Playing at Pop Pop's

The Pool Incident

Before the pool incident, drinking the water

Caitlin loves playing in water. Na Na had the pool ready for her when we got there on Sunday. She also had measuring cups and spoons for her to scoop water and splash with. Unfortunately, Caitlin thought they were there for her to drink water from! And, Conall thought the cups were there for him to make "flower soup" and that the measuring spoons were there to eat the soup with. Luckily, we think this all happened before Caitlin pooped in the pool.

Yep, you read right, pooped in the pool. The kids were playing in the water and NaNa and I were talking. Suddenly, NaNa (who was closest to the pool) looked over and said "that water looks a little murky."

You got it -- Caitlin pooped in her suit and it leaked all over the pool. Lots of fun to clean up. Lucky for me, NaNa got Caitlin rinsed off with the hose and gave her to me to take to the tub. NaNa cleaned up the suit and pool and kept Conall out of it (not an easy feat, I'm sure). Conall is STILL asking me why Caitlin pooped in the pool. He thinks it is really funny.

Another Wheelbarrow video

Here's the third, and last, of the wheelbarrow videos. The kids are sitting in the wheelbarrow waiting on Pop Pop to push them again.

Flower Soup

We stopped at NaNa and PoPo's on the way home from the Fort. They had the baby pool ready for Caitlin and dinner for us (wasn't that nice?).

We went outside to let Caitlin play in the baby pool (Conall isn't at all interested in playing in the pool) and Conall play in the yard. Conall took some of the pool toys and started making "flower soup." He actually ate some of it! Luckily, we think it was before Caitlin's pool incident (another post altogether).

Here's a video of his flower soup. If you listen very closely at the end of the video you'll hear Conall call his sister "Caitlin Princess." He started calling her that on the trip back on Sunday.

The Snake Charmer

Conall went to see a play a few weeks ago with Grandma and there was a toy snake in the play. Ever since, Conall has wanted a toy snake.

Aunt Amy bought him a wooden toy snake at Pinnacle Mountain State Park's gift shop, but it wasn't a large stuffed animal like the one in the play. Daddy bought him a 2 ft. long candy snake that Conall made into a toy. Of course, none of them were quite "right" for Conall.

Grandma found him a stuffed animal snake similar to the one they saw at the play. Apparently, it met Conall's expectations, even being made into train tracks. He has also used it to tease Caitlin, but to his disappointment, she wasn't scared or bothered by it. She thought it was funny.

When Conall was in the tub one night, Caitlin picked up the snake and started playing with it. It made for some really cute photos.

Other Wheelbarrow Video

Here's the video that is blurry from condensation. It is cute and worth watching.

A Ride in the Wheelbarrow

Pop Pop took both kids outside to play on Sunday. At first, Conall didn't want anything to do with Pop Pop and Caitlin. Either he was busy and couldn't be bothered or jealous that Caitlin was outside with them. Because Conall and Pop Pop had already been outside without Caitlin to play, my bets are on jealous.

Pop Pop called me from the back yard because he didn't want to leave the kids alone and told me what he was up to -- he wanted to take the kids for a ride in the wheelbarrow. Pop Pop sent Conall inside for a couple of old towels to line the wheelbarrow so the kids could ride in it. But, he didn't tell Conall what he was up to. Conall was really annoyed that he had to stop playing to come inside and get something.

Once Pop Pop started to put Caitlin in the wheelbarrow, Conall was suddenly very interested.Pop Pop pushed both kids all over the back yard in the wheelbarrow several times. They loved it.

Conall is still asking me to see the video of them riding in the wheelbarrow - I have three different versions of it. Unfortunately, the best one has a blur on the camera lens from going from the air conditioned house to outside in the heat. Here is the video we took from inside the house, but there isn't any sound on it.

Caught and Tickled

Here's the video of Pop Pop catching Caitlin in his chair.

Two Kids, Two Recliners

We have a cute picture of Conall as a toddler sitting in Po Po's recliner with a blanket on his head. Po Po was out of town and Conall decided to use the recliner in his place.

This weekend, Caitlin climbed up in Pop Pop's recliner with a blanket on her head. Pop Pop teased her about taking his chair and tickled her.

Here are photos of them both (at close to the same age) in two different recliners at two different houses. Funny, huh?

Making Cookies With Pop Pop

Conall loves to bake things, mainly so he can make a mess with the flour, sugar, etc. He also loves oatmeal raisin cookies. And, of course, Conall loves seeing himself on video. So, we made a "movie" of Conall and Pop Pop making cookies together.

The Grease Monkey Plays With Dolls

The source of the grease

Pop Pop has been giving me a hard time about Caitlin's new doll and stroller. He has told everyone that we saw this weekend about how he had Caitlin trained right -- to play with cars, trucks and trains, but not dolls.

