outdoors

Forever Fall(ing)

It’s no secret that fall is my favorite time of year. It’s also no secret that fall can either be really nice or really crummy in Alaska, and goes by really fast. In fact, now that snow is on the ground, I feel a little bad I haven’t finished writing our fall update, and that it’s been so long since I posted something…I will try to highlight in order of events.

It’s always a weird time when fall evenings turn dark and cold, but the barren ground isn’t yet reflecting that cold, white stuff to lighten things up. We managed to get in one evening fire pit, with smores and sparklers, before winter joined us. Bonus points for the neighbors and their dry kindling for the fire! The girls ran around the yard with sparklers, devoured marshmallows, and then insisted it was too cold outside to continue to participate.

I take a million outdoor adventure photos every year. It is getting easy to be out and about and not concerned with wildlife taking on a kid whose run off- the girls take great direction out in nature and are getting better at being aware. This is the first year we explored the lower side of Flat Top by myself, and we return unscathed! It probably also helps that we aren’t the quietest bunch…so those pesky moose and bears don’t want a triplet sandwich 🙂

As per the usual, we made multiple trips to the you-pick farm this year, and even made it to the fall festival. Did we eat our body weight in picked zucchini in October? You bet we did! The snow peas were less plentiful this year, but that didn’t stop Reagan from digging through piles of plants to find some, and then eating them for a few days. All three also “adopted” the large zucchini and gave them faces, named them, and they participated in family events and playtime for the next week.

The girls attended their first football game, to watch Juneau Douglas play West Anchorage. It was pouring down rain, and while that didn’t impress the girls (or the parents); they did make it through the whole thing and held up their custom made signs and screamed Go Chatum! They spent the entire night prior carefully making those signs and coming up with custom cheers. Go Chatum, he’s our man, if he can’t do it, no one can! It was also fun to listen to them ask Jaren football questions at the game, and insist they wanted to see Chatum score a goal, even after discussion about touchdowns.

Our annual photoshoot in the woods for mom went incredibly easy this year compared to years past. The girls humored me, climbed on trees and did ring around the rosie full of giggles, and then played in the stream for a while before we returned home. Boy, they are getting big!

Pumpkin carving was quite a process this year, mostly due to the number of purchased pumpkins sitting in our house. We had small ones, medium ones, and massive, very-hard-to-cut-threw extra large ones. One small set was decorated at the NICU reunion earlier in the month, and all the others were carved with the girls, who chose their own facial expressions and helped a little with the knives this year. Oh and that remind me… Grandma Sue also taught the girls to pronounce all works that start with “kn” like k-now, so the girls are continuing to point that out consistently!

Fall break from school prompted a short visit from Grandma Sue, and with that lots of baking and crafts. Doesn’t that potato dough look delicious? The girls excel at helping cook these days, and it isn’t all with licked fingers and utter flour explosions anymore! Not going to lie, I do somewhat miss those days now, but not the post activity clean up.

Trunk or Treat at the girls’ school was a must! It was cold and windy but not frosted as some years prior. A quick hello and trek around to some of their teachers and friends was done in record time. For this event, we had an Elsa and Ana from Frozen, and a “wedding girl” and oh, two cold parents!! Did I mention this was after TWO birthday parties earlier in the day? Yep.

Halloween was a hit this year. With numerous outfit changes, I can’t even recall what everyone was for each event but for the actual day Harper was a pink mermaid, Emerie Elsa in blue (no coat!), and Reagan was Chloe Charming from Rise of Red. While Reagan stayed the same for school that day, Harper was a bride with pink heels and Emerie was Glinda from Wicked, in purple! We finally had a year with temperatures in the 40s and no snow, which prompted strong rebukes to wearing coats, but acceptance of gloves. We made it farther than ever before in the neighborhood, and Emerie’s headache prompted Craig to get the four wheeler for a fun ride the rest of the way. Tyler and Papa Cliff joined us again this year -the girls even let Tyler be Tyler this year and not a full fledged princess- and we also did a few houses after meeting up with their teacher. Tons of candy and a fun night!

I’ll wrap this overdue life story with our official fall photos, which hit on a gorgeous fall day, and half the valley was in the same spot with the same idea. The girls did more than humor the photographer, they giggle, held hands and hugged without much instruction, and look so very grown up this year. I am certain they will have to do fall photos for me every year well into adulthood, because they turn out so great.

