Coloring

One of the kid's new favorite things to do is coloring. We got the WonderColor markers and books for them for our plane ride and they really like coloring with them but you can only use the markers on special paper. So I figured if they like the markers so much, maybe it was time to break out the crayons again and see how they do (last time they found eating them much more exciting). With a little guidance, they actually do a pretty good job at coloring on the paper. Now Cameron is always asking to "loler". She knows were I keep the crayons and coloring books by now and will just stand by the drawer asking until I get them out out for her.
I printed out some Halloween coloring sheets off the internet to give them something fun and festive to color. Here is a short video of them coloring...

Ring Around the Roses

Here is a video left over from Ohio. I remembered it this last night when Cameron started asking to play Ring Around the Roses. This is one of her favorite games/songs. She is always spinning round and round. It's especially fun when we all hold hand and go round and round but in this video she is running solo...I think she likes it that way so she can wander around and around. She typically sings while spinning around but I think I shot this on about her 50th go round and she was tiring out.

Climbers

The kids were playing happily on the floor the other day so I took the opportunity to get some dishes done in the kitchen. Because the kids were being so quiet I guess I got carried away cleaning and was out of sight about 20min. In that time, the kids figured out how to push their stool over to the dining room chairs, climb up in them and on top of the table. I heard this banging on the table and came in to see what they were up to...this is what I found.

Timo had dumped the salt out all over the table and Cameron was reorganizing the napkins as if to say "What Mommy?, I'm just helping" Once I saw it and gasped...Timo started trying to wipe everything up but just ended up spreading the salt all over.

Once I got them down and started cleaning, I looked down and Timo was "cleaning" up the floor with a fallen napkin...almost makes up for the huge mess he made..almost...

Snaps!

The kids are all about snapping their own buckles on any seat we put them in. Strollers, car seats, high chairs, changing table, clothes...you name it and they will snap it. Sometimes they stand in front of their high chairs and "nap" their snaps over and over. Timo always gets his done first and then tries to push Cameron out of the way so he can snap hers...but she is pretty firm when she is determined. Timo was pretty quick to give out kisses when he saw he upset his sister (we say sorry and give kisses when you act in an unloving way).

Even at the park...all Cameron wanted to do was play with the snaps.

I must say it makes the difficult tasks much easier now that they have this new skill...getting in car seats, getting dresses and changing diapers is way more fun for them now!

Clancy's Pumpkin Patch, SF

We hit our local pumpkin patch Saturday and you would have never known we were in the middle of an urban city! They had it all...pets, hay tunnels, hay rides, pumpkins of all sizes and wagons and wheel barrels to haul them around in. We opted to stay local this year because the kids just aren't into long car rides right now and banking on them napping in the car is a roll of the dice. So we decided to make it pleasant for everyone and go just a few blocks away to the Clancy's Family Pumpkin Patch.

The kids stopped first to check out the turkeys and bunnies and then on to the pumpkins...or "pumpin" as Cameron calls them.

The big challenge was trying to pick them up...they started with the huge pumpkins but we moved them over to the smaller ones so they could actually pick them up...they felt so strong! But Cameron kept trying to tackle the big ones and just ended up rolling it across the ground...so determined to move it.



Cameron was totally into all the carts and wheel barrels...she tried to push practically everyone in the patch.

We took a little hay ride through the woods and kids loved it. Timo fell in love with the tractor...not surprising since it has wheels and an engine...

Guess they needed to sit on the pumpkins to see if it was the right fit to take home...

Timo discovered the tunnels of hay and went in and out, in and out while Cameron liked to sit on all the baby pumpkins...pumpkins just her size.

It was time to say bye-bye to the pumpkin patch which Cameron didn't like at all! But what a fun time we had.

Big Shoes to Fill

Just a funny picture taken on our vacation. Cameron put the shoes on herself and actually managed to walk around a bit in them. We tried to get video but by the time we got the camera and started shooting she was over the novelty of her newest accomplishment.

More Bruises

We had a little "incident" at the playground last Friday...and while I don't have any pictures to share, there are more bumps and bruises in the Ko household. Cameron got pushed down the steps of the play structure and Timo slipped and hit his eye on the steps leading to the slide. The more I thing about the injuring piling up I stop to wonder if it's because we have multiples...hummm...

I wasn't sure how to react to the little boy pushing Cameron. It was a pretty serious fall and the Grandmother was super apologetic but what do you say? "Oh, it's OK", when it's really not because my child just fell 3 feet, scratched their face all up and is scared half to death...not to mention screaming loud enough for everyone at the playground to stop what they are doing and look with sympathy. It's not like an accident in your car where you can exchange information and let insurance companies take care of it. How to you make sure the other parent pays for what their child just did?? Well, you don't. You have to extend grace toward them and let them know your child is OK and it was an accident. I sat there thinking how would I feel if it were my child that pushed the boy down the steps.....So once I cleaned the sand off Cameron and saw the extent of her injuries, I accepted the Grandma's apologies and peace offering of a baggy full of goldfish. What else can you do...

