Silly Monkey Story - We Finally Have Snow!

After seeing photos of snow in Houston last week, I felt that there was something amiss in the cosmos as we've only had a freak dusting in October. But snow has finally arrived here in Massachusetts and the kids got out to "help" Dad shovel the walk.

But what's that I see, or rather, I don't see on Adam's foot?



He lost his boot! Silly monkey!

Hosted by Karen at 3 Garnets and 2 Sapphires.

Silly Monkey Story - Jumping off the swings

When I was a kid, my absolute favorite playground toy was the swings.  I could swing for hours and hours.  My kids love the swings too, but they seem to enjoy them only for a moment and then jump off.  At full height.  When I was a kid, I never even imagined taking flight off the swings.  These monkeys say, "No problemo, it's the only way to go!"







Dova said it was easy and demonstrated to me on video.  Way braver than I ever was!




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Silly Monkey Story - My Little Pig Roast

When Dova stuck this apple in her mouth while we were apple picking, it immediately reminded me of the pig roast we attended for my cousin's wedding.



An uncanny resemblance, eh? OK, in real life, she's must cuter and tastier than a roasted pig.



She managed to eat two whole apples while we were there. But with her two top teeth missing, I couldn't understand how she bit into her apples. Here's a clue:



She ate them like a vampire with her vampire teeth!


Hosted by Karen at 3 Garnets and 2 Sapphires.

Dova masters the monkey bars

Never in all my life have I been able to go across the monkey bars under my own power. I was amazed when Adam did it a few years ago and now I'm completely astounded that Dova can. They obviously get their upper body strength from Doug and not me. Here she is at age five, on her first day of Kindergarten, going completely across the monkey bars.



And for a monkey encore, she flipped over on the bar.





That's my little monkey gymnast!


Hosted by Karen at 3 Garnets and 2 Sapphires.

Where Does Chocolate Come From?

 
Here's a funny one from Dova:

Dova:  Where does Chocolate Come From?

Mom:  Cacao beans.

Dova:  Cow beans??!?
Mom: 


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Silly Monkey Story - Onion School

In a nearby town, there is an original schoolhouse built in 1895 with the name "Union School". Shortly after Adam started to read, we drove past it, and he asked me, "Why is that school called 'Onion School'?" We laughed because as with new readers, sounding out words doesn't always work.

Since then, our whole family calls it the Onion School, and every Union Street is also Onion Street. Recently, Dova added a story that the cafeteria at the Onion School serves onions every day, along with mashed potatoes. On the way home from camp, Dova related this story to me on my iPhone via Audioboo:



She is a natural performer and I have been capturing the kids' stories on Audioboo for a few months.  Most of them are better than this one...  If you're really interested (which I can't imagine unless you are Doug or me), you can subscribe to them as a podcast.


Hosted by Karen at 3 Garnets and 2 Sapphires.

Silly Monkey Story - Dova loves Spongebob

The kids have always loved Spongebob Squarepants, so whenever they see stuffed animal characters from the cartoon, they love to play with them.


Dova grimaces with Plankton.


Gary slimes Dova's head.

Plankton and Gary belong to adult friends of ours that have "never grown up".  Here are some huge Spongebob characters from their cousin's house a few years ago.




Dova gave Patrick a big hug and Spongebob's foot got caught in the cross-fire.


Here she is watching TV with Spongebob (my guess is that the show was on as well).

I think she wants me to recreate the Adam's Spongebob cake for her 6th birthday as well. We'll see about that!


Hosted by Karen at 3 Garnets and 2 Sapphires.

Silly Monkey Story - A Tangle of Arms and Legs

Ever since Adam was little, he loved to show affection by wrestling or pig piling on you. Most of the time this is fun, but sometimes it is annoying when you're just trying to get a nice, quiet snuggle in the morning. He knows he can wrestle with one Grandma (my mom), but not the other. And since Dova is no longer a baby, she is usually a willing target as well. Just look at that happy boy face!



I think they are trying a new yoga pose here.  Either that, or Dova is just trying to stop Adam from kicking her in the face!


Hosted by Karen at 3 Garnets and 2 Sapphires.

Silly Monkey Story - Kung Fu Adam

We spent a day in Brooklyn, NY and Adam loved jumping off the walls of the beautiful brownstones on Union Street. I attribute it to watching Kung Fu Panda multiple times in the car during this trip.


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Silly Monkey Story - Weddings are for Running

Do you see a nicely assembled wedding party waiting for the ceremony to begin? And then the two crazy kids running around like mad?  Yup, those would be mine.  They were enjoying themselves so much it was hard to say no.  It was a beautiful day for a garden wedding at Prospect Park in Brooklyn, NY.  After a LONG drive, with the last 7 miles through Brooklyn taking 45 minutes, it was good to finally stretch our legs.



Here's Dova wagging her tongue in the wind. Wait, that would be a silly dog, not a silly monkey.



Truth be told, I had a hard time standing still during the ceremony as well (we ran out of seats during our romp in the grass) , so I walked around with my camera pretending to be the photographer (see the full set here). I was happy to capture this kiss with my 70-300mm lens. Dova followed me as a circled the ceremony, but Adam was completely bored standing with Dad.



Later, Adam took to climbing trees amongst the turquoise bridesmaids and flower girls.



Adam came home with massive grass stains on his pants, but magically Dova had no stains on her white skirt. The shoes, however, were another story.


Hosted by Karen at 3 Garnets and 2 Sapphires.

Silly Monkey Story - Dova Has Huge Feet

I was photographing Dova on the swing using wide angle, which makes her feet look huge!



Woah! That was way too close, she almost kicked my camera!



"Hahahaha!! I almost kicked your camera!!"*

*No cameras were harmed in the production of this Silly Monkey Story.


Hosted by Karen at 3 Garnets and 2 Sapphires.

All It Takes Is One Click

Gone are the days of candid photos of the kids. One click of the SLR and our kids instantly start performing bouts of silly faces. Perhaps they know that Silly Monkey Stories Tuesday is coming up?

First came Adam with the monster mash.



Then Dova quickly joined in.





Then Adam pretended to be dead.



But revived to become a zombie tickle monster.



Who's being silly? You are!



Dova couldn't keep a straight face.



Just another day in zombie land.




Hosted by Karen at 3 Garnets and 2 Sapphires.