I spent the last 24+ hours with my two favorite chicas, Avery & Meagan. My little nieces are lots o' fun and all girl! In the car ride on the way to my place, they chanted..."It's a girls weekend. No boys allowed! Girls rock!" It starts young.
We began the weekend with pottery painting at All Fired Up in Winter Park. The girls loved it. Avery painted a big fish-shaped piggy bank, which looked lovely. Meagan painted two smaller figurines that turned out very...abstract. But hey, she's only four, so I was just happy she didn't break anything. Their paints have fun names like Orange Crush and Cool Mint. The favorite name at our table was Pumpkin Pie, which Meagan renamed Hunkin' Punkin'. Meagan was seriously bummed that she had to leave her masterpieces there for firing. She wanted to take them home so bad. But Avery and I assured her that the pottery would come to life and look even better once it's glazed. Avery said that firing is like..."lipstick for pottery." Sounds like a great marketing tag line to me. Here are the finished products:
Next on our schedule: movie time. We checked out the new Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian. I wouldn't give it two thumbs up, but the chicas sat very still and barely made a peep, so I guess they liked it? I think the Sour Patch Kids put them in a trance. On the way to the theater, they were bickering just a little bit. Naturally, I nipped it in the bud and Avery said..."well now you know what it's like to have kids!"
We planned on swimming after that, but the weather was poopy, so we made a craft instead... Butterfly 3D Sun Catchers. I found this activity kit at JoAnn..it was easy, self-contained, and not horribly messy. Their attention spans only lasted long enough to create one butterfly each, so now I have leftovers for the next visit.
To finish off the evening, we made cookies. But these weren't just any old cookies. These were special ones that Miss Mae Mae could eat. She's allergic to almost every major allergan, so baked goods can be tough. Luckily, I've been reading Bethenny Frankel's Naturally Thin book and discovered her tasty Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe (will share them in a later post). Meagan liked eating the allergan-free chocolate chips more than the cookies themselves. But she liked the cookies too. In fact, she said I was a "good maker."
The girls are just crazy about my kitties. Any time Jasper and Stella make an appearance, they quickly try to cajole the cats a little closer. Meagan's still learning cat protocol, but Avery's got it down pat since she's a little older and gentler. This morning, Jasper let Avery pet him for a good ten minutes while he purred and purred. Avery decided that he purrs so "all the girl cats will be addicted to him."
We were up bright and early on day two. The sun was shining for the first time in a week, so we took full advantage of the empty pool. Here's Avery doing the back stroke and Meagan floating on her noodle. On our walk down to the pool, the girls noticed I was wearing earrings, which they thought "looked like an old lady." Ha! What a hoot!
Our pool is lined with big, bountiful hibiscus bushes, so we picked our favorite flowers.
Always a fab time with my chicas. Although, when our time is nearing its end, I look forward to peace, cleanliness, and bottle of wine. Props to all the parents out there!
