Some Way Cool Dudes

Ryan and the girls at the Museum of Natural History

Happy Father's Day to two great guys- Ryan and my dad. OK- and my father-in-law although I don't have a good picture of him to share here. I have to say (and I really am not trying to kiss up since neither my dad nor Ryan read Pinkerbelle) I think dads are an under-appreciated commodity. Thank god the girls have Ryan in their lives. He keeps it real. He's willing and able to deal with all of their peculiarities but adds a distinct dose of masculine perspective into most proceedings. And I know the girls love him for it. If it weren't for Ryan, neither Izzy or Lottie would have any idea of who Sherlock Holmes was or how to scramble an egg properly.


My dad and grandkids

As for my dad, well, this picture probably says it all. He's a pretty quiet person but with lots of good humor and a distinct willingness to be bossed around by his wife, three daughters, and two granddaughters. Maybe someday he'll revolt, but we're glad he's on our side now.

Our father's day weekend didn't turn out quite the way we were expecting or hoping. The weather in NY did its best to make everyone miserable. It was humid, sticky, and raining pretty much from the moment we arrived to the moment we left. This was all the more disappointing since we arrived equipped with beach umbrella, bathing suits, towels, sunscreen, tennis rackets, and bike helmets. A weekend outdoors was not to be. In a last ditch effort to entertain the girls, we went into Manhattan to the Museum of Natural History. Unfortunately, it seemed as if every other New Yorker (but most especially the obnoxious ones) had the same idea. The place was mobbed. Parents and other bystanders were crabby, lippy, and cared not to notice other people around them in their quests to get to wherever it was they were going. Funny thing is, I don't think the girls noticed. They seemed to be having a pretty good time.


Izzy and the Triceratops

Strange too was that the Ocean Hall was actually pretty tame. People were sprawled out under the whale watching a film on oceans, but they were sprawling quietly. I was impressed that we actually got Izzy into the Ocean Hall. I remember being cowed as a kid myself by the sheer size of the blue whale hanging from the ceiling.


The Natural History Museum's great Blue Whale

Most successful was our trip to the gift shop. Isabel and Lottie are now the proud owners of a jaguar and dinosaur, respectively named "Baby" and "Six." If you know my girls, you'll know whose is whose.

And so ends another weekend adventure with the Schroeder girls. They sure do love visiting their grandparents.


And that's that

Next up- a weekend away for mom and dad! (Note the exclamation point.) We're heading to Chicago for a family wedding this weekend.

Someone other than Mimi reads Pinkerbelle?

How fun-

The folks at Kidburst.com found my blog and asked for permission to post it on their website. If you are in the DC area or just visiting, give them a look-see. Great ideas for parents in the DC/northern VA area.

Happy Friday.

Girl fever

I wonder if it would be different if I had little boys. Would I be like my sister who since the birth of her sons hasn't met a motorcycle she didn't like? What if I had a boy and a girl?! I imagine I would be extremely conflicted. As it is, I have two girls. Not just any girls but two bubble gum pink girls. The purse carrying, bead wearing, high heel kind of girls. Idols in life include (in no particular order) Eloise, Angelina, Madeline, Lola, and sometimes Pinkalicious.

The funny thing is is that the more time I spend with them, the more I become like them. I spend my time lusting after Swish and Swanky posts. I mean look at the kinds of things she finds-

these coloring books:



Or this print maker:



When not lusting online, I am drawn to shops. Who wouldn't eat this kind of stuff up?



(By the way- for anyone in DC- the Kid's Closet is still having a sale on Bonnie Jean dresses...)

Or the ribboned flip-flops that the Purple Goose has right now among the other way expensive delights they boast. I mean just look- don't your teeth hurt with all the sweetness?



Izzy and I have been known to have serious conversation about wands. Where does it stop?

It's not that I don't think I can relate to a boy anymore or not that I don't secretly harbor a wish for some more blonde goodness running around- I'm also addicted to Darby Stickler's blog and think well maybe three wouldn't be so bad and I bet we could make a cute one- but could you imagine a boy in a sea of all this pink these days? I imagine, as I have threatened to do sometimes when things get too much, he would simply want to puke.

More fun on the way for the weekend. See you see!

The Weekend that Was

I'd like to say I had pictures to document our weekend adventures but alas, no pictures and no adventures. Pretty much just the standard fare of summer- pool on Friday night followed by tex-mex and the best custard outside of WI (anyone from the DC area would know I was of course talking about the Dairy Godmother). Saturday was filled with yard work, painting, and kiddie pooling in the backyard. I will get a picture of the kiddie pool soon since it is really quite delightful this year. The girls were also rather delighted to have their play house restored to a more playful area of the yard and I was delighted to have my patio back, even if there's hay still on it. (Long story involving lots of wet, yucky mud and grass seeds.) Saturday night we had dinner on the newly restored patio and were entertained by a bevy of rabbits in the lower back. Apparently the clover down there is quite tasty. We returned to the great outdoors following bath to watch for fireflies. It was just about dusk and so the viewing wasn't superb and the kids got a bit antsy, but in my mind there's nothing like a red plastic Adirondack chair on a June evening.

Sunday was much of the same except that I got into the kiddie pool myself for awhile. Yes, it's that big. A BBQ with friends Sunday night and it was off to dreamland.

