Moving Right Along

Dear Emaline and Keillor,

As I write this, you are out riding bikes with Granddaddy. Well, Keillor is riding his bike, Emaline is riding her tricycle, and Granddaddy is walking with the dogs. About a half an hour ago, Emaline took a crayon and drew on Grandmommy's kitchen chair. Big trouble.
Yesterday was a lazy day, and we didn't even leave the house. We didn't even get out of bed until 9 a.m., which surprised everyone. Of course, I was asleep; you two were watching cartoons on the iPad.
I cut card stock into postcard sized pieces and you two made postcards to send to Mommy. Emaline, you drew a beanstalk. Keillor asked me to draw him a train which he then colored in. I wish I had taken pictures to post here, but I did not.
This morning for the eight hundredth time, Keillor asked for cereal without milk only to change his mind as soon as I put the milk away. I even recorded you saying you didn't want milk, and I played it back for you several times before I put the milk away. When you finished that bowl, you asked for more. I poured more cereal in, and you got up and walked away.
We are planning on going to the pool today, and Keillor is going to get a haircut. We had planned on going to the beach yesterday, and that never happened, so we'll see.

Emaline reading Squirrel Nutkin

Almost a year later

Dear Emaline and Keillor,

It's been almost a year since I wrote about you in this blog. I was in Scotland then. A lot has happened since. You just had your fourth birthday. We rented a pavilion at Blue Park, and your friends came to celebrate with you. Keillor, you got your first bike with training wheels. Emaline, you got more Barbie stuff. You sure love Barbies. You spend way too much time taking their clothes off. I wonder what that's about.
You started Montessori school in the spring last year, and you are still not used to it. You prefer Ms. Tina's and ask about going all of the time.
Right now we are at Grandmommy's and Granddaddy's in Georgia. Keillor just cleaned up his trains so he could watch cartoons in Grandmommy's room. There are three Barbies on the dining room table next to me. All of them are naked. Seriously, Emaline?
Mommy left this morning to go help Grammy and PawPaw move. It will just be the three of us here for the rest of the trip. I hope you don't gang up on Daddy. I have a horrible sunburn on my back and I promised Mommy I wouldn't lose my temper.
Now I just have to remember to keep up with this blog regularly. We'll see.

Keillor on his bike

Emaline with a mouth full of sandwich

Digging for shells with Daddy

Letters to Daddy, 4

Dear Daddy,

I am not doing my best. I can't make tracks for the choo choos like you and Keillor is arassing me. He says Jack Black is bad. Jack Black is not bad,Daddy. He just needs anger managment because he is frusterated. Mommy says we can't watch the Muppet Movie anymore if we keep fighting over Jack. I am right and Keillor is wrong. I told Mommy I am going to kiss you on the nose when you get home. Keillor said he is going to kiss you all over your face.

I told Mommy my tummy hurt because I had banana pudding. I do not like banana pudding, Daddy. Mommy said most people like it, but she believesg me because she doesn't like watermelon. I do like watermelon, Daddy. Just like you.

I miss you and love you,
Emaline

Dear Schmookies,

Daddy is frustrated about the tree, too. I wish I could take care of it with my chainsaw. Daddy has been in school this week; not like the school where he teaches, but a school where he is taught. In my school, we read stories to each other in one class and pretend to be other things in the other class. I think you would both like that class. We make noises and stretch and have fun.

Daddy is very tired, but it is hard to go to sleep in a place where there are so many interesting people and so much is going on. I understand now why you don't like to go to bed. I will be in bed and want to be with my friends drinking water and reading stories. To help me sleep, I have found a sound machine website that I turn on when I go to bed. It reminds me of home.

Keillor, you want to drive Daddy's car, huh? Daddy's car would be huge here. It would be the biggest car on the street besides the buses. All of the cars here are Keillor and Emaline sized. They zip around very fast. Many people ride buses though. Daddy rides the bus to school (well, part way to school anyway). It's a long, long walk. You'd love the buses. They have stairs on them and you can go up the stairs to the landing, up the stairs to the hall. When you want the bus to stop, you push a button and a bell rings. The driver stops at the next bus stop for you. It's fun.

