week ending sept 7, 2008:

Week ending Sept 7, 2008: This week we took the kids to the Renaissance Festival. It was a very different experience than last year. Last year we did the elephant ride, pony ride, got their faces painted and watched the joust. This year shot they bow and arrows, watched the sword swallower, watched the jousting show, rode the giant slide, saw the rat show and Alex watched the archery show while Chloe shopped for a souvenir. Since I didn’t have to spend money on elephant rides and face paint, I told the kids they could each get a souvenir. Alex saw another boy with a sword and knew instantly that is what he wanted. Chloe had to look at everything in every shop before she settled on a head decoration with ribbons and rosettes. I had fun looking in all the shops with Chloe while Alex and Casey watched the archery demonstration. Chloe wore her Princess Jasmine costume which looks like a “harem girl” and got compliments wherever she went. Neither twin was very thrilled with the sword swallower, and Chloe got a little grossed out/upset with some of the physical comedy, so we left in the middle.

This week I signed the kids up for a soccer clinic. When Chloe signed up for ballet Alex told me he wanted to do soccer. I wasn’t enthusiastic about sitting outside in the heat, rain, cold, etc watching soccer, so I drug my feet about checking it out. With the impending onset of fall I just couldn’t ignore it any longer and signed them up for a 6 week clinic that meets for one hour per week. I can handle that! They start next week.

I forgot last week to write about taking the kids to college. When the kids ask questions about “why?” this and “why?” that, I seem to often refer to college. One day Chloe asked if she was living at college and I was living at home, who was going to cook for her, so I told her about the “restaurants” at college. The kids decided they wanted to go and see college and eat at the “restaurant” so I took them to the dining hall at UMCP. I played up how they could chose whatever they wanted to eat and pointed out the desserts, doughnuts, and sodas. We walked by the indoor pool, outdoor pool, horse barn, and library before the kids ran out of steam. It was a lot of walking so we’d sit down for frequent breaks and when we’d sit down the kids would say “tell me a story about college!” In one of the “stories” I was listing off all of the people Alex and Chloe know who went to school at UMCP. Chloe said “College is a SCHOOL?!” I couldn’t believe we’d spent hours talking about and visiting college before I’d explained that college is a school! Maybe I’m crazy for trying to sell a couple of 4 year olds on college, but it was a nice walk down memory lane.