Every Day with Eli: October 8

Please excuse any typos or incoherent rambling... today has been a very, very long day.

I hopped out of bed before 7 am in order to make sure the kids were fed and dressed and lunches packed before we left the house at 8 to get Caleb to Running Club on time. (Chris' pancake-making skills certainly helped us get out the door more quickly!) Then the girls and I drove through rush hour traffic (ugh!) to meet Amber and her kiddos at the Garden for a short playdate. We had so much fun!

(side note: Amber makes pregnancy look effortless. No wonder she's expecting Baby #5 in December - she's a pro at this whole thing!)

Daisy loved the little maze. I loved the morning sunlight.

Amber's kids had one goal for the morning: feed the fish. Miss Catherine even brought over $6 in quarters for fish food! Thankfully, they shared their bounty with Lily and Daisy, and we spent nearly an hour feeding the fish and ducks.

Oh. My. Goodness.

Lily had so much fun. She especially loved the ducks, and spent a good portion of the time giggling, saying, "Duck. Duck. Du CK." I tried to take a video of it, but completely failed to capture her utter adorableness. She even figured out how to drop one piece of fish food at a time into the water. She also figured out how to attempt to climb through the bridge railing, which meant that most of the time I had one hand on her bottom.

We must have been the first fish-feeders of the day, because those koi were hungry. Once they realized we were there, they simply hovered near the surface of the water, mouths gaping, waiting for the food. The ducks, though... they were fast! They swam right over the fish and often snatched food right out of the fishes' mouths!

Peek-a-boo! I see Lulu!

And then? A duck left the pond and hopped onto the bridge, looking for food. She was a clever thing, first checking immediately below the fish food dispenser for any fallen treasures. Then she began a jaunty walk down the bridge. Lily really thought she was going to catch that duck, and toddled after her, chanting, "Duck. Duck. DUCK!"

Look at her go! Sadly, the duck wised up and flew back to the water. Better luck next time, kiddo.

Back to watching through the bridge. I love the fluffy cloth diaper bottom!

On our way out, we visited the sheep. There were just enough sheep for our group, but three other kids got there before we did and refused to leave. Daisy just stood there for a moment, trying to figure out what to do. The sheep had been her one agenda item for the day, and now they were all occupied! She quickly found a solution, though, and Mary happily allowed Daisy to share her sheep. What a good friend!

We headed home in time for lunch and naps. Lily missed her morning nap, but didn't have the common sense to take a long afternoon nap. She woke up just as I was attempting to rest before beginning preparations for the evening's birthday festivities for my mom. Luckily, Jenny had the day off work and agreed to come over and entertain the children while I cooked, cleaned, and decorated.

This room still isn't finished - we need to caulk and paint the trim, then hang curtains and decorate and move furniture back in. But we're getting there. In the meantime, the wide open space easily accommodates a table for 13, and we hung some bistro lights to brighten things up.

Now that Lily is walking, she and Jace are so much fun to watch together! They toddle around and play and are just darling.

The birthday girl! Caleb positioned all of the candles on her cake.

After dinner and cake, we all ended up in the piano room, where Mom and Chris took turns playing the piano and the little ones accompanied on random instruments. Though no one in the family is a musician (yet!), it was so much fun!