"Roars", "Imitations", and Friends

The kids are having a happy snacky-cup picnic on the den floor. What's in the snacky-cups this morning, you ask? Well, Eleanor is munching Teddy Grahams - chocolate, of course. And, Jon David has his 'Roars". Roars are really Ritz crackers shaped like dinosaurs, except, until yesterday, no one knew this but Jon David.

All week he's followed me around whining "Mommy, I wan Roars...Mommy, I wan Roars..Mommy, I wan Roars...Mommy, I wan Roars...Mommy, I wan Roars....". You get the picture. When I'd inevitably fail to produce said Roars, Jon David would scream, throw himself on the floor and BITE IT. Oh, to be two.

So, yesterday, Mommy reached her breaking point. After the umpteenth rendition of "Mommy I wan Roars....", I grabbed him, hoisted his 45 pounds of toddlerness up into the pantry and calmly screamed "SHOW ME WHAT YOU WANT!!!!!"

Poor dude. He reaches out his chubby little hand, pulls this itty bitty little bag of crackers from the shelf, and smiles... "Roars".

I seriously bought these crackers about two months a go. I didn't even know they were still in the pantry. Obviously, Jon David did. Don't worry, Roars are now at the top of the Miller family grocery list.

Yesterday we also hand delivered Eleanor's birthday invitations to all the kids on the street. If Eleanor has as much fun at the actual party as she did at delivering the invitations, it'll be one for the books.

She rings the doorbell - three times - then hollers, "Hello. Hello EVERYBODY! Here is your imitation! I have your imitation for my birfday party!" Then she was very concerned that we didn't have imitations for every ones dogs. Jon David, being confined to the red wagon during the process, wasn't quite as enthusiastic.




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(I had to go help Miss Aurora into her pink princess gown. I guess Jon David decided he'd give a shout out to his hommies. I believe the above translates to "Paw Paw come see me in big cuck". Or something like that. )

As I'm sure you gathered from our pictures below, the pool across the street has opened. We are in loooove. It has a beach entry that is perfect for toddlers and we've made lots of new friends, too. Eleanor met a little girl, Makayla. Makayla will be four in July. She's having an Ariel party. She and Eleanor put all the pool toys to sleep on frisbees. It was amazing. They're like the same person. They were in almost-four-years-old heaven.

While we've been enjoying all the new friends we've been making, we have really been missing our old friends. So when the Stuckey clan packed up their city duds and headed to Lantana this weekend, we were deleriously excited. We got to have birthdays, housewarmings, AND Christmas all in one visit. It was fabulous!

Jackson is about to finish kindergarten (which should scare the bejeezies out-a-ya) and is all about being the big kid. He kept a close eye on Jon David because "he's a baby and babys can sometimes get into trouble" Just call him Sir Jackson Big-Britches. Of course, Jon David was in AWE of Jackson, as well.

Eleanor and Drew are definitely on the same wavelength...wherever in the universe that may be. They played all kinds of games together that no one but those two understood. They ran and ran until Drew's curly blonde hair was just a mess of drenched little ringlets. And, us grown-ups got to enjoy a few glasses of yummy vino to boot. Mmmm.

They got here about 2:30 and left about eight. But, you know how it is with old friends...five and a half hours is NEVER enough. So, we hope to see them again very soon. Except next time, we need to make a weekend of it. Swimming...golfing...shopping...dining...hiking...biking. They won't want to leave. Which is, of course, Step 1 of Operation "Get Stuckeys to Move Next-Door". It's ambitious, I know, but I have my ways.

Alright, the picnic has deteriorated. We're now wearing hampers on our head and butting each other with them a la Parenthood. I think it's time to go to the Target. Sorry, Jon David.