And now onto winter things…and Thanksgiving, and Christmas. So many things to do!

❤

Stars, Stripes and Shells

And just like that, the entire month of July is in the books! It went by so quickly and involved a lot of family fun, even meeting extended family on Craig’s side that I’ve never met before. Two weekend trips out of town, more lost teeth than I can count at this point, more outfit changes than ever before, and lot’s of hustle and bustle as we transition toward back to school.

Before the parade and on the way down to Sterling we stopped at our favorite ice cream spot and wandered next door to a random carousel, which the girls rode at least ten times in a row. The owner was a good sport and let them switch up to their hearts’ content and ride all the different Alaskan animals while the adults perused the beautiful wood carvings.

Another magical fourth of July weekend is in the books. Last year we explored the wonders of the holiday in Juneau, a first for me and the girls, and a double parade followed by hanging out on the beach on Douglas Island. This year we left town again and headed south in the car, to experience the City of Kenai parade. It was a beautifully sunny day and the girls rocked their stars and stripe dresses, star face glitter, and light up hats throughout the event. Oh and the adults also rocked the star glitter, and the kid-sized cow girl hat accidentally kept me from a decent sunburn on my face.

I should also mention my judgy children called me out for smashing a dragonfly (to death) when it landed on my leg and I smashed it with my foot, thinking it was a mosquito. For the following few days I was dubbed a “dragonfly killer”, and that was before I nailed a mongoose on the highway on the way home… The children determined my mild swerve at 70mph was to intentionally hit him instead of avoid, and did just that. Ah to be a parent.

We spent a few nights staying with Cousin Brian a little farther south, and even made a quick pit stop in Homer to hang out on the beach, say hi to friends and eat some bbq, and collect shells that would become painted jewelry in the following days. The girls favorite part of the first weekend in Ninilchik? Brian’s movie projector that played cartoons on the ceiling, and probably picking wildflowers. The projector was quite the hit with all three and something different than normal television.

Our second Ninilchik weekend and mini family reunion was another nice time away, this time the girls and I sleeping in Tyler’s RV while other family stayed in cabins. Craig opted to catch food poisoning (opted hehe) and stayed home at the last minute; but Sue and I weren’t going to miss out on the fun with Papa Lon up here!

One hilarious moment of the weekend was watching Cousin Brian show the girls where he collects fresh water from a spring across the highway and lugs it back home for use. The girls were rather enthralled with the concept water comes out of the ground (rather a pipe in the ground) and it was pretty funny to watch their reaction to something so Alaskan.

We had a lot of fun meeting more extended family and enjoying an evening barbecue in the hot summer sun, with a tote of new Barbie’s to entertain the girls while the adults caught up. The girls ran around the yard with their new toys, played Barbie dress up with just about every adult in the place, cooked smores on the grill with Lon, and overall enjoyed a fun visit and some fantastic weather.

Great photo ❤
Board games with Papa Lon
Have to have some s’mores!
“Helping” Grandma blow out candles

We couldn’t end such a fun weekend without a quick stop at our favorite lake on the way back; all three girls finally walking out into the water and not complaining it was too cold. They made a few new friends, tried to capture (note I didn’t say catch!) tiny fish and happily enjoyed a quick jaunt around the lake in the boat. Unlike past years, this year had screams of faster! instead of carefully holding on.

The rest of Papa Lon and Grandma Sue’s visit was full of yummy dinners, fun crafts (like Lon drilling holes in ton of seashells so jewelry could be made!), celebrating Grandma Sue’s birthday with a homemade cake, customized birthday cards and a pie shaped, smelly candle- and helping her blow out all those candles- and of course I can’t forget to mention the girls watching hunting shows with Lon, filled with commentary and questions.

In other unrelated news, we have officially lost all the front baby teeth for all three, with Emerie finishing the milestone and convincing that last, lazy front tooth to depart for a future adventure with the tooth fairy. Her sisters accelerated this by knocking it before it was really ready, and then her absent minded wiggling, just like the other side. The prior day Harper evicted her top right (canine?), which frees up some of the space for those front two teeth to continue filling out. And Reagan, who was the first to lose a front tooth as a toddler and her other top front a little more naturally, excitedly pointed out that the hole she’s boasted in her mouth for years finally has a tooth poking through, after much speculation this year that it didn’t want to arrive. I also continue to find it amusing how all three closely mimic the same tooth order, with only a few outside that.

