Yesterday, as I had lunch with the girls at Taco Cabana, I told Lillian about my concerns for my coworkers in Beirut after the car bomb that went off. She thought about this for a moment, and then told me that this reminded her the bomb that was set off in the war that the animals won. It took me a second to realize that she was referencing Animal Farm, which I had read to her earlier this year (I think in January or so). The humans had attacked Animal Farm, and used a bomb to blow up the windmill.
She was probably just remembering the bomb, but the scene was rather appropriate to the news. I guess she was listening!
Evelyn has been watching her sister learn the violin, and is really interested. She has taken to playing the "Wii violin", which came from a set of plastic instruments that fit around Wii controllers and meant to be used with the game: Wii Music. The video below was captured during one of her concerts. The lyrics are below:
Velvie died.
And I know she drank toilet water.
And when she died,
she was buried under the ground.
Vevie's in heaven now,
but she's not alive.
We won't see her in three days
or past a year.
I know
there's a couple songs
in this violin .
I know Deinonychus.
I know is available to fight the Deinonychus.
That's Star Wars people!
So, let's go ahead and fight the Deinonychus
so it will be dead.
I know.
I know.
I know there is a tent over there
for us to be safe.
Its stuffed with blankets all over it.
self twice
I knew. . .
Evelyn synthesized just about everything that was happening in her life, at that time, into this song. The first half is about our cat, Velvet (who we called Velvie), who had died while we were on vacation. We had just had a funeral for her, at which the girls placed flowers on her grave and sang some songs. Both of the girls have been very sad, and have been struggling to understand the permanence of death.
Evelyn then moves into a section on Deinonychus. The girls have a book about dinosaurs, which came with a CD. This CD is now played in the car wherever they go; they ask for "dinosaur music" the moment they get into the car. The songs sound like they were written and produced by the same people who make children's religious music. (I swear that one of the songs has the same tune as a song I learned in Sunday School as a child.) One of the songs is about Deinonychus and just how ferocious that dinosaur was with his giant claw. Evelyn sings this song often now.
The "Star Wars people" came from the Star Wars decorations from Lillian's birthday that were still on the walls when Evelyn was singing. (We left them up through May the 4th, Star Wars day.)
Finally, to explain the "tent of blankets": Recently, we had several tornados tear through Dallas. At one point, Erica and the girls had to hide in our powder room (the only room with no windows in our house), while the tornado sirens warned of a tornado in our neighborhood. For weeks after that, the girls would play at creating structures in the living room that would keep them safe from the dreaded "tomatoes/tornados".
Recently, I purchased iStopMotion for iPad to make stop motion videos with the girls. Lillian got really excited when I showed her how it works, and you can see her first creation below. She directed the whole video, I just helped her understand how to turn her direction into a series of pictures. She decided what toys to use and where they went. About half way through shooting, she started trying to tell a story about a baby dinosaur who trusts the wrong unicorn and is taken away and locked up. (In the last frame, you can see that a small lock has been put on the dinosaur's neck.) She even picked out the music: "Weird Al"'s Eat It, and named it House.
Ever since we did this project, she has been excited to try it again. She's even started thinking of stories she wants to tell with her toys. I think we'll be adding many more to this blog.
The girls are now old enough to really enjoy searching for Easter baskets on Easter morning. Lillian found an "extra" basket this Easter, because she insisted that her stuffed bunny should also get an Easter basket. He got a carrot.
And, yes, those Star Wars decorations are from Lillian's party. And, yes, they still adorn our walls. On May the 4th (Star Wars day) we had a new babysitter take care of the girls for the evening. Her father brought her, because he wanted to meet us. When he drove up, she told us, he saw the decorations, and immediately said: I like this family, they decorated for May the 4th!
The girls enjoyed this year's neighborhood Easter egg hunts. Evelyn had to give away most of the eggs she collected because she picked up more than just about anyone else.
Right after we got back from the cruise, Evelyn packaged up the last of her pacifiers and gave them to a newborn baby we know. She was very proud of herself, as you can see in the video.
Nana and Popi took care of the girls while Erica and I took a full day excursion to the Mayan Ruins of Tulum. It was my first chance to visit Mayan ruins, and it was great to see some of the things that I'd learned about my college course on Native American religions. The excursion went long, and we were the last ones back on the boat. I'm glad they waited for us!
During the cruise, we took all the little girls to see "Stingray Village", a sandbar where the stingrays have been taught not to fear humans. They happily swim up to you and eat little pieces of squid from your hands. Lillian was quite brave, being willing to pet one. She was not, however, willing to kiss it, as the guide encouraged. Evelyn did OK, but got a bit freaked out by the roughish waters.
On the cruise, Erica and I joined my sister and my non-yet-my-brother-in-law, for a zip line tour through the Jamaican treetops. It was beautiful, but the guides really made it a great experience. They were a lot of fun, and they made sure that we smiled the entire time.
This video is a little on the long side, so if you're not really interested in seeing the whole thing, feel free to skip it and just watch the one-minute trailer that I'll post next.
Earlier this year, we went on a cruise with my family, and had an amazing time. This video is just a few of the highlights on the ship. There was a lot of singing and dancing. I left the excursions to their own videos, which I'll post later.
This year, Lillian celebrated her birthday in Star Wars style, and it made me (her daddy) very proud. Erica also made me very proud by fully immersing herself in the Star Wars Universe and proving that she had fully embraced, and was willing to participate in, her husband's obsession with everything lightsaber related. The party started with the younglings watching an episode of "The Clone Wars" as they arrived. After bolstering their energy reserves with pizza, Jedi Master Erica lead the younglings in the creation of their lightsabers. The younglings then tested their lightsaber skills by attacking automated (by parents) drones and LED balloons. Suddenly, Darth Maul attacked! The younglings made short work of him, and then went on to prove their might by destroying the Death Star piñata. (It had just yesterday been a soccer ball piñata. Death Star piñatas are actually quite difficult to find.) Because of the excellence and courage the younglings displayed in battle, they all graduated to become padawans and celebrated by eating cake and candy and by opening presents. Everyone had a great time, even the new padawan Spider-Man!
