Hide and Seek

Sometimes things can get pretty loud and crazy around here an hour or so before bedtime. The kids' volumes just seem to go up a couple of decibels, and they seem to fight with each other more than during the rest of the day. (Or could it possibly be that my patience is just shot by then? I am really not sure).

Lately when that hard time of night rolls around, I suggest we play hide and seek. My kids love hide and seek, and and are always so excited to play. I like it too. I usually volunteer to be "it" first...and can you blame me if I count to 20 really REALLY slow and enjoy a minute of precious alone time while my sweet children are finding their hiding places? Finally, I yell "READY OR NOT, HERE I COME!" and.....ahhhh...just listen to that golden silence!!! I am more relaxed already! Of course Corbie never hides very far away, and I usually hear her giggling before long. Here she is hiding under the desk in the kitchen:


Dax is a pretty good hider...he hardly ever gives himself away anymore. He is not very good at being "it" though. He totally cheats and watches where everyone runs to. And Arden...she is so small and she can squeeze herself into all sorts of sneaky places. Some of her favorite places to hide are behind the couch, in the small cabinet on the side of Cora's changing table, and on the various shelves in her closet or mine:


When Preston is home, he likes to play too. He is so big there aren't very many places for him to hide, but he has gotten pretty creative. Once I found him on the very top shelf in Arden's walk in closet, about 7 feet off of the ground.

I love to hide too (more quiet time for me!). Once I hid behind the curtains in my room and watched through them as the kids looked and looked and looked for me. My feet were pretty much in plain view, so it was really hard for me not to laugh as they kept walking right by me and not seeing me.

In other news, Arden has started dressing up her stuffed animals in elaborate outfits. For example, here is a penguin dressed in a lovely t-shirt and skirt ensemble, topped off by some princess Mickey Mouse ears from Disneyland:

The other day I went in Arden's room and found that she had even dressed up her humidifier like a princess, complete with tiara:
And finally, I have no idea what Dax thinks he is doing, but he loves putting his head in his dinosaur bucket and running around:

When I ask him what he is doing, he says "I don't know."