My little animals

For Halloween this year, I decided to take the kids to a local mall that had Halloween activities for the kids and trick-or-treating at the stores. This afternoon, I dressed Cordelia and Estella in their costumes (a giraffe and a cow), picked a little leopard (Adelaida) up at school, then headed to the mall.

Adelaida loves her leopard costume and was so excited about trick-or-treating ... until we walked into the mall and saw a person dressed like a potato. Not even a scary, bloody, monster-like potato; just a regular old russet potato with a smile on its face. She stopped, screamed, and then I heard "HoldMeHoldMeHoldMeHoldMe!" and felt her clawing at my legs.

The rest of the mall expedition did not go well. Everywhere she turned, she saw people dressed up in costumes -- a clown, a firefighter, several monsters, Darth Vader, witches, a fairy godmother, and of course the frightening potato. So, I walked through the mall pushing the stroller and carrying Adelaida while trying to calm her fears. She didn't want to do the kids activities (too many people in costumes!), so we ended up leaving after about 45 minutes of me telling her that the costumed people were just people dressed up in costumes, just like her and the babies.

I wasn't able to take any pictures of the girls at the mall, but we did get a few at home. Cordelia is a giraffe, Adelaida is a leopard, and Estella is a cow.


I suspect that Adelaida may grow up with an irrational fear of potatoes (and armadillos, thanks to a well-intentioned costumed character at Texas Roadhouse back in February).

Happy Halloween!

Tummy Time!

It's Tummy Time in the Parkes household. Tummy Time started with two babies (Cordelia is on the left and Estella is on the right) ...



... then two more babies were added. Now Cordelia, Baby Yanna, Estella, and Baby Michael are doing tummy time together ...


... and then Adelaida decided to join the babies!


Fortunately, Cordelia and Estella like to look at Adelaida, so she probably extended tummy time by about five minutes by carefully placing Baby Michael and Baby Yanna, then moving them around so she could join the fun.

Balloon Fiesta!

We love going to Balloon Fiesta and are always excited to have visitors the first week of October because we have an excuse to get up before dawn, bundle up in our warmest coats, and watch 600 balloons rise against a deep blue Albuquerque sky.

This year, Uncle Rob and Aunt Laura came to visit, on their way back to Indiana after a conference in Las Vegas. We had a wonderful time visiting with them and Adelaida was particularly fond of both Uncle Rob and Aunt Laura. I'm sure Rob read at least a dozen books to Adelaida the first day he was here, and every time Adelaida needed to use the toilet, we'd hear "I want Aunt Laura to take me!" Best of all, Rob and Laura are pros at caring for twin infants (my cousins Amanda and Melanie will be turning 21 next week) and could pick up and comfort two babies as easily as Dale or I could.

On the Thursday morning of their visit, we woke up at 4am (well, I think we were already awake at 4 thanks to Cordelia and Estella), checked the weather, and decided it looked like a pretty good day for the balloons: no chance of rain, with (relatively) calm winds of 5-10 mph. We headed down to Balloon Fiesta Park and somehow managed to drive right into the park with no traffic delays -- a first for me at Balloon Fiesta!

Thursday morning was a "Special Shapes Rodeo" event, where special shapes balloons inflate and take off. There were about one hundred special shapes balloons this year, some as simple as a regular balloon with cat ears ...


... and some as elaborate as Noah's ark (which I somehow didn't get a picture of) and this panda.


By 7am, the pilots had decided that they weren't going to ascend -- we learned that "calm" to hot air balloon pilots means really really calm, like less than 5 mph, and it was just a bit too windy. But most of the balloons did inflate, so we got to see several amazing balloons inflate around us.

One of the first balloons to light up in the pre-dawn hours


The Noah's Ark crew prepares to unpack their balloon, with the sunrise over the mountains in the background. It takes a lot of people to get an elaborate balloon like Noah's Ark up in the air!


The sunrise turned the clouds amazing colors, oranges and purples and pinks


The Iwi The Kiwi balloon inflated about ten times faster than any other balloon -- rather than spreading a tarp, unpacking the balloon, checking the ropes, and slowly inflating, the Iwi The Kiwi crew just set up the still-packed balloon next to a giant fan and started blowing air into the balloon. The balloon inflated and ascended in record time.


Once Iwi The Kiwi was up, he was unfortunately not very stable. We were standing right next to the balloon, and it went upright ... then wobbled and started to fall on us! Laura grabbed Adelaida and ran back while I quickly maneuvered the stroller to a safe distance. Unfortunately the urgency with which we moved Adelaida frightened her and she was afraid of all the balloons falling on her after that.


Despite only about a hundred balloons inflating, they were packed pretty tightly on the field.



Estella and Cordelia enjoyed the balloon fiesta from the warmth of a stroller, covered by a blanket to keep the wind off them. This picture of Cordelia is typical of the babies' time at Balloon Fiesta: bundled up and asleep. I'm sure they will enjoy it next year, though!


