Everyday Excitement

My boys are all grown up now, and it's been so long since they were toddlers that I had almost forgotten how much little ones make you see the world--with its wealth of everyday wonders, which we adults often take for granted--anew, through fresh eyes.  I've been visiting with my granddaughters and their parents out in Colorado for the past week, and here's the thing: when your twin girls are 15 months old, you don't have to go very far or spend a lot of money to make each and every day new and exciting.

You could plan an expensive and ambitious zoo outing.  That would definitely be fun for a couple of wee animal fanatics like my granddaughters.  You could pack up the double stroller, the diaper bag filled with sippy cups, snacks, diapers, wipes, and an extra set of clothes.  And let's not forget the sunblock, and a few toys for emergencies.  Then you could strap them into their car seats, while the pair of seemingly weak and helpless 27-pound sweetie pies squirm and thrash and put on an awesome display of their truly surprising strength and agility.  Even if the drive was a half hour or so, it is more than likely that all of your planning and hard work would be well worth the effort.  Squeals of delight would no doubt fill the air as you strolled through the zoo and looked at all the exotic animals that these curious and excitable toddlers had only ever seen before in picture books.

Sure, you could do that; but you could also take a quick detour after running errands at Target, and zip through the nearby pet store.  At their age, such a simple trip can be as fun as a barrel of monkeys.  Well, almost.  Here are the girls checking out the birds at the pet store yesterday.

The water park is another great place to take little ones.  But a trip to the water park with 15-month-old twins would require the same prep work as a trip to the zoo (see above), but with LOTS more sunblock--and having to apply this sunblock could be tough, especially if you have to apply it to a pair of squirming, thrashing 27-pounders with an amazing amount of strength and agility (again, see above).  I watched the girls having their bath last night, and it looked about as fun for them as any activity could possibly be--even a trip to a fancy water park with slides and sprinklers and all the other bells and whistles.  And a good old bithy-bath* is a whole lot less expensive, too.  Just look at the pure elation on my little Kewpie's face (right) in this photo.  She looks like she's having the time of her life.

Oh, to be a little kid, huh?  I love how the simplest things in life can give them so much joy! 

(*And by the way, is there anyone out there, besides my husband and me, who called them 'bithy-baths'?  Just curious.)