Our Bold Adventure Continues

M has an imaginary friend. In the car today she was telling me a story about her friend "Ima" (Eema?) and the things they did together today: swinging, pretending something was a ship, etc. I asked if Ima was a new friend at summer camp. M said, "no, mom, I made her up." "You mean she's not at school?" "No, I said I made her up." Later, when M+O were talking about their birthday in September (which they know is "soon" and discuss almost daily) unprompted, M said Ima would not be able to come to their birthday party because she had a doctor's appointment that day. I wouldn't have expected a twin who has a constant playmate to have an imaginary friend, but she does. Wonder if Ima will stick around? (I found out later that funnydad knew all about Ima. She's been with us for a month or more he reports. Where have I been? Yeah, I'm the Best. Mom. Ever.) * * * O: At school at circle time sometimes the teachers say a boy ha

When M grows up she wants to be "an excellent drawer." She also wants to be a "snork snickeler" which is their word for snorkel (a thing they'd never encountered before last week). O wants to be a snork snickeler, too, and an "art maker." I guess she's not limiting her medium just yet. We learned these things while on our vacation back east. It was fantastic to spend 11 days with our kids as a family. Somehow, when separated from regular life, the same kids who can sometimes drive me up a tree became a near-constant delight. We watched them play in new spaces and make up wonderous games. We spent more time together just hanging out and learning their versions of songs ("it's one-two-three strikes and you'll be happy at the old ball game") and hearing about their newly-formed career plans. Until now the "when I grow up" conversations have been limited to things they can't have yet. Like gum. Or cockatoos. Or sparkly p

Amy, me, Monica, and Elizabeth a few miles into our walk. Note that no one looks tired, sore, sick, or injured. So I did it. I put one foot in front of the other and completed the Avon Walk. It was, quite honestly, a lot harder than I thought it would be, and every bit as rewarding. It was a lot of things, actually. Fun, inspiring, parts were easy, parts were miserable, some of it was boring, the scenery was beautiful. Mostly, I'm glad it's done. Step by step it's not that hard, I mean it's walking not technical climbing or anything. But all those steps build up and after a dozen miles or so you feel it. By the end I was gimpy, having strained the top part of my calf muscles. Those muscles and general fatigue made getting up at 5:00 a.m. to walk again on Sunday super hard, but I did it. The event was a lot of monotony because as I've explained, long-distance walking is more a mind and time game than an endurance contest. As I walked a seemingly endless path I though