of the car, photographed much better than we did.

And then we were off!  The girls were delighted.  And so were their cousins, we think.  We rode the Powell and Hyde line to Union Square, where we disembarked in search of some supper.  Once we'd been fed, we stood on line, waiting for a cable car to take us back to Aquatic Park, where we'd begun.

We were a bit concerned, though, when the cars that passed us seemed packed to the gills.  We were nearly despairing of squeezing onto a car (we'd already discussed how we could split up) when a particularly nice gripman stopped and, noticing the little ones, promised to get us on his car!  

He was true to his word, directing Mama and the girls to open seats.  There wasn't a seat for Lizzy, though.  The gripman took her with him instead, giving her the best non-seat in the house!  She stood right next to him at the end of the car, next to the lever he used to drive the cable car.  She got to see the sights and watch him work.

We were so excited to have found the kind gripman that we never noticed that he was actually driving a car on a different line! We'd ridden to Union Square on the Powell and Hyde line, but we rode back on the Powell and Mason. The mistake wasn't much of a problem, though -- we ended just blocks from where we'd started and we enjoyed new views.

Coit Tower

We walked just a few blocks to our evening's ultimate objective: chocolate!

We paused for a brief photograph...

And then commenced eating chocolate! The circus ordered two sundaes to share. (Clearly, we ordered at least one more sundae than we needed.) When the waitress brought the the goopy, chocolatey concoctions to our table, Kathleen quickly moved one of the treats in front of her seat. Then, looking over at her Mama, she said, "Well, Mama, since you don't have an ice cream, I'll share mine with you." We're raising some generous children...

The sundaes were extremely well received.

Full of ice cream, and tuckered out from a full day, we finally headed home.  Everyone got to bed late (late, late, late!), but we'll be savoring our sweet memories of cousins and cable cars and chocolate for a long time to come.

In case you were concerned about our children's education

We'd like to offer this as proof that we're covering all the important subjects.

We're confident that they'll be prepared to face the world.

After all, who could resist a face like this?

More fun than usual

There's been more fun than usual around the circus these days.

Why's that, you ask? We'll give you one word: COUSINS!

Aunt Margaret and cousins Matt and Lizzy are visiting from Illinois. (Cousin Ali couldn't come and we are missing her. Visit us soon, Ali!) We've been up to all sorts of fun -- running, jumping, playing, touring fun.

And -- as we discovered the other morning while Daddy and Aunt Margaret golfed at Stanford -- even the "usual" activities are more fun when you're with your cousins.

Take, for example, play dough. It's a lot more exciting to play with play dough when you can "feed" your creations to your bigger cousins. Between the four of them, they had a bustling little restaurant going.

After everyone had "eaten" their fill, we moved the party to the park. The day was sunshiny and not too hot, perfect for some playing. With Indy cheerful lounging in the stroller, parked under a bit of shade, and cousins playing on the play structure with the girls, Mama found her hands unexpectedly free. Strolling around the park, taking pictures of happy children, Mama realized the appeal of really, really big families. Three children three and under might not be so challenging if you had older, helpful children, too!

Happy to watch the playing.

Kathleen loves to "do the rings," but needs some spotting, which is hard for Mama to do while holding Indy (or carrying him in the Beco). But who needs Mama when you have cousin Matt?

Madeline, not about to be left out, insisted Matt help her, too.

Delighted with her playmates.

Cousins, you can come any time!

About Each One

Last week we packed up a light picnic supper (summer deliciousness at its best -- chicken, sugar snap peas and sweet bell peppers, fresh strawberries and juicy melon) and set out to enjoy the mild, sunny weather. We took a stroll, flew a kite, checked out a ship-themed playspace (Kathleen delighted in telling us to buckle up as we set off for imaginary destinations), and ate our supper by a pretty little lake.

We snapped only a few photos, but the ones we managed seemed to speak about their subjects...

Persistent -- Kathleen first asked to fly a kite several weeks ago. Our kite, though, hadn't survived the move from Hawaii. Daddy set about finding a new kite, a task we found far more challenging than we anticipated. Daddy visited at least five stores in the area before accepting that kites were sold out for the season. Instead he tracked one down on the internet. And then he hung in there until it actually flew, which Mama certainly didn't have the patience for...

