The Fabulous E Girls

The Lengths We Go To

Edie is hosting her BFF for a sleepover tonight. I really like this friend of hers, because she doesn't mind Eleanor tagging along, which means all three girls occupy themselves and I can catch up on very important things, like finishing today's crossword puzzle.

They spent the evening writing letters to the tooth fairy. None of them has lost a tooth recently, but they are under the impression that if they write a letter, the tooth fairy will respond in some way, ideally involving fairy dust. I do not know where they got this impression, but now I have three girls who cannot sleep because of their excitement and anticipation that a fairy is going to show up.

So here I sit at 11:00 p.m., tired but trying to outlast them so I can make sure I don't have three disillusioned girls in the morning. Perhaps I could get out some shimmery eyeshadow to smudge on the letters, simulating the fairy dust. Or respond with a letter and a voucher for double reward points on  their next lost tooth.

Thank you for your interest in Tooth Fairy Industries. Your inquiry is important to us . . .

Boy Crazy

If the sight of Eleanor climbing the bus steps on the first day of kindergarten didn't convince me that my baby is growing up too fast, this selection of recent comments from her sure did.

After a week at daycamp, Eleanor came home to announce that "Gustavo is going to fall in love with me. And Sam is going to fall in love with me." She said this with a sigh, as if she couldn't help being so interesting to boys. When Jim asked how she was going to manage both, she replied, "It'll be a double date." Later she told us that she had kissed Gustavo. This is the same daycamp where Edie learned photography and how to ride a horse. I'm not sure what the heck they're teaching Eleanor.

After a week at kindergarten, Eleanor was getting dressed one morning and chose a dressier outfit than she normally wears. She claimed that she needed to dress up because she "didn't have a boyfriend" so she needed to wear something nice so the "boys would like her."

My only consolation is that I also kissed my first boy in kindergarten (Peter Griffith are you reading this?) and I think I turned out ok. Didn't I?

A Girl and Her Horse

Edie got to do two weeks of horse camp this summer, right before the start of school. Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate and she got less time in the saddle than she'd hoped, but we've got some short videos posted from the final horse show (see Bringing Taz Out, Circle K, and Barrel Run).

I'd say she's off to a good start.

Introducing Edie, Nature Photographer

Edie recently spent a week at photography daycamp, where she learned her way around the new camera we gave her as an early birthday gift. Her camp counselor took this picture of Edie, but if you browse her flickr photostream, you'll see that we have a budding photographer in our family.

American Girls

Edie celebrated her ninth birthday dining with friends at the American Girl bistro in the Mall of America. From left are McKenna, Kirsten, Natalie, Ruth, Edie, and Elizabeth. The young ladies followed up lunch with a little shopping and a roller coaster ride.

Campfire Girls

Our first family camping trip was a big success this past week, thanks to an idyllic campground, perfect weather, and the company of great friends. Here the girls are enjoying a little hammock time with BFFs Katie and Mia. We're already planning next year's trip, and counting down the days when we can get back to the woods. Thanks to G for this extensive photographic documentation of our trip.

All This Can Be Yours

See what all of you who haven't visited us yet are missing? You too can have your photo taken with our girls in front of the falls in Willow River State Park, a mere five miles from our home. Here Edie and Eleanor pose with their new friends the Jones Brothers. No, not the Jonas Brothers, although our girls were as smitten with these boys as they are with the kids from that Disney boy band.

We were thrilled when the Jones family stopped off to see us on their way to a cabin in northern Minnesota. Although they now live in D.C., we know them from our time in Illinois. So if our Illinois friends who live on the east coast can make it here for a visit, the rest of you have no excuse.

Book now and we'll throw in a trip to the Science Museum to see the Titanic exhibit!

Can You Hear Me Now?

Jim and I have been asking this question a lot since we moved into our new house. Apparently we live in a Verizon dead zone and can't use the cell phones reliably when we're close to home. Despite being long-time, satisfied customers, I must admit I'm glad to have this easy excuse to switch to AT&T  because I have been dying to get an iPhone. In fact, I re-upped with Verizon when they first came out two years ago as a way of avoiding the temptation . . . I wanted one bad but didn't want to pay the early adopter prices. A two-year waiting period hasn't dampened my desire one bit. You can bet when our contract is up in 30 days I'll be heading out for a shiny new iPhone.

Today I was approaching our house and called Jim to check on his progress running errands with the girls. The call was choppy and he shouted, "You're breaking up!" I hung up and waited for their return. As we were unloading the car and getting settled into the house, Eleanor came up to me and asked in a very concerned voice, "Mommy, are you breaking up with Daddy?" I reassured her that Daddy and I loved each other very much and were not getting a divorce.

Verizon, now you know that your efforts to root out and eradicate dead zones could save a child from agonizing unnecessarily over the end of her parents' marriage.

Little Trouper

On our way out the door to go to the park yesterday, Eleanor was complaining about something poking her foot. I removed her shoe and felt around inside and checked her socks but failed to find the offending poky thing. A second pair of shoes proved to be equally uncomfortable. When I suggested she go find another pair of shoes or change her socks, she demurred, saying, "I have a way to fix it: Just get used to the pain!" And off she marched across the street to play. Having broken my pinky toe earlier in the weekend, I am going to try this suggestion.

Lazy Bums

After the morning's chocolate bunny high wore off, the girls were found crashed out watching TV in the basement. Big thanks to gramma for giving us her old couch so we can make use of the finished basement--clearly the girls already think our new family room is a comfy place to hang out.

The good news is that not long after this photo was taken, I was able to talk them into getting outside to ride bikes up and down the sidewalk. Now that we're almost done with lunch, I'm hoping we'll be able to spend the rest of the day outside in this gorgeous weather.