here comes a turkey (and santa claus)

(wow, just went ahead with the layout that blogger chose for these photos after 2 attempts to change it...)

here is amalea's idea of a thanksgiving turkey - a tangerine turkey!

amalea continued in the artistic mode and made fall leaf and turkey mobiles to get all in the festive mood.

then we were whisked off to the north pole, conveniently made available right here in huntley, illinois for the day.

at the top of the earth we met with santa. isabel did not sit on santa's lap (notice her body angled as far away from him as possible, with only the sole of her shoe in actual contact with the jolly old elf), but here she is with the rapt attention of all on her as she asked for a "pink princess, and a blue princess, and a purple princess, ...".

the dells be swells

yes, we made the midwest pilgrimage to wisconsin dells, or "ick"-sconsin dells as amalea put it. we stayed at glacier canyon lodge at the wilderness resort. it must be said that it is rather nice to romp around in a bathing suit when the season is crisp just outside the window.

isabel was almost taken by a shark while miniature golfing. this just happens when you take a 2 1/2 year old to an activity such as this. just across from this fake were some real nurse sharks that we got up close to and watched for a while.

amalea digged the shooting gallery.

swimming sisters.

amalea at one with the camera. always.

'twas the night before thanksgiving...

...and thoughts turn back to all-hallows eve. we carved pumpkins. isabel was squeamish of course. just the other day the feel of fibrous casing of a steamed pea on her tongue made her puke. the faces on the girls' jack-o-lanterns are their own creations (as are the spooky looks they are giving us).

the weather gave us a nasty trick in that it was bitterly cold, thus the wagon and the blankets. needless to say, we did not go neither far nor long for the treats.

the annual trunk-or-treat

with the metamorphosis complete, we witness the emergence of the world's most dazzling butterflies! recall that isabel was a purple butterfly last year. she wanted to be the purple butterfly again this year, but mom told her that she must wear the pink one to get candy.

meet the warrs: the caterpillar, or grub as jason so lovingly put it, chomping on a leaf. the serious cocoon firmly adhered to a stick. and the offspring, the beautiful butterflies.

isabel packing in some candy. she made wearing the pink costume well worth it.

amalea = awwwww!

our trunk decorated as a floral-iffic butterfly world. yahoo, lookey what we have here. lots of candy, and, hey, no coats since it was the perfect fall evening weather-wise (as well as butterfly-wise).

goebbert's "oh-so-much-more than just" pumpkin patch

innocent enough. looks like a pumpkin patch.

but, wait, is that the purplish blue hue of giraffes tongue i see? why, yes. (notice isabel's look of utter disgust as she drops the carrot stick on the giraffe's tongue. and mom's look of concern as she eyes the muscular looking tongue near her child's pudgy little fingers.)

good old goats to feed.

the yearly fall pony ride.

amalea "milking" the cow.

isabel's wisp-o-mullet

isabel was born with oh so little hair (remember, baldy beauty queen?).

now look at what has happened to her hair. it is an odd growth pattern. the temples have less than a 1/4 inch of hair. longer and longer as you trace along the forehead to the center. then the top. and the sides. oh the glorious profusion found there!

just behold.

isabel is quite proud of her mane, often asking for it to be adorned with an assortment of barrettes, hairbands, ties, and such. always proclaiming, "i am beautiful!"

shoes, glorious, shoes!

may i have more shoes, please. amalea made out like a bandit on saturday the 3rd of october. she was the owner of 5 new pairs of shoes from a single shopping excursion.

some of these new shoes were the tying kind. mom showed her once how to tie at the store. then again hours later at home. and then amalea went ahead and tied this shoe that is pictured here firmly onto her foot completely on her own.

utterly amazing! she can definitely keep the shoes just for that.