Harper
Emerie
Reagan

A great deal of discussion centered around the tooth fairy these few weeks, and all were in agreement she should be trapped and captured (like the movie), so many schemes were devised. Prior discussions last year centered around hiding lost teeth from her completely, which 180’d into using them as a trapping method to catch her. A decorative birdcage was purchased, recolored, and strategically placed in the bedroom. But that elusive tooth fairy managed to evade capture, and even leave little notes behind, scolding their attempts to get her. She always had a bit of a panic, spreading fairy dust all around the cage, but managing to escape, to the girls’ delight. I know we will miss these entertaining, magic related stories and creativity in the future; meaning Craig and I continue to embellish the fun while they still believe in it.

I’ve greatly slacked on writing things down this summer, due to the usual busy-ness and just not in the mood to do it. We wrapped up July with other miscellaneous stops like our favorite farm out in the valley and their summer festival, horse shows, birthday parties, and watching jets land at the airport. Reagan getting lost in the corn maze at the festival; Craig eventually tracked her down with some effort. While Sue picked her body weight in rhubarb, we ventured over to the strawberry fields where I supervised (and didn’t touch!) and the girls picked a container each. Emerie left that field with a face bull of strawberries, in addition to the box she carted around. The horse show captured everyone’s attention for a fun afternoon and good excuse to rock their cowgirl boots, and we enjoyed a day trip to Seward with Auntie Janelle and Paris, even in the constant rain. After the standard stop at a very tourist filled Sealife Center, we embraced the rain and let the girls run while along the beach. It might have taken as long to dry them off as they played, and was a great day.

Sealife Center!
The “before” getting soaked photo!

As we wrap up summer and get back to a more normalized school schedule, my goofy girls continue to switch with each other during the day, and who is who depends on the day! Harper and Reagan keep wearing each other’s colors, demanding adults refer to them by the other sister’s name, and in addition to how funny that is, it’s also hard to purposefully call them the wrong name! Harper also attempted to pull one over on Grandma Sue by rocking Emerie’s glasses and smiling without showing teeth. It always amazes me how swapping glasses between them really makes them look like Emerie!

Nightly neighborhood bike rides have also become the new normal. Emerie is incredibly close to removing training wheels and did great practicing and overcoming her fear of it at the park last weekend. Harper and Reagan did a great job cheering her on, with lots of words of encouragement. On pavement she is still sporting the training wheels, but that doesn’t hold her up on speeding around. She especially hates going uphill (or putting in the muscle to move uphill), and with that Craig has a newly discovered superpower, which is pushing a kid up a hill on a bike, while riding is own bike. All three think it’s hilarious when he chases them around the neighborhood on his in-line skates instead of the bike, and he’s convinced them to pull him. It’s pretty funny to watch.

I’ll save our four wheeler adventures for another day, since fall time is my favorite season to get out and about in them. The track by our house has one loop that isn’t too scary for the girls to navigate solo, and it’s been quite the excitement to get over there and speed around. Only minimal blood and crashes, and a lot of mini-speed demons emerging, not to mention the big smiles and giggles you can hear from so far away.

Anyway, getting this blog is getting posted since it’s way out of date, and we are jumping back into the back-to-school to-do list before next week. Happy August!

❤

Stilettos & Sidewalk CEOs

Summer is in full swing and that means finally a few days of sunlight! With the warmer temperatures appears our three fashion icons, who -unlike their mother- instantly boasted a tan and brightened blonde locks with their new fashionista attitudes. With Grandma Sue in town for the month as our built in daycare, that means days spent at home and fifty thousand outfit changes. Her visits always equal a lot of fun activities and goodies; new artwork decorates my walls, colorful bathwater now has to be saved for future use (don’t ask…) and crystals and gems are growing on the counter. At this point it’s hard to picture summer without her after several years of visits.

