But He's A Daddy!

So the other day I am picking up my kids from school and driving home. On the way there is a railroad crossing and often times the gates are down and the trains are going in and out of the city. Peyton especially enjoys this as one of her early words was choo choo! Anyway, this day we get stopped by the train and we are waiting for it to pass. I notice it's getting closer and then i notice this guy on the other side of the tracks starting to run across them to beat the train. This could be bad I thought. The train is close and this guy could get run over right before my kids' eyes. So I turned it into a lesson.

"Austen," I said, "Never, ever, run across the tracks when those gates are down." Of course I was thinking how many times as a kid I would hear the gates go down and my friends and I would run to the tracks as fast as we could to put a penny on them so the train would flatten it.

It seemed like Austen was listening to me so I followed up with, "If the train hits that guy, he'll never see his mommy or daddy again!" To which Austen replied, "Mommy, but he is a daddy!" Meaning he is old enough to be the daddy. So I changed tactics. Okay, that guy is never going to see his little boy again if he gets hit. Silence in the backseat. I think he got it. I only hope he doesn't learn how trains can flatten pennies when he's older.

Peace, Love and Lobstah

No that's not a typo - that's how you say (maybe not spell) lobster in New England where we just spent five great days. The trip started off a little shaky with a canceled flight and an automatic rebooking through Dallas. Good news was I hadn't left my house yet and the kids were still sleeping. I let them sleep a little longer, worked the phone with American Airlines and was able to get us a morning flight into Hartford, Connecticut - a relatively easy drive into the Boston area. There was no way I was doing a connection and one that took me southwest before I could go northeast! I wouldn't do that without kids, there was no way I was doing it with them!

Flight out was pretty routine. We bought Peyton a seat this time but she still didn't fall asleep. Met up with my cousins for dinner and then Friday it was off to my aunt and uncle's place in Maine. We swam in the lake and Austen got to drive a boat!




Saturday we headed to the beach where I bought Austen his very own boogie board (thanks papa for taking it home for us in you car).



Sunday we hit downtown Lexington for a little shopping and walking.



Then we headed to my favorite ice cream store that I always have to go to when I'm in town - Friendly's.



Monday we headed home and reminisced about the great food, great times and of course our great family who were happy to have us even if it meant more work for them!

New Words

Peyton has been talking up a storm. I don't remember Austen being this verbal at this age. I mean what other 18 month old says ambulance? Since we live in the city, we hear a lot of sirens and sure enough Peyton hears them too and says ambulance! And, it's pretty clear.

Today, I said the word yellow and she repeated it perfectly after I said it. She might not be able to point out the color but she sure mastered saying that color when Austen just started saying it correctly 6 months ago!

Other new words is her switching from mama and dada..she now calls us mommy and daddy. She's pretty good at saying Adler too and calls her brother "Austey."

She still won't say her own name though so we are working on that since she loves to say all the other kids' names in her class. Speaking of school, here are a few photos of Peyton in action at Montessori.



Peyton peeling an orange at her seat.



Getting into a rythym.



Showing some love.

What is a !@#?

So about a week ago we are driving in the car and me being the typical front seat driver that I am was telling Tom (who was driving) that he should have gone a different way to get us to our destination a lot quicker.

Tom being rather annoyed at me for once again trying to tell him how to drive was being rather obstinate in not following my directions. So I did what every wife does and told him to quit being a pain in the ass!

To that, my four and a half year old pipes up in the back seat and says "Daddy, you are a pain in the ass!" And then..."Mom, what's a pain in the ass?"

Tom and I immediately dissolved into quiet, uncontrollable laughter that we didn't want Austen to see. We were laughing so hard that both of us had tears streaming down our faces in the front seat!

Leave it to kids to diffuse any parents' arguments with the funny things they say and repeat.

It's America's Birthday!

Today we woke up to celebrate America's birthday. How else do you explain the 4th of July to your 4 year old? I told him everyone is having a party to celebrate America's birthday and a lot of places are having special parades.

We started off the morning by walking around our neighborhood and then driving to a parade in a suburb we wish we could afford to live in! Let's just say sitting on the curb with these beautiful houses lining the streets with shady trees was a little piece of Americana. Starting off the parade were a ton of fire trucks and ambulances. Peyton said ambulance too...what other 18 month old can say ambulance? She's very verbal that kid! The kids enjoyed the show even though the trucks were loud and when they honked their horn, I thought they were going to burst into tears but they brought themselves back from the edge.

Austen liked the "girls flipping" - they had girls tumbling and doing backflips. Peyton was mesmerized by it all and even started dancing when she heard some music playing. I never was one for parades but I definitely enjoy seeing my kids react to them. Just for that I'll go every year until they are big enough to tell me, "Parades are boring mom!"