Ruby Sings "Cici's Song."

Here's a great video of Ruby singing a song about her sister. The sound quality's not the greatest, but you'll get the idea. And no, she doesn't actually know what "making love" means yet, thank goodness. . . .

Valleyfair

We took Cici to Valleyfair for her birthday on Thursday and had a marvelous time. The weather was gorgeous and the lines were very short and our birthday girl was B-R-A-V-E! For those familiar with Valleyfair, here is what she rode:

Corkscrew (twice)
Xtreme Swing
Looping Starship (twice)
Scrambler
Monster
Tilt-a-Whirl
The Flume
Thunder Canyon
Chaos
Swings
High Roller
Bumper Cars
Mad Mouse
Supercat

I should note that both the Looping Starship and the Corkscrew go upside down and Cici was not afraid for even a moment. Dadam, on the other hand, nearly passed out on the Xtreme Swing and sat out many rides due to "motion sickness." Bah. Cecilia was also allowed a pronto pup and cotton candy. She looks pretty darn happy, doesn't she?

Random Quotes.

Dadam: Girls, I'm going to go upstairs for a minute and go potty.

Cici and Ruby: Woo hoo!

***

[Cici and Ruby are working on a project "together."]

Cici: Ruby, no! Don't take those, they're mine!

Ruby: Well, how 'bout you try getting along with me?

The Moment I've Been Waiting For - One Of My Daughters Discovers Irony.

Actually, if you count sarcasm as irony, which it is, both Cici and Ruby are already pretty facile in it, but this is the incident that really impressed me with Cici. It's literary irony; we are currently reading Peter S. Beagle's [marvelous] The Last Unicorn at bedtime. It's the story of a unicorn, presumed to be the last in the world, who goes on a quest with a magician named Schmendrick and a woman named Molly Grue. The other night I was reading a chapter to the girls, and this exchange with Cici followed:

Dadam: "[Schmendrick] said . . . 'Now if they had wanted me to lift the curse - ah, that
I might have done. . . . Haven't you ever been in a fairy tale before? . . . The hero has to make a prophecy come true, and the villain is the one to stop him. . . . It's a great relief to find out about Prince Lir. I've been waiting for this tale to turn up a leading man.' . . . Molly said, 'If Lir is the hero, what is [the unicorn]?' 'That's different. Haggard and Lir and Drinn and you and I - we are in a fairy tale, and must go where it goes. But she is real. She is real.'"

Cici: Heh.

Dadam: What? What's funny?

Cici: Well, they're talking about being in a book.

Dadam: Oh yeah? Well, why's that funny?

Cici: Well, because they are in a book. Schmendrick is making a joke, when he says they're in a fairy tale, 'cause he thinks they're real - he doesn't mean it. But what's funny is, they actually are in a fairy tale, 'cause they're in a book. They're not real at all. It's a joke.

Dadam: I love you so much.

Raspberry Pickin'

Last weekend we took the girls raspberry picking at a farm about 45 minutes away. Ruby ate far more berries than she collected (see Photo #2), and Cici got pretty darn good at finding raspberries hiding under the leaves (that's where the good ones were).

It was definitely a successful outing -- we came home with six pints of raspberries, two exhausted daughters, and one Mommy who couldn't wait to start looking up raspberry recipes. Here we are in action...


Update from Dadam: Look at Ruby's knees in this bottom photo and you'll get an idea of what our summers are like.

Momlissa: "Our Daughter Is Bob Dole."

Six!

On Saturday we celebrated Cici's 6th birthday with a small party here at the house. It was extra special because Grandma and Grandpa K were here for the weekend, and I think Cecilia was pleased with her celebration. She had an awesome cake (with a swimming pool in it!), a brand-new bike, and lots of people here who love her very much. On her actual birthday (Thursday) we're taking her to an amusement park for the first time, so the fun just goes on and on.

(Side note: Grandma 2 always gives cash -- one dollar for every year you're celebrating. When Cici opened her card from Grandma 2 she saw the money and said, "Ruby! Three for me and three for you!" Is that a great kid or what?)

A Not So Tricky Question.

[Dadam is reading riddles out of Highlights magazine - a frequent occurrence, although it usually takes place in doctors' and dentists' waiting rooms.]

Dadam: Okay, Cice, here's a good one. "You're a bus driver driving down the street. There are twenty people on the bus. At the first stop, four people get on and two people get off. At the second stop, five people get on a three people get off. Now, what color are the bus driver's eyes?"

