North Carolina Austins: August 2010

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Harlem Globetoddlers

We've been hoopin it up a little these last couple of days. Libby can stand up on her own and has even taken one step a couple of different times. Then she falls down because she gets her arms going up and down and gets so excited.

They're even dressed in the globetrotter red, white, and blue.

Num Ber One

Number Twos doing Num Ber One

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Summer teeth and worlds of fun

Summer cute, and summer not.

But we do have four now, so let the chomping begin!

Daddy was in the mood to feed Maggie's obsession with space, so we picked up some model rockets. This is something that Rob enjoyed when he was growing up, and he was surprised that I have never seen these before, growing up with 3 brothers of my own. I told him that my brothers spent their money on baseball cards and Starting Lineups.

So Maggie and Daddy put the rocket together and painted it, and blasted it off into space, never to be seen again. So it was fun, then she cried.

Grandma and GB hooked Maggie up with a giant Earth sprinkler last time we were up to visit. The sprinkler also doubles as a ginormous beach ball of fun.

We had snoballs earlier, hence the blue goatee on Atlas.

Hamburgers and corn on the cob, a first for Libbers.

Friday, August 6, 2010

Who needs the zoo...

when you've got Petsmart?!?!?!

When it comes to free entertainment, you can't beat the doggie daycare at Petsmart.

I wonder how much it is for two-legged creatures that drool and whine and sometimes pee on the floor?

When we stopped to look at all the CUTE kittens they had today, Maggie says to one of them, "Sorry, we can't take you home. My dad says we can only have one kitty, and we already have Griz."

We threw out the slip and slide a couple of days ago. I have learned that when you actually put bathing suits on for such an occasion, it actually takes away from most of the fun.

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Comin round the mountains

The Austins took a road trip this past weekend, heading west to the mountains of North Carolina. Here we are at the start of our little mini vacation.

We stopped in Greensboro on the way, to check out the children's museum. LOTS of fun to be had there. I'm thinking this picture would be more appropriate if Maggie was a backseat passenger in the police cruiser.

Baking bread (they didn't have donuts!)

Libby pounding drums on stage. (Maggie was back stage trying on all the beautiful princess costumes.)

Piston Cup, here I come!!

Not a space shuttle, but piloting an airplane might come a close second.

The only thing that can make my children seem little.

We took this little trip because Rob had a hop farm tour to speak at on Saturday. We hit up a few local breweries and the girls and I checked out the first farm. Then I took the restless natives exploring. We found a little street festival in downtown Waynesville that had some crafts for kids to do, and Maggie got her face painted like a kitty. After Daddy was finished with his work, we walked around downtown Asheville a little, and wanted to check out "Splashville", a play area with water squirting around. They had the fountains off because there was a little out door concert about to start, so we did some dancing on the lawn instead.

Sunday, we went down to Boone to check out Tweetsie Railroad. The kids really had a great time, the weather was perfect, there were no lines for the rides, and the funnel cake was ~~funamenal~~ phenomenal.

Maggie. Valley.

Libby's favorite ride.

We watched a couple of shows. The first one was some can-can girls in a saloon. Maggie got very upset because she couldn't go on stage and dance with them. Luckily, we found another show with the world famous Tweetsie cloggers. They invited the kids up to dance on stage at the end of their show. You can see a little bit of the can-can influence in Maggie's performance.

(still trying to work on getting the video to work...sorry)

On our way back to Apex, after a night in the best hotel room ever!

"Mommy, this place has a Mickey Mouse bathtub!!!"

Actually, it was a red, heart shaped tub, pretty much smack in the middle of the room. Awesome. I definitely recommend the LaQuinta Inn in Boone. Room 300 in particular.

Notable Quotables

Libby and I had steal cut oats for breakfast this morning.

me: Do you want bananas on yours? I'm having bananas on mine.

Lib: No. I want honey on mine. I like honey. I like honey on Scottish biscuits.

me: What's a Scottish biscuit?

Lib: You know, you put them in the toaster.

me: English muffin?

Lib: Yeah, that's it.

Libby does a lot of singing. We are currently stuck on Katy Perry's Roar album. Back when we used to be able to listen to the radio on the way to school, she'd have great comments on the lyrics to songs.