As shown in the photos, we’ve apparently entered the girls’ high fashion era—think stilettos, strappy sandals, and a rotating wardrobe of too-big junior and women’s dresses, now making daily appearances in our living room runway and around town. Each of the girls handpicked their own thrift store heel, scoring treasures like sparkly pink wrap-around stilettos, black chunky heels with sparkly butterflies fluttering up the leg straps, and silver flats that shimmer with every stomp.

Harper, in true firstborn form, struts around the house in 3” heels like she’s been doing it since birth; unlike me, who barely survives standing in heels, let alone walking in them. I tried on the size seven ones at their request; and nearly didn’t survive that five minutes. Harper’s skill is frankly rude it’s so natural. And Emerie and Reagan, well their confidence and thrill of style far outweighs their coordination, but don’t tell them that! They still charge into the backyard in their new shoes, attempting to climb playhouse, swing, and help with gardening with all the grace of baby giraffes on stilts (great visual right?!). But hey- as Grandma always says, beauty is pain….right?

Along with the heels came an influx of XS dresses from the women’s section and enough sweaters to dress all the Bluey grannies. The girls have a sixth sense at spotting their desires; it might just be in their DNA from my skill finding a good deal in clearance sales. One day it’s a pink off-the-shoulder sequin dress, the next it’s a glittery black gown that looks like it was made from recycled sandpaper. They also swap colors and parade around, announcing they look like their sister. And comfort is clearly not a requirement. The discovery of oversized cardigans too, that naturally go with evening wear or even pajamas pants, support this fashion-forward household. After several weeks of searching, Harper and Reagan excitedly found thrifted hooded bathrobes, one pink and one teal. Emerie initially claimed an adult-sized purple robe, rocking it like a tiny boss until I caved and ordered her a kid-sized version—at which point she graciously “allowed” Sue to wear her discarded one. Even on a few warm nights, these three goofballs still curl up in bed wrapped in them like cozy, baby burritos. I mean honestly, it looks kind of cozy…if it wasn’t the warmest time of year for us!

Papa Cliff stopped in a couple weeks ago and delivered roller blades, which caused quite the discussion on who received what color, and very interesting times watching them try to run across the front yard and not lose all their teeth or break any bones. They excitedly rocked their half pajamas, half winter wear with elbow and knee pads, another fashion forward style apparently. And no, they cannot skate like Craig- who is exceptionally good at it- but they sure wish they could!

Grandma Sue visits always equal your body weight in goodies; and no, we are not complaining! As the girls have grown, they are a little more manageable on the cooking output, not eating handfuls of flour, licking their fingers every five seconds, or sneaking chunks of butter (hey they are their grandma’s granddaughters haha). Fashion forward outfits contribute to this activity as well, with messy buns in the morning for scones and much more handwashing than in years past. The past few weeks they’ve tried their hand in peach pie and crust (Emerie), key lime cheesecake, multiple flavors of delicious scones, and you can’t forget the non-desserts, like homemade fried rice and favorite and local flour explosion, chicken fried steak.

Two sets of identicals ❤

The girls, Sue and I spent the first real sun of the summer out of town, and what better Father’s Day gift to a busy girl dad then giving him two days of kid-free silence while we harassed the Kenai Peninsula. The weekend was smooth overall, the girls bonded with their new identical twin cousins, barbecued with family and made smores, and discovered a few treasures at local garage sales. It is fun (for me!) to try to figure out which twin is which, something that is always fun when trying to distinguish who is who on identicals, and Reagan is getting really good at it. We rounded out the trip stopping for the waffles at the train restaurant, and were back home in no time.

It’s not all fun and games when the parents are off at work- there’s still a busy household to run. Thankfully, Grandma Sue runs a tight ship and keeps the girls busy with chores. And by chores, we mean supervised chaos with good intentions and efficiency. For example, the reseeding of spots in the yard. In order to avoid stomping the spots, the girls “helped” throw grass seed, with a level of distribution far exceeding the adults and their enthusiasm. So far all are abiding by the rule well, and excitedly notice as grass starts to fill in since they helped with the process. Around the house, they’re also tackling the essentials: loading the dishwasher, making beds, putting away clean laundry, and attempting to clean up the daily toy explosion. It’s a group effort -with some fighting and arguing in between- and the job jar is never empty!

