The Day I Had Twins

Last Tuesday, I kept both Cara and Murphee while Cari was out of town. Two girls, 10 weeks apart, all day. Sounds fun! I had lots of activities planned to keep our time full and fun, and as soon as Murphee came over, we jumped right in!

The first thing we did was drop fuzzy pom pom balls into a paper towel tube on the wall. This was really fun for the girls for a while. They dumped out the bowls, squealed with delight and watched each other to see what to do next. So cute!

After we played for a while and rode the plastic kid's roller coaster, we loaded up the car (literally) to go to My Little Play Place.

Both little girls were singing nursery rhymes from the back of the car and doing the motions. When we got to MLPP, the girls' personalities took over. Murphee ran around, fearless, to the top of the slide and tried everything there was. Cara took a look around, asked me to hold her and show her some things before she tried it all. They went down the slide a few times, Murphee forward and Cara on her tummy. After a couple of runs, Cara's foot caught the bottom and tweaked her ankle. She was a puddle of tears and only wanted to be held for a while after that. (She is cutting molars, and has been a little feverish and fussy all week, so this only made things worse...) We had a snack and played more for a while before coming home. It was a really fun place for little kids to run around where I could watch easily. It was $12 for two kids for a couple of hours. We'll go back!

Once we were home, we ate lunch (quesadillas, fruit and milk--all refused until I provided ketchup for dipping). Cara and I put Murphee down for her nap (Last time Murphee was here, Cara got so upset that M was sleeping without her that I wanted Cara to be included in the process.), and then I put Cara down. M fell asleep in the PNP in a minute flat; Cara wallered in her crib for over an hour. I was on the couch, hoping for a nap myself, but the monitor kept me up. Eventually, she started to cry, so I went to get her and told her Murphee was sleeping. She said ,"Shhhhh Murphee sweeping" and was quiet. I brought her to the couch and laid her down on my chest with Bear, where she conked out almost immediately. She slept for almost 2 hours that way, and I got rest too. I wouldn't trade that time for anything!

Murphee slept almost 3 hours, so when she woke up, we stripped down to diapers (or panties for M) and shoes and headed outside. I had made a whole batch of chocolate pudding and gave them brushes and a canvas to paint on. They really got into it, and M used it more for eating--more like sucking the sponge paintbrush dry!

Then we moved to the water table, and they played with the little animals and then discovered they could use the water scoop to drench themselves, and then the real fun began. I decided to join in the fun and get wet myself. They were so cute sharing the water scoop and saying "Thank you!" when they handed it over. Sweet friends.

Then we played with bubbles and the hose a little bit and painted some more. About that time, Chance got home from work a little early and played with us! We gave the girls a bath together, which was an adventure and got them all cleaned up and pretty!

Then we had snacks and played with some magnets and pictures until Aunt Cayce came here to pick up Murphee with Mase.

At the end of the day, I was exhausted, but I really did have fun with them, and it wasn't nearly as hard as I had anticipated. They are really sweet friends, follow directions well and keep each other entertained. I am glad I have over-prepared with activities just in case I had time to fill and that I had things like meals almost prepared so we could reduce wait time (and fussing time)!

I'm glad that Murphee and Cara are able to spend so much time together and that they will grow up as cousins and almost-twins. They will be handfuls, but they will be precious ones.