Independent -- Madeline prefers to do things by herself. No help needed, thank you very much. This is sometimes a little awkward in public, as it can appear that we're making our toddler pull a wagon that possibly weighs more than she does. We've got to admit, though, she's a decent little packhorse.

Sweet -- We've said it before and we'll likely say it again. This little boy is just plain sweet. He sat in the stroller, flashing us the occasional grin, while his sisters played and ran around the park.

Loving -- These two have their sisterly, squabbling moments, but they do love one another. One moment they were watching their kite soar, the next they were hugging. I'm glad we caught it on film (or digits, whatever). Perhaps I'll pull it out the next time they're arguing...

A Race in Review

I've never run a race.

Well, what I mean to say is: I had never run a race.

I'd trained for a number of races, but something always kept me from actually running. (One of the things we like to say around the circus is that the best way to get a baby is to have me train for a half-marathon. Three times I've trained... and three times I've bowed out at the last minute, after discovering I was pregnant!)

On Sunday, though, encouraged by Jim and some very good friends, I finally ran a race --the Wharf-to-Wharf 10K, which began in Santa Cruz and ended in Capitola.

My friend Katie and I had agreed to run the race together. We'd meant to train together, but that never really worked out. (That, of course, is what happens when two moms of three try to coordinate running schedules.) Though we never actually ran together, we e-mailed our distances and times, and we could tell we'd be a pretty good pair.

We runners -- me and Katie and our friends Jay and Andy -- met up early, early Sunday morning to carpool to the race. (Jim had meant to run, too, but his mono made that impossible. He and the rest of the circus -- along with Andy's wife, Kylee -- would drive down to the race together, a bit later in the morning.) Katie and I were nervous. Jay and Andy, old hands at the race thing, were not.

My nervousness just got worse as we stood around, waiting for the race to begin. (Although I did get to see Jim Starling, who was also running.) As Katie and I walked toward our pace group, I thought that the whole thing had been a terrible idea. Of course, once the race actually started, my nerves subsided. We walked along in the giant pack until it thinned out, and eventually we began to run. (The first mile took us twenty minutes -- it was a lot of walking!) And everything after that was great:

• The course is gorgeous. Definitely hillier than my training runs, but gorgeous, nonetheless. The views of the ocean were amazing. It really is a shame I don't get to do all my runs in a similar setting.
• I had no idea that there'd be so much jockeying for position. I zigged and zagged all over! I'm not a particularly aggressive person, but I had to work hard to find a good space to run.
• The runners were fun. At various points, we ran alongside Elvis, Batman and Robin, and a nine-year-old who totally kicked my butt.
• There were bands all along the way -- cover bands, groups of drummers, folks playing recorders, and even bagpipers. Seriously, bagpipers.
• I discovered (thanks to Katie) that I actually run hills faster than I run on the flat. I honestly hadn't realized that. All I know is that I want to get the hills done. Sorry, Katie.
• Something about it being a race made the six miles go much faster than they have before. We were done before I realized it!

The runners! Just for clarity, Indy did not run. He's big, people, but he's not that big! (Picture courtesy of Katie Chen.)

The real heroes of race-day, though, were Jim and Kylee. As they were driving the circus to the race, Madeline threw up. (We should've known that the girls were under the weather, as they'd had a terrible night's sleep the night before.) Though lesser folk would have turned back, they forged on. Kylee (who, by the way, is pregnant, which makes this all the more amazing), helped clean up our poor little girl as Jim kept barreling down the highway. Then they fought crowds to meet us on the beach. And they even seemed cheerful about it.

The circus, post-race. Check out Madeline's ensemble: that's Mama's t-shirt and her sister's sweatshirt. It figures that the day someone got sick was the day I failed to pack a change of clothing for my bigger girls.

We'd intended to spend the day on the beach with our friends, but circus knows when to cut its losses. We let the girls play in the sand for a bit and then we headed home. We didn't get the day on the beach, but it was a good day nonetheless. (We went home and watched a Disney movie, because that's what you do when you're sick. Or at least, that's what you do when you're sick at the circus.)

Oh, and it's not the last you've heard of the circus and races. We're already plotting our next one!