In addition to having little fashionistas, we once again have tiny entrepreneurs with a homemade lemonade stand, all inclusive with colorful Rice Krispy treats (extra marshmallows) and M&M cookie bars. Picture three sets of energetic hands helping Grandma Sue stir the cereal; it was a chaotic and hilarious scene to watch. Yes, hands were washed, and yes, we limited the direct cereal-to-mouth ratio…at least until the end. The giggling lasted about as long as the stirring. Sign making didn’t receive the same level of enthusiasm as last year’s marathon art session, but the results were still pretty customized and cute. Everyone rocked lemon-themed outfits and, for the most part, stuck to the front yard, where they joyfully harassed any passerby and our good sported neighbors. All agreed to spend their revenue on fancy nail polish at the nail salon, and hopefully we are working toward a good understanding that hard work equals reward, even at this age.

Each morning, just like during the school year, Emerie continues to patch her eye and still questions why she has to do it when the other two don’t. In the past month she’s become more aware that her weaker eye doesn’t always appear straight, especially at night, and was really stuck on the thought for a few days. We’re not sure if a friend pointed it out but it’s the first time she’s ever noticed, and it doesn’t seem like it came from her sisters since patching is a normal occurrence throughout the years.

Needless to say, we’re working hard to reassure her that patching strengthens her eye, and that it won’t be forever. We also remind her that her sisters will likely end up in glasses eventually, given the genetic odds stacked against them with both parents and grandparents in the bad eyesight club. Our hope is to ease her worries now, before they snowball into something bigger… especially in a house that’s destined to have three teenage girls under one roof. We know she will appreciate all these efforts as an adult, because glasses or not, she will have sight in both eyes!

Other summertime adventures include a stop at the local reconnaissance fair, a first for the girls and during an excessive downpour afternoon. Excluding the cold hands, wet raincoats and attire covered in clay from learning pottery, it was quite a fun afternoon. And not so cold as to avoid an ice cream treat (according to the girls…because I was cold!). Our annual visit to the Scottish Highland Games was also a success again this year. The Douglas kilts aren’t nearly as oversized with growing kids, and we managed to snap a family photo with the Douglas scarves from Grandma Anne in Scotland last month. With only a few rain sprinkles here and there and mostly sun, the girls rocked their kilts, drank a gallon of fresh lemonade, gleefully found the dip and dots booth, sported cute face paint and begged to do the harnessed trampoline jumps. They nibbled on lunch during the Harp Twins concert and handed their coloring to the twins before getting our annual, three-sets-of-identicals photo. Everyone enjoyed watching the dance clubs highlight their dances. Another highlight was all three volunteering to go on stage with other kids and learn one of the dances, and they did pretty well. Stage fright is not a concern in this house (other than Reagan occasionally) and they listened, followed along, and gave it their best. All three get their rhythm from their dad 🙂

I can’t believe July is already here. We continue to get out and about and enjoy this great state, visit parks and ride bikes through the neighborhood, and get out of town when possible. For now, we will continue crafting, baking, picking all the wildflowers, and enjoying our time together.

❤

It’s Snow Big Deal

It’s been a while since a blog update so lots of things happening at the Douglets household. We eased back into the school schedule after a fun two weeks off for Christmas break, with an enjoyable Grandma Sue and Auntie Amanda visit, and dove straight into the new year with a family plague. It easily took three weeks before everyone was feeling back to normal, with the croup cough lingering and drifting through each kid, and then returned to Harper for a second round of fun. For how terrible they sounded and all the glaring looks from random strangers, no one had any fevers throughout the entire bout of it. We visited the doctor a couple of times for steroids and instructions to hydrate, continue inhalers, and take it easy, and finally those little bodies were able to fight it off, but not before Craig and I caught a mild version of it.

