I am eternally jealous of Graham and Maggie who spent the day at the Baltimore Zoo today. From the report I got it sounds like Maggie had the best time. And if the giraffe looks close it's because he was... Graham payed $2 for Maggie to feed him a piece of lettuce right out of her hand. I know for sure because she has been recounting the story all night. ("Giraffe eat leaf!")

Oh my goodness. There have been many many times where Maggie has said or done something that has taken us by surprise, but today she completely bowled us over...

We had given her some play-doh to keep her occupied as we worked through some housework and she was totally content squishing and squashing the dough in her fingers. After a little while she walked over to us and exclaimed "elephant!" with this most beautifully crafted little guy that is shown above. I could've cried. The body with attached head, the trunk, the stamped star in his side (thanks to a star-shaped eraser that was laying around)... too much for words.

For memory keeping purposes, she will be 20 months old next week. Can't wait to see what she is crafting another 20 months from now.

This picture makes me laugh because it's a very accurate snapshot of trying to coordinate 11 adults and 7 children as we maneuvered through Busch Gardens. Super crazy but also super fun. I'm sorry that I don't have more photos than this but you kinda forget about your camera in these situations.

The California crew has departed and the Spanish crew is on an American road trip. Life is slowly getting back to normal.

Actually, Maggie has had an emotional meltdown everyday since her 6 cousins have disappeared. I think she's missing them. In fact, I know she is. She randomly calls out their names and asks for them. (Where Lucy? Bella?) When I got home from work today she seemed bored out of her mind, collapsing onto furniture, rolling her eyes around, and spouting out exasperated gibberish. She then bit the crap out of my finger when we were brushing her teeth before bed. (Frustration? Anger? Utter boredom?) This was followed by an angry momma, a cranky baby, and an expedited bedtime routine before things could get further out of hand.

Poor kid.

She really thrives on interaction with other kids and she's just not getting it on a regular basis. She spends entirely too much time with grown-ups and I think we need to get serious about finding a play group. Any ideas on where to start?

Maggie's little world has turned upside down this week! She has visitors from Spain and California, bringing a whole slew of new girlfriends. The weekend was spent at the beach house followed by play time back at home. Tomorrow is a special playdate with Lucy, who is just her size.

These two could not be more different but it's been fun to see how they have observed each other and adopted a few new tricks. (Maggie has taught Lucy how to pretend to be a puppy. Lucy has taught Maggie how to climb onto the kitchen table.) It's amazing how defined these two little personalities are, even before their 2nd birthdays. I'm so looking forward to watching them grow.