As we were visiting with one of my cousins, Caitlin scooted over to one of the tractor trailer's tires and grabbed the axle grease. Of course, Pop Pop thought it was funny and told Caitlin that he was proud of her. I told Pop Pop he could hold greasy Caitlin while I found something to clean the grease off of her.

Many of my cousins also found it funny and told us that Caitlin couldn't help it, it was just in her blood. She was nicknamed "grease monkey." For those of you who don't know, my grandfather owned a service station and Pop Pop worked there when he was a kid. Then, as an adult, Pop Pop also owned a service station. Many of my male cousins have worked as mechanics at some point in their lives. Thus, the comment about it being in her blood.

Yum Yum

Caitlin is calling all food "yum yum." If she wants something to eat, she points to it and says "yum yum."

Here is a photo of her stealing Pop Pop's oatmeal raisin cookie. Stu and Conall had taken off for a walk around the big pond, and Caitlin and I were headed back to the trailer to sit down with Pop Pop. She took off ahead of me, crawled up on the trailer, and as Pop Pop was talking to me grabbed his fork and started feeding herself his cookie. Pop Pop got a big laugh out of it!

The Tractor

Here are photos of the tractor and trailer that Uncle Max restored/built. The whole time we were there, Conall kept heading off to the tractor and its trailer. He played on it, we ate dinner on it, and we watched the fireworks from it. He kept trying to get someone to drive the tractor and take him for a ride.

Happy Fourth!

We headed to Ft. Smith yesterday to celebrate the Fourth at my Aunt Shirley's in Mulberry. After spending the whole day in the car and staying up late last night, they are tired kiddos today.
We had planned on leaving Thursday, but Conall vomited at school and had to come home early. It was obvious that he was sick, but it must have been a 24 hour thing. It was probably the same thing Caitlin had earlier in the week.
So, we headed out yesterday. We got here in time to leave for my aunt's house. The bridge on the way to her property is out, so we had to go the back way. The roads were horrible, the directions were bad, but we finally made it there. Both kids handled all of the time in the car really well!
They had a ton of fun playing at my aunt's. My uncle restored an old John Deere tractor and built it a matching trailer with seats and picnic style tables. Of course, Conall spent most of the evening there. They also had hay bales, a pond, a baseball diamond and lots of animals. He had so much fun. Caitlin had fun too and is now officially a "grease monkey." More on that later.
Surprisingly, Caitlin enjoyed the fireworks. Conall, and his buddy Aiden (another 4 year old), had a ball watching them, too.
I ran off without the cord to connect the camera to the computer and dad doesn't have a place to hook up my memory card, so no pictures until we get home.
Hope you all had a good Fourth.

Reading to the baby

Caitlin brought me a book to read to her today, and as she usually does, climbed up in my lap for me to read to her and said "read." After reading the same story 2 or 3 times, she crawled out of my lap and very matter-of-factly grabbed her baby doll. She climbed back in my lap, put the doll in her lap, looked back at me, and said "read." It was so cute! I guess she wanted the baby doll to see the pictures, too.

Here's another cute video of her pushing the baby (and brown bunny) in the stroller yesterday.

Frozen Berry Yogurt Pops

Conall and Caitlin both love the frozen berry yogurt popsicles from the Seinfeld cookbook. Of course, Caitlin has now decided that she has to eat hers on a stick, just like her big brother. She did surprisingly well.

Pushing the stroller

Caitlin loves her baby doll! She keeps putting it in the stroller, giving it the bottle, pushing it in the stroller, covering it with a blanket, giving it the bear and rattle to hold, and holding the doll. She is such a girly girl!
Here's a video of her pushing the doll (and her brown bunny) in the stroller.

Baby doll

Grandma bought Caitlin a baby doll and stroller. The baby doll came with a pacifier, bottle, teddy bear and key chain/rattle. It also talks and makes noises when activated by motion. Both kids love the doll and fought over it and the stroller.
Caitlin knew it was hers and made sure everyone else did, too. At one point, Conall tried to take away the stroller and push his bear "baby" around in it. While Caitlin was looking the other way, he threw the baby doll across the room from them. I just happened to have the camera going at the time. Here's the video.

Shoe Shoes

Caitlin LOVES shoes! Any shoes -- doesn't matter if they are girly or not. She has so much fun in the shoe department, grabbing every shoe in sight and trying to put it on. She calls them "shoe shoes".

Beth took us Sunday night to buy Caitlin and Conall some tennis shoes that were on sale. Caitlin wanted every shoe in the department and had a little fit if we took any of them away from her. I'll post a photo of Caitlin in her new shoes once I get one.

Caitlin putting on Conall's shoes -- she's thinking about trying mine on next!

Highchair Dance

Here's a cute video I took sometime last week of Caitlin in her highchair dancing. At first she is really moving and then she sees me with the camera and isn't quite sure what to make of it.

She really loves music and loves to move to it. I love to watch her -- she seems to be having so much fun.