Harper’s ear tubes presented no issues and she bounced back to normal in no time, and since then we’ve attended various doctor check ups for everyone. So many doctor visits, so little time. We continue the triple dentist appointments and I am still impressed how well they do; ENT visits for all three as well. Our beloved eye surgeon, Doctor Winkle, just retired- much to Emerie’s dismay- and her prognosis is so good we no longer need a surgeon to monitor and can start again with the original doctor who initialized the cataract diagnosis. All the patching is really paying off and no eye surgeries are planned in the near future. Such a big win there! In fact, the doctor told Craig she would love to host a class for parents to hear how we prioritized her patching, something many parents apparently aren’t doing. If triplet parents can make it work; everyone can do it. No excuses! And I genuinely believe all the tears, crying and trying to rip it off during the toddler years equals her ability to see out of her left eye, and it was all worth it! Emerie still questions why she has to continue putting the patch on before school, but ultimately doesn’t fight us too badly on it and has started trying to put it on herself, unassisted. She also carries her “patch book” to school every day and it has grown exponentially with each passing day.

After school and recreational activities are keeping us busy through the winter months. Two build days a month, which typical start a day of fun with “cousins” Oaki and Kaden, start the weekend off to a good start. My lack of building skills are finally improving while Craig is able to master building two sets at different stages at the same time with two of the three kids. And as the second semester of first grade began, after school stays busy with Pokemon club, gymnastics (which they LOVE!), and intramural sports each week, ballet and tap on the weekends, as well as a weekly ice skating class.

The last time we did ice skating the girls were about three, and with COVID in full effect, masks were required along with helmets, which equaled sensory overloaded tiny humans on ice. This time around, especially after some family skating outings with pushers to assist, all three adore their skating time and look forward to it. They excitedly rock leg warmers and skate out to their class spot unassisted while the parents relax from the side lines, and everyone then free skates after each class. It is extremely cute to watch all three learning the skill and how quickly they pick each thing up. The backwards skating is a little tricky; forwards they are confident and faster and believe every skill is a speed race. In mid-February all three graduated from level one and are now in basic 2 and picking up different skills than the first round. Their confidence continues to improve and they ask to skate whenever possible.

One evening excursion to town center to skate was met with great enthusiasm by all, except maybe our toes and fingers. Hockey gear was borrowed and when focusing on a puck their balance improves; they actually skate better. It was cute to watch them hit and chase the pucks and try to score. And, of course, the pushers were blue seals and Harper loved that. It was a cold, but fun night.

Reagan’s weekly speech therapy came to an end after about a year and a half. She adored seeing her teacher each week, and even more so enjoyed no sister participation. Going straight from school to the place, Emerie and Harper read books or watched a show in the car to pass the time. She just graduated and now needs only occasional reminders to correct her “s” sounds; probably just in time for her other front tooth to fall out (haha!). She now casually states I retired from speech. And would really like to go back and keep doing it!

Closer to home and outside of all the hustle and bustle of activities, the girls continue to find new arts and crafts. In addition to the standard coloring, paper creations with scissors (snowflakes are everywhere but outside this year!), and creative freehand drawings, is the new skill of rubber band bracelets. Reagan picked it up effortlessly and became a great demonstrator for both her sisters, who frustrate easily and then shut down on trying. It’s very sweet to watch, once the fighting settles, and cute when Harper finally figures the loops out and gets excited at the progress. Emerie on the other hand, rubber band jewelry may just not be her thing.

Harper finding seal books at the library

Lots of other things to report over here in this active householder, but let’s keep it short and sweet or I will never complete this post! Harper and Emerie are all about fancy, collaborated outfits lately. They appear on the stairs with many accessories, fancy dresses and shoes, ready to do a show. Harper is all about wearing her high heels, which are just ballet flats with a tiny heel bump; asking to wear them to school every morning. She gets away with that request some days, with the lack of snow for this time of year. She often wears her Target dollar section earmuffs and Jordan’s scarf, to ensure those cold days aren’t an issue. Reagan always opts for her calf high black boots, and wears those to school most days, and often with a panda related accessory to compliment. All three continue the fuzzy coat obsession and are vastly disappointed any time we force them to wear real winter jackets. Harper’s pink coat is worn nearly every day, Emerie rocks her purple one when she can find it, and Reagan traded her light blue one for a beige and green one I found at the store a couple weeks back. Fuzzy coats for the win!

Cold school lunches continue to be a struggle, especially after three years at the school where I feel as though I had fantastic eaters, from keeping the variety interesting day to day. All three vary in preference for their sandwiches, with Reagan moderately obsessed with blueberry jelly -NOT raspberry, grape or any other flavor- and no peanut butter on her PB&J-minus the J. I believe Harper is the only one that will eat both peanut butter AND jelly, and that leaves Emerie, who only wants peanut butter. So very complicated to remember. Luckily the fruit and veggie portion of lunch times are easily satisfied and the continue to enjoy that variety.

