Our Saturday morning

Our strategy lately has been "divide and conquer." True to our word, we are in this way generally victorious (whatever that means nowadays).

We find it very ironic that these days, a "break" means only having to wrangle one child. Our rule being that you can do whatever you want as long as you have one kid along. It works out pretty fairly: the older child has an at times activity-ruining opinion about everything while the younger one, though portable, is still at risk for germs and can't hold her head up for more than a few seconds, although she's getting better. So when choosing activities, it's important to select the correct child to bring along.

For instance, Elise wouldn't be very much fun in a fishing boat (just keeping her out of the sun would render the trip more trouble than it's worth). And Kalina would be a bit of a nightmare if you wanted to go to an antiques auction.

This Saturday morning, we paired off like usual. Much to Kalina's dismay, she's generally stuck with her (wonderful, fun, caring) Daddy while I take Elise.

Daddy and Kalina were headed to a farm. Kalina's been asking to live on a farm, lately (a request Matt is about 5 seconds from being willing to grant), so with farms being the "in" thing for toddlers this time of year, Matt decided it was high time to take her to one.

They had a nice time. No, our tender little Kalina did not ride on the donkey whose saddle she's sitting in ("off!" she said 3 seconds later), although Matt thinks she may have been convinced to after seeing other kids ride. While she was thrilled to see all the farm animals, the first thing she told me upon arriving home was the farm had "No cows!" with her characteristic furrowed brow and an irritated tone. What kind of a person would deign to have a farm without cows? Shameful! Fortunately, this omission didn't seem to entirely ruin the visit, and they may go back next week (it was free!).

Meanwhile, I decided it was high time for a Mommy and Elise outing. It was probably more special to me than Elise, but she put up with it just fine. We went to Old Navy to see if they had any new clothes that Mommy needed (they did!).

I was astounded at how easy it felt to venture out with a newborn. All you do is haul around the carrier. When the baby cries, you jiggle the stroller a little with your foot, hold the pacifier in with one hand, and continue trying on clothes with your free limbs. Fifteen minutes later, after a few false starts, the baby is fast asleep. Piece of cake!

Elise and I forgot to bring the camera to the store, but Daddy's/Kalina's pictures are here. Plus a few of Elise because she's so cute.

Photo 1: Wide-eyed Elise
Photo 2: Elise and Mommy
Photo 3: The donkey ride that ended before it began!
Photo 4: Matt said Kalina was pensive the whole time. Here's a rare smile.
Photo 5: Ride 'em, cowgirl!
Photo 6: When the donkey ride didn't work out, Daddy was able to exchange the ticket for a hayride instead!