Maya's Conversations

Maya has been pretending a lot with her Bunny Bear.  Today, when I was putting her down for her nap, she was having a conversation with him:

Bear: Mommy?

Maya: Yes, sweetie-pie?

Bear: Me so saaaaad.

Maya (snuggling him up in her blanket): It OK.  Me snuggle you.

A Politician.

A very quick story.  Maya had an accident during her nap today.  She started crying so I went up to get her.  I told her it was OK and started taking off her wet clothes and stripping the bed.  She started saying, "Bela.  Potty."  I said that Isabela didn't go potty, but she insisted that Isabela had gone potty in Maya's bed.  Even with all evidence to the contrary, she stuck to her story.  We may have a politician on our hands.  :o)

Morels and Ledge Park

A few weekends ago we went hunting for morels with the WI Mycological Society.  And wouldn't you know - we actually found some!  Isabela found her very own morel without any help.  She was very proud of herself, and she should be!  A lot of people in the group didn't find any.

After a successful morning of morel hunting, we decided to stop at Ledge Park, near Horicon Marsh.  I hadn't been there since I used to bring my students there, eons ago.  I had forgotten just how neat it is.

Jake climbed up into  a cave with Isabela.  She was great at climbing up.

She was a little nervous about climbing down again, as you can see...

She did great though, and was raring to try again.

And again. 

No shortage of things to do around there, but no more morels. 

That's OK.  There are some things even more precious. 

Looking around

We have been visiting a lot of parks and natural areas around Madison lately and the girls have been having fun as usual. 

Digging in the dirt, wading...

poking around in water and everywhere else.

and of course the inevitable falling in when Mama only brought extra pants and not an extra shirt.

It didn't dampen her fun at all though.  I love these girls.

Pool Days

Isabela went under the garage and dragged out the kiddie pool about two months ago.  Two months ago it was not very warm in Wisconsin.  In fact, it hasn't been warm enough to fill it until this past week.  That has not kept her from asking almost every day though.  She could be wearing her winter coat and still shivering and she will ask if it is a pool day.  Sorry babe, nope.

Finally though, we are having a heat wave.  The girls have spent the last couple of days with their swimsuits on.  They hardly come inside. 

They eat outside too, which makes washing them off from the inevitable messiness of mealtimes very easy!

The clothesline partially hangs over the deck and yesterday I had sheets and blankets on it.  The girls would hide behind the blankets and then run and jump into the kiddie pool.  There was a lot of screaming, laughing and splashing.  The neighbors always know when we are around.  I do not have quiet children. 

The Lion King!

On Mother's Day my mom came down to take Isabela and me to The Lion King, which was playing in Madison.  So much fun.  She had given us tickets for Christmas and Isabela had been talking about going ever since. 

I think that she was overwhelmed by the magnificence of it all.  Afterward we kept asking her what was her favorite part and she always said - ALL of it. 

I thought that the best part was watching her.  She was enthralled from the very beginning.  About halfway through the first act though she told me she had to go potty.  We were right in the middle of a row and I told her when the song was done we would go.  Until intermission, I offer to take her to the bathroom after every song and she would insist that she could hold it.  She didn't want to miss a moment.  I have to say that I would have enjoyed that part of the play more if she wasn't sitting on my lap insisting that she could hold it.  It made me a little nervous.  She made it though, and our row let me buzz out of there right away at intermission.  I think that they were a little nervous too.

It was such a wonderful experience and she enjoyed it so much that we will have to try and take her to more of these kind of things.  Thank you Mom for the wonderful time.  It was great to spend it with you and my little girl! 

Zoo

The same day as the Aldo Leopold Center we met some friends at the Henry Vilas Zoo.  We have been going to the Zoo a lot lately, but we still haven't seen the whole zoo yet this year.  It is a great zoo and it was a beautiful day to be out and about.

The otters are one of my favorite exhibits.  They actually seem pretty happy, unlike some of the other animals. 

I think that the tiger would have liked to hide.  Poor thing.  I still think that zoos are important, educationally, but I do feel sorry for the animals. 

Maya was having a rough time.  She fell off of rocks when they were playing, she fell off of steps, and she just fell.  There was blood and tears, but she is one tough girl.  The tears never lasted for long and she was back in the game. 

At the end of a busy day I bought them popsicles.  I had them finish before we left, and they immediately fell asleep - green mouths and all.