Dialogue From the Backseat v.II and Other Trouble Tales...

Lucia's Mimi taught her a fun new game to play in the car. It involves thinking of a number and the other passengers trying to guess it (we keep it simple, nothing over 10). Carmen decided she wanted to play, so when she said "My tuurrrrn!" Lucia agreed... it went something like this:

C: I got my numbah!

L: Is it 2?

C: No.

L: Is it 7?

C: Nope

L: Is it 9?

C: Nnnnnope!

L: (lists all the numbers 1- 10)

C: Noooooo!

L: What is it?!?

C: It's L!

L: THAT'S NOT A NUMBER!

Ah that Carmen... she sure loves a good game. She also has a new one that sorta resembles a magic trick. (or twick as she would say).

C: Cwose your eyes!

Me: (eyes closed)

C: Now open your eyes!

Me: (eyes open)

C: It's chocowaaaate!

Please note: 1) the "supwise" is always chocolate and 2) no actual chocolate (or anything for that matter) has ever been produced by the magician. She just likes saying it.

Finally, today during lunch whilst I was in the kitchen I heard Carmen say, "Here you go, you can have some." (mind you, it was just me and Carmen) I turn around to see Carmen feeding Pirate's Booty to one of the kittens - who was happily licking it. I exclaimed, "Carmen no!" So she looked at me, semi-guiltily, then popped the piece of Pirate's Booty in her mouth. Lovely.

For more classic Do-Dah moments, please observe here.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Please Give a Warm Welcome to: Cash and Dazzle

Can you tell them apart? Neither can we.

We spent the long Labor Day weekend relaxing at home, preparing for the new school year and kitty shopping. Truth be told, we only went to one place and there they were -- two adorable sisters, just like ours. We hadn't intended to get all black kitties again, but the girls fell in love and then well, the rest is history. A note about the names: Lucia has always liked the name Cash (as in Johnny) and it seemed perfectly fitting given her coloring. The other name came out of left field. It was going to be Volcano for the longest time (Lava for short) then she thought that Scorpion would be a good name - - because, "like scorpions, cats walk with their tails up." Luckily, at the last minute, inspiration struck and Luce turned to Mama Mer and said, "I know, how about Dazzle?!?" Yes. Please. Anything but Volcano.
In case you're wondering, no Carmen did not get a say in the naming process. Though she has been asserting herself more and more. Case in point, today's sibling argument on the ride home from school:

C: "blah blah blah Mama Mer's towel dwess...."

L: "It is not a towel dress, it is called a robe."

C: "It's not a wobe, it's a towel dwess."

L: "ROBE!"

C (full lung capacity): "TOWEELLLL DRREEEESSSSS!!!"

I'm with Carmen on this one, I much prefer towel dress. In fact, I think I'll go trademark that now.

And August Goes Out with A Wooooosh...

See what I did there? With the hurricane Irene reference? Anyway... hot off the heels of camp the Mothers Goose decided that they needed MORE FUN in their lives and headed down to Connecticut to attend a good old fashioned state fair with our long lost friend Schindler and her adorable family. Lucia wasted no time buddying up to Annie and the two of them had a blast "fairing it up." The road trip started off a bit shaky with Carmen projectile vomiting the contents of her lunch, but luckily that was just when we were picking Mama Mer up from the office, so we had time to hose everything down... Carmen recovered from the incident quite nicely, must be all that tiger blood. Upon returning to Boston, we had another treat waiting for us in the form of another Seattle cousin visit! Jackson had a blast hanging with the cousins and Carmen did her best to "use her words" with him. "No Jackson, I don't wike dat!" was heard on more than one occasion. Luckily, we had the beach with the pre-Irene waves to keep us all busy and tuckered out.

Show Us Your Camp Face!

Show us your camp face VV!

Show us your camp face Carmen!

Show us your camp face Leary sisters and Uncle B!

Show us your camp face Mama Fran!

Whew, I think that covers it. In case you haven't figured it out, we had yet another wonderful week at camp experiencing age old traditions like floating on giant plastic creatures and solving some new mysteries, like why they call this Sneaker Rock. Even when the weather turned a little rainy for a day, our spirits were not dampened...not one bit. All in all, a great week, with great food and drink and the best family money can buy, er hope for.

Graduation is Really a Four Letter Word...

In what will surely be the first a long string of emotional graduation ceremonies (well, emotional for the Mothers Goose anyway), we watched our eldest daughter graduate from her amazing family-based daycare after 4 short, yet monumental years. After getting over her bout of depression ("I don't wanna graduate!"), Luce glommed onto the concept that she was a "big girl" moving on to "big girl school." Meanwhile, I've been a veritable train wreck of emotion... sigh.
Not to be outdone on the big changes front, Carmen also reach a significant milestone... and decided to sing about it (incidentally, Luce thinks this video is HIGHlarious). Annnnd speaking of goofballs, we have certainly kept ourselves entertained with various ways to beat the heat this summer - some more traditional than others.

Where Have You Gone Sadie Tom Brady Tedy Bruschi??

Ok, so I think I know where she's gone... gone, gone, gone. It has been a week since we last saw her and I've come to terms with her untimely departure. Not that anyone else has - the kids have yet to notice (and I fear when they finally do) and Mer claims to "have never slept better." Ok, fine. Well, I'll miss you lil kitty... it was a fun 9 years (we got her right after the first Pats Super Bowl, can you tell?). She really was a good sport, most of the time.
On a lighter note, the Mothers Goose enjoyed another fun 4th in Vacationland with the standard issue parade and birthday celebration. We even motivated to "walk the earth" and visited lots of fun fairy houses and built one of our own.  Next time we'll bring blueprints.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year...

You *know* it's a party when these things get dusted off and hauled up to Maine (the accordions, not the relatives). I had some uploading glitches with Google's Piccasa (ahem He and Ho), so sorry for the backdating... but family reunion was in June and I have a lot of catching up to do! Despite the dismal weather, it was a glorious week on the lake, and a little rain or 51 degree temps weren't going to dampen our spirits - - or swimming. We made the best of things by rocking out, drinking a lot, acting silly, and eating our faces off. Lucia also provided some entertainment with a puppet show - a full (well, pretty close) production of the Wizard of Oz... luckily she had some non-union crew there to lend a hand. All in all, a pretty great week - oh, and did I mention we also got to watch THE BRUINS WITH THE STANLEY CUP!?!? Woo to the hoo.
Although family reunion is a tough act to follow, we finished up the month with more good times including birthdays with old (now older) friends and strawberry eating, er, picking. Whew, can't wait to see what July has in store!