We have also entered into a more emotional stage of kid development. While it isn’t full tantrums and freakouts (well occasionally), it involves more life questions. After meeting the twins at Christmas time, Reagan is now on a kick of wishing to be a baby again, and get baby snuggles like a baby. January hosted a multitude of bedtime discussions centered around this, and alluding to wanting to go back to that age. Emerie’s emotions are a different direction. The past six months or so, she has really latched on to her Uncle Chris, who passed away when she was about 15 months old. She seems to have a kindred spirit connection with him that I can’t really explain, but I love to watch play out. This includes so many questions about him, his likes and dislikes, and she is extremely sensitive about it. But it’s also very sweet to see her carry around a photo of them together or to see a letter in her backpack that is written to or about him. Sometimes Craig and I might make the cut on a family picture, but he always does and it’s very sweet.

In addition, Emerie now says the “k word”, “d word”, and “h word” and gets upset when she hears anyone else say it. You would think that is damn, hell, or who knows what “k” is supposed to mean, but it’s not from the swear jar. Her concern relates to anything “kill” related, “die or dead” related, and “heaven,” and scolds sisters when they speak. Yes, we are working through these big picture ideas and expressions, how heaven is a happy place and not scary, and talking it out. Man, kids surely keep you on your toes.

Valentines Day was a hit again this year; everyone addressed their own cards. The funniest part of that was the organization. After the mass table mess of cards, stickers, envelopes and class lists, I turned around to Reagan’s neatly stacked in a Ziploc, Harper’s shoved into a bigger bag but still semi in order, and Emerie’s shoved into the bag and all over the place. The distinction matches them each so perfectly. Everyone wore pink and red; Harper was especially excited to rock a stretchy pink skirt and red tights with her pink headband. The massive paper envelopes with all their goodies from the day returned home with great excitement, and some of that candy is still sitting on the kitchen table. We celebrated the evening with dinner at Texas Roadhouse, and a quick family picture.

7th birthday planning always begins in February as we prepare for our annual shindig and I am looking forward to the next blog update all about how my little ladies have grown the past year, and all the amazing milestones we’ve achieved on this triplet journey.

❤

Exploring the Outdoors

The past month and ending to summer flew by. As we enter my favorite season of the year, where the leaves turn to vibrant yellows, oranges, and reds, the air turns crispy- like the perfect bite of an apple- and the blue skies are crystal clear, we plan to spend as much time outside as humanly possible before winter arrives. Whether it’s hiking through trees that look like they’re painted in watercolor or simply breathing in the cool, fresh air on the back deck, there’s something magical about embracing the beauty of our home state this time of year.

On an impromptu weekend trip down to Seward, we caught a perfectly sunny and calm day to play along the beach, collecting shells, fancy rocks and sea glass. We played at the park, tested out the local gelato, and enjoyed dinner at one of the local restaurants with friends. The airbnb for the night boasted a large, kid friendly outdoor area, so smores and bike rides were a must. None of the old bikes had training wheels, so the girls essentially taught themselves to ride around the big, gravel parking lot without any assistance, in a matter of about fifteen minutes.

We’ve definitely slacked this summer on the bike riding, and taking the time to become comfortable riding without the training assist. It is not easy trying to help all three at once, or even two at once with both parents- you are constantly hopping from one kid to the next, trying to keep the collisions and frustrations to a minimum and certainly a reason for the lack of progression in this area to date. Managing three at once is like a mix of running from one wobbly bike to the next while offering words of encouragement, untangling the occasional crash or wobble over and corresponding raging kid, and celebrating each triumphant moment with cheers. The thrill of watching them gain confidence and balance all at once is also a great feeling—though by the end of the moment, you’ve likely run a mini marathon, and probably need to find some bandaids!

Within a few minutes Reagan was circling the driveway, keeping her pace and confidence up across the dips and bumps, and Harper followed soon after. Emerie attempted a bit slower and more timidly than her sisters, but also caught on quickly until she tumbled and scraped up her hand. There are perks to all three learning so many skills at the same time (not just parental cardio!), because if the first kid can do it, confidence is boosted for the other two. That, and a little friendly competition.