Speaking of small, everything is small here. The beds are small, the oven is small, the fridge is small, the washing machine is small, and even the boxes and bags of food are small. When people go shopping for food, they only buy a little bit at a time; not like Mommy and me. The closest store to Wal-Mart is Sainsbury's. It has everything, including some stuff you would say was gross like haggis and head cheese.

Since he has been here, Daddy's tummy has not been right. Don't tell anyone, but I have been tooting all of the time. I know, that's bathroom talk. Excuse me.

My eyes are burning so it's time to go to bed. Ask Mommy to look up Inverness and Orkney Island to see if she'd like to go there. Also ask her if she would prefer countryside and ancient ruins or city stuff and shopping? I think I know the answer, but I wanted to check.

Please be good for Mommy. I love you all and miss you terribly.

Daddy.

Letters to Daddy, 3

Dear Daddy,

Our tree blewed down. Mommy said a big wind knocked it over. I asked if it was kite wind. She said it was bigger than kite wind and that it was like the wind on my Thomas cartoon. I don't know that big wind Daddy. When we came home today, someone had taken part of the tree. Mommy said something I couldn't hear about the tree still being on the sidewalk. She looked a little frustrated.

I am being a very good boy. Mommy let me and Emaline watch cartoons while we took our bath, but she did not let us have chocolate ice cream outside. I was a mermaid in the bathtub and got to swim when Emaline got out. We read stories about the dinosaur princess and elephants. I told Mommy I am going to be a big lion like you and Emaline is going to be a little zebra like Mommy. I am going to drive your car when I growed up and Emaline will drive Mommy's car when she growed up.

I love you and miss you,

Keillor

Dear Emaline and Keillor (and Mommy),

I haven't visited any castles yet, but I did see one. I went to the farmers' market today, too. I bought cheese and oats and strawberries and cherries and bread. That sounds like a meal my little Schmookies would like. I also saw two kids your age playing. I did something Mommy would do and I went up to the parents and said, "You can't let your kids come near me because I have two beautiful children at home and I miss them." Maybe that's something Grandmommy would say. But then I said, "Your children are so precious." Maybe Mommy would say that. Then I felt weird.
I met all kinds of people today. You would have been very shy.
I went into a kilt shop to look for matching kilts for Keillor and me. The man said I could get fitted for a kilt and they would ship it to me. They only wanted 250 pounds sterling for it. I said I'd think about it.
I'm still looking for a wee kilt for Keillor. Those are more like 25 pounds. When girls where kilts, they are called skirts. I was told that the difference between kilts and skirts is underpants. If you're wearing underpants, it's a skirt. Maybe I shouldn't get Keillor a kilt.
Tell Mommy that Edinburgh has an H&M and an Anthropologie. There are many fancy stores on Princess Street that Mommy would really like.
Also tell Mommy to look up stuff she wants to do and see. Daddy's eyes are starting to cross, so I am going to sleep, but have a look at some of the pictures Daddy took. Some of them have a dinosaur in them.
I love you all very much. Take care of Mommy.
Love, Daddy

Letters to Daddy, 2

Dear Daddy,

Mommy said you were visiting castles. She showed me pictures. Daddy, that was not a castle. I did not see any princesses. We liked seeing you on Mommy's phone, but Keillor thought you were at the hospital. Are you ok Daddy? Mommy said you were at a hostel and not a hospital. Both sound bad to me Daddy.

This morning, we went to the farmer's market. We bought peaches, tomatoes, and basil. I asked Mommy if she was going to eat leaves. Then we went to Trader Joe's and Mommy bought us some watermelon. Mommy said we were very good and she let us have ice cream after our nap. We were so excited about ice cream that we only slept long enough to let Mommy make turkey meatballs for dinner. I only wanted cheese and fruit for dinner, but Keillor ate meatballs.

Mommy let us make art after swimming like mermaids. Keillor made a truck and I made doo doo. Doo doo. Hahahahaha...ahhhhhhhh. Mommy got mad and said, "no more potty talk." I said, "Mommy, flying doo doo, hahahahahaha." She turned around and her shoulders were shaking. I think she was laughing. But she said she would never laugh at such owl language. She said, " it is foul language." Like I said, Daddy, owl language.

I am being your best girl and Keillor is being your best boy.

Love,

Emaline