the kids have changed--i cannot put my finger on it, but ava is definitely different--her sense of humor is expanding (i refuse to say it is maturing, given her penchant for potty humor...), her capacity to understand others is growing--it is all so abstract, really. and carter is definitely more of a little boy. they are playing together now, and really playing--laughing ridiculously at their games, which he clearly understands and takes part in. today it was a convoluted game of chase and surprise. i never figured out the rules, but then again, i was unnecsessary. in the car they 'danced' together, waving their arms in the same way, bouncing in the same way -- ava's way, of course, but that is cool with carter.

it is even more fun to have conversations with her. i guess she is understanding abstract concepts now, and can ruminate on them and tell me what she is thinking. and of course, this influences her imagination and the stories she tells. she has come up with about 5 different stories in the last 24 hours, and this time the longest one was not a baby coyote, but rather a baby fox. and now it was a real imaginary fox--it was RIGHT THERE! DON'T SIT ON HER!!! and the story went on and on and on.

but she still does persist in asking me to tell her stories, and this is hard sometimes. either i have to retell one that i made up the day before, and thus have all sorts of pressure to remember the plot, or i have to make one up and thus have all sorts of pressure to come up with a plot. i know she does not care, but i do, and it really bothers me that i decided to incorporate hippos into a story that was taking place in farm-country, simply because i could not think of any other river animal fast enough. and i hate that i lift plot lines and characters out of her books. so, today i had a brainstorm. use my own life. but make my life the adventures of icoceles, the wandering mouse. it went over really well. ava loved the adventures, and i had no problem keeping forward momentum. of course, i adapted it for a mouse, but that was easy enough. i daresay it was brilliant.

going to a store has become very difficult. if she walks through the grocery store, she picks at least one thing from every aisle to beg for--and more often it is 3 or 4 or 5 things. the other day, we were in the plastic bags and reynolds wrap aisle, and i thought, nah, no way she is going to want something here. but then i hear, "mom? can we get these? please? i have always wanted these..."

i turned around and she was holding a box of hefty garbage bags. "PLEEAAASE? i LOVE these bags. i really really want them..."

garbage bags.

obviously, it is the act of getting her something and not the thing itself that matters. which is good--i can save a lot of money that way.

tomorrow we go on an adventure--we drive to burlington (2.5 hrs), see the dentist for carter, then drive to saugerties, ny (2.5 hrs), go camping at a koa, then wake up and finish the drive to PA (2.5 hrs). about 7.5 hours in the car. not so so bad, but not great, either. the kids are pretty psyched about camping. it is not the backcountry, but there is a lot to be said for a campground: playgrounds, playrooms, space to tear around, other kids perhaps...

we'll see. it is a test run.