Florida 2009 Update

My time at Marco Island is half way over but Nancy and the girls still have a while to go. We have had fabulous weather and 4 consecutive beautiful sunsets. All of the cousins have enjoyed playing with each other every minute they can.

Erin and Evelyn have been waking up every morning and the first thing they mention is either playing with their cousins or going to the beach.

Erin likes going down to the beach and making "sand soup" which is just sand and water in a bucket. But she makes sure to make a lot of beeping noises as it "cooks" in an invisible microwave. Nancy might want to cut down on TV dinners as Erin thinks this is the only way to cook.

Other memorable things:
-Nancy told Erin that an outfit she had on made her look very pretty. When Nancy told her to show me how pretty she was, Erin told her "no, I don't need to. I'm pretty". We're glad she's developing a healthy self-image.

-Evie woke up in the middle of the night and because of the way the beds are set up in the room she could not see Erin. Ev started to shout out "Where Yaya?" When I went into the room to calm her down, I just needed to pick Ev up and show her that Erin was in the bed next to her and she went right back to sleep.

-We went to the 25th Annual Buzzard Festival. Lots of crazy people doing the Buzzard-lope which is a dance we can't quite explain. Lots of drunk people and even a boat of women who flashed the crowd.

-The girls really enjoy the hot tub and pretty much refuse to go into the regular pool, although Ev has taken to jumping into my arms from the side of the pool. Erin pretty much panics at the thought of going more than ankle deep in the "big pool".

-Ev started to call Erin by her name instead of "ya-ya" or "sissy". It sound more like Onion than Erin but it's a start.

-Potty training (although Nancy denies we are potty training) is going well. Erin will do anything for an M&M and we are trying to use this to our advantage. She thinks she gets an M&M for tooting, but we draw the line there. Something of substance has to come out or else we'll just be re-enforcing a behavior we'd rather not smell.

More later...