2 sisters, 3 years

the girls, going back in time down the page, in the head-to-head shots taken annually at just about the end of summertime.

amalea the kindergartener

mom and dad's first child, who was just born a couple of days ago by the way, started kindergarten a week ago. here she is on the first day of her school career. amalea, you have a super-sized backpack to fill, so get learning!

warr in texas

happy times abounded in texas. the three girls were there from august 1st through the 18th.

the cousins on a trek on the family ranch property. isabel is in true adventure walk attire: pantie cover, thigh length socks, and flip-flops. we were often graced by visits from the deer in the early hours of the day. the sweetest was the occasion when we watched a doe suckling her two fawns. and then the whole family lovingly licked one another clean in unison.

padre island national seashore. amalea and a sand dollar.

isabel holding a hermit crab.

sand-angel.

posing on the sand dunes.

picnicking with the peacocks at mayfield park. see the peachicks with their mother just beyond isabel?

the 750,000 bats under congress bridge. their emergence at dusk was utterly amazing. the squeaking. the smell of guano.

peter pan mini-golf.

barton springs pool.

amalea made an algae alligator. she did not mind the slime. isabel was completely disgusted by the "fuzzies" and "hairballs".

sitting atop carved wood stools after a day at the pool. after this we got to see a barton springs salamander.

inner space cavern. isabel (not-pictured) decided to throw herself into cave mud during a decidedly cave-induced tantrum.

look at how adoringly babcia and dziadek gaze at their great-granddaughters.

tuesday, july 28, 2009 beginning at 4 pm

operation potty training isabel had been officially aborted on july 27. lack of success should have been predicted after she made the comment, while sitting on the toilet, "i pushed on my head" and proceeded to do so. was isabel fully understanding what we meant when she was told to push the pee-pee out?

then a recommendation came to try the book "toilet training in less than a day" by nathan azrin (see post title for exact inception of program). 24 hours later, isabel was toilet trained. here is the proud diaper graduate showing off her WAY big girl panties (the kind without the absorbent padding).

heigh-ho, heigh-ho, it's august so back to july we go

during the last three weeks of july amalea and isabel + mom (parent tot class) had swim lessons. the weather was not so summery with pool temperatures warmer than air.

amalea with her "fishing goggles" as isabel puts it. tiny, can't touch the bottom of the pool, amalea did not pass the class with flying colors. she proved everyone wrong, though, while playing in the pools in texas during our august vacation. underwater flips were performed with grace thanks to a magical nose plug. aunt tracy even taught amalea how to float on her front and back like a starfish with air in its tummy. amalea even doggie paddled several feed unassisted. watch out for this little fish during lessons next year!

the parent tot class. the only reason why mom is in the photo. our next child will be accompanied by jason. isabel is a daredevil. she jumped off the side of the pool on her own and wanted to go underwater. even more amazing skills were shown in texan water. isabel floated around in a donut floatie and would submerge her face. she jumped off the side of the pool demanding to go underwater and ensuring that mom stood way back to allow for this. of course she wore the fishing goggles and loved turning her head about underwater to see everyone.

the sisters calling swim lessons for the season a wrap.

a dream is a wish

2 last days. back to the happiest place on earth!

we toured the world showcase at epcot. saw alice in england.

or was that wonderland?

got some good advice for helping the medicine go down with mary poppins.

some beauty, isabel seems to be thinking. i would rather be sleeping.

what is going on? there seems to be some dealmaking going on here. mysterious.

isabel with flowers in hand and aladdin picking more.

aha! some covert flower picking for the princesses going on.

another question about the hair weave from belle. beast was here but went back to the castle. "beast sleeping" isabel said with conviction. at least she did not refer to him as "sgusting" as she did when she saw maleficent. anyway, amalea was relieved as she was slightly frightened of the hairy guy anyway.

isabel teasing donald for the mess he had made in philharmagic.

work, work, work. we are there for you cinderella.

walt disney and the girls in front of the castle.

amalea and mini-minnie.

wishful thinking with the fairy godmother.

amalea and fawn (who thought amalea's hair weave was a snake).

isabel and fawn.

we had to shrink to fairy size to enter into pixie hollow.

isabel and tinkerbell. finally!

a sweet fairy sized embrace.

rosetta: a true southern belle. spoke like it. fashion savvy. rosetta noticed the color coordination with amalea. and liked it. amalea said of rosetta, "she's my favorite."

playing peek-a-boo with isabel.

at the end of it all amalea summed it up the best: "i thought that it was a dream that we were in disneyworld." oh, what a dream! it came true.