Garden Bugs

Since my sister would be out of town M/T/W, and Unka Rop had somewhere he needed to be on Tuesday, I went to my sister's to babysit on Monday, to be there for Tuesday morning. On our drive up, I had to pee decided to stop at a Target along the way. We found some cool Dollar Spot toys to share with the cousins, and a Play-Doh Ice Cream set on sale for only $7! (I think the burger one was only $7 too, and there were some Moon Sand [I thought for sure she'd want this one too] and Moon Dough [she picked this one to go with the ice cream set instead] foodie sets at around $7 (half-off!!) as well.) She LOVES making food shapes using molds. And the Ice Cream set has 3 "stations" so they were each able to crank a handle or push a jobber at the same time. There are only 2 cones, and 2 "glasses" but luckily they didn't ALL need a cone.
So Monday was spent squabbling happily cranking out "ice cream" and "sprinkles" and molding little cakes and such. I had also received my Scholastic order at preschool Monday morning, so had the Chicka Chicka Boom Boom I had purchased for Pilu and Tually, since they loved the video of it I had shown them on a previous visit (see it on YouTube here.) Zoe loves the song, and sings it while jumping around on the neighbor's trampoline. Whenever she watches the video, she practices it and tries to learn more of the lines. I used the threat of withholding their special surprise bedtime story to ensure good behavior.
For dinner, Unka Rop made noodles (plain, with butter and parmesan "sprinkles") and boiled some long green beans and broccoli (also plain.) Yup. For me too. *sigh* Just like if my sister had been home... :P But this time there was enough ice cream for me to have a cone for dessert as well! Scoooore!
Tuesday morning I slept in got up early to check on the girls upstairs, since Rop had had to leave before the rooster woke up. All was well, so I took a shower downstairs in the icebox guest bathroom (Little Z knows to come looking for me there first if she wakes up and I'm not there, instead of climbing up the stairs to be met with a closed door, and risk falling.)
When everyone was finally awake (Z and Pilu around 8:30, Tually closer to 9:30 - I opted to let her sleep rather than wake everyone up and drag them out to drop Tually off at preschool, then be stuck with a bunch of crankpots all day,) they breakfasted (Captain Crunch with Crunchberries and Lucky Charms. Yes. Mixed together.) Then Play-Doh ice cream again.
Just as I was thinking about starting lunch (they'd eaten breakfast late, so I wasn't in a hurry,) I hear something at the front door... Is it the dog scratching the door...? Sounds like someone's using a key... Is my sister home early...? Must be Rop! It was Rop. Waaaaaaay earlier than expected. So instead of making an awesome lunch with the 6 different Easter muffin liners and 3 different picks I'd brought (along with all my sandwich shapers and set of super-mini cutters,) I decided to take the girls outside to play while he cut up apples and cheese and put together a little picnic lunch for them.

While sorting out their boots and coats and such, they rooted through my bags and found were totally pleased to get the treats we'd found at Target's Dollar Spot for them. Z somehow came up with the name Gitchigumi (Gitchee-goomee) for those nasty little almost-sticky rubbery balls things with a bajillion tendrils, like a Koosh ball. Sometimes with a light-up ball inside. She loves them. They are hair and dirt magnets, but I finally got her to stop crying and bothering me to clean one off any time it gets a hair or speck of dirt on it. I mean, c'mon. We have cats. There will be hair!

Pilu's favorite color right now is purple, and her favorite bug is a bumblebee (pronounced "applebee.") So Z chose a purple Gitchigumi and a Bumblebee hat for her. Tually's favorite color is red, but she likes red, orange and yellow. Her favorite bug is a ladybug. Z chose a pink Gitchigumi (they didn't have red) and a ladybug hat. Z keeps changing her mind on colors, it was pink for a while, then a brief stint with purple, and lately green and blue. She chose a blue Gitchigumi for herself, and didn't like the butterfly/flower hat they had with the other ones, so opted for no hat.

"Gitchigumi!"

I was waiting patiently to cadge leftovers, when Unka Rop came out later with a toasted cheese sandwich and home-made french fries for me! More than made up for my toddler dinner the night before! :) But then a swarm of locusts the kids came and ate around half of my fries, and a little towheaded girl ran off with half of my sandwich. Apparently her Mommy never taught her good manners! Even worse, instead of just taking a few bites and then being done with it and giving it back, she ate every stinking molecule that wasn't technically the crust. I have never seen a crust picked this clean before. Ever.

After they ate all my fries their lunches, we trooped into the back yard and they "helped" Unka Rop plant some berry bush canes (a half currant/half gooseberry hybrid and a currant one.) They were very instrumental in attempting to leap under the shovel that could have chopped a toe off while he was digging the holes, digging up the surrounding plants to get more dirt to cover the roots, throwing dirt at nearby plants instead of the new ones, and then watering the ground anywhere that wasn't actually over the roots of the new plants. Oh yes, and squabbling over who got to use the watering can, even though Unka Rop had it all planned out with a larger watering can full of water to refill their little can for each kid to have a turn.

Oh yes. And they "saved" many worms from certain death by handling them and squishing them and then burying them in the dirt.

"Look Yoyo! A worm!" [She calls me Yoyo.]

A job well done.