All Aboard! and movie-star sighting

Allie and Harper are loving their new alphabet train.  Soon I'll have to get some footage of them walking with it, but for now, check this out:

Also, we saw a movie star today.  We were strolling around Piedmont park and came across a movie set.  Standing right by the sidewalk was Kate Hudson with curly black hair eating a popsicle.  Just looked it up and she is in Atlanta filming "The Reluctant Fundamentalist" with Kiefer Sutherland (star of 24).  Allie and Harper were very chill about the sighting.   Georgia is giving some major tax breaks for films and this is the third time I've walked up on a movie set in Piedmont Park.

Private Concert and the Atlanta Arts Festival

Yesterday, Allie, Harper, and I had one of those moments where we walked up on something so cool, it felt like we shouldn't be there.  I had that same feeling when Michael and I hopped on a boat across a lake in Switzerland.  We weren't sure if it was included in our Eurorail pass and didn't want to find out that it wasn't, so we just jumped aboard.  It was so beautiful and probably more fun because maybe we weren't supposed to be there.

Me on the Boat

The final destination of the boat, Chateau de Chillon in Montreax.  Bonus points if you know whose poem made the Chateau famous!

So maybe what happened today wasn't quite as exciting and it was totally okay for us to be there:  We got a mini private concert at the Botanical Gardens from Colbie Caillat and Andy Grammar.  We just happened to be in the gardens when they were warming up, while all the people with tickets for the show were lined up outside.  I didn't know who they were because I'm out of the music loop, but I did know several of CC's songs.  Here is a music video of hers that is cute and funny in a weird way. You know the song, right? She warmed up and performed that song for Allie and Harper and two other kids.  Then Allie and Harper had Andy Grammar all to themselves for his warm up.  He sounds like an even more upbeat John Mayer.  I'm a little shy to admit that sometimes you just need some happy John Mayerish music for a little pep in your step. Anyways, he's so handsome and we had a personal concert, just me, Allie, Harper and the sound team!

Personal Concert with Colbie Caillat

Today we walked around the Atlanta Arts Festival in Piedmont Park.  We bought a hummingbird made out of a Cola-Cola can for our Christmas tree and a frame made out of a salvaged ceiling tile for a friend's birthday.

Double-decker.

Harper points at a giraffe.

Morning coffee at Bakeshop near our condo

Summer Update

The blueberries are growing up so fast and reaching milestones left and right.  This is a long catch-up post on their recent developments and the summer, with lots of pictures.  To see how overphotographed these kids are, see this album.

Around 9 months, Harper said her first word: ball.  She and Allie both babble a lot of mama's and dada's but there is no doubt that she knows what a ball is and says it.  I'm so glad I caught it on camera because she talked about balls for about a week, but since then I haven't been able to conjure up one sweet little "ball."  This video also gives you a peek into how Allie and Harper interact.  Harper likes to "pat" Allie, and they are starting to play tug of war for toys.  

They have been so much happier since they started crawling ALL over the place.  We went through a rough stretch when they were frustrated about not being able to move very far, but now I can actually have more than an hour of them happily entertaining themselves all over the house.  They are also pulling up on everything; toilets are a particular favorite.  Yesterday, Allie bee-lined for the toilet and started exuberantly splashing around.  She did this twice before I wised up enough to close the lid and close the door. 

Both girls love the water.  Tonight my stomach hurt from laughing at how intensely they splashed in the bath tub.  They splashed up a storm for 15 minutes straight and I've never seen them go to bed more easily. 

Allie went from 2 teeth to 6 teeth poking through this week! Harper has 4 teeth (I think).  Michael and I are also very proud that they can make bear, dog, and elephant noises.  Here is proof of the bear noise from Allie:

Allie still excels at her party trick, though she is getting a little heavy for dad to hold her up for extended periods:

Jeff introduced us to this, and it's quite impressive that he can still support 16-month old Lucy.

We had some backyard fun at the Dutsons':

They LOVE their new activity table.  A great find by me at Tater Tots Consignment:

 

 

Went to a free Play 2 Grow class organized by a twin mama in our twin playgroup.  They loved bouncing and rolling around on a yoga ball, a fun activity we've taken to at home:

 Had a blast with Lovey and D in Coolidge Park in Chattanooga:

 

OK, maybe Allie had more fun than Harper did on the merry-go-round.

 

They had their first day of Mom's Morning Out. Allie thought I dropped her off at Six Flags, and Harper missed her mama the whole time.  All ready to go with their backpacks:

And finally,  Harper got BUSTED: