Gossip

This is the conversation Kelsie just had with her play phone. (Just Kelsie's side of it, obviously.)

"Hello? Oh hi, Barbie. You have a secret? What is it? I CAN. NOT. believe that!"

Pause to talk to me: "Mom, sorry I can't tell you what I'm talking about. It's a secret."

"Barbie? I'm back. I can't believe your secret. I cannot believe it. What's that sound? That's the sound you make when you're nervous? Why are you nervous? Because Fall just came into your house? I can't believe Fall just came into your house."

Pause to talk to me: "Mom, I want to help you with Dylan but I can't right now because I'm on the phone."

"Hello, is this still the secret girl? I have to help my mom with my little brother. Just a minute."

Pause to talk to Dylan: "Dylan, I don't want you to stand or jump on any furniture. Okay?" (meanwhile, Dylan is seeing how far he can throw his stuffed animals)

"Hello? I thought the Jonas Brothers threw slime but they didn't."

How does she even know about the Jonas Brothers? That's terrifying!! I need to nip this one in the bud. I have no idea where most of that conversation came from (slime? Fall came into your house?), but especially the Jonas Brothers. Ugh.

And Dylan just found the sugar in the pantry so I should go.

Cecilia

We cracked up to hear Kelsie singing every word to "Cecilia" by Paul Simon. It is apparently one of the regular songs they play for their preschool dance parties (that's what they do when it's too cold or wet to go outside). Except they made a few changes. Instead of "making love in the afternoon with Cecilia up in my bedroom," she sings, "making play-doh in the afternoon with Cecilia up in my playroom!" So funny.

Our Pilgrimage

We just got back from a pilgrimage to the South. Started with Betsy and Andrew's wedding in New Orleans, then to Shreveport, then to Dallas. Very fun and exhausting 10 days. Let's start at the beginning, shall we?

Like any masochistic parent would do, we started the trip by giving the kids chocolate cake at about 8pm on our first night. But hey, it's New Orleans. They can't drink yet, so we had to improvise on their gluttony:



Later that evening, I told Critter to "come drink ... and bring the baby monitor." It's a special friend who will not only not judge that kind of statement, but willingly comply. So we caught up on the balcony of the hotel while the kids slept in the next room (with the baby monitor, of course). Awesome.

Day 2 -- took the kids to the Audubon Zoo with Brandy and her oldest son, Walker, and Amanda and her new baby boy, Charlie. I don't have pictures to prove their presence, but here's one of Dylan dangerously close to assaulting a peacock:

I also missed getting a picture of the jaguar rape. (Seriously -- a horny male jaguar and a female who was NOT into him. She won, but it wasn't for his lack of trying. Thankfully, the kids didn't ask questions.) We also saw a bird show, which was pretty cool if you could get past the guy's appearance. Doesn't he look like he should be an alcoholic character in an Adam Sandler movie?


That night was the rehearsal dinner, which was really a crawfish boil. So fun. Here's what happens when we try to get Dylan to hold still (and you can also catch a glimpse of his bruised cheek and black eye):

Notice my grip on him here and how hard he's trying to escape:


Day 3 -- the St. Patrick's Day parade. It was raining. That's all I have to say about our appearances:




And the wedding! On the front porch of the Columns Hotel ...


Brian kept Dylan quiet during the ceremony by agreeing to be force fed Goldfish:

Kelsie somehow weaseled her way into being a flower girl at the last minute. So we told her she had a very important job of taking care of Betsy's bouquet during the ring exchange. Look how hard she's working:
And my personal favorite -- the bride changed into cowboy boots for the post-reception outing to Tipitinas:

The next day was a very painful and foggy drive to Shreveport, where despite hanging out with much loved and much missed friends, we only managed to get pictures of the kids soaking themselves at the playground water fountain. The other moms there were not amused, especially when Kelsie started shouting, "TAKE MY SHIRT OFF! I WANT TO TAKE MY SHIRT OFF!" We're a real class act.


My big men:

Then it was off to Dallas, where we got a real chance to relax thanks to my sister and my wonderful niece and nephew, Rachel and Chris, who were under strict orders to entertain the kids while we put our feet up. They took them to the playground, played for hours on end on the trampoline, bathed them, read to them, put them to sleep, and tolerated their piano "playing."


And we also got to reconnect with our old dog, Cali. She is so well behaved now and thriving with my sister and family. Awwwww:

Anyway, it was such a fun trip. We're still recovering, so I'm off to bed.

My little photographer

Maybe it's my mom-bias, but I think Kelsie actually has a decent eye for photography. She took all of these outside of the Columns Hotel in New Orleans:

The honesty of children

Kelsie's teacher recently had a birthday so she let the kids play a "how old is Justine" guessing game. Kelsie's first guess was 52. Later she pulled Justine aside and said she wanted to change her answer. This time she told her, "you look like you're 26. Except when you're tired. Then you look 31."

Fortunately Justine has a good sense of humor! (For reference, she's probably a few years younger than me, maybe upper 20s.)

Proud parent moment #5

This morning Kelsie came with me to get Dylan out of his crib. When I picked him up she said, "I love you, Dylan." And he responded, "I yuv you, Ketsie!" (he hasn't yet mastered the L sound) Great way to start the day.