Part of the hectic pace was dictated by our fun summer weekends (only so much time to fit in necessary house projects) and by my really strong desire to tackle a small kitchen upgrade. We've tried to make the kitchen more presentable by painting and swapping out the light fixtures, but we're in some serious need of more make-over. I'll post some pix this week to prove it. I am determined to do this for cheap- we're not talking a full make-over here and so I expect that the kitchen is going to occupy a lot of our time in the next few months. Alas (unless it turns out well then joy!)

Happy Monday!

No More Thunderstorms Please!

Today is Thursday and this will be our fourth day in a row of thunderstorms. I hate thunderstorms. Mainly because they turn my four years old daughter and now my two years old daughter (who absolutely must do EVERYTHING her big sister does) into snivelling piles of whiny mush. Even the most subtle rumble of thunder miles and miles away will start Isabel quaking and blurting instant demands to sleep in our bed. (Funny this since it usually happens hours before bed time is actually to occur.) Monday most of the storms were in the afternoon which wasn't too terrible to manage. Tuesday, the storms began at 5:00 AM which meant that by 5:01 both girls were in our bed telling us how much they were afraid of t-storms. Lottie just repeats "scary" over and over again. Tuesday afternoon we had a repeat which quickly curtailed our idea to inflate the kiddie pool in the backyard. Wednesday, most conveniently, the storm started just as we were putting the kids to bed, which inevitably meant that I was confined to my room surrounded by small snoring tow-heads. Thank god for my unseemly obsession with home improvement blogs these days. At least I can keep myself entertained for a little while.

Course the 'effin weathermen are predicting t-storms all the way through next Tuesday. Lovely. By that time, I might be blogging about how I've run away from home.

This weekend at the lake

Aiming not to disappoint, we were again busy with summer-y fun, this time under the guise of a visit to my mom's rental cabin on a week lake in NJ. The weather was none too promising when we left on Friday driving us inside to the cheesy delights of a NJ kid destination. This one was called the Giggle Station or something like that. It was kind of a weird amalgamation of boardwalk, climbers, and odd train, plus pizza! (sadly without the beer) but the girls seemed to like it.


Post odd train ride

Fortunately, Saturday and Sunday proved much finer weather and we got to do lots of lake activities, like playing on the wee beach and a kayak ride (a first for both Lottie and I.)


Picnic on the beach


The rowers return


Izzy keeping watch on our progress having declined a "boat ride" herself

Saturday night we visited our second carnival of the season, this time with my sister and her two sons. The highlight of this one hands down was going on the ferris wheel with Isabel. She was so delighted by the quick uptake and large, high loops. She announced that she would very much like a carnival permanently installed in her back yard.


Izzy, Lottie, and Baz on the train


Whirling Strawberries

The Longest Story Ever Told

The other night in the bath tub Isabel asked me for about the hundredth time to tell her a story about when she was a baby. Having played along for 99 times, I turned the tables on her and asked her to tell me a story. Here's what she came up with:

Isabel and Lottie were playing one day when a storm cloud with a very mean face [[face was demonstrated]] came along and tried to get them. Izzy and Lottie ran and ran until they ended up in a cave in which to hide from the storm cloud. Unfortunately, the cave was inhabited by a mean which who kept a pet dragon. The witch thought Izzy and Lottie would make a fine dinner. Before she could put them in the pot, however, the storm cloud, who decided he would rather be friends with I & L than scare them anymore, ate up the witch himself. Sadly (for I & L and the storm cloud), the witch had a magic wand and was able to put all her eaten up pieces back together. After reassembling herself and acquiring a new henchman in the form of an alien, the witch was successful in putting Izzy and Lottie into a pot and cooking them up. Of course, Lottie was the first to be eaten, followed by Isabel. Fortunately, somewhere in the course of the action, Isabel had acquired a beautiful magic necklace and was able to reassemble herself. Lottie was not so lucky and the storm cloud cried copious tears over the loss of his friend.

[[After receiving some meaningful looks from both her mom and sister]], Isabel decided that Lottie too could share in the charms of the magic necklace and could be reassembled. The witch, however, would not be deterred and quickly recaptured our two hapless heroines. At this point, my mother made an appearance in the story bearing a sword and told the witch very solemnly, "You are not nice." (Truly fighting words if I do say so myself.) Nonetheless, the witch already had I & L in the pot and cut up into pieces. And, being smarter than your average chicken, had managed to get the magic necklace and hide it so that I & L could not reassemble themselves so easily.

It's here that the story ended for the night although Izzy promises that there is much more to come. As she very earnestly told me, "It's a long story, mom."

**This is not a completely faithful rendering of the story since I missed the part where the third henchman, a monster, comes in and I believe a dramatic chase sequence. But I was trying to wash, dry, and clothe children while Iz told me the story.

Why Don't They Sleep?

I don't have the mental stamina to do more than a few lines of blogging at the moment. (My "work" blog has a couple of pathetic links and that's all.) But I thought I would record here for posterity's sake that my girls DO NOT SLEEP. Almost ever. Well maybe that's an exaggeration, but that's what it feels like at the mo'. Both girls had fits last night and fits this AM when we woke them up to get ready to go to school. Not sleeping makes me not a nice person. It makes me crabby and weird.

I wish my kids would sleep. I miss my bed.