Which brings me back to having multiples...If I wasn't watching Timo on the swinging bridge,making sure he didn't slip through the bars, I would have noticed the little boy about to push Cameron down the steps. And if I wasn't still holding Cameron, calming her down, I would have been able to help Timo up the big steps so he wouldn't fall and get a new black eye. Every time I take the kids out anywhere I feel like it's a "running of the gauntlet." But then I see how sweet Timo was toward Cameron when she fell. He came and sat down right next to us and just sat there quietly. He rubbed her head and said "tister crying, tister crying". And Cameron giving Timo kisses when he hit his eye. So with all the challenges of multiples, I would have it any other way.

Wrapping Up in Ohio

I have just a few random pictures and videos to finish up posting on our Ohio vacation.

The kids were introduced to some yummy Korean food, of course, and actually like most of what was put in front of them. Noodles were the big hit. Here they are eating long noodles in a delish broth and some Jja-Jang-Myun...they ate two bowls of jja-jang.




The kids so badly wanted to eat with chop sticks....and why not, everyone else was using them. They tried a few times to hold them right but just ended up using them as drumsticks on the table.



(we were having fun with stickers earlier and you can see some on their faces)

I have to say the best part of the trip was being with family. We had such a lovely visit with Young's mom, dad, sister, aunt, uncle, cousins. We hope they will all come out and visit us in SF very soon.

Here are the twins with their cousin Johan...9mo old.

Random fun with the exercise ball...



Unfortunately our trip home wasn't full of laughter and sleep like our flight going was...quite the opposite. We flew in the evening thinking the kids would fall asleep for most of the flight since it was around their bedtime. No so much. They got more and more tired, more and more cranky. I felt we just went from one melt down to the next. We had to break out the DVD player a few times to calm them down and try to get them to sleep but we really only got about 10min at a time out of good old Baby Einstein. Oh well, lesson learned...flying in the morning is the way to go!

They each had backpacks with all their activities and sleeping items. Cameron insisted on carrying her backpack on her back...little miss independent. As fun as our trip was, it's nice to be back home.

Monkey Jump

Two of the rainy days on vacation we hit this fabulous indoor play spaced called Monkey Jump. It's basically a warehouse full of different bouncy houses...what fun! The kids were running around like crazy, not knowing which house they wanted to go in next. And the best part was the space wasn't even crowed! I was nervous taking them to a public play area just b/c of the H1N1 (Timo is in the high risk catagory b/c of his asthma) but there were barely any kids there. I guess that's another perk to living in a small town...small crowds. It was so much fun that we came here two days in a row!

Bouncy houses have come a long way since I was a kid...now they have slides, hoops, tunnels, etc...it's a whole gym in one house.

Timo was crazy over all the balls in the houses...hum...maybe a basketball hoop for Christmas??

I know it probably doesn't look like it but this slide was very hard for them to climb up...the steps were really small so they had to step and hold on just right. And adults weren't allowed in the houses so I could go in to help show them how. Cameron tried over and over and over again until she go it...such determination. Timo tried a few times but quit until he saw his sister make it to the top...then he was motivated to figure it out.

Fall Weather

I'll warn you in advance...this is going to be long post with lots of pictures. In spite of the cold and rain, we did manage to get a few fantastic fall weather days out of our vacation. The Ko's live at the end of a culdesac in suburbia so it was a great area for the kids to get out and just run on the sidewalks and through the grass. There was so much to see and do in the nature just outside Harmy's door! And let's not forget the beautiful colors of Fall...oh how I miss the colors of Fall since living here in SF.

The kids loved rolling around in the grass in the backyard and "crunching" through the leaves that piled up next to the fence. Then Timo decided it was way more fun to shove the leaves through the fence.




The weather was bit cold so we had to put hats on the kids. They actually like wearing them until Cameron discovered the hat attached to her jacket...

We practiced "holding Mommy's hand" a lot while we were out and about so I guess the kids thought any hand was just a good, as long as they were holding someone's hand...so cute!!

There were crab apple trees lining part of the culdesac that the kids enjoyed picking and trying to eat the apples. Not so tasty...Timo's new word is "ewwww"

The tree lining the streets were so beautiful with the changing leaves...

We saw lots of grasshoppers, bugs, spiders, etc all over the place. The kids would spot one and stop, bend down and the other would come running over. "Pider" was Cameron's new fav word and Timo would say "see it?, see it?" Then it was inside for snack time after a good morning of fun and exploring.

Here is fun video of the kids just running. They had so much wide open space to just let loose and go!