Sharing is Not our Strength

Lately, when we go shopping, the first thing you give the girls to hold becomes the most important thing in their world. For Riley, it was this jar of peanut butter.

For Sanna, it was these bananas. She tried to sneak bites off them as we shopped. It looked gross to us but she had fun. I learned the painful lesson that you shouldnt give them something you dont plan to buy. Putting things back on the shelf is not an option once they declare it their property. We almost had to come home with a wooden snake that wiggled back and forth.

As punishment for something Laurin must have done to wrong Melissa we were left with Erin for the day. As you can see from this picture, she is very comfortable around our two terrors. They were scheming about how they could torture her so that she would never come back and divert attention away from themselves.

Riley on the rocking horse = happy. Sanna on the rocking horse = mad Riley. She tried to pull her off but I stopped the violence. She only laughed a little when I told her no in my best authoritative voice.

She took her own shirt off to bring the sexy. She is staging a gut-off right now with Grandpa.

As you can see, Riley back on the horse does not cause the same reaction from Sanna. She is the more mild-mannered (yet suprisingly devious) child.

'The Move'

Two posts in a day again! I had trouble uploading this video, so many of you are already aware of 'the move', but here you go. Sorry for the nausea-inducing camera work. The move needs to be captured at the appropriate angle. With two of them pulling it off catching it can be tough. Riley is the inventor of 'the move'. Sanna didnt want to be outdone so she jumped on the bandwagon. Its no leg trick, but what is.

Zoo, Boo!

We, along with every other family with a child under 15, decided to take advantage of the amazing weather on Sunday and went to Zoo Boo. It is basically the Zoo, but you dress up in your halloween costumes and they give out candy at a few locations. Laurin really enjoyed the crowds and trying to get our kids in and out of their strollers every time we got to new animals.

Riley saw Manny drop a running head butt on his brother, so they got together to discuss the merits of various sibling attack maneuvers. Riley assured Manny that the bite was clearly the best way to get your point across. Manny saw no reason why the two maneuvers couldnt be combined for sibling domination. Riley gave him a kiss and went on her way.

Ernesto Did not find Sanna's hugs as cute as we do. Sanna's new kicks allowed her to escape at the requisite speed. I really would have liked to see him connect with those cute little horns.

Ernesto had about enough of Zoo Boo. After chasing Sanna away he headed to the highest point in the petting zoo for a break. He had no idea of the climbing skills Sanna possesses and was only saved by our leaving the petting zoo for animals you couldnt touch.

The girls high fived to celebrate their harrassment of the goats. Riley had gathered some sweet intel from Manny and Sanna had scared off the friendliest animals at the zoo.

Thanks to strong buckles in the strollers we were able to achieve a picture with the kids sitting still for 10 seconds. Baby Sam was passed out in the stroller so he will have to wait for next years pic.

Monkeys Jumpin on the Bed

Leaf Peepin Saturday

Thats right people....two posts in one day! When it rains it pours. Check out the beautiful landscapes hidden in Indianapolis.

Without my fancy new camera, shots like this would not have been possible. I might just make it on to this blog now and again. Thank you rotating lcd screen.

Laurin thought that risking Riley's life was worth it for this shot. That tree was only about 8" wide and she used it to cross the ravine.

At least we got one baby to look at the camera in this sweet lakeside pic. Max was busy drinking the lake. Riley was looking for ducks.

Erin got super hungry on our walk and chewed through the side of this old metal drum. I really have no idea what it was. It was huge and rusty. She thought it was tasty.

I set the camera to scenery mode for this one. I think it was the right choice. Fall foliage at its best.

We finally let the girls walk for the last 100 yds. It was about 98 too many. Sanna wanted to pick up all the leaves and Riley wanted to explore the woods.

At the beginning of the walk we were all smiling. Aching shoulders and wiggling babies will wipe that smile of anyones face.

I might have to submit this one to the Talbot Street Art Fair next year. Might have to mount it on the wall for now.

Video Saturday

We have been stuck in the house due to the extreme cold in Indianapolis. So, there hasnt been much action. I am not sure what we are going to do with ourselves this winter. Here is a video of Riley having a conversation with herself and another of the girls holding hands and not violencing each other.

Now you see why we need to put them in very controlled environments. If there is any surface to climb they will find it, climb it, and maybe even stand up and jump on it. In case you were wondering, that is a 100lb weight on the floor. I had just finished about a thousand reps.

Riley took a break from putting the box on her head to try to sit in it. She thought the bigger ones were too easy.

Riley is modeling her look after her grandpas.

If we can achieve this kind of love between bitter enemies for 85 seconds I dont think world peace is far off.

New Pics in Flickr

Laurin has been with the girls in south haven this week, so I have no fun to report. It looks like they had fun without me though. See the new pics in flickr.

Pumpkin Paradise

On the way home we had to put the girls in the trunk with the pumpkins so that Melissa and Ryan could ride back with us. One of their car's wheels fell off in the farm parking lot. I understand that these are all out of chronological order, but I am too lazy to think of the way blogger uploads them ahead of time and definitely to lazy to copy and paste them back in the right order. Think of it as a fun puzzle. Like Sudoko, but way easier.

Sanna really enjoyed herself at the pumpkin patch. She ran around kissing all the pumpkins and tripping on all the vines. I wonder how far she would have gone if we let her. She might still be out there. There were a lot of pumpkins that needed kissing.

Riley wanted to reenact the scene from field of dreams, walking out into the corn. I dont think anyone would have been disappointed if she would have disappeared after her performance that day.


I forgot to throw this one in last post. This is the girls in their hot new pajamas. They say 'Paul Frank' on them like that should mean something to us. Apparently he is a big deal. Riley likes her pants jacked up high to show off her 'abs'.

Riley thought about making a break for it and heading back for the shuttle. She found the uneven terrain and large orange orbs extremely off-putting. Instead of embracing the adventure like her sister she thought acting like a wet blanket would be far more fun. She almost succeeded in ruining everyone's time if it wasnt for the willingess of her Godfather to entertain her/carry her.

This video speaks for itself and sums up our day. Riley needing to be carried. Ryan willing to enable her diva attitude. Riley gladfully being Ryan's excuse to run around like a child in the pumpkin patch.

What a Day

Shaking the money maker after riding down a slide she didnt realize include a trip through a puddle at the end. I promise that is a leaf on her butt.


Where has our children's youth gone. I almost cried looking at these pictures. She looks 14 in this one. For realz.


Sanna assured me she was more than capable of scaling the play center to ride the slide. I followed her anyway. No falls to date.


The last time we were at the park (sans camera) she hung for like 10 second. She must have forgotten her spinach on this day.

Riley looking as mature as ever. Laurin thinks it is the pants.

I thing laurin might actually approve of a picture of herself for once. I agree that this is a true winner.

Riley and her pet horse Frederico.

Shortly after arriving at our shopping destination Sanna decided she had enough. The one trick she has up her sleeve besides screaming at the top of her lungs is drenching herself in her own vomit. Well done.

You would probably guess that Riley was the one having the much better time in this video but it was Sanna who freaked out whenever we took her out of the swing.