Back at home in the following weeks, Craig removed the extra wheels from two of the three pedal bikes, and so far Harper and Reagan keep the momentum going, literally! They are improving at pushing off unassisted and not always asking for help. Emerie insists on training wheels, even after rocking it down in Seward, and we aren’t fighting it until she gets more confident. I wonder if her bifocal plays into some of her hesitation; that can’t be easy to balance with. We are taking short walks more frequently in the evening, both to wear them out and to let them practice. The discovery of downhill acceleration was quite a highlight one night too, and now we have are defined direction to go each time.

In addition to muscle powered machines, we tested out the new motor track by our house one sunny morning. It took several clear articulations to convince them going through the puddles and mud purposefully was okay, and even then they still hesitated. Everyone is also a bit timid to tackle big hills and splash through puddles, which meant the parents (ahem…Craig) had quite the unexpected cardio workout. Every time the terrain looked a little too daunting, an adult needed to run over to give a push, give them more throttle up a slope, or coax the wheels out of a mud puddle. After unsticking kids multiple times, we found they were far more excited to ride loops in the wet grass with their friends, over and over again, than test out the muddy hills. Sassy Emerie emerged as she constantly hollered at Oliver, you can’t catch me! He looked at her perplexed that they were even racing, which was pretty cute, and she found it hilarious. Harper rode the loop over and over again, and didn’t want to stop until she was wet up to her shoulders; Reagan enjoyed the loops and then wandered over to the playground equipment while her sisters continued to circle.

Another end of summer event greatly enjoyed by our household is the annual Trick or Treat in the Heat. This event occurs well before the normal Halloween and gives local kids the chance to participate while it’s less frigid and dark outside. The meaning behind the event is much more significant than just having fun, and relates to a young boy more than a decade ago who lost his fight to cancer, but not before his neighborhood came together and gave him an amazing September trick-or-treat experience. The even now fundraises thousands of dollars for cancer research and the Ronald McDonald house, which is really cool. This year we went all in on a family theme, with a “big” and “small” trio of Sanderson sisters from Hocus Pocus. Harper insisted a witch was her pick this year, which nicely supported the idea. Emerie was displeased that she couldn’t be Elsa for the 6th year in a row.

We watched the original Hocus Pocus movie for the first time, with hesitation at the beginning and investment by the middle, and Craig spun up the enthusiasm by endorsing one of the sisters himself, and convincing Cousin Tyler to do the same. One of the best parts of the entire evening? Watching people walking opposite as us smile sweetly upon seeing the girls all matched in their dresses and wigs, then seeing their eyes level with Craig’s fully gowned awesomeness, and bursting into a big chuckle. I probably witnessed that at least a dozen times, with many kudos from other dads.

The rain held off for the evening and it remained warm enough to leave coats in the car. Reagan called me her twin all night in our matching outfits, Emerie finally accepted being the bossy one was okay only because Craig was too, and Harper had the need for speed and kept trying to get ahead of the group for the best pick of candy. That might also relate to all the empty candy wrappers in her bag…

One other fun fall evening this week- we finally took the girls up to Flat Top for a hike around the base of the mountain, something we haven’t actually done with them before. There were many hollers of I can see EVERYTHING from up here and wow we are so high; and the occasional demand to know where our house and Miss Tawni’s house were below. The adventure started out sunny and warm, but ended in clouds and a brisk wind; thank goodness we brought hoodies with us. The girls scrambled up the hilly parts full of energy; apparently we should have proceeded further up the mountain, because they were still energetic on the return home. All three carried Ziploc baggies and filled them with treasures- you know, berries you can’t eat, colorful leaves, twigs, you name it. The discovery of edible Alaskan blueberries resulted in a few blue fingers and requests to go berry picking another day, something we haven’t actually done this year.

It is nice to get out and about and share a love of nature as a family. After a stressful month at work for both Craig and myself, getting out and releasing that stress is really helpful for our sanity, as a parent, a triplet parent, and a full time employee. Fall has arrived and that means more hikes, festivals, and enjoying the last month of warmth before the cold and all the beauty that comes with it returns for the year.

❤