Hide and Seek

Sophie loves playing hide and seek, but she hasn't yet gotten her head around some of the subtler nuances of the game. Like the part about hiding. And seeking. Therefore, she makes up her own versions.

Version #1:
She hides while I count, and when I say "Ready or not, here I come!" she starts yelling "Come find me! I in da closet, come find me!" and doesn't stop until the sound of her voice leads me directly to her secret location.

Version #2:
She "hides" right in front of me (ie, under a pillow or blanket or sometimes just by covering her eyes) and then commands, "Go find me! Look in da closet, and under da table, and then find me here and say 'Surprise!'"

We played both versions today. During version #1, I followed her voice and discovered this.
Then we played version #2, where I "found" her in this spot over and over and over again. For me, the repetition is torturous. By about the fourth go-around, I'm ready to wave the white flag. For her, the routine never gets old. Case in point: here's a pic of her after being discovered in the exact same spot, the exact same way, for the tenth time.
While the game drives me crazy, at least there's a substantial reward. I mean, seriously. Just look at that smile.

Geneva, OH

Ah, vacation. We have been blessed twice this month, and it has been glorious.

Just returned from Geneva, Ohio, where we spent a fantastic week with the Dippel family. The town is almost exactly halfway between Chicago and New York, near the Pennsylvania border. This is our third year meeting up for a week of fun, and we all agreed that this house and location were definitely our favorite. The house was all one level, so no steep stairs for the kids (or slightly inebriated parents) to navigate. The layout was very open, complete with four big bedrooms, a nice kitchen, comfy living room, and a large square table perfect for gaming. But the best part was the backyard, which had tons of running space for the kids, a covered picnic area, large grill, fire pit with lounge chairs, and gorgeous trees (even a little peach tree) made for climbing. To us city dwellers, the yard was a slice of heaven.

The towns of Geneva and Geneva-on-the-Lake were small but charming. We went to the beach at Lake Erie; took the kids to Adventure Town for a day of arcading, merry-go-rounding and go-karting; checked out some of the local shops, including a great ice cream place (caramel cashew! dark chocolate peanut butter!) and a candy store filled with obscure treats and treasures from our childhood (slo pokes! goo goo clusters! bb bats! charleston chews! clark bars!); and devoured a yummy meal at the Honeybee diner for the unbelievable cost of $45 for all eight of us. The Mathews family discovered the ipad (thank you Claire for sharing), Sophie and Maggie solidified their friendship, and Emma and Charlotte deepened theirs. Mostly, we relaxed during the day and played games late into the night. We tackled Agricola, 1960: The Making of a President (my favorite), Puerto Rico, Age of Steam, Battle Line, No Thanks, some Hollywood game that was really fun but whose name is escaping me right now, and many hands of Tichu. Favorite memories include:

• Watching the kids just be together - from tree acrobatics to picking peaches to water gunning to watching "The Brady Bunch" (which Em kept calling "The Bratty Bunch" by mistake) to snuggling in the same bed with the Nintendo DS to running around the house playing hide n seek and monster and anything else that popped into their heads. My absolute favorite memory is of listening to the oldest three snoring quietly together after finally giving in to sleep. Very few disagreements + lots of giggling = total lovefest.
  
• Claire running madly around the carousel, trying desperately to keep up with the girls and looking absolutely adorable.
  
• PIE! Apple crisp, very berry, peach, apple cinnamon. All homemade, and all divine.
• Listening to Chris D. read the Powerpuff Girls comic book as a bedtime story and sing the theme songs to "Eight Is Enough," "Family Ties" and "Alice" as lullabies.
  
• Claire and I doing our we-just-won-Tichu! happy dance while the boys glowered.
• Watching Chris D. proudly play with his pieces.
• Claire judging a beauty contest for the girls' My Little Ponies.
  
• The boys going out for supplies and returning with fake mustaches on.
• Claire's odd, frequent and hilarious use of the word "awkward." (ie, "My [insert body part here] just fell off." "Oh. That's awkward.")
• Sharing stories and advice about the joys and challenges of raising feisty, bright, emotional, independent, complex, radiant girls.
  

Chris and I gained at least five pounds (oh, who am I kidding? it's probably closer to 10) and are totally sleep-deprived, but we had a hell of a time. As always, it was so hard to say goodbye. We managed to hold our emotions in check, but I was pushed over my edge upon returning home after seven torturous hours on the road and hearing Sophie utter simply, "I need Claire." I promptly went upstairs, shut myself in the bathroom and had a good little cry.

Chris, Claire, Charlotte and Maggie: dear friends, we will miss you more than you can know.

And now...back to the real world. But first, some pics.

Michigan on Video

We are off to Ohio on our second vacation of the month, but we'll leave you with this video collage of our time in Michigan until our return.

Musical Mathews Sisters

Cadillac

We just enjoyed a much-needed vacation in Cadillac, Michigan. We literally drove out of the city immediately after my last matinee, and I could feel myself breathing a little steadier with every mile we put behind us. All of my immediate family was in attendance - 12 of us in all. We've never done anything like this before, and I think we were all a little nervous to see how the week would go. But, amazingly, we all got along really well and had the best time. In fact, we are already discussing next year.

The house we stayed in was a tad small for all of us, but it had a beautiful back deck. We even had our own little beach for a backyard! There was also a fishing pier, fire pit and boat. The kids were in heaven. Whenever possible, they were in the water. Mostly, the girls just loved being with their cousins. Emma caught her first fish, and the week passed by in a blur of s'mores, swimming, corn hole, go-karts, miniature golf, bumper boats, beaches, movies, and divine relaxation. Here are some photos...

Every Day Is A Song

My girls really enjoy singing. Like, a lot. We literally have singalongs every day in this household. Here are some scenes from yesterday.

And here is Emma's debut as a videographer. Apparently, she took this when I was out of the room. I discovered the footage when downloading content off the camera. Nothing much is going on, but it really cracks me up. Love the feet.

Go Dog Go

Lately, it feels like the girls spend the majority of their time together fighting. About what, you ask? You name it. Sophie draws a dot on Em's picture, and the world ends. Sophie hits Emma, and the world ends. Sophie takes Em's toy away, and the world ends. Starting to see a pattern here? Oh, yes. Our two-year-old has discovered the many joys of antagonizing her big sister. Sophie absolutely revels in sending Emma over the deep end. And part of me is like, who can blame her? Em's buttons are so very easy to push, and her emotions are so very easy to manipulate. How gratifying Sophie must find Emma's predilection toward extremes. It's all one big game to Sophie, and the bigger Em's reaction, the more Sophie wants to play. Asking a toddler to resist that kind of entertainment is like waving a bone in front of a puppy and then expecting him not to bite. But while the behavior may be understandable, it's absolutely exhausting to the person forced to mediate their constant squabbles. I'm usually (literally) throwing my hands in the air and shouting "That's IT! I am DONE! Kill each other for all I care!" before lunch rolls around.

Thankfully, the girls still experience brief, shining moments of harmony...just enough to keep us all sane. Here is one of those moments - Em reading to Sophie tonight before bedtime.