We had a great time and really enjoyed Rob and Laura's visit. We are looking forward to another great Balloon Fiesta next year!

Visiting with Family

In addition to going to the zoo, playing on the playground, visiting the petting zoo, spending the day with Karen, and attending a beautiful wedding, we also just hung out in Indiana and enjoyed spending time with our family. Here are some more pictures I took in Indiana.

Grandpa holding Estella
 

Adelaida
 

GG doing what she does best: loving on babies! Here she is with Estella


Papaw carries Simon and Adelaida


Grandpa Jim holding Cordelia


Estella sleeping on GG


Papaw plays on the floor with the babies. Estella is in the bouncy chair and Cordelia is on the floor.


Nana Ruth holds Estella


GG with Cordelia


Cousins! Simon, Estella, Cordelia, and Adelaida line up for a photo

A Beautiful Wedding

Our two-week trip to Indiana was planned around my sister's wedding. Rachel and Bill were married on September 17th in New Harmony, Indiana. New Harmony is a tiny little town with a beautiful wedding venue in the Roofless Church. Rachel and Bill chose "fun" for the theme of their wedding, and the entire weekend could be described as just that: FUN!

Roofless Church, New Harmony, IN

The wedding was outside, and the weather turned out to be just perfect -- calm, clear skies, and the perfect temperature. I didn't get any pictures of the wedding itself, but took several during the rehearsal.

The happy couple walking down the aisle!

Groomsman Michael listening to the vows

Father of the bride Mikel and step-mother of the bride Annette watch the rehearsal

Bill's son, Billy, and step-daughter, Devon, hold cartoon pictures as Edward Monkton's "A Lovely Love Story"  is read. The story was modified slightly to account for the fact that Bill is uncommonly fond of HOCKEY!

Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera out for some of the more memorable events of the weekend, like the German Kunstfest festival that was held in town that weekend, or the bride and bridesmaids decked out in our finest walking through town singing "Going the Chapel of Love" on the way to the wedding, or our horse-drawn carriage ride through town, or pictures from the wacky photo booth at the wedding reception. But I did capture a few other great moments.

Farrel and Adelaida pose on a giant wooden chair in the woods behind the inn

Three (of the five) sets of twins at the wedding: Melanie holding Estella, Amanda holding Cordelia, Christa, and Courtney

We had a wonderful time and are so excited to welcome Bill, Billy, and Devon to the family. Congratulations Rachel and Bill!

Fun in Indiana

One of my favorite activities in Indiana was the Apple Works apple orchard and petting zoo in Trafalgar. Mom, Rachel, and I took the four kids there and we all -- young and old alike -- had a blast. They have a small petting zoo (turkeys, sheep, goats, horse, chickens), a huge slide that comes out of the top of a barn, a plywood tractor to ride, a straw pyramid to climb, and of course a working apple orchard. We skipped the apple-picking, but had a great time with the other attractions.

Nonna and Adelaida look at the turkeys at the petting zoo


Adelaida pets a goat


Nonna helps Adelaida feed a goat


Rachel feeds two goats


Adelaida takes a break in Simon's stroller


King of the Straw Mountain!


Adelaida is on top of the world!


Simon drives the tractor


Simon is 2 feet, 2 inches tall


Adelaida is 2 feet, 8 inches tall


Adelaida and Nonna at the Apple Works store


The best part of Apple Works was the crisp, sweet apples they had. We bought two (gigantic) bags full and snacked on them the rest of our trip. Yum!

Three months and look how they've grown!

Three months ago today, I held my baby girls for the first time. I remember thinking how tiny they were and looking from face to face to see if I could tell them apart. Estella had a stork bite on her eyelid and a "receding" hairline and long face; Cordelia's hairline was straight across her forehead and she had a very round face. I looked for these characteristics every time someone handed me a baby for the first two weeks.

Soon, Cordelia and Estella developed very distinct looks and very distinct personalities. Estella had a warbling cry and had more trouble nursing. Cordelia was always ready to sleep and would squeeze my finger while she nursed, just like a little kitten.

Today, I can tell them apart at a glance and can even distinguish their cries apart (at least most of the time). I am reminded every day that Estella and Cordelia are two very different girls who just happened to be born on the same day.

newborn Cordelia
 

one-month-old Cordelia
 

two-month-old Cordelia
 

Three-month-old Cordelia is quick to cry and quick to smile. She is serious about everything she does, whether it is nursing, batting at toys above her, or sleeping.


newborn Estella
 

one-month-old Estella
 

two-month-old Estella
 

Three-month-old Estella has great big bright blue eyes that never seem to close. She watches everything around her and is easily distracted, as if she doesn't want to miss anything.


Both girls are getting bigger -- over 11.5 lb now -- and are becoming much more interactive. Although I'll miss the brand-new-newborn stage where they just curl up on my chest and are so precious, I know that the next stage will be a lot of fun and look forward to the babies sitting up, rolling over, cooing and gooing more, and starting to communicate in ways other than crying. I'm sure they will grow up even more in the next month!