Summer Twin Reunion - Friday, June 12
Busy day with reporters and photographers. The girls are getting along wonderfully. The weather on Friday during the day was nice (perfect in my opinion), though Mer and Mike thought it was a bit cool. I think we froze Meredith Ellen at Mere's Softball game though. I was cold and I'm (sort of) used to the cool nights. I think that she enjoyed herself and I had an interesting conversation with her comparing the differences between Alabama softball and Lisle softball. Though it seemed that she might have been a little confused about the differences between softball and baseball pitching styles. She said that she might have continued with softball if her team was like ours. I think that the girls cheers (they have several that they rotate through to amuse themselves and cheer on their team while they wait to bat) and the fact that Lisle is pretty loose on conforming to the uniform standard appealed to her. For example, Melody (one of our better players) has been abandoning her official blue softball shorts for any random skirt that strikes her fancy. Meredith Grace was in high spirits and even the coaches commented on her increased exuberance (read bouncing off the walls). The Diamonds won and Mere pitched the final inning and did a great job. her best pitching effort yet! She also got a hit (and two stike outs). Maybe we should keep Mer around as a good luck charm.
One of their favorite Cheers:
We don't drink no lemonaid, All we drink is Gatorade.
We don't wear no mini skirts, All we wear is softball shorts,
We don't play with Barbie dolls, All we play is bats and balls,
Sound Off, One, Two
Sound Off, Three, Four
Sound Off, One, Two, Three, Four
Lets GO!
Photos below.
Twin Reunion Day 3 (American Girl Place)
Today was the American Girl Place shopping spree. The girls got up and showered . Dash was a happy dog since she got to shower with me and the girls. I poked my head in the bathroom to see if everything was ok and discovered that all three were in the shower together. As far as Dash is concerned, any time she gets to shower twice in one day is a good day. The girls wore their black pants and camisole with a cream sweater. Because we were out all day, they only wore one outfit, today. They’ve been averaging 3 outfits a day.
We started out the trip by driving to China Town to have Dim Sum at the Three Happiness Restaurant. We had pork dumplings (MG’s favorite), bbq pork buns (Jim’s favorite), shrimp toast, sesame rice balls, custard buns, shrimp dumplings, egg drop soup (ME’s favorite), crispy noodles and spring rolls. From there we went to the AG Place and met a family friend, Fern. The new location (in Water Tower Place) is much bigger and nicer than the old location. There were lots of people shopping; mostly girls and their Moms, but a few Dad’s and brothers.
Each of the girls had serious cash to spend and they intended to blow every last cent. MG had saved $160 and ME had $112 (having spent some of her stash at Justice before she got to Chicago). We first did a quick pass through the whole place and then went back to BUY! It’s all somewhat of a blur, but MG came out with a new doll, Ruthie-Kit’s friend, Molly’s camp outfit (on sale) and an overnight accessories kit. ME got overnight accessories kit, Nutmeg - Julie’s pet bunny (with basket and carrots), and Julie and Ivy got new PJ’s and Chinese New Year outfits. I popped for a new hairdo for Kit and Ivy and Kit got her ears pierced. Ally got a nightgown for one of her Bitty Baby Twins.
Many of the photos are of the girls from behind, because I seemed to be following them most of the day. They weren’t all that interested in posing for photos, so I took what I could.
It was then time to go to the Café for our afternoon tea. Tea consisted of your choice of drink and Cinnamon buns, Scones, a fruit bread, Kit’s Garden-Party Sandwiches with vegetable cream cheese and cucumber, Kaya’s Tuna Salad Sandwiches and Molly’s Victory-Garden Chocolate-Mousse Flowerpot. Neither of the girls ate much, but seemed to enjoy themselves. They were much more interested in playing with their dolls.
On the way out, the girls wanted to stop by the photo studio. MG would have liked to have done the photos there, but I convinced her that we could do something at home. With a little time, I can photoshop an AG magazine cover and insert them right in.
Once we got home, we found that ME’s Ivy doll had arrived after having been repaired at the Doll Hospital. Zeke, the Harrington’s new Great Dane/Mastiff, chewed Ivy’s hands. Dash did the same to one of Mere’s dolls when she was a puppy. We had hoped that Ivy would get here before today, but it didn’t happen. MG lent ME her Ivy so that they would both have a doll to take to tea. The girls then spent the rest of the evening playing with their dolls.
Twin Reunion - Day 2
The plan for today was the manicure/pedicure with Auntie Marlyce. However, Meredith Grace wasn't feeling very well due to an ear infection and sucumbed to the "little green monster".
She was feeling a bit overwhelmed and needed some mom time. Jim took ME off to get a coke and then to watch an episode of H2O while MG, got her bearings back. In the meantime, I cancelled the manicure/pedicure. The dinner with the aunts was still on.
Later in the afternoon, the girls went back to their usual happy two-some. They have been playing Nintendogs in the car and periodically between other activities. They were quite happy to figure a way to get their dogs to play together. AND... MG now has chihuahua's in her stable and ME has pugs! They were quite delighted to discover this unexpected advantage to "bark mode".
The aunts bought a couple of outfits that looked great on the kids. One of the outfits came with a skirt, but the skirt was huge. While the girls bathed in the "swimming pool" (a huge whirlpool tub), I dashed off to Justice to exchange a pair of black pants for ME and the skirts for both. Not a lot of luck as most of the stuff was purchased on clearance, but I was able to trade the skirts for a shirt and pants for each girl. Not much luck on finding a pair of 7 slim black pants, so I went with the 7 regular. I'll probably try to exchange it at the Justice near our house later this week.
Now they are in bed, hopefully sleeping. It's a big day tomorrow with lunch in Chinatown and a visit to the American Girl Place. We have reservations for afternoon tea and the girls have saved allowances and birthday money and each will have over $100 to blow. They say it's likely they will have a spending spree and spend it all. They've even got some money to spend for Ally, who just got a set of bitty baby twins for Christmas.
Twin Reunion - Day 1
Earlier tonight we picked Meredith Ellen up from the airport. Sissy is here for the next 6 days. We've got manicures and pedicures, American Girl Place tea parties, New Years Eve Parties to cram into the next 6 days.
Meredith Grace was barely able to contain her excitement in waiting for the plane. The plane was reasonably on time (15 minutes late) and the girls flew into each others arms and grabbed the other as tight as they could. The flight attendant made a point of telling me how well Meredith Ellen did and that she was a real pleasure to have on the flight. I wasn't the least bit surprised.
After the usual grab the suitcase and haul it away photos, we took the girls to dinner at "The Patio" - a semi fast food barbeque place. The girls played Nintendogs in the car and took turns playing with the other's dogs. Meredith Grace is wanting to try the wireless connections with the DS so she can invite Sissy and her dogs to the park. Once we got home, they disappeared into Meredith Grace's bedroom. They want to stay up late and sleep in.
Tomorrow is a manicure/pedicure with Aunt Marlyce. They also get to open presents. Aunties Marlyce and Carol have been shopping.