Cici [without hesitation]: Brown.

Dadam: What? Why?

Cici [as if she's never heard anything simpler in her life]: Because I'm the bus driver.

Momlissa [from the kitchen]: She did not just get that right.

"Please Don't Tell Me You Just Said That."

[Cici, Dadam and Ruby are having dinner.]

Cici: Why do grownup teeth feel cold more than baby teeth?

Dadam: I wasn't aware they did.

Cici: Mine do - when I eat ice cream or something else cold, it feels really cold on my new teeth, but not on my old teeth.

Dadam: Well, maybe it feels so cold on your new teeth because they're so new.

Cici [as if this is the stupidest thing she's ever heard]: Please don't tell me you just said that.

The S Word and the C Word.

[The family is out having dinner at a restaurant. The girls are coloring their kids' menus, and Ruby spills the cup holding the crayons.]

Ruby: Shit.

Cici: Mom! Ruby said a bad word!

Momlissa: What was it?

Cici: It was the S Word.

Dadam: Ruby, what did you say?

Ruby: I said 'shit.'

Dadam: Ruby, we don't say that word.

Ruby: But I spilled my colors.

Dadam: Ruby, we don't say that word.

Ruby: Oh. [to Cici:] But I can say 'crap,' right?

Cici: Yeah, 'crap' is just the C Word.

A New Member of the Family

This morning Ruby revealed to me that she has a brother named Jeffy. We don't know much about this child except that he lives with Cholaidia (not with us) and, as Cici helpfully informed me, "It's Jeffy with a Y."

I guess we're just trying to keep up with the Jolie-Pitts.

May That Be The Worst Thing You Ever Have To Worry About, Kiddo.

[Cici finds a stress ball.]

CICI: What's this?

DADAM: It's a stress ball.

CICI: What's it for?

DADAM: Well, for relieving stress.

CICI: What's stress?

DADAM: Well, stress is a feeling you get when you're too busy, or worried about something, or frustrated, and it makes you feel bad. People say if you squeeze a ball like that really hard, like, as hard as you can, you'll feel better.

CICI: Oh.

[A few minutes pass.]

CICI: Dad, I'm worried that I won't win when we play Sorry tomorrow night, and I'm squeezing the ball but I don't feel any better!

Truth Is Just Truth.

CICI, while getting tucked in: Dad, how long is the night?

DADAM: Well, that depends how you measure it. Most grownups sleep about eight hours a night. Kids your age sleep a little more - probably about ten hours.

CICI: So we get more sleep than you?

DADAM: That's right.

CICI: Well, Mommy must get the most sleep of all, since she gets up later in the morning than any of us.

Happy Birthday Ramon!

Yesterday was Uncle Ramon's birthday -- a very important person to me and to the girls. We wish we could've celebrated together, but he's still traipsing around Nicaragua and won't return for another week. Oh, well, we'll whoop it up when he gets back.

Happy Birthday Uncle Ramon! We love ya.

Summer Breakfast

Here are the girlies on a lazy Saturday morning, about to dig into some yogurt & granola parfaits. For some unknown reason, I took a picture of this.

Mmmm! (No, Not The Yummy Kind.)

"Ruby."

"Mmm."

"It's time to wake up."

"Mmmm."

"Are you ready to get up?"

"Mmmm."

"Are you ready to have breakfast?"

"Mmmm!"

"Is that a yes?"

"MMMM!"

"Is that a no?"

"MMMMM!"

Random Ruby Quotes From Fourth Of July Weekend.

Mommy, don't be a bad fartface!

Mommy, you're a badass.

[sung:] Don't you want tooooo
Go to bed?
Don't you want tooooo
Waste your time?
[final time:] Don't you want toooo
Be a poopy-butt, hee hee hee hee hee.

Peanuts & Cracker Jack

The four of us went to our first Twins game as a family yesterday and it was quite the outing! We took public transportation on the hottest day of this summer (so far), ate lots of crappy ballpark food, and watched the Twins rally in the 7th inning to beat Cleveland. Cici managed to eat an entire Dome Dog all by herself and Ruby enjoyed the freedom to scream in public and not be reprimanded for it: "Go Twiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiins!" To cap it all off, after the game was over the girls got to go down to the field (along with about a million other kids) and run the bases. It was all very fun until Ruby got scolded by an usher for wandering toward the Cleveland dugout. So, oops.

A memorable adventure to be sure!