You know that song- "I'm never gonna dance again, guilty feet have got no rhythm..." Then it goes, "Should've known better than to "cheetah" friend", and she laughs and says she wishes she had a cheetah friend.

Another time, she commented that "you really can't rock and roll all night, but you could party every day."

And finally, if you know Libby, you know she has a little 'lovey' monkey that she has slept with every night of her life. We were listening to The Beastie Boys, Brass Monkey, and there's a line, " wherever we go, we bring monkey with us". She thought that was great, "Hey Mommy, me too!"

This afternoon, we were over at Grandma and GB's. Libby asked Grandma is she'd get "that cat fun dip" out.

As the new holiday tradition of Chenekah was being established, we were trying to come up with a 'theme song' or Chenekah carol. Maggie was getting impatient with our singing, and shouts out, "Oh for Christ's Cake! Let's just open the present!" The baking of the Christ Cake....and another Chenekah tradition begins!

At the dinner table, both girls like to have a chance to say their own special blessing. Tonight, Libby was especially thankful. "Thank you, God, for Daddy's favorite (dinner), and the beans. And all my family. And the napkins. And money. Amen. And the Steelers."

Libby just came up to me and said, "Mommy, I want to go somewhere else." And I asked, "where would you like to go?"

"To my bed."

Almost 3 years old, and a good hour before the usual bedtime!

I'm sure every mother can sympathize with my lack of alone time in the bathroom. I was getting into the shower this morning and Libby says,"Whoa. You have big boobies." I smile politely. Then she continues, "They look like meatballs!"

Age 2 1/2

Maggie received an invitation to a birthday party for one of her friends from preschool. The next day in school, all the mothers were hanging around the classroom getting ready for a field trip to the park. As the teacher was trying to quiet everyone down and get the morning started, Maggie calls out to her friend, "Hey Nathan! I'm a big fan of that Chucky Cheese party!"

Age 5

I usually buy generic diapers, or if I happen to find a good deal, we get the Huggies brand with Mickey Mouse on them. Recently, I bought the Pampers with Sesame Street gang print. I put one on Libby last night and she says, " I see Elmo. Who's those guys?" Before I could answer, she asks, " Nerdy and Bert?"

At the $2 movies watching the beginning of Puss in Boots, where they show an intriguing 'fiesta del fuego' somewhere in Spain. Maggie says, "Don't they have fun in Mexican?!?!"

Libby, dressed in her Steelers gear, about to eat some playoff snacks, starts singing to the tune of "O Christmas Tree"...

"Oh chicken wing, oh chicken wing!" Jan.2012

The girls were hanging around on the diving boards at the pool while some bigger kids were throwing a football and catching it as they went off the boards. The lifeguard asked them to not throw the ball with the little kids around. Maggie marched up on the board and said, "I'm all bigged up! They must be talking about Libby." One of the 12ish year old boys got a real kick out of that.

"Is that Annie all grown up?", Maggie asked as we turned the channel to the movie Napolean Dynamite.

Maggie: "Some Daddys have hair, and some don't."
Mommy: "My Daddy has hair."
Maggie: "Only the sticking up kind, like this." (motioning wild hair)
Daddy: "Does my Daddy have any hair?"
Maggie: "Only just a little bit, right by his ears."

"If there's another Maggie in this country, I'll just change my name to Pam"

I asked Maggie what happened to the head band that she was wearing when she went to school one morning. She told me it broke. I asked her if she lost her temper, and she replied, "Mommy, I think I lost all of my tempers!" Like mother, like daughter.

Maggie overheard me make a comment to Rob about it being a great Saturday afternoon for tailgating. A couple of hours later she says, " I think I want to do some tail getting." I asked her what that entails, and she replied, " You sit right here in the grass and wait for your tail to grow."

"Mommy, will you tell me about that sign that has a nortado on it?" Maggie, 3 1/2

"Those aren't farts...those are rockets!" Maggie, 3 1/2

"If you kiss with your head this way (tilted to one side) that means you're in love." Maggie, age 3

"Is heaven a rectangle state?" Maggie, age 3

"It's great packer snow out there, I'm going to make a big, big big, big fat snowman". Maggie, age 2

North Carolina Austins