Sometimes it stinks to be the youngest...

So, Ray went to Turkey

and he brought us back these gorgeous scarves:

You can't really get the full experience without touching them. They are so soft and very pretty. I've never been much of a scarf wearer, but I had to try anyway.

In answer to your questions: Ray was in Turkey on a work trip. He's working on a project in Turkey for an Australian company on the Canadian exchange. You can't get much more global than that. :)

I was only slightly jealous. That's not an area of the world that is high on my list of places to visit. However, after his descriptions I'm more interested in seeing it now. 

I wasn't going to put myself through it again, but...

Ray noticed in the paper that Clifford was coming and read it out loud. In front of the girls. (I already was aware of it but I hadn't mentioned it, intentionally.) But once the girls knew there wasn't much to do but go.

We've come a long way since the first time the twins met Clifford. The room was still crowded, loud, and hot. (Worse than last time, actually, because on top of the moms with kids and huge daycare groups, three or maybe four kindergarten classes showed up. Insane.) But I know to expect that now. I also took my own stories to read while we waited. Only a semi-successful undertaking due to the noise but it did keep the girls entertained for a short while. Clifford improved, too. This time he interacted with the kids (no talking, but moving around and looking at them, dancing when he first showed up) instead of just sitting there. And whoever was in charge got smarter and put Clifford on a small couch instead of a tiny chair. Much easier to take pictures of children sitting next to Clifford instead of attempting to escape off his lap. Eda wasn't too sure what to think. She didn't really want to get too close to him but was fine sitting with her sisters. She also talked about it a lot afterward. I knew how insane the crowd would be so I did my best to keep my girls entertained and we were one of the last to get pictures. That was what I was aiming for so the girls had time to get used to the idea by seeing lots of other kids sit by Clifford.

I also invited several friends. (If I have to go through it, I don't want to do it alone.) So it turned into a playdate at the library after all the pictures were done. That part was a lot more fun than seeing Clifford. I'm pretty sure the kids would agree with me.

Building snowmen .... in APRIL!?!

These snowmen were built in April. The end of April. A whole snowman family.

Thankfully, the snow melted fairly quickly. A day or two later the girls and I went out through the backyard. Eda stopped so I went back to find her. She was wandering around the yard as if she was looking for something. It was the snowmen. I tried to explain that the snowmen had melted. Not a particularly easy concept to convey to a two-year-old.

(I really should get used to building snowmen in April eventually. But I still don't like it. It should be spring. Flowers, birds, grass. Not snow. Or so my mind believes.)

Where did my baby go?

Because sitting on the couch just isn't challenging enough:

A great new hiding place:

Hopefully she's gaining an appreciation for the organ. :)