The Rowes in the Rose City: Stiped Shirt 'Sisters'

What a great day we had today -- just playing. Kate came over, and the girls didn't sit still for more than a moment, except during lunch & 3:00 o'clock snack time. Play Doh, dolls, chase, tag, jumping, sliding, bike riding, reading books, making "hot cookies," building long sticks from marbletrack pieces (I had to make the actual racetrack), memory game, it just went on and on. The cookies were just perfect for snack time, so I finally got them to sit down & watch Madagascar then, too. (Kate brought it with her, we've never seen it. Very cute.)

Makin' "hot cookies" -- luckily they cooled in time for 3:00 o'clock snack time.

Showing off their flower sandwiches (PB&J). They both had a fit when they saw me put the bread in the microwave (to defrost it -- it had been in the freezer), and started screaming "don't cook it, don't cook it." They both had to feel the defrosted bread before I was allowed to continue on with my sandwich artistry (okay, it's a gigantic cookie cutter).

One thing that's definitely true about older kids is that 2 is easier than 1 (at least with us). Kate & Avery are playing together so well these days, even when there is a scuffle they can usually work it out for themselves (phew). Usually. But it's such a joy to see them playing and talking and interacting like two little kids.

Bike races on the deck (we had about 7 different rounds of this, between rain showers). They'd ride down and back, then get to the end and yell "trade," jump off, and each get on the other bike -- up to 20 times in a row. Hilareous. Kate always wanted to win ("I win, I win"), but neither of them seemed to know what the criteria for winning actually were.

Meanwhile, Jordan was quarantined due to a constant (and I mean constant) mucousy cough. She coughed every few seconds from 8:00am until 2:00pm, when, despite a dose of Benadryl at 10:00am, she finally fell asleep. I think she was actually sleeping around 1:00pm, but the she was still coughing for about an hour after that. I hope we don't end up in the hospital, again . . . . Seriously, NO MORE COLD/FLU/RSV SEASON!

And on a final note: WHAT IS WITH THE WEATHER?!?!?! Today we had sun, clouds, rain, hail, & SNOW (AT ~8:00pm)!! No wonder we're all sick all the time.